Wow, there seem to be an abnormal amount of haters for this game. Call of Duty Black Ops (BO) is a good game, I am not sure why people are rating it so low. After reading many of these reviews, it seems that people have no idea how to logically rate a game, in fact, I would be so bold to say that regardless of the reasons given, it boils down to the fact that many people don't like this simply because it's different and more balanced then MW2. I personally feel that most of the changes made in BO are for the better.
The single player campaign is told in a more cohesive way and the story is pretty good, it doesn't have many of the "wow moments" that MW2 had, but it's still exciting nonetheless and has more of an emotional impact when it comes to your NPC team members. It's about the length you would expect (5-7 hours) and there is an unlockable zombie mode upon completion.
The meat of many COD games is the multiplayer and this is something BO excels at. Not only do you earn experience points but you also earn COD points which is a form of currency the game utilizes (think Counter Strike). This allows you to unlock what you want when you want it, it should be noted that some weapons are still only unlocked at certain experience levels, but you still have to buy them with your currency to use them. It works well, although, I prefer the old system better of just unlocking new weapons as you level up as I find that the currency system lacks the addiction found in MW2 systems. It's still fun and it leads to the biggest changes of the game which come in the form of `wager matches'. Not only can you use that currency to buy weapons, sites, camo, killstreaks, etc..., but you can also use it as a down payment to enter a wager match hoping to come out of the match with more money then you had going in. It's a fun system and something that works well later on in the game when you have currency to spare. It certainly makes for some tense games when you have money on the line.
So far most of the maps are great. A lot of them have moving parts (train going by, missle launching, etc...) which is a nice touch and adds to the atmosphere. The layout of all the maps seems to be stellar so far which is surprising because they did not have an open beta test period. All enemies that I have come across hiding out in a room are vulnerable from some stand point, and no spot on any map really feels "safe". I haven't really noticed an spawning issues like others have noted, although, on small maps such as Nuke Town, spawning close to the enemy probably can't be avoided from a code/design stand point.
But the thing I enjoy most about BO's multiplayer are the small improvements. Thankfully, the game ending killstreak - calling in a nuke, is gone. The highest level killstreak you can get is 11, which is actually hard this time around because you can't spawn killstreaks like in MW2, so if you get killstreak 6 and call in a mortar strike and kill 3 enemies, you're killstreak is still 6, not 9, meaning you have to kill 3 more players with your gun to reach killstreak 9. This is great because it makes it a lot harder to get killstreaks but more importanlty it helps prevent players from camping trying to spawn killstreaks, anything that prevents camping is a good thing.
On the camping note, BO is not friendly to snipers, which is another awesome feature, I haven't played a map yet where it wasn't easy to spot snipers and take them out easily. BO leans more towards a traditional run and gun type of play style which I personally prefer.
Statistics! Stats, and more stats, anything you want to know about how you play is located in the stat section of the muliplayer menu, how shots fired, deaths, kills, captures, etc... and much much more. Also, at the end of matches you are shown more stats, not just kill/death info. For example, at the end of a headquarters match you'll see your stats for; kills, deaths, kill/deat ratio, captures, and destroys. This is a nice feature because it actually shows who on your team is actually trying for the objective,not just running around shooting people.
Now the player has 3 spots in there inventory for items so you can have a frag, flashbang, and a claymore if you want. There is new equipment you can carry now, a sensor which acts like a many personal UAV which you put in the ground and it displays movement near you, an UAV jammer which acts in a similar fashion, a camera that you can set up which replaces your radar with the camera feed. There are also new special grenades to mess with such as the nova 6 grenade which emits a toxic gas cloud and a decoy grenade which emits gunfire and shows up on the enemy's radar as such implying that a real player is there which is great for causing confusion.
Some of the perks have been rearranged too, stopping power has been taken out completely, although you really won't notice because you still die with only a couple of bullets.
You can now dive to prone after sprinting which is just cool.
Zombies, zombies, zombies, there is one level available to you from the start and you unlock the other one after completing the game. I'm new to the whole COD zombie scene since this is the first game I've tried form Treyarch, but I find it to be a lot of fun. It increases in difficulty quickly and you really have to work as a team if you want to make it far which is something that COD players have a hard time understanding and fail at so that adds to the difficulty. I've made it further by myself then on a team of four!!! The game style is a lot of fun, although it could be better if they added a simplified leveling system, I just don't feel like I get a lot out of it, some kind of permanent reward system (unlock special camo in multiplayer, or other guns you can use in zombie mode, etc...) would be nice.
The graphics are good, they're actually a bit different then MW2 but still good.
The game isn't with out it's faults though, but most of them are inherit to the franchise, not just this game. Lag is still an issue, things like watching the killcam and seeing that you didn't fire at the enemy although you actually fired your gun twice, other players moving in segments, or watching the killcam and the enemy seems to be moving lightning fast, or the players who just drop to prone immediately but when you try it seems to take forever, etc...
Also, they introduced a new game type called 'combat training' which is a great idea except it's executed horribly. You can play by yourself against AI controlled opponents in team deathmatch or free-for-all, up to 10-11 bots I think???, this is great for new players to the franchise, or just for practicing out new techniques. You level up just as you would in a real multiplayer match (points do not cross over) and it feels surprisingly similar to a real online match. What doesn't make sense is that they require you to be online to play it??? Whaaaaaaaa, you make a game type specifically made to play offline and you require the player to be hooked up to the internet? It doesn't make any sense. I think it's mainly for tracking purposes (company feedback) so they can actually see how many people are playing combat training, but it's an odd design decision.
This gameplay style will probably always be around, but it definitely is starting to feel like it needs a major refresher, game changing concepts need to start being introduced to this franchise.
That being said, this is a Call of Duty game through and through, don't expect "team play" even if you're on a team, COD is all about lone wolf gameplay, although this is the most balanced COD game to date. This is a great addition to the franchise and there is no reason you shouldn't pick this game up.
Headquarters, here I come....
***UPDATE (11/24/10)***
Well, I have prestiged once now and have definitely had my fair share of multiplayer combat, both traditional and zombie mode.
Here are some additional notes you might find important. There has been an update which seems to have fixed most of the spawning issues found in the game (although I never really came across many), the downside is, now you spawn on the other side of the map to where the action is so it takes a bit longer to get back into things, which is a little annoying because COD games are all about quick kills, quick deaths scenarios, so starting closer to the action is more beneficial then starting far away.
Zombie mode, is a lot of fun! I"ve made it to level 18 now and it's a good time. The one major annoyance I have with zombie mode has nothing to do with that actual game play itself but the pre-game lobby that comes with it and how the server handles the host. Unlike the standard multiplayer lobby where a countdown timer begins when the server has found enough players (requiring no input from players) and if the host leaves the game during the match the server switches to a new host allowing the game to continue, which is a great system, one that zombie mode doesn't use.
For some reason, they've done away with that idea with the online zombie mode which requires 3 of the 4 players to be "ready", which is annoying because when you have a system that requires the player to input something before a game starts only half of them do, therefore the game never starts! The game 'FarCry 2's multiplayer did the same thing for it's main online matches and you had the same thing happen, you would be waiting in the lobby for minutes, not seconds, sometimes 5 minutes, which is just dumb. It ruined the multiplayer for that game. So the fact that the zombie mode utilizes this system is baffling. Once 4 players have been found the match should just start, the players shouldn't have to press the A button to say that they're "ready", it's implied that they're ready by them being in the lobby waiting for the next match! Why they didn't take the main multiplayer match making system and utilize it in zombie mode is beyond me.
Regarding the host issue, if you're playing zombie mode and the a player leaves the match who happens to be the host, the match just ends, doesn't matter if your at level 1 or level 20, the match is over. No host migration and the game doesn't repopulate the player slot either (if a player leaves who is not the host), which again is a odd design decision and extremely annoying especially if you're far into a zombie match.
Hopefully in the future Treyarch will update the zombie mode with unlockables of it's own, which would encourage more players to get into I think as well as reward players who play it well.
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