Don't expect to blast through Call of Duty: Black Ops' campaign with pals. Once again, another Call of Duty title will ship without co-op support in its traditional campaign component. But that's not to say you won't be able to do jack with your buddies in the new game.
In a conversation with MTV Multiplayer, Treyarch's Mark Lamia verbally partitioned the single-player and multiplayer experience in Black Ops, revealing that the co-op component of it will be shaped around skills and the desire for a good time, as opposed to, I suppose, enjoying gripping narrative with friends. "And then co-op is for when you want to have a blast with your friends, just sitting on the couch and having an awesome co-op experience," Lamia said. "We're crafting unique co-op modes around that experience, but it is different than what people think."
If you've any experience with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's Spec Ops mode, then a light probably just went on in your head. Go ahead and turn it off. When pressed by MTV, Lamia said that the mode is "different than Spec Ops." That leaves zombies, of course, but Lamia didn't comment on that.
It's a little odd that Black Ops won't have campaign co-op, considering the last Treyarch COD game, World at War, did. But we'll have to stand by and wait for whatever Treyarch's cooking up this time around.