Call of Duty: Black Ops is this year’s new installment in the Call of Duty franchise. Most people have heard the name Call of Duty and have made several appearances’ in main stream media; does this game deserve as much recognition as its predecessors? If you are like me, you enjoy your far share of First Person Shooters, especially anything that has the title of Call of Duty on it. I was ready to jump into Black Ops and hope for the best.
In Black Ops you play most of the game as Alex Mason who was born in Fairbanks Alaska. Like in most other Call of Duty games you play as other characters and in this installment this remains true. For the most part you play as Alex who is voice by Sam Worthington (Avatar) who for someone that is born in Alaska sure does have a strong Australian accent. Almost all of the game is told as flash backs that are accruing while Alex is being interrogated by an unknown group of men who are trying to get information out of him. The story span’s across a number of years which is unlike previous Call of Duty games that usually just happen within moments of each other. When your flashbacks begin you find yourself in Cuba at the time of the Bay of Pigs, you are assigned the task of assonating Fidel Castro. The narrative of Black Ops is better then what I expected it to be giving that it is a FPS. I enjoyed the story until it got to the end. The end story line is kind of predictable but they try and go with a psychological take to the ending which ends up falling on its face.
The game play of any Call of Duty games is its strongest asset. With its expertly done gun play and running and gunning it never falls short. Black Ops has you spanning the globe hunting down targets and blowing shit up. As soon as you start the game it is a nonstop adrenaline rush of "holy shit" moments. You are also able to dual wield certain weapons which is a first in the series. I didn’t find the need to dual wield that much, I enjoy aiming down the iron sights of a gun then running any gunning. You will also find yourself breaching doors and windows. When you do this the game slows down so that you are able to save any hostages or kill any enemies effectively.
Vehicle missions play a big role in Black Ops and help with the games set piece moments. You will be driving all kinds of vehicles from cars to helicopters. My favorite moment came early on in the game when you are riding on a motorcycle, trying to escape being captured and you are able to shot a shotgun to blow any enemy pursuers off of their bikes. Other than that the game has it standard vehicle missions and mounted gun sections.
Since we get a new Call of Duty game every year you would think that the graphics would not be able to improve very much. I found this game to look great, I have heard people say that it doesn’t look as good as last year’s game but I would have to disagree. The character models in all of the in-game cut scenes look amazing. They are defiantly pushing the tech of the 360 to its limit and I am very impressed. The game sports some great Vietnam War music provided from bands like The Rolling Stones and CCR (Creedence Clearwater Revival). The Rolling Stones song is used at a great moment during a vehicle mission that makes a great moment that stands out to me after playing the game.
Zombie mode returns for this version of Call of Duty. If you enjoyed zombie mode from the previous game then you will still enjoy it. This time you can play JFK, who offers up some good quips when you kill some zombies. The zombie helps add some additional replay ability to the game. After a while it does feel kind of get stale, but you will have fun with it when you start playing it.
I cannot believe how great this game turned out. It is good seeing how that they can still make Call of Duty games every year and every year they are able to make such a great game. I hope that this series doesn’t turn out to be like Tony Hawk or Guitar Hero. But I have a feeling that these games will evolve more and more every year. They always have a big dose of competition from so many other developers trying to cash in on the FPS craze.
This is one of the greatest times you will have with a game all year; with its action movie adrenaline and excitement you will have no problem playing through its six hour campaign. You do get some replay out of the campaign if you play on harder difficulties and if you love achievements or trophies. Aside from its short length and an awful story ending this game is almost perfect. If you like to play video games, then you need to play this game.