Call of Duty: Black Ops
Call of Duty: Black Ops is the sixth game in the popular Call of Duty series and it’s starting to show. While the game is still fun and occasionally thrilling it is starting to become a series of: “been there, done that” moments. The tried and true formula just may not be enough to sustain this series for much longer.
This entry in the Call of Duty series has you fighting through the sixties during several different events such as the Cold War and the Vietnam War. The game opens up with your character, Alex Mason, being interrogated by some unknown shadowy figure. This provides the perfect framework for the story to trot around the globe trough-out the decade. While every other Call of Duty game has you jumping between several different characters, Black Ops keeps you almost entirely in the body of Alex Mason. A few missions have you jumping into other people to fill a few gaps in the story but at large this is Mason’s story.
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare set a golden standard on a single player campaign filled with balls to the wall, over the top action. However, Black Ops decides to take a bit more of a realistic approach. That’s not to say this game doesn’t have it’s over the top moments because it does. It’s just nothing quite as extreme as your character dying in a nuclear blast or helicopters falling from the sky. While this does set the game apart from some of the more recent games in the series it also creates an experience that ends up feeling pretty repetitive. The story here is quite interesting if you stick with it throughout the repetition. There is a pretty solid twist towards the end that justifies some of boring sections of the game. Unfortunately even with a slightly interesting story there are several key moments that just simply come off cheesy that just manages to steal the momentum it was building. Just when I had experienced what I felt like was the better part of the game it all wrapped up with a really cheesy moment that just killed the buzz I was feeling.
The voice acting here is quite the mixed bag. While the game features the fantastic Ed Harris and Gary Oldman, you also get the lack luster performances of Sam Worthington. Who just can’t seem to be anything other than average in everything he does. Ice Cube also represents here (see what I did there?) who gives a surprisingly decent performance. However, hearing his voice yell out things during the heat of the campaign is crazy distracting. While it is certianly not game breaking but it does make me wonder why Treyarch decided he was the guy to cast for that role.
Regardless of the single player campaign most people come to Call of Duty for the multiplayer that revolutionized the genre back in 2007. For those people there is plenty to love in Black Ops. The multiplayer here is quite good even though it does feel very similar to anybody who has played any Call of Duty multiplayer in the last three years. Treyarch was put in a tough place when developing this game. If they changed too much than the hardcore fans would up in arms however if they didn’t change anything just as many people would be pissed off. Therefore they decided to just throw in the kitchen sink with a ton of different customizable options and different game modes.
One of the most notable and easily the best addition is Wager Matches. Basically for everything you do in the game such as killing people or leveling up you get Call of Duty points which act as currency. You then have to use this currency to purchase your perks and the weapons you unlock as you level up. The Wager Matches allow you to bet this currency against yourself in various types of modes. My favorite is a mode called “One in the Chamber” which gives every player a knife and pistol loaded with just one round. This means that you have just one bullet to kill a player and the bullet will kill no matter where it hits. If you do manage to kill somebody you get an extra bullet for your pistol. Therefore if you decide to knife somebody instead of shooting them, you end up with two bullets; which gives you a leg up on your next encounter. These matches tend to be a short but adrenaline filled affair. I am constantly reminding myself to breath as I try to kill a player with a perfectly timed shot before he can kill me. It is simply a blast and one of the best things about Black Ops. Outside of the Wager Matches though, there really isn’t anything new here to get excited about. It is all pretty standard for any Call of Duty game post-2007.
In addition to the single player and multiplayer modes Treyarch has also included it’s popular Zombies mode from Call of Duty: World at War. I have heard a lot of complaints that the co-op Spec Ops mode from Modern Warfare 2 was not included here. While I also really enjoyed Spec Ops, I am a huge fan of the Zombies mode as well, so the exclusion doesn’t bother me. It would have been nice to have both of course but if I had to just pick one I would have gone with Zombies. Given everything else include in this game, especially with the hidden easter egg stuff (which I won’t spoil here), I don’t feel like the lack of Spec Ops really hurts the game at all.
Ultimately Call of Duty: Black Ops is a good game with some really awesome ideas. It is just unfortunately brought down by some silly choices in the single player campaign and lack of innovation in the multiplayer component. While I do enjoy this game and am happy with my $60 purchase I think the next Call of Duty game really needs to do something different with the formula. It is starting to wear thin and if something isn’t done I’m not sure the next game will warrant my hard earned dollars.
