Call of Duty: Black Ops

Liquid Looks At: Call of Duty Black Ops for the PC

(Multiplayer review at the bottom)

Programming: (4.5/5)

Lately I have come to expect that new games are just not going to work at 100%.   Even today’s console releases have bugs.   Who can forget red dead redemption’s lovable, and not so lovable, glitches?   So, unfortunately, it is surprising that a game is released on time and error free.

In fact after reviewing my entire play through I struggle to recall any issues with the programming of the game.   Not to say that is such a remarkable feat.   They did have the engine developed in past titles and the only thing needed to do was implement creative material.  

But, the scripting was spot on 90% of the time.   The occasional hiccup here and there as you wait for your buddy to get in position to progress events.   And the effectiveness of your squad mates is poor at best.   But they have never really been that good of a shot in the past so I wasn’t really expecting them to be that great now either.   But none of this completely ruins the game.  

Graphics: (4/5)

I believe that they did nothing to change the graphics of the game since the last addition.   This isn’t a bad thing though. The

graphics for the last four Cod titles have been very good.   I’m happy to also add that they have included advanced options for us PC users so you can adjust your AA, AF, and view distance accordingly.   Also you are given the option of adding more bodies to the playing field, which is always a plus.  

However, with all these options, it still looks ported over.   I can’t say that I blame them.   You have to design games for the system that will be running them.   I guarantee if you had as many people with high end gaming PCs as there are people with an Xbox we would be seeing some technologically groundbreaking games.   But until we get a newer and more powerful mass marketed console, expect to see games put on a

leash for a while.

There are many scenes which will wow your eyeballs.  And very few points where you can point out repeating textures or lazy work. The game looks good overall, but that is expected at this point.   If you’re going to release a game every year, you can’t get by with mediocrity.

Gameplay: (4/5)

I can’t say that they really brought anything new to the franchise.   Sure you can pilot a Hind attack helicopter.   But it still feels wonky.   The controls feel very linear and you have no choice over your altitude.  This can make fighting other helicopters a tad difficult.  It’s not a game ender.   It’s just a little weird.   But the fact that they tried to get it on there was good.  All the other times you operate vehicles it has been much the same as it has been in the past.  I'm sure you all recall the snowmobiles from the last CoD.  Some new and unique weapons have been added to the fray.  The crossbow is deadly fun.  As is the four round thumper (china lake) and the four round rocket launcher (grim reaper).    I would have liked to see more innovation.

Regardless of the lack of innovation, the game performs solidly.   Guns shoot.   People die.   Things just work.  I did not notice at any point where the bullets didn't register and not hit the target.   Which is important in a first person shooter.     The slightest problem with that formula can ruin a game.  

Zombies were brought back from their first appearance in World at War.   There is one map included without playing through the single player.   And an additional map if you finish the game.   It plays just as the previous version did.  I know there are a lot of people who enjoyed playing the zombie scenarios from the last game.  So you will have more to look forward to in this installment.  I'm sure the lack of maps will be a disappointment for most.  And no matter how fun offing zombies as JFK is it wont make up for the lack of maps.

The gameplay is very traditional.  Nothing horribly fancy was added, and nothing essential taken away.  I was done well and performs smoothly.  Simply they get good marks for making it work well.   But, not great marks for their lack of innovation in the first person shooter genre.

Storyline: (5/5)

Treyarch set the bar high with their latest release.   The storyline in Call of Duty Black Ops is one of the best in the franchise.   It

revolves around a single person, Alex Mason.   His story is told through his past memories during an interrogation.   You spend a lot of time globe trotting from many exotic locales.   From tropical Cuba, to a typically frosty Russia, you will kill bad guys of almost every nationality.   But since it is a story told from the eyes of only one individual you feel much more of a tie to his adventure.   This is a refreshing change from jumping from character to character as they have done before in the past.   And they still managed to convey the sense of changing the world, without playing as half a dozen people.

The story is set in the era of the cold war and with some time spent in Vietnam. That makes sense given that some of the only front lines in the cold war were in Vietnam. And they did a good job tying the storyline in with real world events.   This puts even more weight to the experience than before.  

Every mission was solidly put together and scripted events were noticeable adding to the drama that they wanted to convey.   Treyarch really made me feel like a back ops badass every step of the way.

I definitely don’t want to spoil the game for you but I would like to say that this is a must play.  So, if you happen to breeze by this one paragraph on your way to the muliplayer review, cause that's all you do is play multiplayer, i guarantee you'll enjoy the single player.  It would be one that I would take to the fallout shelter with me if I had to choose.

Overall: (4.5/5)

Treyarch impressed me with this title.   Despite the fact that the franchise has been loosing my respect it has defiantly been reestablished. I don’t meddle too much in the politics of game developers and publishers but with their partnership with Activision I felt that they had much more creative sway to do what they wanted to do.   That came through with every bit of this title.  

Overall for the single player this game is exceedingly well done.   The PC version had no problems whatsoever with glitches or hiccups.   The storyline was impressive at the least, and the characters immersive.  

And now…

Liquids Multiplayer Review of: Call of Duty Black Ops

Multiplayer Review: (4.5/5)

Before we start this review is by no means going to take into account the lag on servers on release.   It happens to all games.   It will happen to all games to come.   It will get worked out and it will play well.   So, if lag bothers you about new games don’t buy them the day they come out.   Anywho…

Releasing a game that has been done before can always be a challenge, especially when millions of people have clocked hundreds of millions of hours playing the same game.   To be truly successful you need to bring something new and creative to the table.   I cant say that anything exclusively new has been added to the latest edition of the call of duty series, but they did manage to listen to the complaints of their fan base and make some great improvements.

The biggest change that you will notice right off the bat is that they included a currency system to obtain everything.   Of course you need to unlock everything by level first before you can purchase it.   This makes some parts frustrating due to the fact that you can’t access the weapons you want to match your play style.   After unlocking and purchasing a weapon you are given the opportunity to buy whatever attachment you want for it.   This was a very good idea as I love red dot sights.  

Character customization isn’t as detailed as they led on from the previews.   Your character appearance is dictated by the choice in the first perk you pick.   You can add camo to your weapons at a relatively low level.   Each bit of camo will cost you some COD bucks.   You can customize your tag with a decal editor similar to that seen in forza3.   However each layer will, again, cost you COD bucks.   You can add colored lenses to your scopes, and custom reticules.   Again more COD bucks.  

The addition of COD bucks might seem to be a challenge.   But if you play smart, and unlock challenges you can get most everything you need and want relatively easy.   I think that they might need to tone down the reward money a bit.   Make things challenging.

There is also a few new multiplayer modes where you can wager money on your performance in the match.   There is gun

game.   This mode has been seen before in counterstrike.   You start with the weakest weapon and every time you make a kill you advance to a stronger gun.   Then there is also one in the chamber.   You have one round and every knife kill you get another.   These wager matches reward the top 3 and all others loose money.

In the end the multiplayer is what you would expect.   More of the same multiplayer action that you have experienced in the past.   This latest addition has a really good feel to it.   And for that I’m going to give it a 4.5 out of 5.