NOTES: This review contains a few spoilers. I’m trying to keep them at the very minimum, but a few are present. Read at your own risk. Also, I am reviewing the version as played on the XBOX 360.
Call of Duty: Black Ops is Treyarch’s newest entry into the Call of Duty franchise (since 2008′s World at War). The game is set in the Cold War era (except one flashback mission to World War II). The game follows a soldier named Alex Mason, who for reasons unbeknown to us, is tied to a chair being tortured (by an unseen person using voice distortion) for information. The story unfolds as a series of flashbacks, each level explaining a little more of the story. It’s gritty, it’s dark, and it’s probably the most well-written of the Call of Duty games, and one of the most well-written games of the year.
As first person shooters go, Black Ops is fantastic. The controls are smooth, the graphics are top-notch, and the game itself unrolls at what seems like just the right pace. The soundtrack is fantastic, sampling songs from the era including The Rolling Stones (“Sympathy for the Devil”) and CCR (“Fortunate Son”). There’s just something amazing about floating down the rivers of Vietnam shooting down gunboats as The Rolling Stones rocks in the background. The voice acting is superb, with such greats as Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight, Harry Potter), Ed Harris (A History of Violence, A Beautiful Mind), Sam Worthington (Avatar, Terminator Salvation) and um….Topher Grace (Spider-Man 3, That ’70s Show).
The solo campaign is riveting, with levels ranging from snow covered planes in Russia to the rivers in Vietnam. The game opens with the Bay of Pigs invasion, and after a few small firefights, you find yourself in slow-motion bullet time assassinating a certain Cuban leader. (Spoiler: The first achievement in the game is “Down with Dictators”). As the game progresses, you watch your friends be tortured (one gets stabbed in eye) or killed (another gets beaten to death with a lead pipe in front of you). The game is brutally violent and has several very disturbing scenes. In one mission, you play a game of forced Russian roulette (think a la The Deer Hunter). In another, you watch a certain character (If you played World at War, this character is very well known to you) gassed to death as you helplessly watch him die. Although there’s nothing quite as disturbing as the now-infamous Modern Warfare 2 airport level (where the player simulates a terrorist act), there is without a doubt things in the game that make you question the morality of the characters and the lines between good and evil (a sympathetic character is hinted at being responsible for the assassination of JFK).
The multi-player has changed since World at War. Black Ops multi-player incorporates features from World at War and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Modern Warfare 2 (made by Infinity Ward). In addition to regular death matches and capture the flag, Black Ops added several different new ways to play online. One is called “Wager Matches”, in which the player can risk losing the in-game currency they have earned in regular multi-player. Another added mode is called “Combat Training”, and the player and (local) friends can fight against AI-controlled enemies in either free-for-all or Team Death matches. An interesting feature is to name the “bots” after your Xbox Live friends. This way, you know who to curse at when you’re sniped from across a map.
The much loved “Nazi Zombies” from the World at War make a return. Originally, in World at War, there was only one map where players fought off hordes of Nazi zombies. The popularity caused Treyarch to later release three extra maps for the feature. In Black Ops, not only is there plenty of zombie killing action, they’ve updated it and changed a few things. The first map you get (available from the time the game is turned on) is very similar to the fourth map from World at War. It involves time-travelling Nazi Zombies (the game explains). The Second map called “Five” has to be unlocked, either by entering a code or by beating the campaign. This map takes place in the Pentagon, and the four playable characters are John F. Kennedy, Fidel Castro, Richard Nixon, and Robert McNamara. Instead of Nazi Zombies, this map just has regular run-of-the-mill zombies. The great part about this map is hearing the interchange of conversation between the characters. JFK will say “Consider yourself PARDONED!” when using a shotgun to decapitate a zombie. Or, if Nixon attempts to purchase a weapon upgrade he doesn’t have enough points for, he’ll shout out “They’re taxing me like the DEMOCRATS!”.
The third zombie map is very different. It’s called “Dead Ops Arcade”. To unlock this map (and get an achievement), you must at the main menu, instead of picking one of the options (Campaign, Multi-player, Zombies, etc.), you click the left and right trigger buttons repeatedly. Your character strapped in the chair will get up (you get 15g achievement points just for that). You can then walk around the room. To your left you will find a computer terminal. By typing “DOA”, it unlocks the game. (“Zork” unlocks a text adventure game, and yet another achievement). The Dead Ops Arcade is a top down arcade game that’s game play is comparable to the classic Robotron 2084 or Super Smash TV. The left control stick moves your character and the right control stick fires your weapon. Simple, but addicting fun (and a GREAT addition to the game as a whole).
Basically, this game is great. It’s a good deal too, well worth the price. The campaign isn’t really long, but it isn’t really short either. Plus, the additions of multiplayer, zombie modes, and the secret hidden games (“Dead Ops Arcade” and “Zork”) make this a time consuming game (in a good way). The campaign is extremely well written (the ending will mess with your head), the soundtrack is rocking, and the bottom line? The game is FUN. (and isn’t that what’s most important?)
