Black Ops Review

Black Ops has the usual and perfect control scheme of the past and present COD’s.  This is the ideal set up for a First Person Shooter and should be a requirement for all First Person Shooters in my opinion.  Even though this is a FPS,  you will have a chance to operate some vehicles.  You will pilot a Hind and a SR-71 Blackbird.  The graphics are once again a bright spot and at the time of the games release was top notch.  The audio added to the enjoyment with a fantastic soundtrack that features Creedence Clearwater Revival and the Rolling Stones to help set the tone of the 60’s.  The weapon effects and explosions feel so real and like I said before,  the voice acting truly adds to the overall experience.

The most enjoyable part of the extensive online mode for me was the Zombie mode.  This was a new game mode to me since I skipped World at War.  I spent countless hours killing zombie after zombie.  You start off in a stage with just a single weapon with waves of Zombies coming at you trying to kill you.  As you kill off each wave,  the zombie waves get bigger and more aggressive.  You earn points and cash along the way allowing you to buy upgrades like more powerful weapons.  This mode can be played solo however it’s much more fun playing with some friends.  This game mode is very addicting.   The disc comes with a few Zombie maps including my favorite titled “Five”.  “Five” takes place in the pentagon and you play as either JFK,  Richard Nixon,  Robert McNamara or Fidel Castro.  Through Down Loadable Content you will receive several more Zombie Maps to add to your experience.  The game also features a top down arcade style Zombie game titled  Dead Ops Arcade. Dead Ops is a two stick shooter that is a nice addition and a hidden game on the disc. 

Black Ops maintained the familiar and ultra popular multiplayer mode while adding some subtle tweaks to make the game fun and unique.  The first difference you will notice is the edition of COD Points.  It’s overwhelming at first but once you get a hang of the new feature it becomes very easy.  COD Points are used to purchase and unlock everything from weapons,  perks,  and killstreaks etc.  You earn these COD points relatively quick and buying these editions become second nature.  Make sure that whatever you purchase,  it’s something that you really want because once you select it,  you can’t undo it.   As you go on your quest to level 50 and Prestige,  you will earn 1,000 COD points per level.  You will also notice a new game mode called Wager Mode.  In this mode you can wager your COD points in order to try and score big.  The best game modes in Wager Mode is Gun Game and One in the Chamber.  Gun Game will pit you against your opponent as you progressive through 20 different guns.  You start with a single gun and must get a kill with it before your allowed the next gun.  The goal is to get 20 kills with 20 different weapons.  My favorite thing to do was to humiliate your opponent with a Knife kill.  You won’t get credit for the kill however you will drop your opponents gun down one.  One in the Chamber is a mode that gives you one bullet in the chamber and rewards players who are accurate and have patience. 

Another new edition to Multiplayer mode is the Contract System. This allows you to achieve certain goals to earn even more COD Points.  For example a contract might be to get 50 kills with the AK-47.  You will be timed and only get a certain amount of plays to do these contracts.  The good thing is that you can repeat the contract as many times as you want.  You will have a cool down period before the contract will reload.  You will have many different contracts available.  Black Ops also adds many customizable features like Emblems,  Clan Tags, Camouflage Painting and of course Create a Class.  You will even get a chance to write your name and clan tag on your weapons.   Black Ops also introduced the Theater Mode which allows you to take clips of impressive kills,  embarrassing tactics and just pure ownage to share with your friends and the COD community.