JemyM
Okay, now roll sanity.
- Joined
- October 26, 2006
- Messages
- 6,027
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Neither a World War 2 game, nor a sequel to the Modern Warfare series, but very much a Call of Duty game.
Story
You are Mason, a Black Op operative who wake up in a dark room filled with television screens that displays numbers. A voice urge you to tell them the secret of "the numbers". Your wtf response is replied by being shocked with electricity. Appearently they really want to know about those numbers. Faced with the situation, Mason begin to tell his story from the beginning to his unknown interrogators, played out by the player.
Masons story spans across a long timespan and in very different landscapes. Most of it during the 60'ies and the Cold War.
Call of Duty had some really good storylines in the past and the storytelling in Black Ops is no exception. The story is very well told and the way its told is exceptional. Characters are built up as you go along, clues about what's really going on is picked up here and there and many times the most significant events in the overarching storyline happens with a very graphic scene.
Engine: Graphics & Sound
The presentation in Call of Duty: Black Ops is exceptional. This is a game that fully utilized my x2 480 GTX. The graphics is really good, using plenty of shaders where shaders should be used. Often I just took a moment to just look at how good the game looks.
But graphics isn't everything, the game is also artistically beautiful, with plenty of flashbulb scenes that you remember after finishing the game. The game jumps seemingly between gameplay and cutscenes and cutscenes might very well contain some gameplay element that must be carried out (which aren't the quickly-push-the-right-button-that-appear-on-the-screen kind of actions thankfully).
Sound is equally good. Voice acting is great. Sometimes the game uses music that can be very fitting for the scene. One level where you control a boat is almost like a music video because you are simply riding the boat, shoot and blasts everything in the path with little danger, while listening to the song.
Gameplay
The First Person Shooter is very optimized, but almost every level contains new gameplay elements that you might not see coming. Many of these is about controlling vehicles.
There are a lot of different weapons in Black Ops. Weapons can feel very different in your hands, and an insuperior assault rifle is really insuperior. The fun part is that the weapons are different depending on which conflict you are in. This is evident in a World War 2 level where you must use World War 2 weapons. Once you are used with the firerate, accuracy and sights of the modern weapons, WW2 weapons were crap.
There are few "silent maps". Most levels are about pushing on, shooting continously until you reach the end.
One thing that annoyed me is that you really cant expect to make progress just by blasting foes. You can't stay in a convenient spot, shoot the foes and make progress when it's safe, because opponents keep pouring in without end. Sometimes you must either push on before they stop coming, or fulfill some requirement before it happens.
One level this became very appearent. After trying many times I was forced to look up a gameplay video on youtube to find out what to do. Foes was just pushing in, and if you somehow managed to get to the waypoint, nothing happened. You could stand in the turret and kill hundreds and thousands of foes, more would just come. To make progress you had to use barrels. The cue for using the barrels is told through vague radiochatter and you see a friend using one, but both cues are very easy to miss since you are preoccupied fighting the excessive amount of hostile forces.
Final Conclusion
The Call of Duty series have really been top of the crop and Black Ops is no exception. It even challenges the Modern Warfare games in story, gameplay and visuals. Someone who truly hates shooters can probably skip it, but one can enjoy a shooter just a little and enjoy a good story to keep you going should check Black Ops out. It's 16 levels can certainly be played through in an evening or two, but it is an intense and packed experience.
Neither a World War 2 game, nor a sequel to the Modern Warfare series, but very much a Call of Duty game.
Story
You are Mason, a Black Op operative who wake up in a dark room filled with television screens that displays numbers. A voice urge you to tell them the secret of "the numbers". Your wtf response is replied by being shocked with electricity. Appearently they really want to know about those numbers. Faced with the situation, Mason begin to tell his story from the beginning to his unknown interrogators, played out by the player.
Masons story spans across a long timespan and in very different landscapes. Most of it during the 60'ies and the Cold War.
Call of Duty had some really good storylines in the past and the storytelling in Black Ops is no exception. The story is very well told and the way its told is exceptional. Characters are built up as you go along, clues about what's really going on is picked up here and there and many times the most significant events in the overarching storyline happens with a very graphic scene.
Engine: Graphics & Sound
The presentation in Call of Duty: Black Ops is exceptional. This is a game that fully utilized my x2 480 GTX. The graphics is really good, using plenty of shaders where shaders should be used. Often I just took a moment to just look at how good the game looks.
But graphics isn't everything, the game is also artistically beautiful, with plenty of flashbulb scenes that you remember after finishing the game. The game jumps seemingly between gameplay and cutscenes and cutscenes might very well contain some gameplay element that must be carried out (which aren't the quickly-push-the-right-button-that-appear-on-the-screen kind of actions thankfully).
Sound is equally good. Voice acting is great. Sometimes the game uses music that can be very fitting for the scene. One level where you control a boat is almost like a music video because you are simply riding the boat, shoot and blasts everything in the path with little danger, while listening to the song.
Gameplay
The First Person Shooter is very optimized, but almost every level contains new gameplay elements that you might not see coming. Many of these is about controlling vehicles.
There are a lot of different weapons in Black Ops. Weapons can feel very different in your hands, and an insuperior assault rifle is really insuperior. The fun part is that the weapons are different depending on which conflict you are in. This is evident in a World War 2 level where you must use World War 2 weapons. Once you are used with the firerate, accuracy and sights of the modern weapons, WW2 weapons were crap.
There are few "silent maps". Most levels are about pushing on, shooting continously until you reach the end.
One thing that annoyed me is that you really cant expect to make progress just by blasting foes. You can't stay in a convenient spot, shoot the foes and make progress when it's safe, because opponents keep pouring in without end. Sometimes you must either push on before they stop coming, or fulfill some requirement before it happens.
One level this became very appearent. After trying many times I was forced to look up a gameplay video on youtube to find out what to do. Foes was just pushing in, and if you somehow managed to get to the waypoint, nothing happened. You could stand in the turret and kill hundreds and thousands of foes, more would just come. To make progress you had to use barrels. The cue for using the barrels is told through vague radiochatter and you see a friend using one, but both cues are very easy to miss since you are preoccupied fighting the excessive amount of hostile forces.
Final Conclusion
The Call of Duty series have really been top of the crop and Black Ops is no exception. It even challenges the Modern Warfare games in story, gameplay and visuals. Someone who truly hates shooters can probably skip it, but one can enjoy a shooter just a little and enjoy a good story to keep you going should check Black Ops out. It's 16 levels can certainly be played through in an evening or two, but it is an intense and packed experience.
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2006
- Messages
- 6,027