(To be published in Dec issue of The Wire - Bournemouth University's student-run newspaper)
At long last, Call of Duty: Black Ops has been released, allowing millions of gamers yet another dose of carnage, heavy shelling, and gore.
The game brings an array of new features, including precise character and class creation. Vehicles can be driven for the first time, including cars, motorcycles and boats, bringing a fresh new aura to the established Call of Duty series.
Every minute detail is accounted for, from gun recoil, to blood splatters – even individual facial hairs seem to have been created solely for each character. Faces are incredibly lifelike, and it’s easy to forget this is just a game.
Unfortunately, like Modern Warfare 2, the game’s campaign is still painfully short. There are 15 relatively short guided missions of varying difficulty, set in extensively-large maps that are easy to get lost in. Team orders combat this; yet stray away from set invisible map markers, and pain-stakingly the mission is aborted.
Strenuously, opposition may also prove non-existent at times, with AI teammates offering an almost too-generous helping hand in battle – so much so, that on the regular difficulty you can get through the first level without even emptying a whole magazine, with your well-worked team of militia quick to gun down the fleet of strategically-void enemies.
Black Ops’ extra features elevate the game to new levels. 4-player co-op zombies allow friends to become allies, fighting hordes of undead in multiple hell-bent locations – including an eerie music bed and impressive sound effects.
In-house multiplayer (with hardcore mode being the only absentee), system links, and the ever-popular Xbox Live means gamers will never tire of Black Ops’ various warzones. As ever, killstreaks and custom classes remain, yet added face paint, killstreak options, perks and equipment mean the possibilities truly are endless.
Visually perfect, near-realistic gameplay, stunning graphics and sound, and the reappearance of zombie mode easily makes Call of Duty: Black Ops one of the year’s best games. A must for any gamer, Black Ops is the nearest (and safest) option gamers will ever get to recreating a warzone in their house as near as possible to the real thing, for now.
