Black Ops gives me faith in future COD releases
Single Player: As said above Black Ops takes place durring the Cold war era which hasn't really been explored by video games as much. I was never a fan of CoD single players and MW2's didn't sway me back into the good graces. So I was really looking at SP as a achievement run, I got that, and more. Black Ops' single player is stunning, featuring some of the most creative set pieces I've seen in most games, but most of these you don't play. One in particular I thought was really well handled and done was the scene where you and a comrad play Russian Roulette as a form of torture after your both captured. I won't say how it ends, but its parts like this that really set the game apart from its opposition. There's also 2 or 3 rail shooting sequences and a part where you fly a helicopter. Yes, its a little frustrating but its definately cool to fly it. But Black Ops does more then just have a great campaign, you really care for these characters thanks to some amazing voice acting. The main character is voiced by Sam Worthington who played the hero in the massive Avatar, Sgt. Reznov is voiced my Gary Oldman who was most recently in the Batman movies, and Ed Harris plays the CIA agent you play later in the game. Its definately a great cast and they really do bring the characters to life, but occasionly there is a "bad line" where the dialogue doesn't really fit well with whats occuring. Characters aside, the action is Black Ops is not stop, really, there is no stop to the action, which is sad though because things become predictable. Anytime you start a mission in a helicopter, theres a really good chance that it's gonna get shot down while your in it. Theres a part in Vietnam where you are driving around one of the American bases and all of a sudden bombs just start dropping, which is sad because there could have been some engaging parts here. Black Ops is story is well, Black Ops style, and it all doesn't make sence untill the credits roll. Even then I was left wondering why certain things occured and some other things without giving away spoilers. Black Ops' single player is definatly a hit in every sence of the word. 9/10
Zombies: You May be wondering why I giving a entire section to Zombies. Well to say the least, its just that good. Much better then WAW's by a landslide, which I thought would be hard to top since some of my best moments with WAW happened in Zombies. Incase your not familiar with the Zombies game mode, you and up to 3 other players are locked in a closed in area and must survive against never ending hordes of Zombies. Its arguably some of the most intense fun you'll have in Black Ops. WAW's maps were very well crafted, Nacht Der Untoten was a great starter map, Zombie Aslyum was meh, the Swamp was amazing and to end it off Der Riese was magnificent. Seeing the reaction to Der Riese, Treyarch definatly took a more complicated look into Zombies for the better, and worse. Zombies is no longer a game you can go without a mic, its almost required that you need a mic or atleast good listening skills because these maps are COMPLICATED! I'll start with 'Kino Der Toten' which translates to Zombie Theater. In this you and the 3 other players are locked into a Nazi movie theater, there are plenty of twists and turns that can be taken to get to the stage where you activate the power to make everything work. These twists and turns are where Zombies shine, you will never have the same game twice. Kino is probably the most boring because we have seen this before in WAW. How ever, 'FIVE' is the map that everyone is going to be playing. Five takes place in the pentagon and you play as John F. Kennedy, Fidel Castro, Richard Nixon, and a really really annoying accountant. The impersonators are spot on, JFK sounds just exactly correct and its amazing they actually found someone who is that good at it, Castro, Nixon and the other guy are also handled nicely. 'Five' is also really, really funny. The 4 heros say some of the stupidest/funniest things ever in the zombies game mode. JFK and Castro really say the funny things including lines such as "Oh I'm out of ammo...time for a cigar break" or "I pictured a America that was willing to accept change and grace, but you beasts aren't helping." Five is also the harder of the 2 and some good fun can be had here. If you wanted to, you could probably buy Black Ops just for the Zombie Mode Alone. 8/10
Multiplayer: This is the reason you buy COD games, to play the intense and fun multiplayer. Treyarch I believe topped Infinity Ward's Behemoth MW2, Treyarchs multiplayer is some of the most customizable and over top ever. Also the inclusion of money makes things much more interesting. Lets talk about the way money works, each time you do something in a game, you get XP. At the end of the match, the game gives you money based on your preformance. If you do really well, expect a large paycheck, do poorly, expect little to nothing. Money is then used to purchase guns, attachments, camos, and much more. This is really what makes Black Ops MP better, you can play the way you want to. Do you want a silencer right now? If you have the money, you can just buy it. Want a Flamethrower on your gun? You can buy that to. Its this way of freedom that really gives players the oportunity to not worry about starting of with sucky guns. You can really make the Dinky MP5K at the begining of the game something worth using. Players can also customize there emblems to, which is pretty crazy. You'll never see the same emblem twice and its really a cool way to show off the artist in all of us. Want to make a horse with guns as feet? You can do that. This again really gives players the entitlement they deserve. Now that i've gotten the whole customization and the lot out of the way, lets touch base on the gameplay in multiplayer. It suffers from what all CoD games have suffered from. Hit Markers, and hit registration. Plenty of times will you just see somebody's head sticking up and you'll hit him in and not get a headshot or kill. This really drags some of the gameplay down since games such as Bad company 2, or Red Dead Redemption have really corrected these sorts of issues. None the less, Black Ops' multiplayer is still a blast and gives me faith in COD again. 8.5/10
Overall: CoD Black Ops is really a great game, there are good reasons why this game has broken the record more most copys sold at a given time and critics have been praising it. If your not a fan of COD, this game actually might sway your perspective on the series.
Gameplay 9/10
Graphics 7.5/10
Sound 9.5/10
Value 10/10
Overall:8.3