Who needs Infinity ward?
People were extremely worried that it was the end of Call of Duty, that Treyarch would never be able to be as good as Infinity ward. Thankfully, everyone was wrong. Treyarch have, in my opinion, developed the best Call of Duty to date.
Black ops is set during the cold war, where due to the sensitivity of both the Nations in conflit, The United States and the now inexistant U.S.S.R, all the missions were carried out in a clandestine manner. This does not mean to say that the missions are all about sneaking about, although there are a few that vary the pace a bit, instead they are jam-packed full of frenetic fire fights, directed action sequences and all-out action from start to finish.
The missions are incredibly varied, taking you to many spots on the globe, including Vietnam, The Pentagon, Russia, Thailand giving way to an extraordinary artistic depth, where no two places are alike.
Adding more depth to the gameplay are various vehicular levels, letting you take complete control over a Motorbike, armored lanch and even an Apache helicopter.
The story that entwines the game is bar far, the most well written, touching such subjects like M.K. Ultra mind washing, Nazi and Russian secret parterships, Bio-chemical weapons of mass destruction and many more that take you on a journey into the seedy politics of the 60's and 70's with a damn good twist at the end.
Allthough the graphics are slightly low res, they are still some of the best in the genre with so much detail and things going on you wonder how the console can handle it all without any slowdown or screen tearing (post patch).
Perhaps though for the next we could use a more updated engine so the textures could look a little better, but at the end of the day, this is merely nitpicking at a very competent technical side.
Audiowise this game really shines as the bullets wizz past your head and the explosions rumble in your living room. The soundtrack is completely fitting and there's even a level that plays the Rolling Stones "Sympathy for the devil" whilst your laying waste to everything in sight. Very dynamic.
The voice overs are provided by some well known actors, among them Sam Worthington as the main protagonist, so be prepared for some good stuff.
This is only a small part of black ops, as there are many more things to uncover.
Zombies make a return again after there World at war debut, making for some great cooperative madness and a lot of fun.
There is a "Commandos" style arcade game thrown in as well and of course,
the online multiplayer, that will keep you hooked for a while. The main difference between this game's multiplayer and last years is all for the better (although some may disagree)in that it feels more balanced than MW2. Another thing that's changed is the way we level up and aquire weapons, in that you must earn credits to buy everything. Some may criticise this as being overly complex and taking away from the multiplayer fun, but I feel it adds extra depth.
Well, there you have it, another great game in the franchise that will keep you going until the next installment. I'd like to see Treyarch given the chance to do Modern warfare 3. Only time shall tell.
I reviewed this game's single player campaign after a Veteran difficulty setting, which provides a good challenge. You may change difficulty at any time throughout the game.