I bought this originally thinking that I wasn't going to enjoy it the game proved me wrong.
Call of Duty black ops is probably the first call of duty game that really focuses on the plot in the single player experience. This is a nice change from modern warfare 2 story which had wooden characters with no personality and very basic plot. Black ops breaks free from the through story telling and great character interaction especially between Mason and Reznov and Hudson who is voiced by the amazing Ed Harris you can really feel the emotion between these characters. Its set in the 60s were black ops were becoming more common in the military and right away Treyarch have utilised this to make great missions and a plot that will leave you guessing what will happen next until the very end. The one i loved about the singe player experiences is that if you listen to every minor conversation it can actually end up putting the pieces of the story together for you which i thought was brilliant and effective. Overall the plot was surprisingly good for a call of duty game treyarch really have up'ed there game.
Gameplay:
The gameplay overall plays out like the previous call of duty games were you run to cover peak out and shoot. The one thing they have improved slightly in this game is the AI offers more of a challenge than in the previous titles. Even on easy mode you will find challenging at times. The one thing they still haven't improved on is the team mate AI they still do daft things like running pass enemies and not shooting they tend to be quite passive and not aggressive enough. But this is only minor and doesn't effect the overall pacing of the game. The new weapons are fun especially the incendiary shotgun and the explosive crossbow and getting to drive a boat, hind d and a huey gun ship. There also a small rts section in one of the missions where you command a squad from an ariel view on a plane and you order them through point and click to there destination it was cool idea that worked really well. Unfortunately the game itself doesn't take to long to complete it only takes about 6 hours are less unfortunately its still suffering from the call of duty curse of having a short single player. The multi player plays out exactly the same as it is predecessors with new game modes and they have gotten rid of the experience system in favor of a new money system which works really well. Overall good gameplay that works well.
Graphics:
Best looking call of duty so far the animations the visuals are breath taking and really bring the game to life.
Sound:
Great sound quality that brings ever large scale fire to small scale fire fight to life making you feel like you are actually in the level.
Overall:
Overall its great game and call of duty fans should be pleased and people who maybe did not like the previous might actually find something to like about this one because treyarch really have done there best to move in different direction. If your not an fps fan then chances are this game change your opinion it doesn't add anything revolutionary to the genre but it still is a great simple and fun game and i recommend it to gamers who are a fan of shooters :)