Call of Duty: Black Ops takes place during the Cold War, in The Sixties. The story focuses on CIA-backed clandestine black operations carried out behind enemy lines. These missions take place in various locations around the globe such as the Ural Mountains in central Russia, Cuba, Laos, and Vietnam. The single-player campaign revolves around an experimental Soviet chemical weapon codenamed "Nova-6"
What to Expect:
With a fast pace gameplay and a plot twist in almost every turn this game is sure to not disappoint those faithful fans. Multiplayer gameplay has also been taken to another level, with the use of create-a-class 2.0 which empowers players to personalize their characters in ways never before available. Also some old favorites such as Mod-Tools and Dev-Consoles and the much missed Dedicated Servers which was removed from the previous Modern Warfare 2 return.
Whats New:
A currency system has been implemented allowing players to buy weapons, accessories and clothes. Players can gamble with their "COD Points" in a free-for-all based playlist called "Wager Match", which is composed of four game modes.Time limited objectives known as "Contracts" can be purchased to gain more currency and experience points.The Zombie mode of World at War returns as a four-player online and two-player split screen co-op mode (which can also be unlocked online). In the map "Five", players take the roles of John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Robert McNamara, and Fidel Castro as they fight zombies at The Pentagon.
Whats the Score:
Within 24 hours of its release, Black Ops had sold a combined total of of 5.6 million units in the US and UK market, surpassing that of Modern Warfare 2 and establishing a new record for largest entertainment launch.
Whats The Critics Say:
Call of Duty: Black Ops has received praise and generally positive reviews from critics.At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the Xbox 360 version of the game has received an average score of 88, based on 65 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".Gamespot awarded it 9.0 out of ten and said "Call of Duty: Black Ops bears the series' standard superbly, delivering an engrossing campaign and exciting competitive multiplayer."Edge magazine was less positive, giving it a 7/10, writing that "As polished and pretty and fun as Black Ops often is, it feels more like a yearly update than a sequel [which] isn’t distinct from its predecessors in any important way".
My Opinion:
As a Call of Duty Fan since Call of Duty 2 I was very pleased on how Black-Ops turned out since Modern Warfare 2 was such a letdown for me. The plot twists are well planned out and the single player mode introduces new gameplay and keeps players entertained until the very end. Multiplayer may have a few bugs for those playing on the PC version but nothing a few patches wouldn't fix later.