Call of Duty: Black Ops Review

"I can't get these fucking numbers out of my head!" - Alex Mason

I've always kind of wondered about our fascination with video games centered on warfare. Is the fact that game franchises like Call of Duty and Medal of Honor are so popular some kind of subliminal thing cooked up by the government. I think kids are getting a bit wiser these days about recruiters. But who needs some propagrazzi (propaganda + paparazzi, yeah I made it up) to tell people how cool it would be to be a soldier when they can just market a video game franchise that allows kids to take a first person look through the eyes of a soldier, even if many of the missions this soldier takes are highly implausible and some even hysterical. But enough of that. This isn't one of my thinking posts, it's one of my reviews. So without further a due, here's what I think about Call of Duty: Black Ops.

(I will not be mentioning the online play because I don't play online, but I'm told it's shitty)

Black Ops is without a doubt the best Call of Duty I have played. Instead of being some random yet inexplicably awesome grunt for a 70-year old war (why not WWI or the Civil War next time), this time we are the men behind the curtain. We get to play as a scarred covert operative working in alongside the CIA and other shady customers from our side and the others. And the game's frenetic action and fascinating non-linear storyline can keep the players on their toes and adrenaline fueled at the same. And if all of that isn't enough, you can get your blood pumping by playing the new and improved Nazi Zombies side game.

STORY

Black Ops is a sequel to the previous CoD game, World at War. You play as Alex Mason (voiced by Sam Worthington), a skilled wet boy who makes a living out of going to hell and back, during the height of the Cold War in the 1960s. After his involvement with the Bay of Pigs goes wrong, Mason is captured by Soviet terrorists and imprisioned in Vorkuta. He escapes after befriending Russian inmate Viktor Reznov (Gary Oldman), a character from World at War who helps you here and there during the game, Mason is able to escape and get back into his old line of work. Despite his mental scars, new missions granted by the CIA and President John Kennedy himself bring Mason and his compatriots to war torn Vietnam, the grimy Tokyo metropolis of Japan, and the harsh cold of Russia. All the while, Mason and his stealth comrade Reznov have their own score to settle with their targets.

BASICS

Okay, so Call of Duty is still the same basic first person shooter it's been since the beginning of the series. There are cool new things to be seen here, though. You can drive vehicles at times, which Call of Duty I don't think has done before save for tanks and planes. You pilot helicopters, drive cars, and ride motorcycles. All very cool, and a lot more fast paced. Most fascinating to me was that this game was a bit more story based and character driven. Whereas there was only a silent avatar as the protagonist in past games, Alex Mason has a personality and an arc (and an interesting one at that). You see things through his eyes, and you see how he has become mentally unstable through brief but vivid hallucinations (one in particular will catch everyone off guard, mainly because it doesn't seem like a hallucination). Also the story goes in detail and involves various situations, real or fictional or who knows, into the game. Realism seems to be a bit heavier here, even if there are moments of the usual Call of Duty improbability (moreso than usual in fact). Love the Vietnam standard music soldiers would play (CCR's "Fortunate Son" and The Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil") and subtle reminders of classic films. (Platoon, Hamburger Hill, Fullmetal Jacket, and Mason's partner Woods totally looked like Robert De Niro in The Deer Hunter) There is also a wealth of actual stars delivering voice work for the game: Sam Worthington, Gary Oldman, Ed Harris, Ice Cube, With all of this in mind, Black Ops is actually a more visceral, compelling, and intense Call of Duty game.

For Zombies, things have vastly changed too. There are three new and fun maps to play on (the latter two being unlockables). One is set in a run down movie theatre with Nazi decor. This map is set in 40s, but of course features health drinks ("Need a little REVIVAL!!!"), a teleporter, and a weapons customizer. This is also probably the easiest map for players, or for me at least. Here you can play as a gung ho American, a loud and strangely sexually frustrated Russian, a creepy German, or an eccentric Japanese man, all of them highly abrasive and over the top. The second map puts players in the 60s where the Pentagon's War Room comes under a zombie siege. In this instance, a player can play as President Kennedy, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamera, Fidel Castro, or Richard Nixon. The final map puts players in a 90s Arcade sort of setting where players can view things from an aerial point of view and watch monsters just flow and hand out a bunch cool upgrades upon dying. This can be fun, but is not entirely what I want out of Nazi zombies. All of these maps are interesting and put a new spin on the Zombies format to the game (a format that is becoming increasingly popular).

TOOLS

The tools department is a bit obvious. Aresenals for Call of Duty games rarely change, but then again most games don't. You get a new model of the same weapon depending on the era the game takes place. You get a wide range of assualt rifles, sub-machine guns, pistols, shotguns, explosives, and launchers of various sorts. A surprising change this time around is that a player can briefly drive a vehicle in a few instances. In this case, why shoot your enemies when you can plow threw them at the same time. I know a little bit about guns, and for some reason I felt like a lot of the guns seen in this game seemed almost out of place. By out of place, I mean, they seemed more modern and not like something you'd find in the 1960s. I don't know, maybe I'm wrong. Either that, or the black operatives just got better tools.

ENEMIES

The enemies are all virtually the same. They are soldiers, they have guns, and if they see you they will try to kill you. Simple war mechanics. I guess I can diffrentiate them based on their nationalities. Early on you will be fighting Fidel Castro's Cuban army during the Bay of Pigs. Then later, and for the most part (being it's the Cold War and all), you will be facing down Russian soldiers of the Soviet Union. In a flashback to Reznov's time in World War II, you go back to a World at War feel and kill some pesky Nazis. There's actually a point where Reznov and his men are allowed to kill everyone in sight: I think it included Germans, Russians, and the British. Finally a lot of excitement is when you are in the worst hot zones of Vietnam and fighting the NVA, Viet Cong and the like. While the enemies in the game are bland and artificial (no doubt, a major contrast to real life), they can definitely be intense and startling when they rush at you in huge groups. Of course, there is the standard dogs that will go for your throat from time to time. Strangely, I think these dogs have been the easiest to kill out of all of the others I've seen in past games. The main antagonist is General Nikita Dragovich, a Communist terrorist from the Soviet Union. Along side him are Lev Kravchenco, Dragovich's ruthless lieutenant, and Dr. Friedrich Steiner, a Nazi scientist (slightly reminiscent to Josef Mengele) who defected to the Reds' side. Fidel Castro is a bit of an antagonist in the beginning, having teamed with Dragovich in order to ambush his would-be-assassins.

For the Zombie gameplay, there is a bit of a difference. The zombies are a lot faster and stronger, and harder to kill at times. And it's not just zombies this time. Joining them are stout demonic crawling monsters that slash and explode in poisonous toxins when killed. And there are also hell hounds (yes, hell hounds) that show up from time to time to maul the player(s). hell hounds are kids stuff compared to massive crowds of zombies and crawlers. Somehow fighting zombies is always more intense.

GRAPHICS

The graphics are top notch. Probably the best Call of Duty has done so far. Character and weapon designs are especially well done. They look authentic and slightly real at times. For characters voiced by big actors, Gary Oldman and Ed Harris for example, the designs were made to resemble how the actors actually look. This was done very well. The environments had a richness and saturated look to them that made them all the more vivid and believable. And there are a lot of different environments, so this look never gets old. Environmental graphics are on par with the Modern Warfare games. So all is well essentially, though I'm sure there is an obvious bug or two. I didn't notice if there were.

OVERALL

Black Ops provides a very exciting new twist to the franchise. I hope it keeps it up if it is like this for good. I even hope it improves. The action hasn't been this exciting in awhile. Every time I fell I was very determined to respawn and keep fighting. Plus there are just so many things that has been done regarding the style and substance of the game that has just been delightful. The campaign mode was scripted by David S. Goyer, the writer of Batman Begins and the Blade trilogy. Pretty impressive job too, as the story is very intricate and involving. Black Ops actually feels like it could be a movie. And if players are worried that this game might be too easy, don't be. I think the difficulty was fairly high even on Recruit. In the end, Black Ops is just a fun game. A wholly good time. Plus if you can't get into the campaign there is always Zombie and Online modes to play on. It is definitely worth a buy.

This has been a second video game review from Your Modest Guru. Thanks for reading.

Fallout 3 Review

"War... War never changes." - narrator

A friend let me borrow his copy of Fallout 3 and I must say it is exactly my kind of game. I made it no secret in my Red Dead Redemption review that I love the free roaming sandbox environment modern games have incorporated lately. This is the perfect sandbox environment. Post nuclear Holocaust Washington D.C. and all it has left. You venture out into the irradiated and lethal Capital Wasteland with nothing but the clothes on your back. The primary mission is to survive. And it all plays out (pun intended) in an almost realistic way. I'm loving it.

The scale of the game is so huge that I've finished the main story mode and scoured the the map yet I'm still sure I did not see all there was to see. Even so, I feel I should review it now. Even if this review is already a few years too late.

STORY:
Set in a future predated by an alternate history, Fallout 3 is set in the American North-East. After the end of World War 2, the arms race was focused on primarily which led to the development of futuristic technology. It also led to the Cold War boiling over into full scale nuclear devestation. The world was thrown into chaos. Though before the bombs fell, thousands of Americans were hauled off into underground fallout facilities called Vaults, where they would be safe and comfortable during the destruction. The game begins with our nameless protagonist, called The Lone Wanderer, apparantly being born inside Vault 101, a Vault specifically ordered to remain closed forever. After getting acquainted with controls and environment while gallivanting around the Vault as a kid, we flash-forward a few years into the future where the player's scientist father, James (Liam Neeson), opens the Vault door and escapes into the Wasteland. It is here, the player ventures outside of the Vault as well to find his father. This also means adapting to the extraordinarily grim Capital Wasteland, once called Washington D.C. And the adventure begins.


BASICS:
Fallout 3, as I said, is a massive sandbox environment. Fortunately, this means you can run around all of D.C.'s famed monuments and sites (and also see how the harsh future has tressed them up). I complained that the Grand Theft Auto games had way too much going on. This game has that, but the difference is each new subplot you happen across can end up being just as, if not better than the game's primary storyline. Also worthy of noting, the game does not have a set main character. The player is free to design the character's adult appearance during the birth scene in the beginning. I always loved that aspect. The game is not exactly easy. If you really work at it, I suppose the main story can be finished in a few hours. But there is over 100 hours of gameplay entirely, and the whole map and the missions found there are like a scattered puzzle. Places aren't just there to go to, they have to be discovered. Also survival with wits and mitts isn't as easy either. Enemies on this game can be overwhelming. What I really liked though, was the moral compass of the game. This game strongly employs free will. Meaning you can choose to be the hero or villain or just passing through. I will say being a villain is extremely difficult with those thoughtful people out there, as the evil choices can be shocking (nuke a friendly little town-shocking). There is also a leveling up system which allows you to gain perks and enhancements. You can sometimes pick up friends who will want to help you along the way; they can be useful or a burden. The game combines political, military, and social satire with a surreal survival horror scenario that is very enjoyable. I've seen few games this nuanced and intelligent with its design and story. It is a pleasure.

TOOLS:
Set in the dystopian future the weapons categories vary considerably. There is a vast array of assault rifles, hunting rifles, miniguns, missile launchers, fragmentation grenades, mines, pistols, and knives laying on corpses or just anywhere sometimes. Then again, we are in the future. Their are rather cool energy weapons such as laser and plasma rifles, as well as their grenade, mine, pistol, and minigun varients. There are also interesting weapons such as Abraham Lincoln's repeater rifle, military officer swords, or even a mini-nuke launcher. If you have the right materials, skills, and schematics you can also customize or invent a new kind of weapon. All of these weapons can be particularly harmful if used properly. The game gives the freedom to switch interchangeably from first person POV to third person (I'm mostly third person). It also has a system that allows you to freeze frame and target and enemy's body to get a somewhat cinematic slow motion shootout. This is particularly useful because the standard real time shootout, no matter the POV, is extremely gritty, fast paced, and unnerving. Needless to say a little free frame shooting here and there, or a lot of it, is not exactly the sissy way out but more like the smart way. Aside from guns, just about any other item can be picked up (not that they are exactly worth something to you). In the Wasteland, scavenging is helpful but you won't always find something good. And if you do, others may not be so keen on letting you take it.

ENEMIES:
This game has a freakish and horrific rogue's gallery that haunts every corner, street, alley, and shadow of the Wasteland. As a player, you have to be on your guard at all times. Depending on how you act around people can determine whether they will become friends or foes, while others merely unload first and don't ask any questions. Many humans have fractured off into groups, and a lot of these groups aren't your friends right off the bat. The raiders are cold blooded killers and rapists who look like they came off the set of The Road Warrior. Being that they are just people (albeit heavily armored, armed, and crazy), you can kill them pretty easy. There's also the Talon Company, a mercenary group and hit squad that attacks with deadly force. The most lethal humans by far are the Enclave, the corrupt remaining remnants of the U.S. Government headed by the mysterious President John Henry Eden (Malcolm McDowell) and his right hand man Colonel Autumn, or the amoral Outcasts of The Enclave's enemy The Brotherhood of Steel. Both Enclave and Outcast fighters are covered head to toe in advanced battle armor that make Master Chief piss himself, and carry energy weapons that would make him do it again. You will mostly come across the Super Mutants, hulking simple minded brutes who tote guns and the most immoral of attitudes. They are in groups and a handful to deal with. You will also face the Ghouls, zombie like humans driven insane and animalistic by nuclear exposure. They are easy to destroy but are fast and make good use of their claws.

There are also a variety of extremely deadly robots roaming around the wasteland or droning around abandoned facilities. Though these robots are modeled after the ones seen off of 1950s science fiction comic covers, they are not fun to go toe to toe with. These things will do their best to take you down with arms that double as miniguns, laser blasters, flamethrowers, and missle launchers. Proceed with caution. Okay a bit of a spoiler, but players who are wary of robots need not fret because in the end Liberty Prime, a 50 foot tall android who spouts ultra patriotic Cold War slogans and obliterates all in its path, is on your side.

But like in RDR, it is the damn animals that pose possibly the greatest threat. The mutated bear, Yao Guay, can ambush you easily and take your health from 100 to 0 in a matter of only three or four slashes. They are also hard to put down. Speaking of putting down, you may find packs of mutated dogs that are fairly easy to kill. Super Mutants sometimes travel with the hideous Centaur, which I can only describe as a blob of the melted bodies of several humans that just spews waste and flings its tentacles (they aren't pretty to look at, so kill them quick and be done with em). Like in old '50s B-Movies, the hilly wilderness is inhabited by large mutant scorpions and the cities are filled with large fire breathing ants. There are the cold blooded Mirelurk creatures, which just seem to be humanoid crawdad (the Mirelurk King is probably the creepiest thing I've seen in the game). Then of course there's the throwaway puny animal antagonists such as the enlarged cockroach or fly. So animals are the scariest and sometimes the hardest things to kill.

GRAPHICS
This is a tough one, because on the hand you have graphics which bring forth a stark, detailed, and highly effective environment, while at the same time player and AI character models are very low grade. The in-game avatars and non playable characters have their hints of detail but are more often than not just tweaked versions of the same model. It's not impressive but it doesn't totally ruin the game either. But like I said, the environmental graphics are amazing. This game does a good job of showing a barren and destroyed wasteland while at the same time making it seem as if a true inhabitable place could have been the pile of stone and dust you are standing in front of. Day to night effects are very crisp too. The graphics aren't perfect, but they are good and unique in many ways.

OVERALL
For those who love this type of open world, survival of the fittest type of adventure, I of course recommend it. The really good thing is that there is just so much to take in. If players don't like the graphics, there is an incredible plot to the game; if the plot doesn't interest them, they can be amazed at all of the different game mechanics; and if none of that catches their fancy than they have a ball ripping and running all over the wasteland just for the hell of it. It will be a long while before you can say that there is nothing to do on this game. Stick with it, I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

This has been the first of two new video game reviews from Your Modest Guru. Thanks for reading.