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.
GRAPHICSThe 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.
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