On the surface, Call of Duty: Black Ops doesn’t seem that different from last year’s Modern Warfare 2. I don’t blame you, because I felt the same way. But after last night’s events and all the tidbits came pouring out, I was beginning to see what’s making Black Ops worth a damn.
First, let’s take a look at the perks list (modified from Kotaku):
Tier 1
Lightweight – Move Faster (Pro)
Scavenger – Pick up ammo from fallen enemies. Replenish lethal grenades. (Pro)
Ghost – Undetectable by the Spy Plane and the Blackbird.
Flak Jacket – Reduces explosive damage.
Hardline – Killstreaks require 1 less kill.
Tier 2
Hardened – Bullets penetrate better.
Scout – Hold breath longer.
Steady Aim – Increased hip-fire accuracy.
Sleight of Hand – Faster reloads.
Warlord – Equip two attachments to your primary weapon.
Tier 3
Marathon – Longer sprint.
Ninja – Silent movement.
Second Chance – Pull out your pistol before dying.
Hacker – Ability to detect enemy equipment and explosives.
Tactical Mask – Reduces the effect of flash and concussion grenades.
You’ll notice a few things are different; most notably the absence of “Commando“, “One Man Army“, “Stopping Power” and “Juggernaut“. The first two were the foundation of exploitation and abuse while the latter two were known to stagnate the meta game. A lot of people relied heavily on Stopping Power or Juggernaut — I’m guilty of the former. Hopefully this change will shake things up a bit.
I still think Marathon should be a Tier 1 perk alongside Lightweight, but at least it’s not unlimited sprinting like it was in Modern Warfare 2.
The marketing ramp up for Black Ops begins with a multiplayer teaser.
Looks very familiar, but there are subtle differences like a cleaner looking interface, new kill streaks, smiley face reticles etc. But, the big reveal is the inclusion of saved replays.
I’ll quote my NeoGAF post:
Kudos to Treyarch for bringing the community features to the franchise. I don’t understand why IW never did any of these things. WaW brought online stat tracking and now they’re bringing replays.
So if we continue this pattern: MW3 will have none of these and the next Treyarch production will have their “Forge” mode?
I’m actually looking forward to the September 1 multiplayer reveal. It’ll be interesting to see what they’ve tweaked.
Modern Warfare 2′s single player wasn’t as amazing as its predecessor, but it was still worth the time. And while I didn’t even give Call of Duty: World at War’s campaign the time of day, I’m actually looking forward to seeing what Call of Duty: Black Ops has to offer.
Check out this trailer.
Not too shabby. Familiar, but still intriguing. I just hope they try to stay as grounded in reality as possible.
A few game details have emerged including four player co-op and dedicated servers to support this endeavor.
Call of Duty: Black Ops will debut on PC, PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii (yes, there’s a Wii version) on November 9, 2010.
I will not buy any multiplayer map packs — it’s a matter of principle. So this “Stimulus Package” doesn’t really matter to me. Regardless, I still have an opinion on this.
Modern Warfare 2‘s map pack will cost 1200 MS Points (or $15 for us normal folks). It will debut on Xbox Live! on March 30th, 2010 and remain exclusive for a whole 30 days before appearing on any other platform.
I paid $45.19 for Modern Warfare 2 which came with a single player campaign and a multiplayer component which consists of 16 maps. And for 33% of that cost, Activision and Infinity Ward are offering three brand new maps and two classic maps from Call of Duty 4, mp_overgrown and mp_crash.
That’s lunacy, but people will pay that. Until consumers learn to speak with their dollars, companies like Activision will continue to gouge us all. To Activision: “Bravo”. To anyone who buys this map pack: “You disgust me.”.
I recently wrapped up my time with three re-releases for the PlayStation 3: Call of Duty: Classic & the God of War: Collection which includes both God of War I & II. They were interesting experiments to say the least. The idea of re-releasing old classics with visual touch ups and fixes is fantastic. I can enjoy the gaming of old without having to endure the technical hiccups or deficiencies of the past — well, that’s the idea anyway. The three titles I played were fine examples of the “Do’s” and “Don’ts” of re-releasing titles like this.
Call of Duty: Classic
Call of Duty: Classic was supposed to be an enhanced console port of Infinity Ward’s popular PC shooter of 2003. I thought the PlayStation 3 would be able to handle this game, but I was wrong. The game barely maintains 30 frames per second at times let alone 60. These technical problems are mind boggling.
I can handle the need to lean and shoot via the directional pad. I can also handle the unforgiving checkpoints. What I don’t understand is the total lack of care that went into this port. Modern Warfare 2 loads faster and runs better; a 2009 game can somehow stream and load off a disc faster than 2003′s Call of Duty. And as a cherry on top of this putrid mess, they permanently assigned the L2 and R2 triggers as aim and fire.
Do yourself a favor and play the PC version if you want to relive Call of Duty.
I’ve accumulated nearly a day’s worth of Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer and I thought I would share some of my thoughts with the game. It’ll be brief and segmented for easy digestion.
Here goes:
Perks
Commando – This perk reminds me of the Plasma sword found in Halo 2; the lock on and teleportation towards the target. I feel the range for this is a smidgen too much
Marathon – Is there a reason why this couldn’t be “Extreme Conditioning”? If there’s one thing which highlights how arcadey Modern Warfare 2 is, it’s this perk.
Weapons
Akimbo – It’s a fun ability in any other game, but it feels so out of place in Modern Warfare 2. Especially when you pair up Model 1887 shotguns.
M16 – The M16 was my ‘Long Range’ weapon of choice in Call of Duty 4, but it is (understandably) less effective in Modern Warfare 2. What irks me about this weapon is the inability to actually hit someone from a great distance. I see them, but I can’t hit them with the M16′s bullets.
Hardware