Black Ops is a poor quality game: A long winded hate speech.

[Uberbeard]

I believe that the multiplayer in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is the most legitimately imbalanced in the series and by 'legitimate' I mean without mods or hacks. Just by using the perks at your disposal, certain set ups can be quite abusive. Without knowing the game well it'd be very easy to miss a player trying the same technique over and over for a cheap win (check, one man army pro). With some class architecture balancing it could be remedied but it's biggest market is the console game, so that might not be feasible (or worth it).

That being said, it is easily my favorite offering from the franchise and barring some of the killstreaks in Black Ops it presents the most fun. Treyach seem to value balance a little more but seem willing to sacrifice elements of gameplay to achieve it. I've never liked the feel of their builds, not just in Black Ops but in World at War. Those guns are notoriously difficult to use if you directly compare the game to Infinity Ward's earlier 'classic' offerings.

I won't comment too much on the campaigns past saying Modern Warfare's story was by far the best, even if it didn't have some of the pizazz that made the last two so ridiculous (and kinda fun, in fairness). I think Zero Punctuation picked up on the ending though and it's general pace killing crapness.

[Renegade_Turner]

A lot of what you've said is true. Can be very imbalanced. What makes it even more imbalanced is the ridiculous notion of a killstreak, i.e. basically being rewarded by being very good at the game with tools to give you loads more easily kills to add to what's already probably a ridiculous amount. The chopper gunner should never be allowed in a game. It irritated me to the point that I always had to use Cold-Blooded to stop the killstreak planes from hitting me. Cold Blooded is definitely an example of one of the more unbalanced perks. Always had to use Cold Blooded and Ninja because people being able to pinpoint my location irritated me, and because of that I always avoided standing anywhere my team-mates like the plague in case anyone was finding my position through that team-mate. Also Bling was great craic. Bling Pro with Akimbo FMJ shotguns was lethal. Another tactic that was ridiculously abused.

[Uberbeard]

See, Killstreaks in concept are interesting not for the reason that a single good player might be able to boost his whole team to a win by outperforming in a significant way but because a team that have organized themselves properly prior to the game, without any need for major feedback during the actual time, can easily out pace a team who haven't.

I think it's rare that you would have a player pressure a whole team so much he can turn the tides of a game. I am well above average at CoD and I regularly play with people who are, well, 'better' but if I play outside of that group I find even if I'm doing well my team can offset us enough to still lose. There's hope there, even with the killstreaks and perk combos, I'd love to see another iteration to see what they change.

[Renegade_Turner]

Fact of the matter is that killstreaks reward players who are better than most at the game with bonus kills that it took no skill to pull off, and that's seriously ridiculous.

[Uberbeard]

That kind of design goes back to Counter-Strike though, with the idea of earning more money depending on how well you do. I remember games where I would be stuck just earning enough for an SMG or a Shotgun without any body armor when the other team would be fully kitted out with grenades and all manner of delicious weaponry.

It's odd but it's Call of Duty, there's always Battlefield for the more balanced game (or Core mode, which has Killstreaks cut out).

[zoidberg rules]

COD can be fun, but I agree with Ren, killstreaks are kinda stupid in that better people get better when they get better killstreaks. (Overuse of the word "better" was deliberate there)

All it seems to take, in my experience at least, is one boosting/bot-using noob FUCKTARD who can't play the game properly to turn a good game into a complete and utter shit-storm, with all players on the opposing team having to stay inside and be easy targets for quick scopers for fear of being mown down by a chopper gunner/AC-130.

Also, quick scoping nooblet fuckfaces should all either learn to play the game or just plain die.

[/Rant]

[Ragdollmaster]

Yeah, I generally steer away from COD. I loved playing through the Spec Ops mode in MW2 with my friend, and we had some fun playing offline splitscreen with four people (where I could reach over and physically punch people in the dick when they did stupid crap), but I never touched the online mode. Bad Company 1 & 2 both have great multiplayer, much more team-based and about trying to actually complete an objective as opposed to just killing people. Sometimes I get irked when my team lets me down (ie when the enemy has both helicopters on a map as well as four tanks and is camping right outside our spawn point oh my fucking god), but it's generally abuse-free. Metal Gear Online is also fun insofar as teamwork and squad-based combat goes, and I still play it from time to time, but the lack of maps (only 5 when you start out; 9 more can be purchased through the three expansion packs which will cost about $20) coupled with the game's age (perhaps a few thousand people are still playing it?) has made it grow rather stale. Then again, I never did try the expansions, which look pretty awesome, especially the ones that have Unique Characters (I NEVER GOT TO PLAY AS RAIDEN )

Anyways, I haven't gotten Black Ops, and I'm probably not going to. Just because all my friends have it doesn't mean I'm going to suffer through Activision's crap to "fit in". BFBC2, on the other hand, looks fudge great. Still haven't bought it .___.

Also, Killstreaks blow. "OH HEY YOU'RE DOING GREAT SO HERE'S SOME WAYS OF GETTING MORE CHEAP KILLS SO YOU CAN UNLOCK EVEN BETTER KILLSTREAKS LOLOLOL". I kind of understand the death streaks (Painkiller, Copycat, whatever the hell's left in Black Ops), but honestly, I think the only thing you should get for killing a bunch of people in a row are extra points.

[zoidberg rules]

I was thinking about this earlier, and i thought, "Why not switch the kill and death streaks?" basically, this would help a lot, painkiller, as a 3 kill streak for example, would give you that little bit more health, but it would still be easy to eperianced players to take you down, if you want a challenge, you could take the class of the next guy to kill you, just to test your skill, and for the deathstreaks, have the current killstreaks, for example, if your team is being spawn killed, you would get a predator missile which would help you take out the spawn killing noobs quickly, easily and with a minimum of fuss.

Also, this would mean, with a quick change to the way it works, you could even keep in the nuke, for example, if the enemy team is 4-6 kills away from winning a game with a kill limit of 50, and your team still hadn't broken the 15 kill mark, a random player on your team would get a nuke, which would wipe out the opposing team, but leave your guys alive, giving your team a chance to get some decent defence points going, but, obviously, if you just set up to spawn kill them, they would get something like a predator and could possibly win the game in one.

I mean, thats just my opinion...

[Renegade_Turner]

That kind of design goes back to Counter-Strike though, with the idea of earning more money depending on how well you do. I remember games where I would be stuck just earning enough for an SMG or a Shotgun without any body armor when the other team would be fully kitted out with grenades and all manner of delicious weaponry.

It's odd but it's Call of Duty, there's always Battlefield for the more balanced game (or Core mode, which has Killstreaks cut out).

You mean Barebones. That's the one with no killstreaks, perks, etc.

I wish there was a Hardcore Barebones mode. Unfortunately you either go with Hardcore to get rid of the radar and crosshairs and stuff, and less damage for kills, or you go for Barebones to get rid of Killstreaks, Perks, Equipment etc. If there was a combination of all those features in the one gametype I would play the absolute shit out of it.

[Grayswandir]

Just wait, Hardcore Barebones will be DLC for 800 MPS.

[Uberbeard]

I was thinking about this earlier, and i thought, "Why not switch the kill and death streaks?"

The trouble with that is, when you're a good team and you absolutely beat down on a bad team the game would provide an out that could be exploited in the same inevitable bad balancing issue as the 'blue shell'. Getting those top killstreaks isn't particularly easy in a balanced game and when someone manages to luck out and get an AC130 in a care package it can be pretty frustrating (you can even get a Nuke, on extremely rare chance) but it's not game breaking.

I think there would be less of an issue if the player skill ranking was stricter, I remember Call of Duty 4 and in an average game the killstreaks would usually be match for match, of course they were all standard across players.

Also, yes, barebones hardcore would be awesome (and is possible to create in private matches).

[Renegade_Turner]

Yeah, creating private matches is a pain though, tough to get the right set of players together. I love matchmaking, if only they would provide the better options...rather than "Barbones Tactical" or whatever, that no one really plays.

But I agree with Uberbeard on this point, it wouldn't be fair to switch the killstreaks to deathstreaks...getting a chopper gunner for dying 8 times? That would be even more unfair. But I think getting rid of killstreaks and giving inoccuous enough deathstreaks that gave you a very slight edge but not a huge one if you were on a streak of deaths, then that would be acceptable. Let's face it, it would make the game more accessible, and while certain players are decent enough to get killstreaks regularly enough, for every good player there are about 5 other casual gamers that are put off by people with ridiculous skills at the game who very clearly have no life outside of playing Call Of Duty online...and when you're not good enough to even get a UAV/Spy Plane as a regular occurrence, it's extremely off-putting to be playing against someone getting an Attack Helicopter or a Chopper Gunner in every single game.

[zoidberg rules]

I was EMP'd TWICE in the same game, there were at least 3 AC-130's in the air at the time, all enemy, I couldn't even call in my care package which I had somehow managed to get. Oh, and the game ended with us being nuked.

There's a fair few people who have no life outside COD.

[shadow717]

My impressions of Black Ops:

Graphics:

They are ugly. This game is hideous compared to other games of the genre, or even other games in the series. Seriously there are numerous blurry textures, graphical glitches, and other blunders in the games graphics. I was thoroughly disappointed.

4/10

Sound:

The sound your guns produce is nice and feels real, however when you hear guns being fired they all seem like they're being fired from much greater distances, especially with weapons such as pistols and smg's. The vehicles and explosions sound alright though. The voice acting in a mixed bag, and it's varied greatly from character to character.
7/10

Campaign:

Pretty standard, with a turn for the retarded. The game tried to make me care about characters like Bowman and Weaver, but I could care less when Bowman had his head caved in. The plot twist was about as surprising as finding out hershey's makes chocolate. Still it was kind of enjoyable at times, even if it felt extremely linear. It felt about the same as the campaign of Medal of Honor.

5/10

Multiplayer.

It's so incredibly mixed. I enjoy some of the multiplayer when I'm not playing with massive cunts who constantly have to scream into their fucking mikes like autistic howler monkeys, or idiots who constantly grenade spam. However there is some huge issues with connection speed, especially on the playstation three version of the game. Half the time shots aren't registered, and the game has no idea on whether or not you've stabbed someone or he's filled you with lead. The spawns are also super terrible, and it's incredibly annoying to get spawn trapped. I do enjoy the customization, and the contracts system, however unlocking pro perks in ridiculous, as the developers seem to have come up with arbitrary tasks to complete before you have to shell out another three thousand points to get marginally better things. Oh yeah, that's another thing. The cod points system is fucking obnoxious, and it annoys me greatly, however wager matches are fun. Combat training is really fun though, and deserves special mention, as it's better than the multiplayer in every way.

7.5/10

Extras:

Zombies is a blast and I really enjoy it.
DOA is also really fun.
Besides that there is relatively little extra to the game which is disappointing.
8.5/10


Overall the game gets a 32/50 or a 64%. It probably deserves higher, but that just the average it gets based on the score I gave it in every category.

[Renegade_Turner]

Lol. I would have given it a 64.3%.