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

[Grayswandir]

So I finally got to try Black Ops this evening when I went out and bought it. Its not bad, but it doesn't really interest me. The weapons are cool, they're numerous, and they're fun to use. But something about it is lacking. There's nothing really WRONG with the game, but I find myself wanting to go play Bad Company 2 instead. As for single player...bleh, the invisible wall/too far away from objective-instant deaths got annoying. It felt like it was trying too hard to be edgy. Otherwise, it had some exciting bits in it, but I don't see myself playing it more than once.

I'm gonna go return the game tomorrow and try out Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit. The new one is developed by Criterion, so hopefully it should be fun.

[Count Roland]

the demo for hot pursuit sucked.

[Grayswandir]

the demo for hot pursuit sucked.

Yeah, but most demos suck.

Also, shotguns in Black Ops are hilarious. I found myself using them the most when I played online. Shotguns + Spy Plane/Ammo Crate-whatever its called = killing people. The knife is a bit silly though, 360 degree range of attack...seriously?

[zoidberg rules]

I have Black Ops now, campaign was sooo much better then the campaign in MW2, like, 3 times the length. Some challenging achievments for the campaign to give it even more replayability. Zombies are back, this time on some maps in which it is extremely difficult to just camp in the first/second room. Multiplayer is back, with a vengeance, although a few less weapons than the other two, but with the new COD points system, you can access some of the great killstreaks/perks/weapons right from the start, but they've got a system in which weapons don't become available for purchase until a certain level is reached.

Also, combat training mode was a long time coming, as it gives you the chance to get used to the new controls and gameplay for some of the new weapons, like the ballistic knife, against reasonably skilled A.I. controlled enemies, rather then aim-botting noobs online.

As for the storyline, I'll admit it was a bit of a reterded twist in the end. (Big, dramatic, "It was you all along!" Moment) However, Victor Resnov is one of the most badass characters in any video game, also a friend and I worked out the other day that my Dad is pretty much a Resnov double, which was cool.

Now then, as for what you were saying about your weapon preferences, I tend to use the FAMAS with a reflex sight (which I recently outfitted with a cross instead of a red dot, I found that easier to use than a teal skull which tends to get washed out on the arctic maps). Perks are: 1) Hardline 2) Sleight of hand and 3) Ninja. Frags, Flashbangs and Claymores. Oh, also, my killstreaks are RC-XD on 3 kills, Napalm strike on 5 kills, and attack chopper on 7 kills, although, with hardline, I get all of them a lot quicker, using my RC-XD to kill an enemy who is trying to pick up his care package, the napalm strike to keep my ass covered, and the chopper to keep myself covered whilst I'm stealing the hell out of his Care Package. Then, if I'm lucky, like I was earlier today, I'll get a gunship out of the Package, and boost my kills to 56 for the one game of demolition!

[Renegade_Turner]

There's nothing really WRONG with the game, but I find myself wanting to go play Bad Company 2 instead.

Was playing the Vietnam expansion at my friend's house last night...it was only 10 quid. It's really fun! The maps are deadly.

[Ragdollmaster]

Borrowed it from my friend and had a few matches for about an hour or so. I was able to find one of my friends playing and I joined his game. Our team raped. I was very proud of my 10-8 ratio, as this was my first online round of Call of Duty ever (my only previous experience in the games amounts to playing through the first three games' campaigns, World at War's campaign, W@W zombies, and some spec ops missions in MW2), and I'm like "lol david check my score". He had 45-3. The fuck?

Some balancing issues:

The Good

• Killstreak kills don't count towards your next killstreak.
• Relatively balanced weapons, so even though new players do get shittier equipment, it's not that much shittier
• Perks seem to generally be fairly balanced, no real game-breakers.
• The fact that there's less weapons than MW2 is actually a plus IMO. The streamlined gameplay feels nice.
• NO QUICKSCOPING/NOOBTUBING THANK THE LORD (at least not as far as I have noticed)

The Bad

• Killstreak arrangement- ugh. Speaking as a newb, it's annoying as hell to have the no-lifers with Hardline Pro get helicopters within the first minute of gameplay. They're even more broke than the Chopper Gunner and Attack Helos from MW2
• Unlockable modes (barebones, hardcore, various gameplay modes, etc) are slightly annoying. Sure, having them provides an incentive to play online more, but I still think I'm entitled to play how I want right out of the box. Why make players go through something they may want to? Still, I guess this is more of a thing of personal preference than an objective complaint.
• Still not much new stuff in comparison to the rest of the series' next-gen installments. No major additions, ie, vehicles- guess I'll have to keep playing BFBC1 to satiate my need for homicidal vehicular mayhem- but the special weapons (ballistic knife + crossbow) are a cool add.

Overall: A fun, if shallow game, with fast-paced online matches. Not wasting any time on the campaign, which I've heard is pretty average and even sub-par at times. Zombies seems much harder than WaW for some reason, but it remains fun with three friends. 7/10. Still haven't played all of the game modes yet, unfortunately.

[Grayswandir]

So I traded in Black Ops for Hot Pursuit today and I've been playing through single player. I have yet to try the online game modes, but so far its pretty fun. I can definitely see Criterion's hand in the development. Takedowns, on-coming traffic bonuses, overboosting, all sorts of little bits taken from Burnout. Its like...Burnout meets Need for Speed. I'm finding that I enjoy Pursuit mode more than Racer mode right now. Something satisfying about make the streets "safer" for the local populace by ramming speeders off the roads and crashing them into light poles.

On another note, driving in circles around an enemy tank in a quad while your passenger shoots RPGs is hilarious. Watching your squadmate flip said tank by driving a Hummer under it makes it priceless.

[zoidberg rules]

Quick note to Ragdollmaster, quick-scoping does still happen, alot, although the balanced weapons means it's reasonably easy to take them down. (Unlike MW2 in which Barett 50. Cal wih ACOG and FMJ was a god, and pretty much couldn't be taken down) Also, noob-tubes are here, but people don't seem to use them that much, I've never used one in Black Ops, but I would assume that they've taken out how overpowered they were, so now they do much less damage than a normal grenade rather than firing what was essentially a nuke across the map. Also, noob-tubes aren't needed now with the introduction of the China Lake, it's like the thumper's badass grandma.

Hmmm, turned out not to be a quick note... Oh well.

[Renegade_Turner]

Well, no, quick-scoping can be done since the perk for quick-scoping doesn't work on sniper rifles anymore...so there's shooting as soon as you look through your scope but that's not by any means "quick".

[Ragdollmaster]

One more thing I'm finding annoying is the claymores. Although not common, I've encountered in maybe every five or so matches I play that some people tend to spam these things near spawnpoints. I'll spawn and start forward only to be blown up It's not really as annoying as, say, noobtubing was in MW2, but yeah.

It's also way too hard to snipe. Most of the maps, even the large ones, have next to no open spaces, and even from elevated vantage points, there's so much cover spread throughout the areas that you're lucky to get a kill or two. More often than not, sniper vantage points are well within the reach of SMGs and assault rifles, and usually the latter two weapons prove to be much more effective and efficient in combat situations. I keep drawing contrasts between Black Ops and Battlefield Bad Company, and I'm frankly finding the latter to be way superior. Note that I don't even have the second- I would rather play BC1 than Black Ops! However, to be objective as possible, I'm going to keep on truckin' to unlock some more of the game modes and stuff, maybe I'll find something truly unique that stands out and shines amidst the sea of generic closed quarters combat.

PS: Anyone have this for PS3? Would love to hook up with some forumites.

[Grayswandir]

So, multiplayer-wise, I have to recommend Bad Company 2: Vietnam over Call of Duty: Black Ops. They do both play quiet differently, but I prefer BC2's style of gameplay over CoDs. In Call of Duty, teammates are meat shields, in Bad Company, teammates are required to win. Now, as for Vietnam, I love the new maps. They're huge, like the previous ones, but they seem to be more geared towards close range fighting (the two I've played at random so far). You can still snipe, but its no longer this open-shooting range like default BC2 maps such as Valpariso, which had huge hills to snipe from. The two maps I played had one giant hill to defend and it was covered in smoke, fire, and wreckage. The other was longer with water areas and the main area was covered in trenches. Now, you''ll still run into "wookies", but there's less of them now. I haven't tried the other two maps yet, but hopefully they're as crazy.

Color-wise, comparing Bad Company 2 to Vietnam, Vietnam has this really green...feel to it. Its darker and grittier, but I wouldn't call it entirely brown. They definitely went with darker shades of colors this time. Also, blaring music while driving a jeep around a map will get you shot. Just saying.

[Renegade_Turner]

It's also way too hard to snipe. Most of the maps, even the large ones, have next to no open spaces, and even from elevated vantage points, there's so much cover spread throughout the areas that you're lucky to get a kill or two. More often than not, sniper vantage points are well within the reach of SMGs and assault rifles, and usually the latter two weapons prove to be much more effective and efficient in combat situations. I keep drawing contrasts between Black Ops and Battlefield Bad Company, and I'm frankly finding the latter to be way superior. Note that I don't even have the second- I would rather play BC1 than Black Ops! However, to be objective as possible, I'm going to keep on truckin' to unlock some more of the game modes and stuff, maybe I'll find something truly unique that stands out and shines amidst the sea of generic closed quarters combat.

Yeah, snipers are at a serious disadvantage in this game. It was much more sniper-friendly in MW2. There's maybe 2 maps that you can snipe on effectively without having to be super ridiculously no-social-life good at the game. Very irritating. I'm delighted if I've a positive K/D ratio with a sniper build.

Now, you''ll still run into "wookies", but there's less of them now. I haven't tried the other two maps yet, but hopefully they're as crazy.

Haha whut? =P

[Ragdollmaster]

Oh god the campaign sucks. Am I even doing anything of my own volition? It seems I have to do a scripted/required action every 10 fucking seconds. The COD series hasn't had a good campaign mode since Modern Warfare 1

[Grayswandir]

Now, you''ll still run into "wookies", but there's less of them now. I haven't tried the other two maps yet, but hopefully they're as crazy.

Haha whut? =P

Wookie = a Bad Company 2 player who uses the Recon class and camps in one location and never does anything to help the team. The gille suit that they normally wear makes them look "hairy".

Oh god the campaign sucks. Am I even doing anything of my own volition? It seems I have to do a scripted/required action every 10 fucking seconds. The COD series hasn't had a good campaign mode since Modern Warfare 1

Why am I in Cuba shooting cops (this part of the game was horrible, and its right at the beginning)? Why am I now in a Russian prison camp being helped by some guy? Why should I care that everyone around me is dying? JFK? Assassinate JFK! What? The problem is that there's no hook to keep you interested, and by the time they do the big reveal, you've lost interest.

[Renegade_Turner]

Oh god the campaign sucks. Am I even doing anything of my own volition? It seems I have to do a scripted/required action every 10 fucking seconds. The COD series hasn't had a good campaign mode since Modern Warfare 1

I tried to tell you that before you started. Multiplayer and Nazi Zombies is the only way to go...I only played the first mission in the campaign.

Wookie = a Bad Company 2 player who uses the Recon class and camps in one location and never does anything to help the team. The gille suit that they normally wear makes them look "hairy".

Ahh, those guys. I would occasionally do that if my team was completely incompetent.