Reviews

In the twelve months that have followed Modern Warfare 2, we've seen controversial airport missions, the disintegration of the relationship between Activision and Infinity Ward's founder (leading to them defecting to EA), the return of Medal of Honor and the stepping up of the Battlefield: Bad Company series. So, with Treyarch once again in the development seat for 2010, how does the Call of Duty series bounce back from such an interesting year?

Black Ops follows the story of Alex Mason, a special forces operative being held against his will by a shadowy figure in a laboratory. Who is his captor? Where is he? And just what are the significance of the numbers that are running through his head constantly? All this and more are revealed through the game's missions, which are mainly told in flashback.

Set mainly during the 1960s (although Treyarch can't help but give us a quick trip back to World War 2), the game deals mainly covers action in Cuba, Russia and Vietnam. Seen through the eyes of Mason, his one-time prison buddy Viktor Reznov, and his fellow operative Jason Hudson, you'll be shooting down soldiers, destroying tanks and helicopters, and even traversing through noxious gases on your route to discovering the truth.

After Infinity Ward courted controversy with last year's No Russian mission, where you had the ability to shoot down innocent civilians in an airport, Treyarch have decided to play things a little safer by only having Mason assassinate Fidel Castro and imagine, perhaps even fantasise about, pointing a gun at the head of JFK. Of course, these play into the story as it progresses, and certainly aren't anywhere near as "risky" as the optional section from MW2, but you can almost imagine a lazy journalist being prepared to take them out of context for the sake of a "games are bad" article.

Filled with gritty, dark and dank (albeit ultimately very linear) levels and several epic battle set-pieces, Black Ops utilises the kind of duck and cover style game-play we've come to expect from the franchise. You'll move cautiously around every corner, watching all windows and doorways for fear that an enemy will emerge. With death potentially seconds away, especially on the Veteran difficulty, you will need to be especially careful, not least because you'll often find yourself under fire from enemies hidden in the shadows.

On some occasions it doesn't pay to be slow, with some areas populated by respawning enemies that will keep coming until you push forward sufficiently. Even then, you still need to find the right balance between making your move quickly and not simply running straight into an onslaught of firepower.

It wouldn't be a CoD without the inclusion of vehicles, and there's plenty of them to try out here. Aside from the usual tank section, you'll also get to fly attack helicopters, ride motorbikes, and even make tactical decisions from inside of a jet plane. There's even a lengthy section on a gunboat that plays out to the music of the Rolling Stones. While the musical backdrop might feel a little out-of-place in comparison to other moments of the game, at least it's of the correct era, unlike the Enimem and Pink collaboration that adorns the end credits.

For the first time ever in a Call of Duty game, the ability to dual-wield weapons has been introduced. Although effective and useful, it's also heavily under-utilised, making it more of a mild curiosity than a key feature. Let's just hope it doesn't fall by the wayside like the major first of Treyarch's last effort, the co-operative campaign mode. It's not like the story doesn't lend itself to co-op play either, given that you spend the majority of the time working alongside multiple other operatives on your missions.

Of course, that's not to say co-operative play has been completely eliminated, thanks to the return of the ever-popular Zombies mini-game. Up to four players can team up to face never ending hordes of the undead across a couple of maps. Initially, you'll only have one map available to you, which reintroduces the Nazi Zombies from World at War, but by completing the campaign you'll add an additional map to the mode. I won't spoil things by revealing just what that is, as you should have more fun either unlocking it in the game, or finding the setup video on Youtube.

The third zombie map, also playable by up to four participants, is a clear nod to the old-school crowd. Dead Ops Arcade, as it's known, has you battling zombies from a top-down perspective, using dual stick, arcade-style controls. It's basically Smash TV with zombies, or a slightly less fancy looking version of the recent XBLA / PSN title Zombie Apocalypse. If World at War is anything to go by, we can probably expect more encounters with the living dead to grace us within the next 12 months via DLC.

Where the real longevity of Black Ops comes from is, without doubt, the multiplayer modes. There are many people out there who buy the Call of Duty games every year and barely touch the campaign mode, and many more who don't even bother with it at all. Their preference is to step many hours a day shooting up other folks from around the world.

All the available multiplayer modes can be enjoyed locally by up to four players on a single console, and there's also Combat Training that prepares you for stepping out into the online world - though strangely there's no counselling mission that teaches you how to deal with pre-pubescent kids questioning your sexuality. When you finally do take things onto the net, you'll find yourself having to earn your right to take part.

Initially, several of the multiplayer modes, classes and other features are locked until you reach a certain experience level. Therefore, you'll need to earn your stripes in the likes of Free-For-All and Team Deathmatch before you can get your hands on the big meaty weapons, and join the non-sleeping ranks of the high level players. While it might be frustrating for veterans to have to start low again, for newcomers (and no doubt there will be plenty of them this year) it's good to know that you'll be in the same boat as many others when you get started. Then, when you feel you've progressed enough, you can step up to the likes of the Hardcore crowd, and maybe - when the time is right - opt to enter the Prestige tier.

Alongside the standard player and private matches available, there's also the Wager match, which allows you to start placing bets against your performance. It's sure to attract a high crowd of the brave, over-confident and maybe even a few of the stupid, and also adds a greater element of tension and desperation to your actions. All-in-all, it makes for some interesting MP moments.

As a whole, the multiplayer experience feels smooth and is enjoyable to play. Even if the host leaves in a hissy-fit after one too many deaths, the migration process is generally quite quick and painless. Okay, it's only natural that you're going to get players who take things too seriously, but then that's what mute, ignore and privacy settings were made for. Worst case scenario, you unplug the headset, knock down the volume and turn the stereo up.

Lengthier and more enjoyable than Medal of Honor, with a greater balance between single and multiplayer than Battlefield, Black Ops is certainly an well-put together package that should provide many hours of fun. While some may, wrongly in my opinion, tout is as Game of the Year fodder, it's certainly an enjoyable shooter that will keep you coming back to it for quite some time.

At the same time, it's also annoyingly frustrating and cheap at times, carries a story with plot twists you'll see coming a mile away, and will no doubt eventually see its multiplayer populated mainly by a mixture of non-sleepers and squeaky-voiced teens who want to burst your real eardrums while they hump your virtual corpse. But then, it just wouldn't be Call of Duty without all that now, would it?