Call of Duty: Black Ops

I have to be honest, never really seen the point of Call of Duty. The 60's Cold War setting of Black Ops sounded a bit different so, on a whim, thought I'd give it a try. Have to be honest, the first impression the game leaves you with most immediately is everyone yells at you. Doesn't matter where you are – or when (the game is set between 1961 and 1968 and you keep reliving flashbacks of the story's main protagonist Alex Mason) – everyone shouts stuff at you, all the time. Mostly stuff that doesn't make the slightest bit of sense. And the story as a consequence, kind of hard to follow.There is a reason for this – the character you play is being interrogated, he doesn't know why or about what – so your confusion is Alex Masons confusion. It only starts to make sense the further you go along with it.And that for me, initially, proved a sticking point. I got to this bit in either Laos or Saigon, still non the wiser about what I was doing or why I was being shouted at while doing it and just ejected the disc and played something else instead.What changed for me wasn't Black Ops, it was actually 007 Legends. After having read so many bad things said about that game, thought I'd give that a try and actually found myself really enjoying it. Once I realised it was basically by the same people I popped Black Ops back in the PS3 and ripped through the whole thing, couldn't get enough.The graphics are lovely, the voice acting talent (including Ed Harris, Sam Worthington and Gary Oldman) really is top notch and – although you're still non-the-wiser vis-a-vee plot and what ever the hell it's supposed to be about (something to do with a planned Soviet chemical attack on US soil using a nerve agent developed by the Nazi's late during WWII called Nova 6) you do come to realise, actually – that doesn't matter. What matters is the experience.Like lots of late gamers, I've got lots of really smart, intelligent open world games that have great characters, great story lines that immerse you totally for weeks. But sometimes, often actually – all you really want is something to shut your mind off with and just clear whatever fixed objective. You don't want choice, you actually want just a fixed objective and the freedom to attack it however you want. If approached on that basis, Call of Duty: Black Ops is a hoot.The combat system is fast, fluid and very responsive. The locations are many, varied and honestly lovely. You can be creeping through the Vietnamese jungle one minute, blades only and flying a Hind D gunship the next. There's a bit where you going down river by boat, taking out enemy targets while the Stones play “Sympathy for The Devil” at full blast. That in itself may be every Vietnam war movie cliché right there in a nutshell, but, my – with head phones on and not another care in the world – there are worse things in gaming, there really are and the whole things it's done with a knowing wink.The story is, frankly, ludicrous. 11 year old school boys might find it believable, nobody who ever read a book will but – like I say – that isn't the point of Call of Duty.The point is immersion. Shut your damn stupid brain up and just go with it. Allow yourself to do that and everything about Black Ops is pretty much perfection.As an extra tip: at the load screen, tap the left and right shoulder buttons repeatedly. Do that enough and Mason will stand up. Step forward and turn left, follow the wall and you'll come to a computer you can access by pressing the Square button. When prompted do that and type in the following - 3ARC UNLOCK – press enter and you've unlocked all the zombie maps.You'll get these on full completion, but if you can't be bothered to wait, fill your boots. Worth it definitely for hearing the stuff John F Kennedy comes out with. Enjoy.

I originally wasn't going to write a review for this game because it's an extremely popular franchise. However, I want to write one now so that I can compare it to it's sequel: Black Ops 2.There are 3 aspects to this game: Campaign, Zombies and Multiplayer.Campaign: This was awesome. The story was absolutely mind-blowing! I can't say anything negative here, because there really were no faults!Zombies: The popular mode from World at War is back! Zombies mode is great for anyone who wants to play with friends or other players, but not against each. In Zombies, 4 players team up against countless waves of zombies. The maps are great, the guns are great, and overall gameplay is faultless. One of the problems would be the connection. If the host of the party has a bad connection, then the game is pretty much unplayable.Multiplayer: Now I have to say, at first I hated the Black Ops multiplayer. The guns were hard to use, the early killstreaks never worked for me, and some of the perks were just so damn annoying. But once I played MW3 and Black Ops 2, I can say that I misjudged Black Ops 1. It's true, there are no "laser" guns in BO1, like the ACR in MW3 or the M27 in BO2. The weapons were done right and they all had some recoil. The maps are all great, with the exception of some of course, and the streaks were set at achievable milestones (3 kills for a UAV, 7 for a helicopter etc.). When comparing to BO2, I must admit that even though this is a prequel, it's also a superior game in terms of multiplayer playability.Black Ops 1 vs. Black Ops 2:Black Ops 2 is a broken game with plenty of bugs and glitches, most of which are still not fixed yet. Some of the guns are definitely better than others, and there are some things (select fire, target finder, riot shield campers) which force you to play a certain way. This should never happen in a multiplayer game and it's the reason many people dislike the game. It seems like I absolutely despise the game, but I don't! There are plenty of annoying things in BO1 as well! Ghost Pro is an extremely over powered perk for campers, and second chance....I won't even go there....Anyway, I love Black Ops 1, and I recommend it to anyone who wants a first person shooter set in the 1960s!

I am late to the party as I have only just started playing this game. I held off because of all the bad reviews and did not want to waste £40 however I saw it was £15 on amazon and thought why not?Firstly I think this game is excellent, in keeping with the whole series and about time we had a shooter set in Vietnam and the wars/skirmishes of the latter part of the 1960's which seem very negleted in the first person shooter genre, pehaps there is some sort of taboo on this being a time of a lot of "cloak and dagger", cold war stuff going on. So seems perfect this game is called Black Ops.Graphics wise I see no difference between the othe Call of Duty games (personally i think the best graphics in first person shooters are the Killzone series but i am sure many will disagree) and I have noticed quite a few reveiws saying the game play is all same old, same old but (time for a wake up call people)the game play is going to be the same for several reasons - 1 it is a first person shooter and - 2 it's called Call of Duty and - 3 the producers make so much money from this series they are not going to change it too much now are they?. If you want variety buy a different game.As to the storyline/plot I think it is good and no more/less confusing than any of the other Call of Duty games, the pace of the missions is good. In all I think it was £15 very well spent

shooty shooty

I dont understand why this game is 3 stars. It is a great game and implements some new never-before features in the CoD series, Exclusive to the BO Series. We got a currency, Known as CoD points, so instead of waiting to unlock your attachments, you can buy them straight away. You can also use this to buy perks, attachments, weapons and much, much more! If you think your good at the game but you lack CoD points, put what you have on the line, and gamble in the new Wager Match system. Its simple, Put some money in, If you come 1st 2nd or 3rd then you get up to triple what you put on the line. If you lose, its a small loss of money, Depending on how much you put in. A new feature is a second class of customization. You can now change your suit, facepaint, camo, RDS reticule and your sight lense. You can put your clan tag and emblem on your gun too, Speaking of emblems, You can now create your own! Rather than picking from some crappy ones. I personally love Zombies mode, but I get bored after playing for a couple hours. I dont play Campaign but its very good. Multiplayer is the king of Black Ops. And is the best part about it!