After the success of almost indecent Modern Warfare 2 and then the big quarrel between the developer Infinity Ward and publisher Activision, the other studio that takes care of the Call of Duty series seems determined to impress, and to truly capture the license. Probably tired of being often regarded as second fiddle only able to fill the holes until the “real” Call of Duty Infinity Ward, the little guy from Treyarch have finally hit their stride, developed to compete on equal with the masters. It should be easy to have the pressure of knowing that the previous title in the series for which work has sold 20 million copies, something incredible. And it should be tasteful dish to see how the study has achieved this feat within the same company as you, it dissolves slowly through an intersection of controversial statements raising a dust as rarely seen in video game industry. And to make matters worse is a belief very famous among the gaming community and within the press that the deliveries you’ve made so far fall short of those of another study.
Call of Duty: Black Ops take us back to the 60s at the beginning of U.S. Special Forces. The action chases quite a few characters; excluding it is the story of Alex Mason, a CIA agent who finished up in a Soviet labor camp. Following the fiasco of the Bay of Pigs, he was imprisoned by Fidel Castro earlier than being delivered into the hands of a sinister villain named Nikita Dragovich. After making all deliveries within the framework of the Second World War, Treyarch the leaves to remove the action to the Cold War years, in the case of the game from 1961 to 1968, although with some surprise when a little away time, and that forces us to bite our tongue to keep from spoiling.
We may be intensely embedded behind opponent lines, the writers are doing their best to fail to remember any stereotype, as we jump from moving vans on trains hurtling at high speed, we descend river by boat meandering through the jungle listening to the Stones, and we silently infiltrate positions of communications deported mountainside. The Cold War lasted from the end of World War II (1945) until the fall of communism that took place between 1989 and 1991 with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the closing stages of the Soviet Union was known as an ideological conflict flanked by capitalism and communism, although it had connotations of all kinds: political, economic, technological and military course.
The circumstance is very rich for a video game as exposed in this and it is curious that few have dared to address this conflict, cannot help thoughts of the great Metal Gear Solid 3 did so with entire mastery. The longevity and diversity of the contestants in the conflict create the game have varied and attractive locations, from Cuba to the USSR, even though having a superior percentage of time in the Vietnam War, very protagonist in Black Ops and which was rumored for some time that would be the total character of the new Call of Duty, even knowing I was going to be one of the scenarios.
Through the campaign consists of 15 missions and being distorted in just over 6 hours on Veteran, we will discover him to fight in Cuba throughout the legendary Ratag Bay of Pigs in the sweltering jungle Vietnam, in a foul-smelling gulag at Baikonur in Kazakhstan, on a mud-covered river in Laos, and in several other parts of the planet we’ll leave it up to experience. The solo Black Ops is surely very short, but it delivers lots of multiplicity and action control. Treyarch has certainly some recycled footage from earlier components, but without abuse, often reducing the scenes to two or three minutes. We will have an power to a motorcycle chase modeled on the Jet-Ski Modern Warfare 2, a session to protect tank and some infiltration, but the studio is also gone his own ideas, leading to scenes that take guts. Helicopter flight, command of a squad when we examine the action from the top of a stealth aircraft, desperate flight across the rooftops of the city of Hue, Battle mass in an American camp stormed by the Viet Cong.
An thrilling and stunning roller coaster that Treyarch does not provide us a moment of respite:
The campaign of Call of Duty: Black Ops has appeared the best in the series, higher than that of the earlier game and challenging hard with the first Modern Warfare, the merely factor that can make us opt for one or the other the pleasure that we produce the framework where to develop. From the striking start, tied in a chair being interrogated devoid of knowing why, and serves as interactive and unique start menu (including some surprise, we can only tell you to try to get up from the chair …) to the last line of credits , the game drops a single moment in intensity and showmanship.
Begin a mission in Cuba with the purpose of assassinating Fidel Castro may seem difficult to conquer later, but Treyarch manages to the objectives within the missions are quite varied, ranging from moments of stealth, direct action, examining all vehicles type or by leaks almost anxious without us noticing. Once we start to play loose cost control, both by the frenzied development as the interesting history.
The campaign of previous Call of Duty may have been as strong, and even more spectacular, but it was based not nearly as attractive a story, well basted and narrated, with the most excellent argument for the entire franchise. Take the role of soldiers at unusual times and places, but can be seen that the actual protagonist is Mason, who is tied to the chair that we mentioned, and he tortured a series of numbers throughout the adventure (if not mentioned burst Lost we remember its most famous numbers, but in this case have a convincing explanation, not as mythical as the series).
The tale is told in flashback form, which gives a lot of game and reason to keep the interest from the first minute to the last, with a lot of locations that play all kinds of environments, with the most charismatic characters you’ve seen any installment of the series, and affording contain historical figures such as Fidel Castro and John F. Kennedy (even giving them a leading role in the way Zombies).
The control consists not only new (put this nuance and that there is a new movement while sprinting thrown to the ground by pressing the duck) and the truth is that if something works, and how, to be replaced. Treyarch leaves out some of the gameplay mechanics of its World at War which included moments of relative freedom and open warfare and closer to that seen in Modern Warfare 2, with its linearity towards the spectacular, the highlights being perhaps Similar to his previous game which take place in Vietnam, in terms of gameplay certainly the juiciest. This is not a bad thing because the action is so intense, varied and what happens as logical within the context of the game we’ll never have a sense of getting out of hand along a corridor and will want more freedom to move around the stage.
Moments driving or shooting from them (or both) are well made and does not appear to be engaged with a shoehorn and other supplies, in particular the phases of the helicopter and the boat would not usually fun they are and how well they have executed, the latter being already a classic (because of the song that goes as mentioned below).
The enemies are always in line with a proper IA, or bad, or noteworthy, and in higher difficulties we make things too complicated. Again, a multitude of weapons, with the possibility at some point to carry two at once the same model (as shown in the attractive cover of the game), and some surprising as the shotgun Dragon’s Breath, with which to maim enemies in different ways and that will delight the most sadistic.
At about this Treyarch recently commented that the violence had been cut in some way as some scenes of deaths were too raw, imagine what it costs us as the game does not skimp on blood and cruelty is true that without actually giving a feel free and always within a context (which for some could not get the controversial scene at the airport by his predecessor, a free and perhaps both could have been resolved any other way.)
The campaign in its default difficulty lasts about six hours (add a couple more playing at the top) which seems not too much or too little, since it maintains a very high intensity at all times and very cohesive, and perhaps if it will last more would lose its force, but recognize that other recent titles with a similar duration have been fairly criticized, although none of them have an online multiplayer so sublime. It goes without saying that the older players should start on a higher difficulty, since it is the way to be a challenge, being much more fun, although sometime a bit desperate, because of some misplaced control points by their separation, as we have been spoiled in recent times to put them very close.
Lovers will be entertained secondary searches looking for scenarios three reports that once achieved will be readable a dossier of intelligence that provides additional information to the story. We are disappointed that no repeat mode Modern Warfare Special Operations 2, or a similar, and much lengthening life for a player, and we should not forget the absence of a cooperative campaign mode which itself had World at War, though it can justify its failure to live after the argument and see that it is difficult to accommodate, two absences which attempts to compensate with how Zombies.
From the beginning we will have unlocked thus, already included in World at War, and whose presence seemed inevitable, and today these horrific things are more fashionable than ever, thanks to literature, film or television, and and no video games. From the beginning we will have a single scene, a Nazi building, but then unlock another as the Pentagon and private actors.
Fidel Castro, Kennedy, Richard Nixon and Robert McNamara must fight side by side against a zombie invasion, which to include in a highly successful series must have one point of audacity and folly, which we applaud. Both online and split screen from the same console (only two players) or network, we can play with three others, and we hold the maximum number of rounds the waves of zombies. As we overcome these get items that give us special qualities as double damage, and points that we used to buy weapons and to open new areas to expand the stage. The zombies come in through doors and windows that have barricades while they destroy we rebuild, but at a certain point will not be the only creatures that visit us, including dogs of hell and others to lead us out of nerves.
We do not know whether the inclusion of this mode has tried to compensate for the absence of special operations but the truth is that it fails. While playing with three other people this is fun, making it not so alone, so that the end is a sense that the only truth content which account for a player is the campaign, leaving the rest for multiplayer, that we’re going to cheat, is the star of this title.
A brilliant multiplayer no big news which gives the player what he asks and promises months of fun:
In Call of Duty: World at War included the new playable on Modern Warfare’s multiplayer seeking distinguished from this and make something different, like vehicles and a wider stage, but the truth is that these innovations were not well received by an important part of the players, and a large majority preferred to continue playing Modern Warfare that had an almost perfect formula.For the rest, Black Ops offers 14 multiplayer maps, which in their majority, see their layout amended to suit the selected mode. It should also salute Treyarch for its excellent level design, because if most of the solo missions are content course architecture based corridors more or less broad and more or less discrete, the maps for the confrontations between players are extremely well constructed, allowing a variety of approaches. Side modes precisely, there are of course all the classics: Death Match solo or in teams, Search and Destroy, Headquarters, Capture the Flag, Domination, Sabotage Demolition where else, or we will have to skip two caches of weapons before the time runs out, with regeneration enabled.
Each party will allow you to pocket the points CoD you can then invest to buy new weapons, improvements or assets (these special abilities which give special bonuses to your soldier, such as flash reloads, speed or resistance) . It also notes that it will be possible to configure a certain extent, the type of bonus you get by reaching make sets of frags without dying. After three victims in a row, so you can opt for the traditional reconnaissance plane revealing the enemy’s position on radar, or a small remote-controlled car packed with explosives. After five frags, you can request delivery of a crate containing a weapon or a napalm raid. The cake is up to level eleven frags where you can choose to rock a horde attack dogs on the enemy (the latter being much more effective than World at War) or fly a helicopter to fight
This must have been important to Treyarch arise when the Black Ops multiplayer, as it must have been the overwhelming success of Modern Warfare 2, which has succeeded even further popularize the game online, which has given jump and not just be something for the more hardcore, opening the door to all kinds of players, with all the good and bad that it has led. Time will put in place, and we see that acceptance has over the weeks and comments from the players, but if we were to bet on something right now would say that going to win, because after our first few hours we thought excellent.
Above all we must be honest and say that we could not play all the hours we want to make a fair assessment because at the moment which is being published this article on the game is being released worldwide, being from Today when you go to see really how well it works on your side Black Ops online. Yes we could see what is new and stays, and realize that it is fairly continuous over Modern Warfare 2, it is not at all bad.
Multitude of ways (eleven from the beginning) some repeated on past shows, and other very similar but with slight variations, which take place in the fourteen initial maps, varied and directed each to a type of game, or at least they are advised, streak with new awards, some onlookers as an attack by attack dogs, and the feeling of not being as crucial as some of MW2. The main novelty is the way to bet, where you can put into play against other players COD points, which are the new money game, and we used to buy equipment in the shop.
Bet contains quite original methods classified in different levels at which we are bet different amounts of money, and have not been limited to include simple deathmatch where you play us pasta. In one in the room will have a single bullet, a knife and three lives, and after each death managed to get a new life. As we bounce Bounce with a crossbow, a knife and an ax Tomahack with if they capture you take away all points. Others in the gun you change every 45 seconds, or every death caused, as you can see some examples are varied and original, which together we’re playing for virtual money promises plenty of fun.
On the other hand we have the curious novelty of Education, where before we were filled with lead players “real” we can train together and against bots handled by the machine, or include a friend, although we know that all experience points obtain here are useless and will miss the exit. We find it interesting to include this way and that for which you have never played an online shooter may be an uphill struggle the first few hours, where you do not know where the shots will not stop dying, now at least have a place where loose and practice without disturbing the real games. The Cinema mode is very complete, since he can organize, create and display together with other friends games, clips, screenshots and to avoid chaos it has good search filters to find exactly what you want.
Finally note that we have included the possibility of split-screen online play from the same console, which many are calling for some time. The online component satisfaction is very subjective, and opinions are very diverse: from those who do not like it at all, which will seem lower than Modern Warfare 2, other than as others, which is our case, the same height in the absence of playing one more week, and we see even the potential to overcome it. No doubt a great job of Treyarch, though very conservative without risking too much, does not know whether by choice or others.
Textures, particles, polygons … Who is set on that before such a spectacle?
Sometimes we get caught up in technical terms to appreciate the graphics of a game, paying attention to every detail, mentioning those highlighting the best and worst, but titles like this will change the schemes. From start to finish that maintains a stratospheric level, each new mission, each new scene continues to surprise, whether you’re in the snow, in the middle of a jungle, underwater, night, day or dawn, always manages to be bright, reaching at times to show pictures of enormous beauty within the horror of war.
Some very detailed scenarios, always different and not just recycle items to each other, with a great historical recreation of each country we visit. Lighting always perfect and precious moments, and some faces of the characters very human and real. We could pull lines and lines praising its graphics, but the downturn should not be overlooked figure that occurs in online mode, imagine justified in seeking an experience as seamless as possible.
Some come to complain that the graphics engine is recycled, if it has some improved textures, low resolution console models are not too complex, or a fall mainstay of the frame rate (which does not remember and it always works very fluid) but none of that matters when the result is so round, it can separate its elements are not the most technically pointers, but the whole is of a rotund and appalling spectacle, as we have seldom seen.
All this is obviously due to exceptional art direction, which is supported in a sensational way in the possibilities it provides variety of environments of the Cold War years, and production values unattainable by other studies, thanks to the mattress of a saga that continues to grow in sales delivery after delivery, so we have a constant feeling of playing in another league compared to other titles. It is the first which has a similar budget, others had before, not everyone got such good results, so that we can not do more than to congratulate the creators for their work.
We recall that includes support for 3D (need a TV or monitor that allow it), and the truth is worth trying the experience can still be improved, but future looks very promising especially in this genre, and over is one of the first titles to incorporate this scale.
The sound is up to the visual aspect, but with a big but, we believe it is no fault of their creators. A fast-paced soundtrack that fits like a glove, backing in times of amazing sounds like rock music or electronic effects of the weapons just brutal, and amazing surround sound that make a paragraph sound rarely seen.
The third mode will change your weapon every time you make a frag, the objective being to kill a player with all 22 weapons in the game But beware, if another troufion manages to cut you with knives, you will be downgraded and you end up with the previous weapon. The fourth type of game you propose Wager eviscerate your neighbor with a crossbow with explosive tiles. The subtlety of this mode comes from the fact that each player will be equipped with a tomahawk throwing at an opponent. If you fly, your score will fall victim to zero. We do already have over the parties dominated by a gunman suddenly overwhelmed by a tomahawk throw the last chance! Simply excellent. Alas, time has now come to conclude, as we confine it to say that Black Ops is definitely one of the best episodes of the series. With a solo too short but exciting, excellent bonus and a comprehensive and multi particularly addictive game Treyarch could well be the ultimate FPS popcorn, no more no less.
Conclusion:
Our earlier contact with Black Ops let us expect that Treyarch will finally be emancipated, to own the license and to not just make Call of Duty Command. These hopes were not let down, quite the contrary. In several ways, this episode confirms superior to its predecessors. With a right identity, a campaign that awfully exciting and a short multiplayer as whole as enjoyable, the game will do well without the slightest concern to satisfy fans of FPS popcorn eager to take full of fire.
With a mechanical point of true Hollywood blockbuster, our only grievance is that it leaves a little to one side which still take pleasure in playing solo, with a six-hour campaign and the nonattendance of a similar manner to special operations, other than we are conscious that the great cause for which people buy this title is its online, even ignoring the campaign mode, so its makers appreciate that this decision is limited to meet market demand. An inspiring title that put back the bar higher still in the series and that for several is the game of the year and obsession in the coming period.
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