Call of Duty Black Ops
PC System Requirements
OS: Windows XP, Vista, 7
CPU: Core 2 Duo E6600 or AMD Phenom X3 8750 or better
Memory: 2GB
Hard Disk: 12GB of free space
Video Card: Shader 3.0 or better; 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT DirectX 9.0c or better
Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c-compatible
DirectX: 9.0c
Screenshots
Description
When a franchise consistently delivers massively popular, high-quality
games, each new entry in the series comes laden with expectation. Call
of Duty: Black Ops has some big shoes to fill, but it does so admirably.
The engrossing campaign is chock-full of exciting, varied gameplay and
drips with intrigue and intensity. The excellent multiplayer boasts some
invigorating new features, and the new combat training mode finally
gives novices a way to enjoy the competitive action without suffering
the slings and arrows of outrageously skilled veterans. Cooperative
zombie killing and video editing tools help make Black Ops the most
robustly featured game in the franchise, and though you may have
expected it to be the case, this is undoubtedly one of the best shooters
of the year.
The single-player campaign is set largely during the 1960s and takes you
to Cold War hot spots like Cuba, Russia, and Vietnam. You are an elite
covert operative, and your globe-trotting adventures form pieces of a
puzzle--a puzzle that your mysterious captors are trying to put together
by interrogating you. Each excursion into the field is a memory, and
these missions slowly come together to build momentum as each
interrogation cutscene puts another piece of the puzzle in place. It's
not a very original mechanic, but it gives a coherent context to the
action, and a few strong characters and dramatic moments give the story
some genuine intrigue. The blurry edges of your consciousness conceal
information that must come to light, and the erratic visual effects and
eerie audio echoes that accompany your interrogations sometimes bleed
into your mission memories, which creates a great tone of uncertainty
that plays out in surprising and satisfying ways.
Your interrogation-fueled flashbacks are not beholden to the linear flow
of time, allowing your missions cover a wide variety of geography and
gameplay. A dramatic breakout from a brutal Soviet prison is one early
highlight, and later missions feature frontline conflicts, urban
firefights, and mountainous incursions. The environments are richly
detailed, and though the campaign is not without a few technical hiccups
(like occasionally problematic checkpoint markers and the odd
teleporting ally), these moments aren't likely to hinder your enjoyment.
In addition to the on-foot action, you use a number of vehicles to
achieve your objectives. Some put you in the gunner's seat while others
put you behind the wheel, and though the vehicle handling is
unremarkable, the thrill of blowing stuff up and speeding through
hostile terrain is undeniable. The core running-and-gunning mechanics
remain as exciting as ever, and the gameplay variety throughout the
campaign keeps the action moving at a great clip.
Though the campaign is a rip-roaring good time, it clocks in at a mere
six hours long. The mode that will likely keep you coming back to Black
Ops for months to come is, unsurprisingly, the competitive multiplayer.
At its core, this is the familiar top-notch Call of Duty action that
players have been enjoying for years. You earn experience for doing well
in battle, and as you level up, you gain access to new and powerful
ways to customize your loadouts. New weapons and maps freshen things up,
and one of the new killstreak rewards--an explosive-laden
remote-control car--is a delightfully deadly device that embodies the
frantic, slightly goofy side of virtual online combat. The key new
element, however, is currency. In addition to earning experience for
your battlefield performance, you earn Call of Duty points, which you
can then spend in a variety of ways. Most perks, weapon attachments,
killstreaks, and equipment items are available early on, providing you
shell out the points to equip them. Guns are still unlocked as you level
up, but again, you have to pony up the points to put one in your
loadout. Customization options like face paint, player card backgrounds,
and the new create-your-own-icon tool are all accessed by spending
points. Having to pay your way gives you more loadout options at lower
required levels than in previous Call of Duty games, and the fact that
points are so crucial to improving your arsenal makes them as just as
sublimely satisfying to earn as experience points.
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