Welcome to my first review for TrueTrophies! I will be reviewing Call of Duty: Black Ops. I will NOT be including the DLC packs in this review.
Single Player:
Don't worry, I won't give out any major spoilers.
As with all Call of Duty games, there is always a single player that is implemented. Back in the day, CoD4 had one of the greatest single players that I ever experienced. Yes, I am slightly a CoD fanboy. But this games single player doesn't even hold a candle to CoD4's.
You play as a man named Alex Mason (no not Alec Mason from Red Faction: Guerrilla). A first in CoD, your character has lines! That's right, you play as someone who isn't a gun-toting mute. All your missions are based on flashbacks of Mason. Going from the Bay of Pigs to Vietnam and even getting to meet "Lancer". While going through the flashback missions, you are being interrogated to figure out a certain broadcast. They have numbers but don't know what they mean. But you do. Or you will at the end of the game!
The story itself is a tad confusing but it's not like you will be scratching your head at every cutscene. A lot of people thought the single player was too short. I personally thought it was just right. They didn't drag it out and yet it wasn't cut short to the point where you are saying "WTF mate?!"
If you are an achievement/trophy whore like myself, you will find yourself playing on Veteran. This games Veteran mode is NOTHING compared to the CoD's of old. There are a few missions that I struggled with. "Numbers" and "Rebirth" were hard for me but that doesn't mean that they were hard for everyone.
I would rate the single player a solid enough
3.5/5. It was decent, but not CoD4 caliber.
Multiplayer:
Ahh. The bread and butter for every CoD game. As with all the other CoD games, your job in multiplayer is to kill others. You earn XP, level up, and unlock more equipment to quench your genocidal thirst.
I, personally, was never a fan of the multiplayer. CoD4 was my favorite and it went downhill with every CoD game that came out afterwards. I like the weapons but pretty much disliked everything else. I didn't like the CoD points system. CoD points are the currency used within the multiplayer. You have to save up your money to purchase your unlocked equipment. You get points by finishing matches and you can complete certain contracts to earn even more.
There are 15 prestiges you can torture yourself with. On the 360, I got to
prestige 4. On PS3, i got to
level 4. There really isn't any reason to prestige other than to puff your chest out to your friends.
I would give the multiplayer a less than stellar rating of
2/5. That doesn't mean you won't like it though. I just couldn't get into it.
Zombies:
Now here is the sole reason I bought the game on 360 AND PS3. I love the zombie mode. And it is even better with friends. I can honestly say I have spent hundreds of hours on this mode and I am still not sick of it.
You can have up to a total of 4 people in a zombie match. Your goal is to obviously kill all the zombies in each wave to see how far you can go. Each wave is harder than the last. The 2 main game zombie maps are "Kino der Toten" and "Five". I could play Kino in my sleep if I wanted to. Now Five on the other hand, I dislike with great intensity. Kino is a nice, open map where you can kill and still breathe when overwhelmed. Five is a tight-closed and fast-paced map. You will not survive long on Five. I promise.
You can purchase up to 4 perks via perk machines that are scattered along the maps. There are a total of 5 perks, but you can only have 4 at a time.
Quick Revive- Will allow you to revive your fellow companions MUCH quicker when they are downed. (Note- if you are playing solo, Quick Revive will revive you if you get knocked down.)
Juggernog- Will let you take a couple more smacks from the zombies. A must have for rounds after 15.
Speed Cola- This is my favorite perk. I HATE reloading slow. And this perk fixes that problem.
Double Tap Root Beer- Makes you have double the rate of fire in your guns. I personally never use this perk, but many do.
Mule Kick- Allows you to equip a third weapon. It costs the most, but is very helpful.
This mode easily gets a
5/5. No one can play zombies with friends and end up hating it.
As a whole this game earns a
4.5/5. It isn't the greatest CoD out there. But it's actually fairly decent compared to some other CoD games.
4.5