Call of Duty: Black Ops

[Cuda1447]

Amazon is evil, they like to toy with us. You'll start thinking that there's no way they're shipping it, then you'll wake up and have an email saying they shipped it at like 11:00 PM. I've yet to get a game after release day when choosing that option, it's always in my mailbox or in the front office.

I'm taking Wed/Thurs off so hopefully I can catch up, although if I play the campaign first I may not be able to.



+1, their shipping runs like clockwork.

You play the campaign? Oh dear. I've purchased CoD4, W@W and MW2 and haven't played a minute of campaign on any of them.

 

[SR1729]

Have been playing Combat Training for a few hours. Have a few thoughts so far.

First off, this game just feels "right". I don't know what it is, but it's off the hook. The sounds, the weapons, the movement... it feels great. W@W always felt off to me. This is tweaked from MW2, but in a good way.

SMGs are BACK BABY. Nuff said.

Killstreaks are secondary to the game (like in COD4), as they should be. Folks, we have an FPS again.

The Combat Training mode ROCKS. It's multiplayer with bots... love it.

 

[JoPh]

You play the campaign? Oh dear. I've purchased CoD4, W@W and MW2 and haven't played a minute of campaign on any of them.

im the same way

i havent played the campaign on bad company2, killzone 2, halo reach. gears of war2.

i did play the cod campaigns though. but after 2months of having them.

 

[PimpJuice]

Sad how easily the 360 hardware and software can be taken advantage off.

Not as sad as crying to your parents when you fail a quiz that was your own damn fault. What a moron.

 

[CVSiN]

You play the campaign? Oh dear. I've purchased CoD4, W@W and MW2 and haven't played a minute of campaign on any of them.

that's too bad while they may be short the stories and the action are great.

you should give at least MW and MW2 a run through.

Oh man.. to the guy below him..
Halo Reach was the best campaign in a very long time..
great story and fantastic settings.

 

[Anubis]

TBH this game is the first game im buying in close to forever where i will actually be focusing on the MP and not the SP

 

[Beev]

I bought MW2 for the campaign and spec ops. I just happened to try multiplayer one day and got hooked.

When CoD4 came out I got it for the campaign as well, but that campaign was god awful to me. It just could not keep me interested.

 

[Kabob]

You play the campaign? Oh dear. I've purchased CoD4, W@W and MW2 and haven't played a minute of campaign on any of them.

I loved the CoD 4 campaign and thought MW2's was decent. I mean, I play through 'em once or twice. Compare that to my 12+ days of MW2 multiplayer time and that's what, 10 hours of SP vs. 288 of MP?

Have been playing Combat Training for a few hours. Have a few thoughts so far.

First off, this game just feels "right". I don't know what it is, but it's off the hook. The sounds, the weapons, the movement... it feels great. W@W always felt off to me. This is tweaked from MW2, but in a good way.

SMGs are BACK BABY. Nuff said.

Killstreaks are secondary to the game (like in COD4), as they should be. Folks, we have an FPS again.

The Combat Training mode ROCKS. It's multiplayer with bots... love it.

Glad to hear it. So, the big question for you is, does it feel "epic?"

TBH this game is the first game im buying in close to forever where i will actually be focusing on the MP and not the SP

Hope you play it more than you played Reach. I literally saw you online twice!

 

[Anubis]

yea i should be on more. bunch of buddies at work to play with. not gonna be on the 360 however as they only have PS3s

 

[SR1729]

Glad to hear it. So, the big question for you is, does it feel "epic?"

Yes, as in "it's epic-ly better than MW2"

And honestly I disagree with BD2003 about the maps. I think these maps are far better than both MW2 and W@W. COD4's maps still had a little more flow to them, but these are a GIANT step in that direction. The maps aren't nearly as overwhelming as MW2's were at first, and so far I really like them.

I'm also really enjoying the new "purchase" system. Like BD said, you really need to plan ahead and develop a strategy for building your character. Now, once you've logged tons of hours, you're pretty much going to have access to whatever you want, but in the early stages, you have some decisions to make and that's pretty cool in my book.

 

[GrantMeThePower]

Two thoughts-

1. i ALWAYS play the SP campaign...in fact MW2 was the first online MP game i ever got into...but i know i'm going to struggle to click "campaign" the first time i boot this up. I probably will, but its gonna be tough.

2. I think that the "freeform" nature of the maps has an upside. As BD said, in MW2 there were very clear strategies to the maps. It ended up making all of the rounds feel the same each time. You knew what the other team was going to do before the match started.

I always thought that a dynamic map system would be pretty neat. Maybe one map in a game would have assets that each have a few places where they could be, and each time the level loads they would be in different places. You'd have some unbalanced rounds, but it would matter way less because no one would know ahead of time where the best "spot" would be.

 

[ciproxr]

Would love to read more reviews on this game by fellow AT members who have the game early

 

[BD2003]

Yes, as in "it's epic-ly better than MW2"

And honestly I disagree with BD2003 about the maps. I think these maps are far better than both MW2 and W@W. COD4's maps still had a little more flow to them, but these are a GIANT step in that direction. The maps aren't nearly as overwhelming as MW2's were at first, and so far I really like them.

I'm also really enjoying the new "purchase" system. Like BD said, you really need to plan ahead and develop a strategy for building your character. Now, once you've logged tons of hours, you're pretty much going to have access to whatever you want, but in the early stages, you have some decisions to make and that's pretty cool in my book.

They're growing on me as I get to know them. I particularly like grid and array. Summit is good as well. I just wish they were a tad less busy and random. They definitely play very different that IW maps.

 

[GrantMeThePower]

They're growing on me as I get to know them. I particularly like grid and array. Summit is good as well. I just wish they were a tad less busy and random. They definitely play very different that IW maps.

Differently in what way? Is it a matter of pacing (fast/slow) or near vs far, or what?

 

[Tek_Ed]

25 hours until I get to sit down any enjoy this game.. I hate work..

 

[BD2003]

Differently in what way? Is it a matter of pacing (fast/slow) or near vs far, or what?

Think about every map from mw1/2. There are very distinct paths through the map, usually three. They may be a slight shortcut here or there, but the basic layout and structure of each map is relatively simple, and often quite symmetric.

Treyarch maps don't usually have those distinct paths, much more freeform and random. You'll get shot in the back quite a bit more. You'll find forks, roundabouts, complete mazes at some places.

Its surely a matter of taste, but I prefer the more arena-like style of IW, compared to the playground style of treyarch. Does that analogy make sense to you guys?

 

[SR1729]

They're growing on me as I get to know them. I particularly like grid and array. Summit is good as well. I just wish they were a tad less busy and random. They definitely play very different that IW maps.

Array is definitely my favorite map so far. Lots of variety... some areas have a lot of long-range fights whereas others are mid-range even with some CQB thrown in for good measure.

You hit the nail on the head with the sound though... WOW.

 

[AstroManLuca]

I always thought that a dynamic map system would be pretty neat. Maybe one map in a game would have assets that each have a few places where they could be, and each time the level loads they would be in different places. You'd have some unbalanced rounds, but it would matter way less because no one would know ahead of time where the best "spot" would be.

This makes me think of TF2's Hydro map, where there are several possible layouts.

 

[BD2003]

Array is definitely my favorite map so far. Lots of variety... some areas have a lot of long-range fights whereas others are mid-range even with some CQB thrown in for good measure.

You hit the nail on the head with the sound though... WOW.

Yeah...I really can't overstate how incredible the sound is. If it doesn't sweep the awards in that category this year it's a travesty. First thing everyone should do is go into sound options and set it to "loud". This increases the dynamic range and really makes the gunshots crack. I mean they seriously sound like proper gunshots this time around. The aug and rpk in particular just sound like you're spraying a hail of death. It's crazy satisfying just to pull the trigger.

 

[SR1729]

More impressions:

- The XD (remote control car - 3 killstreak) is disturbingly satisfying. You can almost hear the other team cussing you and your cheapness. That said, this should NOT be a 3-killstreak reward. It's a guaranteed kill and it has a fairly large blast radius, so getting a multikill isn't out of the question. It's essentially a predator missile with precision controls. This should be a 5-killstreak reward at best, maybe even a 6 or 7. You shouldn't see more than 1 or 2 of these per match. At 3, everyone and their mother is going to be running these things around. No need to use Ghost, though, because swapping out the UAV for this is an absolute must. As Kabob would say, it's a 1-step process to getting more kills. I can almost guarantee a future update will decrease the blast radius as well as the car's health. This thing will get nerfed to hell and back, and that's a good thing.

- Very pleased that streaks don't stack.

- M14 assault rifle: pwn Engfield is also sweet

- Damage seems to be on par with MW2's (with stopping power equipped). So guns are more lethal than COD4 and WaW, but with much better map design you're not getting tagged from all sides.

- Tomahawk: also pwn. Even more gratifying than throwing knife kills in MW2. Nothing like seeing that thing go whizzing by your face.

- The entire atmosphere of the game just oozes Cold War. It really has a flavor all its own and they pulled it off spectacularly.

I know this is a very premature judgement, but thinking back to all of my initial impressions for all CODs to date, and I'd go so far as to say this has blown me away the most. The sheer fun of it rivals COD4 (adjusting for how new the gameplay of COD4 was, of course), and absolutely thrashes WaW and, to a lesser degree, MW2.

 

[BD2003]

So now that I've finished it, a few thoughts on the SP. This one is definitely a departure from the standard CoD forumla. 90% of the missions you play as the main protagonist, with a few departures. You have a face, voice, and your motivations are not clear. You're seriously fucked up, you start the game strapped to a chair. That isn't a spoiler, it's literally the menu screen.

Now while they've tried very hard to craft and tell a proper story, it's going to be very confusing to some, and a lot of this comes from the confusion of the protagonist. If you're basically learning the story through the first person, and the protagonist is confused, you will necessarily be as well. It definitely came together towards the end for me, but I'm not sure how much of that is due to the fact that I already knew what a certain aspect of the story was. They make a big deal about it like it's some sort of mystery, but it's actually a pretty well known spy thing, and I think that unless you're aware of what it is, it's going to seem really hokey and scifi-ish, and probably seem utterly ridiculous. Without knowing what that's all about ahead of time, it's like a layer of confusion upon confusion. The way I see it, the protagonist surely knows what it is, so you're doing yourself no great disservice by doing some quick googling.

Overall they maintain the level of excitement you expect from a CoD campaign, and the missions get more and more interesting as you progress. Definitely worth your time to play through.

 

[JoPh]

yea i should be on more. bunch of buddies at work to play with. not gonna be on the 360 however as they only have PS3s

hit me up on ps3

 

[Kabob]

Buncha PS3 losers...

Request for you folk who have already delved into MP: since we've got limited funds at our disposal early on, what are some of the better "all around" weapon choices you've seen thus far? Anything drastically underpowered that I'm going to regret purchasing?

 

[SunnyD]

/me patiently waiting... Dell... guess it doesn't matter much since I won't have internet until sometime tomorrow anyway (at the earliest).

 

[BD2003]

Buncha PS3 losers...

Request for you folk who have already delved into MP: since we've got limited funds at our disposal early on, what are some of the better "all around" weapon choices you've seen thus far? Anything drastically underpowered that I'm going to regret purchasing?

I really don't like the Uzi. Way too much recoil. I alao dont particularly like the enfield - fire rate too slow, recoil too high. Forget about shotguns, they're still useless at anything but super close range. Sniper rifles are also completely useless IMO.

The famas is a very good weapon - fast fire rate, controllable recoil. Same for aug. The m14 is also deadly if you can deal with semi auto. The ak74 is a good all around smg choice, but the pm63 is my personal favorite for running around with. The freebie HK LMG is my fav, it's the most accurate. Rpk is good but recoil is serious.