Here are my impressions so far. To give a little background:
- Call of Duty 4: THE bar for multiplayer gaming. I was hooked from the beta all the way through MW2's release when the player count took a huge dip.
- World at War: This game was absolutely awful. The maps were the worst aspect, followed closely by poor animations, poor sound, and vehicles that were shoehorned in.
- Modern Warfare 2: A somewhat enjoyable experience, but bad map design reared its ugly head. They tried to do too much with this game and somewhere along the line it ceased being a shooter. "Moosefuck" accurately describes any given match.
Okay, Black Ops:"
- Maps: Not quite as well designed as most of Call of Duty 4's maps, but I'm quite happy with them. I think they have great scale and good chokepoints.
- Weapons: Reading through the thread I can see there's a minority who think they're all too similar. I think they're different enough to have some variety without compromising balance. I honestly don't have any problems with what they've done. I also don't care about what's "mathematically this-that-or-the-other", because the bottom line doesn't account for player skill, any given map... For instance some people are saying the FAMAS is the best gun, but with its up-and-right kick I can't use it to save my life. I think the AK74 is the best SMG but I still see tons of people using the MP5. Maybe there's something about that gun that works for them.
- Perks: They came up with a near perfect perk formula. I can't think of a single thing I'd change other than being able to roll sentries and SAMs. But with the frequency of UAVs (which I still use), anyone not using Ghost is at a serious disadvantage, so maybe they did that to make Hardline Pro more attractive.
- Killstreaks: I have the same thoughts here as I do with the perks. Modern Warfare 2 got so frustrating because it was all about the killstreaks. Even with all of the Hardline Pro users out there rolling 3 different crates, I don't feel like the skies are full of terror. I haven't unlocked Ghost Pro yet but I've managed to keep my hide out of site from whatever is in the air. They're useful and fun to get, but they don't dominate the game like they did in Modern Warfare 2 and that's how it should be.
- Spawning: Spawning seems a helluva lot better to me than it did in Modern Warfare 2 and World at War. It actually feels similar to Call of Duty 4's spawning. I don't see any problems here at all.
So far this is my favorite Call of Duty. Even more than Call of Duty 4. I think this is what Modern Warfare should have been had they not overshot the idea of "bigger better more".
Ghost
Steady Aim / Sleight of Hand
Second Chance Pro
AK74 w/silencer or M203
Look out
2.39 kill/death overall and 2.36 this week