I'm at about rank 20. So far, I'm really loving it. Everything that makes CoD great is still there. No technical issues really, and generally, it seems very balanced. Treyarch had no right innovating as much as they did, and correcting as many problems with MW2 as they did. Time will tell whether or not cheap tactics rear their ugly head like they did with MW2, but for now, everything seems right.
Lets get this clear off the bat - there's a lot of haters, and while it does have some really questionable design decisions in the MP, I still think MW2 is a fantastic game, and I'll always love it. 95% of the game is extremely well designed, but it has its flaws. Namely: No recoil ARs outclass every other weapon type, the noob tubing is RIDICULOUS esp wtih danger close and OMA, some perk combos are just outrageous (marathon, lightweight, commando), and I always felt forced to use Stopping power.
Well, a lot of that has changed. First off, the elimination of stopping power was a huge step in the right direction. I actually feel good about using flak jacket. Or lightweight, hardline, etc. You can still drop people very fast, bullet damage is basically exactly like MW2 *without* SP. There's definitely more of a sense that I'm getting into real firefight instead of a simple kill quick or be killed. Its not a drastic change, but its meaningful.
And again, the AR recoil makes a very big difference. I failed that get two longshots contract again - its damn difficult to get them with an AR. With a SMG? Dont even waste your time. Even with the burst rifles, without SP its going to take two full bursts, and thats easier said than done. The cutoff point for a longshot might be a bit further, though, but Ive never had so much trouble getting longshots, not to mention you can actually escape a fight.
Sniper rifles have changed...a lot. Without SP as an option, you really need to hit chest and up for a one shot kill. And now, right after you zoom, the viewpoint jerks in a random direction quite a bit. I guess this is to combat quickscoping, but you know what? I found SRs to be difficult enough to use in MW2, but this makes them downright impossible for me. I guess with practice I could overcome, and now that you wont automatically be blasted by an AR at range it might be worth it, but the learning curve is very steep.
I played about 4-5 hours. Mostly team DM, some domination, some HQ. How many times would I have been noob tubed in MW2. 50? 100? In BO, I've been noob tubed twice. In fact, this was in a single match, and I havent seen one before or since. Theyre simply no longer a problem. Theyre 3000CP to unlock, that costs more than the gun you'd be unlocking it for, instead of getting them as a freebie w/ 10 kills. You cant use them with warlord/bling, no DC, no OMA, no scavenger refills - theres a lot less reason to use them, and theyre much harder to use. Problem solved.
Another annoying thing about MW2 - constantly being bombarded by killstreaks. Well, in BO, killstreaks dont stack, so you rarely see the high ones. Ive had dogs unleashed on me once in 5 hours, and that was from a care package. I havent seen anyone get the chopper gunner or gunship. Just a few airstrikes here and there, and a few 7 killstreak choppers, but thats likely cause its the default. But they still exist, so what to do about them when they arise? Unlike cold blooded, ghost only protects you from spy planes. You have to unlock ghost pro to be protected from choppers, and that requires shooting 30 things out of the sky. People definitely want ghost pro, cause a lot of stuff is getting shot down. And speaking of ghost, since higher killstreaks are harder to get, and REALLY expensive to unlock, I'm seeing a ton of spy planes - so ghost by itself is a very damn useful perk.
This is going to blow your mind - so far, my favorite weapons are...the M14 and the skorpion. The semi autos really have a place in this game due to their long range accuracy and easy recoil control. And the skorpion is also crazy accuracy. Accuracy is now a very meaningful stat, because many guns simply are not. I really had a tough time using the enfield, the famas is slightly more accurate and is working out for me much better.
The wager matches are really fun, and really tense, but I have a feeling the novelty is going to wear off quick for many. Why? Because the wager amounts are very poorly chosen. The lowest is 10cp, so basically youre playing for funsies, because youll make more CP just playing regular MP. Its great that thats there - even parties are allowed, so you can play with your friends. The next step up used to be 100cp as shown in earlier videos/previews, but now medium wager is 1000cp. At this point, 1000cp is just waaaay too much for me to put on the line for a single game. High is 10000. 10000. Really? Thats like 50 games worth, 10 levels worth of CP. Thats absurd. Who on earth will ever wager that much? If you have that much saved, you can buy anything you want, hell, you probably already have, so theres not even any point to CP anymore. I agree that 100 is too low, you could still probably do better just playing regular MP. But 1000 is too high - 250 or 500 would be better. Hopefully they can change it, because I kinda expect an outcry over this. Maybe as you level up 1000cp becomes less significant, but from what I'm seeing, I doubt it. Boooooo!
And now for the really bad news. I'm really not enjoying the maps. IW simply makes better maps. You could describe the layout of any MW2 map in a sentence. Favela - lots of verticality, a ring of open space around it a maze of buildings in the center. Highrise - A building at each end, three paths through the top between them, one below, with a cut-through and raised platform horizontal through the middle. etc.
You can NOT say that for ANY BO map. Theyre all just mazes like WaW. None of them have any real individuality, save for maybe one or two. They vary in size, but all seem fairly large. I dont feel like I'm getting to know them, because theyre all so random. I dont like it. I can deal with it because theyre not terrible or anything and the rest of the game is so otherwise awesome, but this is really the low point of the package. There were only two MW2 maps I didnt like - derailed and fuel. The rest had personality, they were tight arenas where you got to know them and really formulated a specific strategy for them. I cant see that happening here, the maps are all too big, too random. Just think about the difference between MW2 maps and WaW maps, and youll know what I mean.
But I'll end with mentioning a bit about the stats. Did I mention theyre mind bogglingly exhaustive? Heat maps for where people died on a map for the last 20 games you've played. K/D and score graphs. A dummy showing where you shoot enemies on their body. A really fleshed out weapons section, showing kills, K/D, accuracy etc for each individual weapon, sortable by whatever you want, AND comparable with friends like XBL achievements. Stats for each mode, for equipment, for contracts, wagers, etc.....if you can think of it, its there. Seriously. I cant think of ANYTHING they could have possibly left out.