Game Review: Call Of Duty: Black Ops

 

I’ve finally gotten to finish Black Ops (except Zombies, but I really don’t care for zombies). Understand that I came into Black Ops sceptical.  In the first trailer the first thing you see is these explosions that look like ass. From then on I kept me expectations low. And even after the release I still didn’t pick the game up for several weeks (problems with MW2 made me finally buy it). Here are my thoughts…

Single Player

Single Player is so-so. Some missions are pretty good for their use of history. Executive Command for example has you destroying a Russian Missile which is similar to an actual accident. Operation 40 has you on the Bay of Pigs Invasion. The Vorkuta Prison escape was also really well done.

On the other hand, the Vietnam, Kowloon and Laos missions were pretty bland. The mission WMD has some good moments but the whole spy plane is such a waste. Why did they even bother on something that you spend more time getting into than actually using? Some other complaints: Why was there no introduction to the RC-XD Car? The story isn’t great and a lot of the forced scenes are tedious and its annoying that you have to go through them EVERY TIME WITH NO SKIPPING! Some objectives aren’t clear… I’m looking at you Khe Sanh Napalm Barrels.

Multi Player

The multi-player is good. There are to big problems though. #1 is the maps. They’re all pretty uninspired and too small. Rundown time:

• Array: Good
• Cracked: Bad
• Crisis: Boring
• Firing Range: Meh
• Grid: Meh
• Hanoi: Good but rarely comes up
• Havana: Okay
• Jungle Meh
• Launch: Not bad this is probably the most interesting map
• Nuketown: Okay
• Radiation: Boring No one ever goes under ground, they wasted time on a useless door opener
• Summit: One of the better maps
• Villa: Really good sniping map
• WMD: Meh

Maybe I’m just hard to please.

The #2 thing wrong is the money/experience system. There’s a lot of little reasons so I’ll try my best to explain. For me moving Modern Warfare 2 along required unlocking weapons, unlocking the attachments and completing various challenges (usually gametype challenges). So I would play like this: Level Up, Get Gun, Get Attachments, Complete Gametype Challenge (Deathmatch, S&D, Demolition, Etc.) until I Prestige.

In Black Ops all that is thrown out the window. You only need to unlock Pro Perks. Everything else can be bought. So I focus on Pro Perks, which are a pain in the ass. I can’t really go into S&D if I’m trying to get PPs so I have to stay in TDM. So my experience so far has been level up in TDM until I get the AK47 and then just play that till I either get all my PPs or prestige (so far its only been the latter).

Another complaint: Noobs. Now I’m usually not one to complain about this, I mean, were all new at some point, right? But the issue I have is that people seem to be just taking their Xbox out of the box, putting in the game and then JOINING MY MATCHES AND GETTING 0-32! It’s ridiculous! And it happens all the time that I go to check their gamercard and the have 0 gamerscore. WHAT YOU COULDN’T BE BOTHER TO PLAY THE FIRST MISSION? YOU HAD TO COME STRAIGHT INTO MERCENARY TEAM DEATHMATCH AND YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW THE FUCKING CONTROLS??!?!?

Sorry, I just had to vent there.

There’s various other problems which you can find out for yourself (just search “Black Ops Sucks” you’ll get what your looking for)

Sound

The sound is actually top notch. Excellent voice over cast and good licensed music including Rolling Stones and CCR.

Graphics

Graphics weren’t impressive. They seemed worse than MW2 for some reason.

Positive Notes

There are several great steps though. First is the fact that you can play online with a guest. The theatre mode is good too.

Overall 7/10

I don’t think Black Ops is a worthy successor to the Modern Warfare duo. It’s good and fun to play, but it just doesn’t have the same impact that they had story wise and game play wise.

Game Review: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Modern Warfare 1 was easily one of my favourite games of all time. It had a great story and excellent multiplayer. Let's get "No Russian" out of the way. Yes it's pretty crazy, but it at least has some context (your a CIA operative and are trying to get close to a terrorist). Think about Grand Theft Auto, a series practically built on the ability to kill civilians. And in the rest of the game you fail if you accidentally kill a civilian, so it balances out.

Now further on in the story it gets ludicrous. Russia invades the U.S. basically the plot of Red Alert 2, instead of Kirovs there's choppers and planes. Where was my iron curtain?

So from there it becomes your standard "We're the US fightin off the ruskies". And that's the same problem MW1 had, the fun parts are when your the English team, not fun is with the US team. Why is that? My favourite missions are when your methodical, not frantic getting hit from all sides.

Now getting away from the story is multiplayer. Which is fantastic! The upgrade for weapons keep the game fun. It's just a blast to play. There seems like a limited number of maps, amd of course it has the love hate relationship with me as always. There's also the co-op which I felt should have been integrated with the story.

Programming: 9/10 : Overall pretty good, but the glitches such as the javelin glitch and the "private ranked match" glitch show that there could have been a little more time spent
Graphics: 9/10 : Good, but starting to show it's age
Story: 7/10 : Kind of ridiculous
Atmosphere: 7.5/10 : Not as fun as MW1
Multiplayer: 10/10 : Improves on MW1 10 fold
Overall: 9/10 : Overall still a great game, but not a classic like the first.

P.S. I thought they were joking on Bleep Bloop when they said Dick Cheney quotes show up when you die. Sure enough, they do. *facepalm*

Game Download Review: COD:WAW:MP1

Today I'll review the Call of Duty: World At War: Map Pack 1, I won't be reviewing the Zombies map though, just the multiplayer maps.

First is Nightfire: basically a night map in the streets of a German city (Berlin?) in flames. Now as a sniper the map is okay, it's not as big as Seelow and there's a couple of okay sniping spots. The map is pretty fun for objective based games like sabotage. And there is a variety of strategies one can use (ex. go through factory, alley, across street to sniper or enemy base, etc.) so you have to be on your feet.
Overall: 8/10
It's fun but there are areas for improvement.

Second is Station: Basically a recreation of the subway tunnels from the campaign, this map is a bit of a bitch because it seems as though there's ALWAYS someone behind you. This is because of the multiple tunnels that link from the main big tunnel to the secondary tunnels. There aren't any lighting issues here either. Also fun for games of sabotage. Sniping can be done here but it's kind of lame.
Overall: 8/10
Pretty good, sort of like the map Elongation from Halo 2.

Finally there's Knee Deep: This is definitely my favourite Pacific based map. It's quite large and features various sniping spots. Great fun for objective games and death match games alike. Starts out kind of boring but it really grows on you. Favourite map from the pack, better than the other Pacific maps like Makin and Courtyard (not sure of the name).
Overall: 9/10
All round very good.

BUY? Yes

Game Review: Call of Duty: World At War

Call of Duty has become the Law & Order of war shooters. Having games set in both the Modern area and World War II, it's become the gold standard for FPS shooters (with exception to Halo). And Call of Duty 5 holds that standard well. Many don't give Treyarch a fair shake. A lot view COD5 as a step back regardless of how it actually is.

But COD5 does well. Starting in the Pacific campaign, a welcome first for the series. And then switching back and forth between the Russian front. There's two missions I love in particular 1 involving a plane and the other tanks.

The multiplayer takes the system that COD4 started and improved on it. Throwing tanks in the mix is great. They are easy to take out but a skilled engineer (like myself) can dominate with them. Sniping feels to have improved immensely and I love havin' the ole Kar '98 in my hands.

Graphics sort of fell short in my opinion. Although they weren't bad by any means. It's just that I played it on the Wii with my sister and the opening scene looked identical. And to me it looked terrible. It just left a bad impression on me. The sound is great though. Keifer Sutherland and Gary Oldman both do voice overs (KS for the US, GO for the RS) and it's extremely good. One time me and my sister (while on co-op) were battling with tanks and shells going off. I cranked that shit up to 11 and loved the sound of the mortars going off beside us.

The programming is flawless as far as I can tell with no bugs. The missions jump around to fast. For example you leave the 1st Russian mission in Stalingrad, then your in the countryside chasing the retreating Germans then your practically hoisting the flag above Berlin! Feels almost to jumpy.

Programming: 9/10 : I don't think I've experienced a single bug. Outstanding.
Graphics: 8.5/10 : Graphics were good but fell short of expectations for me, especially with Brothers In Arms looking amazing
Story: 7.5/10 : Story was kind of weak, but I love Russia! For the motherland!
Atmosphere: 9/10 : I thought the Pacific Islands were wonderfully done as well as the Russian areas.
Multiplayer: 10/10 : Just as good as the Call of Duty 4 multiplayer but with tanks! HELL YES!
Overall: 9/10 : A lot of people were wondering how this would stand in comparison to COD4. It holds its own easily.

Demo Reviews: Endwar, COD5 and more!

Demo Reviews:
For demo reviews I'll be using a simple system GOOD good bad BAD(C) pretty self explanatory. And yeah I'm copyrightin' that biatch

Endwar
Good/Bad: BAD
Why? Because it's was just a horrible demo. It probably COULD have been a good demo. But some where along the line someone forgot one thing... THE GAMES A BASTARD TO CONTROL! Basically you control with your microphone headset. And it honestly works well and was pretty cool. But guess what, no f**king tutorial. Who's idea of a joke is this? I've seen tutorial for NORMAL GAMES THAT USE NORMAL CONTROLLERS?

So I start the offline demo and I have a command vehicle with some men. So I try to deploy the command vehicle thinking it's sort of like C&C, nope, it just sits there. Then why have it at all? Useless piece of shit. The game doesn't even tell me what I'm doing! I see the CPU is taking over control points, so I some how manage to take over one. But after that things went downhill. I accidentally said something wrong and the Command vehicle starts attacking my control point! "STOP! HALT!" I yell into the microphone, "RETREAT! GO TO BASE ALPHA! GO TO BASE DELTA!" And they just keep shooting at my base! During this time I had sent my tanks to go capture an enemy control point, and when I switch to them I see they are getting ass raped. I said "fu** this shit!" And immediately exited the demo. That's an insult to my intelligence. I f**king play games all my god damned life and they suddenly expect you to know what voice commands do what or how to even play the game! WHAT WERE THEY THINKING!? IT's insulting because they make it seem like drowning is a natural part of swimming. I'm sorry but how is getting my ass handed to me going to make me pay $60+ for your game. It's not. Terrible demo.

Duke Nukem 3D
Good/Bad: GOOD
Duke Nukem is from the Doom/Wolfenstein era of games. I had never play Duke before but it's humour and unique gameplay elements were impressive. If I had the money to afford more MSP then this would be downloaded right after Braid.

Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway
Good/Bad: Good
Good but short demo, basically the it's a tutorial (SOMETHING ENDWAR COULD HAVE USED) that teaches you the basic controls. The demo was quite solid and fun. Only complaint- Throwing grenades in doorways is a pain in the ass. Definantly a must buy/rent.

Too Human
Good/Bad:: Good
I'm surprised. I enjoyed this game. Alot. Dispite everything bad I've heard about it.It astounds me that the game is so beautiful. And then there's the story. Which seems pretty cool, basically about Vikings in the Space age. And really, what part of that isn't bad ass. Finally it's a long demo too, about an hour. I'd be crazy to buy it because of all the bad press but I'll likely buy it when it becomes a bit cheaper.

Call Of Duty 5: World at War Beta*
Well my experience so far has been positive. (EXCEPT FOR GETTING SCREWED OVER ON MY KNIFE KILLS SO MANY TIMES!) Basically it's COD4 but WWII, and I love it, the Japanese weapons are great as well as the Russian ones. There's three maps, Malkin which is a dark beach with buildings map, which is alright. There's Roundabout (I think that's what it's called) which is Russian, and features Tanks! Gods be praised! The final map is a Japanese or Chinese palace like area which has some good sniping opportunities. Other upgrades include dogs instead of helicopters, which surprisingly are far more effective than the helicopters ever were. I also enjoy Molotov Cocktails. The only other issue I've been having is spawning, which about 10% of the time has you being shot seconds after. But the game is tons of fun.

*I hope I'm not breaking some sort of agreement with this