‘Ops’ doesn’t answer call of duty

Originally published in the Dec. 1, 2010 issue of the Coast Report
By Parker Shannon, Staff Writer

 Photo courtesy of Activision

“Call of Duty: Black Ops” isn’t all that it was cracked up to be.

Most of the single-player campaign is spent watching in-game cut-scenes that take control completely out of the player’s hands and the rest offers wave after wave of generic foreign bad guys.

The story revolves around a large conspiracy involving Russian plans to attack America. The main playable character, Alex Mason, is at the heart of Russia’s MK-ULTRA-esque plan and spends most of his time recalling memories for his mysterious interrogators.

The voice acting and cinematics in Black Ops are very well done and are effective at bringing believability to the game but the amount of time spent in exposition greatly detracts from what makes a first-person-shooter great: the shooting.

Control is taken out of players’ hands several times in each level to highlight certain cinematic moments, offering only the ability to turn the main character’s head slightly from right to left until the scene is over.

Multiplayer, which is arguably the only reason people buy Call of Duty games, is a decent experience. The process of finding and joining an online match takes slightly longer than in the previous installment. The menus in interface are dim and dense and players will find themselves wading through several inaccessible options until they rank up to a high enough level.

Several new multiplayer gametypes, termed wager matches, attempt to mix up the online fair slightly but only one succeeds.

“Gun Game” has players moving up from the game’s weakest weapon to the most powerful with each successive kill. While this may seem like a fun, fast-paced gametype, it really just teases players with a fun gun and then takes it away as soon as it’s mastered.

“Sharpshooter” switches all players’ guns out every 45 seconds. This is useful in giving each player in a match an opportunity to shine if his or her favorite weapon becomes available but as with “Gun Game,” it eventually becomes frustrating when you figure out how to properly use a particular weapon and it gets taken away.

The one wager match that really adds something special to the game is “One in the Chamber.” This gametype gives players only a pistol with one bullet and a knife. When a player gets a kill with his pistol, he gets another bullet, but if he misses he has to fight with his knife. This mode creates a very tense atmosphere and really tests players’ ability to remain calm and aim carefully.

All in all, Black Ops is not the best game in the Call of Duty series. While it does offer impressive voice acting, cinematics, graphics and fun multiplayer, it is lacking in single-player experience and innovation.

If you’re looking for a war-based shooter this year, you’d be just as happy buying last year’s “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.”