Review: Call of Duty: Black Ops

[Julianking93]

I got Black Ops last night and only played the single player for a bit and... I totally agree. I don't know what the fuck is going on and it just isn't really that fun.

Plus, Sam Worthington's stupid voice is annoying me.

Though, I've been playing the online modes mostly and, I can honestly say that that alone makes the game worth it.

That's saying a lot for me since I typically despise any game that relies only on its multiplayer modes to get by.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

*slinks back to Medal of Honor*

FUCK YOU, TIER 1 MODE!

Shame about the story mode here. I always had an affection for Treyarch's previous CoDs. I liked 3, and WaW reigns as my favorite CoD campaign.

 

[Retardinator]

It's sad, I love the escapist, but people take these reviews as if they're only right. I think their shouldn't be perfessonal reviews anymore for any game, only user reviews.

No offense, but seriously, people read this and then say "well this guy says it sucks, so it must suck." Without ever even trying it. People should try games for themselves, not just going off the opinion of others.

I am not saying this review is right or wrong, its someones opinion and I don't want to change that, I just hate when reviewer's opinions are taken above anyone elses.

And user reviews would be different...how, exactly? Assuming, of course, people paid any attention to them, which is all folks are doing here. They're reading the review, and deciding for themselves whether or not they still want to get the game. Paying attention to a professional reviewer and paying attention to an amateur one is no different.

But it's what you expect from a review that counts. I often regard user reviews as very amateurish and subjective, where at least 50% of the written content will be either fanboys writing "its great gaem get it" or haters saying it sucks. The user reviews here on the Escapist are the only ones I approach differently.

Professional reviews are supposed to be objective and informative. If they don't stand up to that, they're not supposed to be called professional. Nowadays it seems like such reviews don't even exist. IGN, for example, praises new Call of Duties and Halos and constantly runs announcements for Maddens and whatnot like it's going to be a new breakthrough in sports gaming, all while ignoring a lot of quality games that aren't from EA or Activision and don't bear the goddamn Halo title.

 

[HK_01]

Harsh review. Especially cause this game looks to be so much better than MW2 was. I guess it isn't...

 

[Outright Villainy]

I guess each to his own, although the sales wil tell all in the end eh?

Whatever about the actual quality of the game, I don't think you can seriously suggest game sales are a useful metric for quality, do you?

 

[[zonking great]]

The storyline nothing special? Geez, the first time you

Spoiler

Set foot in Vietnam, CCR's Fortunate Son is playing.

Furthermore,

Spoiler

The boat level is a homage to Apocalypse Now. I mean, it even has the Rolling Stones playing!

Lastly,

Spoiler

MY NAME IS VIKTOR REZNOV! This theory began playing in my mind around the time you got in the tunnel with Swift. I am glad my senses for this kind of thing haven't dulled. And it's not as strange as you think!

 

[Yossarian1507]

So, this review basically destroyed Black Ops, but there are far more positive than negative comments here.

On Metacritic, Black Ops has 90/100, while it's 6.2/10 in user reviews.

Ho hum, looks like the world is torn apart on this one, so should I buy it?

Oh, to hell with it. The last CoD I bought and enjoyed was CoD I and United Offensive. After that I lost the interest in series, so I guess I can skip this one as well. At least, I'll save some money for AC: Brotherhood.

 

[tekdev69]

I personally think that Black Ops single-player campaign's plot is the best in the series. However performance issues (I play FPSes on my PC) made the multiplayer unplayable for me. And multiplayer is what counts in a Call of Duty game.

I had no problems whatsoever with World at War, so you can imagine my disappointment.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

Consumer's jobs are to not do this. Wise spending includes prejudice to a product you haven't tried.

So how do you define wise spending then?

Not buying a game because a critic didn't like it? That seems even more unwise to me.

What are the criteria you use when buying a game?

 

[Tiamat666]

Well, that's what they get for releasing the same game every year.

That pretty much sums up the state of the CoD franchise.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

I am just loving the butthurt fan rage on this thread.

Music to my ears.

I'm not noticing any fan rage actually, just a few people giving their views, which happen to be different to the re viewer's.

And why would people being upset make you happy anyway?

 

[ohgodalex]

Oh, look. Another Russ Pitts review in which his absolutely atrocious taste in games overrides how much I might like him otherwise.
First he likes Blood Stone and now this? What the fuck you guys. You wouldn't hire a music critic who hated Nevermind but shit his pants over any Nickelback album.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

this is why The Escapist is not factored into the metacritic scores, because the big publishers pay good money for rigged reviews and they can't have some independent-thinker out there can they?

sad, really, as this is the ONLY site that has fairly judged Black Ops for what it was SUPPOSED to be, and that was an intense, gritty game that made you excited, not bored or angry.

now all we judge games most games off of is their multiplayer... i weep for humanity...

Have you played Black Ops? Anyone I've spoken to loved the campaign.

Also, the Escapist score does appear on Metacritic,I'm sure it will just take a day or two.

 

[etherlance]

See I was considering buying this game, but on the night it came out some guys i know were playing it and kept telling how bad it was both in single and multi-player.

I will not be buying this game, I'll use my money on some other more deserving game.

 

[ThreeKneeNick]

It probably took a lot of balls to publish that review. I watched Gamespot's review yesterday and they literally did not say one negative thing about it and than slapped "only" a 9 on it as the score, which i found odd. I know you only concentrated on single player whilst they did the whole thing but come on. Props to you for being honest.

 

[TheRealCJ]

Wait, do you REALLY consider THIS story ridiculous and mish-mashed compared to MW2?

Geez.

 

[pokkuti]

I regretted buying this game on first day on Steam.

 

[The Great JT]

Glad to see some people aren't giving this 10s across the board.

Call of Duty guys? Yeah, hi, one-time consumer talking. GO BACK TO WORLD WAR II!!