Review: Call of Duty: Black Ops

[templargunman]

I don't know, I haven't really enjoyed a CoD campaign since Modern Warfare, which I think everyone can agree was really good. MW2 seemed a bit too over the top, and WaW couldn't get too exciting as it was trying to revive the dying world war II FPS. This though, this I honestly didn't enjoy, I played it on a friends xbox, and it felt like a poorly written movie with some gameplay. The thing most game developers don't get is that their games are never going to be movie quality. You can't make black hawk down quality war games. With that in mind, developers should try to keep cutscenes low as possible, like in CoD, where most of the story was told while you actually played it. But people really need to stop making games like movies. Bioshock was good because instead of trying to show you the world they created it, and tell you what you're doing, they put you in it and had you do it. That was my problem with mafia, it wasn't Godfather or Goodfellas quality, but they tried to give you a movie. I don't know, I guess I'm just ranting.

 

[Weaver]

Russ Pitts, you are a beacon of light in the bandwagon jumping and suck up reviews that has become mass market video games. I salute you.

 

[mechanixis]

As the first CoD entry under Activision's new policy of "Run our brands into the ground annually," it's not surprising that the game is less than polished. Modern Warfare 2's campaign only worked for me because after one or two missions of serious 'realistic' story and setting, the writers seemed to go "Eeeeehhhh FUCK IT, Russians invade the US, you are now James Bond." That's a stunt that only really works once.

Should've gotten Brad Neely to do Kennedy's voice, too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7y2xPucnAo

 

[lacktheknack]

a review could say "well this game is really bad" but then the player decides to go out and try it for themselves and discoveres that they like it. I think more people should do that. I write my own reviews at times aswell, I plan to write one for Black Ops and possibly Arcania: Gothic 4. Though even reviewing these, I hope people learn more about the game and then try it for themselves.

But here's the thing: They didn't release a demo (on PC, anyways). So the only way I can "try it" is to pirate it. Which I will not do.

So, I look to the reviews. My favorite review site (this one) gives it TWO STARS, and that's me no longer considering it. I'm a student, I can't afford more than three or four big-budget games per year.

And this kind of game is a bad one to trust the user reviews on. 60% go in loving it before they picked it up (not trustworthy), 35% go in with a grudge against CoD and everything to do with it (hatedom), and 5% are fair. Not worth all the filtering when there's a professional reviewer I know who's tastes are similar to mine. I'd be sad if professional reviewers disappeared.

And this entire thing could have been avoided if they had just shoved out a demo.

Uh, go over to someone's house who has it on another platform or PC and play it there? I think you forgot that bit, and if you don't thats not their fault thats yours. Sure they probably should have a demo, but like a lot of developers have said "You know how hard it is to get a demo right? What you might show might not go with some people becuase we so happenly showed a bad part."

Very, very, very weak.

The only person I know who has it pirated it, I'm not supporting that in any form. And it's not MY fault they don't know their OWN GAME well enough to choose a decent demo section. If it's really that hard to find one, then that's one more reason why I shouldn't bother.

 

[hem dazon 90]

Well that was one scathing review.

A pity in a way. I've never bought or played a Call of Duty game, but I was seriously considering Black Ops. I liked the 'shady underbelly' premise and the Cold War and Vietnam settings; seemed to offer a little variety and a slight departure from the unadulterated heroics of other titles.

Still I won't exactly be crying myself to sleep over it. There will always be plenty more shooters, meanwhile the Mojave Wasteland is still beckoning to be explored...

Get it. Seriously if you like cold war stuff this game is for you.

 

[fKd]

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.

games are really expensive yo, paying 60 bucks a time to try a game is really not an option. but after playing the sp a bit i have to agree, the game is weak... meta critic really hits it on the head.. review score 9.3. user score 3.7

then there is this: http://www.gameplanet.co.nz/xbox/games/162452.Call-of-Duty-Black-Ops/news/136024.20101103.UPDATED-Activision-hosts-invitational-Black-Ops-review-event/

guess you really cant fool all the people all the time eh?

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

Snip

Well, I won't say I agree with you nor do I think this is a full review since your only reviewing one half of the game that can be played in single player (or one third depending on how you count Dead Ops Arcade) but I do have to respect your opinion and I am glad to see the Escapist isn't at all scared to trash basically the hottest anticipated game of the entire year. That is why I trust your guys opinion above any other on the internet.

 

[ElephantGuts]

I must say I'm glad to see someone reviewing the game for its actual substance and content instead of arbitrarily throwing good reviews at it just because it's a Call of Duty game and it's expected to be good.

 

[MadGodXero]

Hmmm, I won't be getting this for the sheer fact of No Xbox live, and no friends on PSN =[. Me crying aside, I would pick it up to jump on the bandwagon, but mass effect 2 and Fable 3, along with a myriad of other games, are beckoning. Great review! Keep it up!

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

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.

Your falling into a rather common fallacy that people who read reviews are using them as intended. Most people read reviews for two reasons. First, for entertainment. Second, to confirm or challenge their own thoughts on the title.

Russ' review, despite it's profesional presentation and the size and scope of the website hosting it, will not affect the sales of a Call of Duty title one bit. Not one iota. He could have said the game was twenty minutes long and the disk was pressed from the bones of dead babies and people would flock to their local Gamestop in droves for the midnight launch.

Why are you saying "would flock" when "have flocked" is more accurate, considering this game broke every sales record on the planet before a single review was out?

 

[MiracleOfSound]

[

Fair enough, you have a good point; I haven't seen a review as bad as this one either. My brother's going to play it this afternoon at a friend's, if he's impressed enough he might buy it himself; I'm too cautious to blow to my own money on this one.

Yeah, every person I've spoken to has loved the campaign.

I thought it was the best one so far. The story was awesome, full of mystery and suspense, it almost felt X-Files-ish or something.

I have no idea how Mr Pitts came to the conclusion that it was torturous, but hey each to their own. For me it was 8 hours of pure fun and adrenalin, minus one or two frustrating sections where bugs and poor signposting stumped my progress.

 

[The Wooster]

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.

Your falling into a rather common fallacy that people who read reviews are using them as intended. Most people read reviews for two reasons. First, for entertainment. Second, to confirm or challenge their own thoughts on the title.

Russ' review, despite it's profesional presentation and the size and scope of the website hosting it, will not affect the sales of a Call of Duty title one bit. Not one iota. He could have said the game was twenty minutes long and the disk was pressed from the bones of dead babies and people would flock to their local Gamestop in droves for the midnight launch.

Why are you saying "would flock" when "have flocked" is more accurate, considering this game broke every sales record on the planet before a single review was out?

Because the first part of the sentence is a hypothetical situation. Using "have flocked" would imply that Russ "had" claimed that the game disk was pressed from the bones of dead babies. Unless the video segment of the review is radically different from the written one I don't think that's the case.

If you want to get technical it should have been "would still."

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

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.

Your falling into a rather common fallacy that people who read reviews are using them as intended. Most people read reviews for two reasons. First, for entertainment. Second, to confirm or challenge their own thoughts on the title.

Russ' review, despite it's profesional presentation and the size and scope of the website hosting it, will not affect the sales of a Call of Duty title one bit. Not one iota. He could have said the game was twenty minutes long and the disk was pressed from the bones of dead babies and people would flock to their local Gamestop in droves for the midnight launch.

Why are you saying "would flock" when "have flocked" is more accurate, considering this game broke every sales record on the planet before a single review was out?

Because the first part of the sentence is a hypothetical situation. Using "have flocked" would imply that Russ "had" claimed that the game disk was pressed from the bones of dead babies. Unless the video segment of the review is radically different from the written one I don't think that's the case.

If you want to get technical it should have been "would still."

Touche'.

 

[DalekJaas]

Disagree with the review. Black Ops is the best CoD I have ever played, the story was great, long and full of action. The story was coherent and interesting, unlike MW2.

The multiplayer is great, the maps are huge and balanced (especially for SND scrims) and so much detail has gone into so much that other cod games ignore. Like the wildlife! This game blew me away with how good it was. I was slightly sceptical with how bad MW2 was but this game proved that the CoD series still had a lot to give. Every mission; from flying the Blackbird to using the mouse buttons to drown a guy impressed me!

For some reason I get the impression that the reviewer didn't even finish the game, i wouldnt be surprised considering that his review was 'the voice acting was bad (which it wasn't, it had actual actors doing the voices) the story was bad (script was written by someone who did the Dark Night's script or something)and 'I hate flashy moments'.

The good reviews the game is receiving are justly earned, for anyone who doesn't know if they should buy the game I would recommended it, but first check out some real reviews by proper companies.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

Well that was one scathing review.

A pity in a way. I've never bought or played a Call of Duty game, but I was seriously considering Black Ops. .

Don't let the review sway you, remember it's all just opinions.

Listen to your fellow gamers who have played the game... the campaign is awesome and anyone I've talked to has loved it. Personally I thought that apart from some annoying bugs it was the best COD to date.

 

[Electrogecko]

so... October/November was really a downer for both Activision and EA?

Considering Black Ops just broke every entertainment launch record in history, outselling even MW2, I'd say Activision had a pretty good month.

A bad review on the Escapist is hardly going to make Bobby Kotick sob into his mountain of dollar bills.

It out sold MW2?

Wow, didn't think it would achieve that milestone. Most COD fans don't really like Treyarch

Most CoD fans don't don't give 2 shits about what developer worked on the game.
Most of the people that bought the game probably weren't even aware that it changed hands.

 

[0p3rati0n]

I didn't think the voice acting was all that bad. The story line kinda felt like a Twilight Zone episode with a lot of guns and explosions. The Cutscense were good. I mean when the hell have you see a good cutscene in call of duty that wasn't a CG intel briefing thing? Oh that's right never! Yeah Call of Duty 2: Big Red One has cutscenes. But they were trash. Same as Call of Duty 3 but that game was just terrible in general!

Spoiler: this spoiler the ending a bit

I was actually kinda sad to find out that Resnov was just a hallucination and he died after the second level. I mean he was fucking cool! When you brake out of Vercudia (however you spell it) he looks like a Pirate! How cooler could he get?

 

[Madara XIII]

Come on you didn't even mention the best part of the game! on that computer in the main menu, you can play Zork I! Mother Effin Zork

LOL God forbid the Squad goes into a dark area and are all consumed by a Grue....
That would be badass!!