Call of Duty: Black Ops Review

Poor Treyarch. For years, the Santa Monica-based developer churned out one solid game after another for publisher Activision, yet the general gaming public doesn't pay much respect. Working on near-yearly licensed games (most notably the Spider-Man franchise) and rushed Call of Duty entries (Call of Duty 3 was developed and pushed out in the blink of an eye) is a thankless undertaking, but Treyarch usually manages to put together something worth playing. Little did we know that the Rodney Dangerfield of game development would finally get a chance to shine following the very public implosion of Infinity Ward -- the developer that birthed CoD and crafted the series' biggest hits. With Call of Duty: Black Ops, Treyarch finally shows the world what it can do with the time and money typically only afforded to bigger studios. The resulting game isn't perfect, but its proof-positive that the CoD franchise is in very good hands.

While previous CoD games thrust players into the combat boots of multiple soldiers from various countries, Black Ops takes a different approach, framing its entire narrative around one Alex Mason. As one of America's greatest Cold War soldiers, Mason heads behind enemy lines to participate in clandestine (AKA black) operations against communist forces in Cuba, Russia, and assorted countries in the Vietnam War theater. Of course, this being CoD, you can expect to plenty of action scenes, from a P.O.W. camp escape to the obligatory sinking ship evacuation. Thinking back on it, the biggest heart-pounding moments revolved around escapes of varying sorts.

I was initially unsure how the newfound single-character emphasis would work, but I found myself more invested than ever in Mason's story. The writers expertly, gradually unravel the conspiratorial story lurking beneath the aforementioned setpieces, and the narrative feels much more streamlined and cohesive for it. Part of this may be due to events in Black Ops feeling like they may have actually happened -- and this is amplified by the appearance of several era-appropriate political luminaries, one of whom sports a Boston accent that makes The Simpsons' Mayor Quimby seem realistic.

The campaign's biggest issue: It could have taken more opportunities to flesh out the CIA's (and, by extension, the U.S. government's) Cold War activities. Focusing primarily on the late 1960s makes good narrative sense, but I felt that Treyarch's writers -- given more leeway -- could have done much more with the story. Still, this is one of the franchise's best single-player offerings, even though the so-called twist ending really won't surprise anyone who's even half-paying attention.

With a campaign that lasts somewhere around seven hours (and that's on Hardened, the second-hardest difficulty), many players will spend the majority of their time with Black Ops' multiplayer modes, and rightfully so. Treyarch really shines here, improving on the tried-and-true CoD multiplayer experience in several ways. The biggest change: The unlock system now relies on earned in-game currency (CODPoints, or "CP" in the game's vernacular) rather than just level-dependent weapon and gear unlocks. Matches award both CPs and experience points; the latter helps you level up, while the former buys everything from weapons to perks to killstreak rewards.
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