Call of Duty: Black Ops

The underlying perception over the years, when looking at the Call of Duty franchise, has been that Infinity Ward is first team, and Treyarch sits on the bench to be used as a sort of rolling substitute every other year. Like the pretty girl's not quite so pretty sister, the Treyarch-developed titles in the series have generally been well received but overshadowed by the efforts of Activision's favourite developer. When Infinity Ward all but imploded after the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, we all knew that Treyarch would have to step up to the plate and try to create something on par with the best selling shooter of all time. Quite a challenge for any studio, but one which Treyarch has seemingly taken in its stride. You see, against all odds, Call of Duty: Black Ops is not only a worthy successor to the wildly popular Modern Warfare 2, but is in many ways the superior action experience.

As a single-player campaign, what sets Black Ops apart from its predecessor from the very beginning is its strong focus on narrative and context. This is the first time in the series' history that there has been such emphasis put on developing the story, making a surprisingly deep plot more important to the player than ever before. There are still all kinds of over-the-top set pieces and twists in the tale, some predictable while other plot developments are genuinely surprising, but it's all wrapped up in a far darker and sometimes even unsettling story which propels the Black Ops campaign well ahead of its predecessor.

A series standard for Call of Duty games is the use of multiple player characters to tell the story from various viewpoints, and Black Ops is no exception. Even so, this time there is a definite primary character, Studies and Observations Group operative Alex Mason. The campaign starts off with Mason strapped to a chair in a darkened room filled with monitors and flickering fluorescent lights, being interrogated by the disguised voice of an unknown entity who watches from an observation window. Bursts of electricity are sent coursing through our character's body, his reluctance to answer the questions being thrown at him making his captor more and more aggressive, until eventually Mason slips into a semi-conscious state. This sets us up for the first of many flashbacks which act as the main story telling mechanic as the hidden interrogator digs deeper and deeper into Mason's subconscious to find the answers he needs. It's all about a sequence of numbers, numbers which are embedded in Mason's mind, numbers which haunt him continually and which are at the root of the whole story.

The use of flashbacks as a narrative tool is far from original, but the way it has been executed here is incredibly immersive, building a brooding and engrossing atmosphere. The immersion is magnified by the way pre-mission cut scenes are delivered, all within the framework of the interrogation so that you never feel like you are being yanked out of the experience. Each flashback starts and ends in the interrogation room, with the voice of your captor narrating your past as you slip in and out of consciousness, all accompanied by some brilliantly edited video which has a real delirious nightmare feel to it. It's the sort of thing that you really need to see in action to get the full picture, a sensory overload which creates an authentic feeling of the delusional mental breakdown which Mason goes through at the hands of his interrogator.

The first flashback takes our man to a bar in Havana, Cuba, where we meet squad mates Woods and Bowman, two non-player characters who accompany Mason for much of the campaign. Within moments the situation turns sour and the three of them are locked in a firefight with the local militia, pushing through the dark streets with the primary objective to assassinate Fidel Castro. From there things just escalate and the whole story really takes off, but almost everything that happens is so integral to the plot that it's incredibly difficult to say anything about the plot without spoiling some of the clever twists and turns that the campaign leads you through. It's rare that a first-person shooter has such a gripping and intelligent narrative, and it's something that you need to unravel on your own. Without going into details, the story flicks between the streets and villas of Havana, the hellish Russian prison of Vorkuta, up to a desperate chase across the rain-soaked rooftops of Kowloon, Hong Kong, to the jungles and tunnels of Vietnam, and plenty more, as the various characters you control each play their part in the search for a deadly new chemical agent, Nova 6, and the people responsible for weaponizing it. It's the kind of game where, once you've finished the campaign, you won't believe how much variety, how many tense moments, how many stunning environments you've just experienced, all crammed into about six or seven awe-inspiring hours.

Diversity is a key element in the single-player campaign, as it was in the Modern Warfare titles. Don't think you'll spend your time with Black Ops just running from cover to cover, popping up your iron-sights and taking down Tangos. Through the course of this game be prepared to destroy enemy fire bases with a gigantic elastic slingshot, pilot a Blackbird to guide your fire team from afar, paint tanks for air strikes, clear out Vietcong rat tunnels (and subsequently try to dig yourself out or be buried alive), take a riverboat upstream while blasting everything in sight, rappel down a snowy mountainside while taking out enemies, and much more. Hardly a mission goes by without something new coming into play, whether it's taking out rooms of bad guys with your explosive crossbow arrows or piloting a stolen Hind helicopter. The flashback nature of the storytelling also lends itself to diversity, because the lack of a specific timeline to restrict things means that a mission at the end of World War II fits in seamlessly alongside a gruesome firefight in the trenches of Khe Sahn during the Vietnam war. Most missions put the player in the muddy boots of Alex Mason, but there are also sections played as Russian Viktor Reznov and ice cold CIA operative Jason Hudson, and these different perspectives also do well to add to the diversity.

Looking beyond all the scripted events and crazy set pieces, the action which drives the story onwards sticks closely to that of the modern Call of Duty formula. Modern Warfare 2 had very tight and intuitive controls, so Treyarch obviously felt no reason to mess with it, and it all works just as well here. Due to the time frame in which the story takes place, weapons and technology aren't as advanced as what you had at your disposal in the Modern Warfare titles, but the change has hardly any effect on gameplay. Any once-off QuickTime gameplay mechanics which may pop up during a mission are clearly explained via a quick pop-up showing the required button inputs, none of which are so complicated that you will need to think twice before executing them.

One change to the way the game plays this year related to the intensity of the many firefights which take up a lot of your play time in Black Ops. There are quite a few sections where your enemies seem relentless, laying constant suppressing fire across the battlefield, as do your squad mates, making for some exhausting moments of combat. It's not that it becomes more difficult, just more intense, especially with a good surround sound set-up where the constant gunfire can become like a blanket of noise after prolonged exposure. Adding to this are the few times where enemies respawn like rabbits with no end in sight until you move up to the next waypoint, meaning that unless you progress you will be stuck in a firefight for what feels like eternity. Linear sections with a limited number of enemies to contend with are far more focused and tense, and they make up the majority of the game.

Enemy AI hasn't made any great advancements since Modern Warfare 2, so don't expect to see the Vietcong acting with much regard for their own safety. There are times when more advanced enemies will try to roll out of the way of gunfire, but for the most part things tend to break down to a bloody and satisfying shooting gallery as they pop up from behind cover for you to shoot them in the head. On that subject, it needs to be said that Black Ops is by far the most gruesome and violent game the Call of Duty franchise has ever seen. Legs, heads, hands and arms are blasted off with reckless abandon, accompanied by wild spurts of crimson arcing through the air. Tomahawk hatchets to the neck, knives through eye sockets, broken glass shoved down throats, it's all here and all happening right in front of you. There may not be a "No Russian" level for the conservative press to focus their aggression on, but there is more gore and brutality than you're likely to see outside of a survival horror game. The violence is made all the more impactful thanks to the quality of the graphics, from the richly detailed environments to the lifelike motion capture and facial animations which really bring the character interactions to life. Subtle visual elements, things that you hardly notice until you look closely, add up to make a very believable game world that becomes the stage for the many memorable moments which make up the Black Ops campaign.

The immerse qualities of the top notch graphics are bolstered by the use of sound, voice work and music to build the atmosphere. The absorbing feeling generated by the disturbing and angst-ridden interrogation sequences is amplified by the kinds of schizophrenic soundscapes of a bad acid trip, with ambient noises and distorted voices setting the mood perfectly. The heat of battle is also represented accordingly, with the shrill cries of fallen comrades complemented by the deafening thunder of enemy gunfire. As with the Modern Warfare titles, a fair amount of the development budget went to securing proper voice talent, and again it pays dividends for Black Ops. Rapper and actor Ice Cube is instantly recognisable as squad mate Bowman, as is veteran actor Ed Harris in his role as Jason Hudson, to name just two of the impressive cast. Just the fact that the lead character, Mason, also has a voice and personality this time around goes a long way to building a relationship between player and character, something that has been lacking in previous Call of Duty releases. Finishing off the excellent sound direction for Black Ops is a selection of music befitting the action on-screen. Cruising up a Vietnam river to the sound of the Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil" is a sublime moment. Elsewhere the soundtrack is less in line with the time in history, but works well in the context of the action, with some hard electronica and metal riffs punctuating the air to get the blood pumping. A new Eminem track playing during the ending credits, however, seems more than slightly out of place.

So, we have a single-player campaign that grabs you by the throat and won't let you go until the credits roll, accompanied by a great cast, slick and diverse gameplay, and impressive sound to set the mood. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 also had a lot of that, sure, but that's not the reason Infinity Ward's shooter is still spinning in countless disc drives across the globe. What sets Modern Warfare 2 apart from lesser first-person shooters is its addictive and fully-featured multiplayer component, something which Treyarch has taken and improved upon for Black Ops. A multiplayer mode is essential for any shooter these days, but too many developers get lazy and leave the multiplayer component feeling like it was hacked on at the last minute. The Call of Duty boys know the value of high quality addictive multiplayer, because that's what keeps gamers tuned in long after the single-player credits have rolled. Considering the seemingly unending popularity of Modern Warfare 2 on Xbox LIVE, Treyarch could possibly have gotten away with just slipping a Black Ops-style skin over the top of the MW2 multiplayer, but instead they went to some lengths to make this a more unique experience.

Besides the innovative additions to the existing game modes, including 'One in the chamber', which gives each player a pistol and a bullet and three lives, with additional bullets earned for a kill, and 'Gun Game', where each player starts off with the same low level weapon which is replaced with more potent weapons as they earn more kills, there are a few defining developments this time around that keep things fresh. The first of these is the increased focus on customization. Players will now have to earn experience to unlock the ability to customize everything from their face paint to their player badge, to the name or design etched into their guns. Once you reach a certain level you can create user-defined killstreak perks and weapon load-outs including attachments and upgrades. This may all sound unimportant, but it's amazing how these changes increase the connection between the player and the on-screen character. It makes you feel more part of the game.

A second factor which goes a long way to add depth to the multiplayer is the addition of CoD Points, an in-game currency which is earned alongside experience points. These points are essential for unlocking everything from new weapons to accessories, to major upgrades and perks. CoD Points go hand in hand with the new Contracts and Wager match types too. Contracts are basically specific challenges which you have to complete within a match, like scoring a certain number of headshots or knife kills and so on, earning CoD Points for a successful contract. The key here is that you need to pay CoD Points to attempt a contract, and the more difficult the contract the higher the earnings should you complete it. If you think you are pretty lethal in the field of battle, the new Wager mode is the place to prove it. Everyone puts a specific number of CoD Points down to enter, and at the end of the match all the points are divided proportionately between the top three players. Everyone else walks away with nothing. It's also during the Wager matches that the more interesting new game modes come into play, so it's well worth trying them out once you've earned your stripes in the usual multiplayer modes.

Another great addition that the Black Ops multiplayer brings to the table is the new Combat Training mode, something that is so useful I can't believe it took so long for it to appear in a Call of Duty title. Basically Combat Training gives newcomers the chance to learn the ropes of the muliplayer game without the frustration that comes with being repeatedly shot in the face by one of the millions of multiplayer veterans out there. Instead of ruthless teenagers, you will now be up against a team of bots who are far smarter than the usual single-player AI enemies. You even get to play around with killsteak perks and experience points and so on, but none of the experience earned during training can be carried over to the proper multiplayer. What is rather odd is that the Combat Training mode is not available offline, a sad fact for those without access to Xbox LIVE at home who still want a taste of multiplayer gaming. Finishing off an impressive array of multiplayer features is the light-hearted but frantic Zombie Mode which is at its best when played with three other gamers co-operatively. Mowing down constant waves of enraged zombies just never seems to get old, so it's great to see this feature back for Black Ops.

It's worth mentioning that creating locally hosted ranked games on Xbox LIVE is an on-going problem, because even if you have a party full of South African gamers with 4Mbit lines, it still throws everyone into internationally hosted matches more often that not. That being said, lag was rarely a problem during my time with Black Ops online, even in international games, and while it's difficult to create local ranked games, if you full up your friends list with South African gamers, you shouldn't find it too difficult to locate the local games that have been successfully created.

All things considered, the multiplayer component of Treyarch's shooter is diverse and well balanced. The learning curve is steep for newcomers, but it's a rewarding experience, made all the more accessible this time around thanks to the handy training mode. The expanded customization options, along with the addictive new game modes and intruiging CoD Points system all add up to a multiplayer experience worthy of the Call of Duty name, possibly even overtaking Modern Warfare 2 at the top of the pile.

As great as the multiplayer may be, the Black Ops campaign really does deserve your full attention, because Treyarch has clearly put a lot of effort into making this the most intense and thought-provoking Call of Duty title yet. Gameplay is tight and fast paced, and even though the action can be overwhelming at times, the clever storytelling will compell you to push onwards for the seven or so hours it takes to reach the end of this blood soaked roller coaster ride. Infinity Ward may have been rebuilt, and are probably already working on the next title in the series as you read this, but with Call of Duty: Black Ops Treyarch has shown that they aren't just some second-string developer, and are more than capable of producing some of the most thrilling gaming moments this generation has to offer. In terms of its sheer playability, the momentum of its narrative and its feature-laden multiplayer makes Call of Duty: Black Ops the new benchmark in first-person shooters, and should prove a tough one to beat.

Pros:

Great storyline and atmosphere
Diverse gameplay elements keep things intense and moving at a rapid rate from start to finish
Extremely addictive and rewarding multiplayer improves on Modern Warfare 2 in almost every way

Cons: