Activision Call of Duty: Black Ops 84004 PlayStation 3 Games
Features:
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Wide array of play modes including single player, local multiplayer versus and online co-op and multiplayer
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Seventh installment of the Call of Duty series, based on the live fire conflicts of the Cold War era
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Diverse variety of play setting ranging from urban air and ground combat in SE Asia, to snow combat in Soviet region and jungle combat
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Blending of traditional COD and new first-person character scenarios designed to both retain the essence of the COD gaming experience and ensure constantly flowing and varied action
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New arsenal of weapons and vehicles tied to the Cold War era, including the SR-71 Blackbird and sited explosive-tipped crossbows
Average Customer Review:
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192 of 233 found the following review helpful:
REVIEW FOR NON-ONLINE PLAYERSNov 24, 2010
By J. Loftus Ok, let me begin this review by saying I love shooters and have been playing them ever since I was a kid and Wolfenstien was on PC. That evolved to Goldeneye on Nintendo 64. That all changed when Metal Gear Solid came out for PS1 and I now wanted a good story to go along with my gameplay. I have always kind of liked the COD world war series, but never got into it. When MW1 came out I was blown away, I loved the game and it had a good story to tell. My only complaint with MW2 was that the story was not only lacking, but down right stupid. I never got into multiplayer because I don't have the time to train myself to compete with a bunch of 5th graders who spend 40 hours a week playing the game.
This all leads me to Black Ops, as with all 1st person shooters the campaign is short, yet good. The action is intense and the overall gaming is fun. What made the campaign even more fun was that I felt fully drawn into the game due to the compelling story. I actually wanted to check out zombies but I could not draw myself away from the campaign in order to check it out. The story was that good; I wanted to find out what happens. I'm not going into detail what the story is about because you probably already read that somewhere else. As far as the graphics, I thought they looked sharp. The scenery was not as sharp as MW2 because their seemed to be a haze in the air everywhere I went but it was still looking good. My favorite part was in Vietnam they started playing rock music from the time of the Vietnam War, which made it fill even more authentic.
As far as zombies go, it's fun to shoot zombies every now and then when I have a few free minutes so it's a nice add-on bonus.
Bottom line, if you are a lone wolf player like me, this is definitely the game for you. If you are a strictly on-line player, read someone else's review.
182 of 245 found the following review helpful:
The First Person Shooter Evolves...Finally ***UPDATE***Nov 10, 2010
By Jared Burdick
"JBurd"
***UPDATE*** After having spent substantial time with Black Ops, I stand by my initial impressions. The overall balancing has proven to be exceptional as there is no single "money" class to exploit or be forced to use in tough games. The maps are fun, weapons and upgrade system a blast and all of the customization available makes the game really enjoyable.
There is a big negative. As mentioned in my original review - connection is a serious issue. Lag, framerate drops, freezes...pretty much any connection problem you can think of applies. Patch 1.04 is on the way from Treyarch to address some of these issues, but connection certainly mars what is an otherwise great online experience.
***END UPDATE***
I'm about 42 hours into the game. I would consider myself a hardcore-console gamer (if there is such thing). I logged 25+ days on MW2 and have spent time with BFBC2, Killzone2 and pretty much every other game that involves shooting other people in the face - online. The review is aimed at people who may have been turned off after MW2.
Campaign mode - I wouldn't know cause I don't play it. I hear it takes 6 hours, so probably just a rental if that's all you're interested in.
Online
* The fixes - noob toobing, commando, stoping power, one man army, boosting, tactical insertions, stacking killstreaks, explosive radius nerfed - ALL GONE. If that means anything to you, then you already love this game.
*The Mechanics - best in the console market. Period. The guns are NOT all the same. No more UMP45 across the map kills. It also requires more hits to get a kill. This is good and bad - see connections below.
*Graphics/Sound - The maps look phenominal, but the player models are mediocre. The music ambient sound effects are great, but I'm not impressed with the sounds of the guns.
*The Maps - my first impression is that they are amazing...BUT... and this is one big but - they are not sniper friendly. I'm not a sniper, so I don't care, but I have some friends that already hate the game becuase the wide open lanes in MW2 are non-existant. There are varied levels, tunnels, etc. - but camping just seems much more difficult.
*Connection - still P2P, no dedicated servers, and that sucks. Ultimately, regardless of skill level, connection will be the deciding factor in your enjoyment of the online game (also why I give it four stars)
*Wager Games - also known as online crack. Being able to wager your money (which is required to purchase the items you've unlocked and their attachements - it's not automatic anymore) is like playing poker online. There are multiple game types, all very new and add a whole seperate dimesnion to online shooters. Definately the best innovation for FPS's in a long time.
*Split Screen - for all online modes is awesome. I have 2 PS3's in the house and can accomodate 4 players with them in an online match. It's about time that option was available.
Overall, this is a must buy if you are a COD fan. If you were turned off by MW2 - which many were, and rightfully so, at least give it a try. The Zombie mode, Training mode and wager matches are a blast and give everyone a shot at having a good time - not just experts and 12yr old, foul mouthed racists.
93 of 126 found the following review helpful:
A bit disappointed...updated 11/17/2010Nov 10, 2010
By MF I bought this yesterday for the PS3. After playing for about three hours, I say this game is mediocre at best, for now. So far I've played the Campaign mode for about five minutes, Zombie mode for 15, and the rest has been devoted to Online Multiplayer.
Let's start of with what's good (and remember, I spent most of my playing time Online Multiplayer)... Pros: -No lag. Or very little of it. I didn't notice the entire time I was playing online. -The new credit system. -Wager match.
Now to the not-so-good about the game... -Graphics. What is this, a late PS2 game? It felt cartoonish. I wanted to pop in CoD: MW2 just so I could look up at the nice sky in "Derail" while looking for UAV's to shoot down. -Sound. Not realistic at all and somewhat muffled. -Maps. Most, if not all, feel so confined. Think of it as "Rust", but bigger.
I'll update again as I log in more hours, but for now, a rating of 3 out of 5.
It has now been more than a week since getting this game and so here are some updates:
*Note: I still only have played mainly the online multiplayer aspect of the game*
Pros: -Zombie mode is actually really fun. Wave after wave of zombies come after you and your party, well to me, there's just nothing like it...except maybe "Red Dead Redemption"'s zombie dlc. -Wager matches, particularly "One in the Chamber" and "Gun Game". There's no other multiplayer mode as fun as those two in the game. -Balance between the guns...FAMAS still pwns. -Still very little lag. While it is noticeable at times, it's not enough to make me ragequit *cough* MW2 *cough*
Cons: -Still not impressed with the graphics or the sound. I blame MW2. I've gotten used to the grapchis, somewhat, but the gun sounds and explosions gets two-thumbs down from me. -It has far become too easy for your teammates (and enemies) to take your care packages. While I don't mind them taking useless carepackages, specifically ammo, and it will help me get Hardline Pro faster (allows to switch out to a different care package once), I do want them most of the time. *imitates Chris Crocker* Leave my care package alone!!! T T -Respawning. I've found myself being shot in the back quite often. An enemy will respawn behind you and kill you even if you're hiding in a corner and have your back against a wall *insert sarcasm here*.
Pro or Con depending on situation: -Harder to kill enemies with a knife swipe (almost looks like a punch). -Claymores blow up almost instantaneously.
I now rate the fun factor to 4 and the overall game rating to 3.5.
That's it for now. Thank you for reading and I'll post more updates eventually...if I could just put the controller...down...
10 of 12 found the following review helpful:
Another great release, some setbacks, but worth gettingNov 15, 2010
By P. Killion It seems interesting how much Call of Duty has grown from the original, yet at the same time, some of the mechanics that had made the series so popular are still alive in their latest release from Treyarch, Call of Duty: Black Ops. I'm moreso of a casual gamer, and since I'm certain most of the reviews are by outright gamers whom always get the latest FPS (first person shooter) games, I hope I can provide a different perspective.
First, I can say I've played most of the Call of Duty series, but wasn't really "hooked" until Modern Warfare came out. I loved the current yet slightly futuristic gameplay of it; the storyline was, for a FPS, amazing. The game mechanics were great. But, I can say I didn't really try out the multiplayer aspect of the series until Modern Warfare 2, which I purchased for the PS3 on release. MW2 was notably geared towards its multiplayer, offering a decent but incredibly short single-player, so I decided to suck it up and play multiplayer, and let me say, I was hooked. There were so many failed aspects to MW2 multiplayer, yet for me, it didn't compete with the absolute wins of multiplayer. It was fun, and it was visually amazing. That being said, its biggest setbacks for me were lag/glitching (peer-to-peer gaming I still don't think is the way to go for FPS), and cheap hacks that never fixed (so, the biggest setback was the lack of support by Infinity Ward).
Developer Treyarch seems to have listened to the gaming community, and has made an excellent effort to bring an excellent gaming experience. Here's my personal veiwpoints:
*Graphics: Overall, the graphics are still a stunning next-gen presentation, but as many have noted, they lack slightly compared to the polish of MW2. Namely, there is jaggedness in much of the visuals, although I think the scenery settings are more robust than MW2, which was purposely scarce of scenery objects overall. Online is also slightly worse, but after playing for a few hours, its not really even noticeable. Not knowing the specifics, the engine seems to be far more similar to BFBC2 than MW2, I actually think a lot of Black Ops is really an in-between of those two games (saying this will probably get me flak from both communities, but it's just my opinion).
*Sound: I thought the sound was overall very good in Black Ops, I love that it asks for your sound setup type. I thought MW2 had "better" sound, but it was more theatrical. The reality is, most of the SMGs sound like firecrackers in the game, but its also somewhat more realistic than the roaring "boom boom boom" every gun would make in MW2.
*Single-player: I don't believe the storyline to be as great as MW, but it's certainly an interesting take, and I applaud them for the effort. The gameplay is good, but you'll find the AI to be lacking, particularly on the enemy side, making it slightly less-than-believable.
*Zombies: A welcome addition; essentially worth it on its own, and for being included in the game makes it a great bonus.
*Multiplayer: The meat of the game resides here in multiplayer. First thing to note is the small-scale of the maps. Teryarch seemed to want less of a "campers" paradise, although there are plenty of spots to take cover in, you won't be running for a minute only to be sniped and have to do it all over again. I think the many places for cover are well suited, and even without hardened perk, bullets can go through much of cover, an aspect I enjoy for being more realistic. I would say people are a little too difficult to kill sometimes, but as usual the "hardcore" mode provides a much more realistic representation.
Some of my favorite aspects have been the removal of commando and danger close perks, the "weakening" of quick-scoping (sniper rifles can still be used quite successfully, even in close combat, but requires more skill in Black Ops), and fun maps (although it'd be great to see more, and some larger maps would be great additions as well).
There are several issues I will point out about the game. First and most importantly, while there was much hype about the end of glitches and lag, it still runs rampant in the game (in my experience, the first two days were great, and has gone downhill since). This means its anybody's guess if you will actually hit the person you're shooting at, providing random advantages to different users; some games I can easily skate to a 20+/2 K/D ratio, many of my kills even I'll admit were less than fair, while others I'll be unable to kill anyone, despite shooting point-blank. I haven't had too many issues with disconnections/host migration, but I'd say it's close to as frequent as MW2. Knifing is currently somewhat of a guess/luck as well, as many times I'll see others or myself go flying by the person they're knifing, essentially knifing the air even though the guy hasn't moved, only to wind up being knifed yourself. While there is no "commando" in the game, having the ballistic knife out significantly improves the speed and ability to melee somebody.
The largest thing I can do is have a "wait and see" attitude; I've heard Treyarch is more responsive to the community and patching, so hopefully they will improve gameplay (I don't expect perfect, but sometimes it can be ridiculous how off it is).
*Multiplayer Training/Practice: Wow, I wish MW2 had this! Seriously, to me this is such a welcome addition, I just wish I had been able to use something like it in the past. When I first made the multiplayer leap in MW2, I went with trepidation that I would be slaughtered, and screamed at for being a n00b. Well, all those things happened. Multiplayer, for the first time you try it, is very different from an idiotic AI in single-player campaign modes (don't get me wrong, there's still plenty of idiots). The goals are very different, and thus playing is ultimately very different. Well, if you were hesitant to make that jump into multiplayer, Black Ops provides the ability to practice against AI of varying difficulty, some of which I found to be even better AI than in campaign mode (still stupid, but it does the trick, starting off very stupid at beginner difficulty, great for learning).
*Overall: The game is excellent, albeit with its shortcomings. I hope they patch the flaws, that will really prove to the lifespan of the game for me. If you are on the fence, new to Call of Duty or online gameplay, this one is truly the one to get, since it has most of the best aspects of the series, and many improvements.
I really would give this something along the lines of 4.4/5.0 or 8.9/10 if I could.
Feel free to ask me questions in the comments section, I will try to check back, and even update if patches resolve the issues. I purchased this pre-order here on Amazon, and it was, as usual, a great experience.
51 of 69 found the following review helpful:
Campaign is great; Online is great too...if you like lag and an idiotic spawn systemNov 15, 2010
By C. Johnson Overall, I was disappointed with Modern Warfare 2 in both single player and multiplayer modes. Single player campaign was nothing more than a your typical Hollywood action flick with all action all the time. Needless to say, it got old very quick and the story was impossible to follow with your typical unbelievable ending. Multiplayer while better than single player suffered from lame perks that people abused and required no skill to use. Commando/lightweight (i.e. teleport) was possibly the cheapest perk combo in that game. The game also suffered from bullets curving around the corner a horrible spawn system that just turned this game into a camp fest. I really didn't mind the camping because I understood why people did it. I mean who wants to have someone spawn right behind and shoot them in the back every 3 seconds?
Enter Call of Duty Black Ops, a game that looked good on TV but based on my previous experience, I was not sure about the game and after having this game for about a week, I can honestly say my apprehensions about this game were valid but not in the areas I expected.
The good
Campaign mode is much improved this time around. While it seemed like it would end up just being a non-stop action fest during the first few missions, things really started getting good after getting to the Vietnam missions. The story is written better and is easier to follow for the most part, but the flashbacks can be a little distracting. But I can say for a fact that I really got addicted to the single player mode.
Online play has many improvements; first of all many of the lame and cheap perks from MW2 are GONE! This means no more commando/lightweight users, no excessive noob tube damage, and no impossible kills from all the way across the screen. In addition there is no more stacking of kill streaks, meaning any kills you get from your kill streak rewards will NOT count towards your kill streak. Because of this you can no longer sit back and let your kill streaks do all the work if you want to get your higher rewards. I was guilty of this in MW2 but I welcome this change in BO and should help to cut down on camping. This also ensures that the more powerful kill streaks rewards (11 is the highest you can get now) will be a rare occurrence which makes for good balance. The spawning system has little improvement but still people will spawn right behind you, but from what I experienced this game is not as bad as MW2. (ummm, scratch this, see my update at the end of this review)
New system for weapon upgrades. Instead of having to get 6 million headshots to get a new camo for your gun or attachment, you now have to buy your upgrades with money you earn during your matches. I love this change as in MW2 I became too caught up on completing challenges to get weapon upgrades which in turn forced me to use a particular weapon for all of my matches and it became more of a chore than anything. There are many ways to earn money, but I won't go into them here.
Combat training mode is an excellent way for you to practice multiplayer with computer controlled opponents and teammates with customizable game options like time limit and score. You can select the difficulty level and compete in either TDM or FFA on all online maps. In addition you earn upgrades, ranking promotions just like you would online except they don't carry over to online play. I didn't think this mode would be much fun, but it is and is also a good way to try out and practice all the kill streak rewards (if you stay alive long enough) without the pressure or frustration online.
The bad
With all the improvements in both single player and multiplayer mode the negatives greatly hurt the overall quality of this game.
The graphics and sound are a noticeable huge step back from MW2 and even COD4. This does not look like a current gen game, and people who both like and dislike this game all agree the graphics are not up to par with what is currently out on the next gen systems. Many times I have found myself comparing this game's visuals to the graphics of my XBOX (the first one) wondering which one was better. Sound also takes a step back from the previous COD titles, as I have said in many of my comments, all explosive devices sound exactly the same, and the guns themselves just sound a little bit underpowered. While the graphics and sound issues didn't bother me too much on single player they did distract me on online play when it was coupled with the number 1 problem with this game.....ONLINE LAG.
While MW2 had MANY problems with online play, LAG was rarely an issue I encountered, this is no longer the cause with BO. Out of all the time I had this game, I only had two or three matches that lag was minimal and this was at 2 in the morning. The rest of my many matches suffered debilitating lag so much that many times I would just quit the game in frustration because it's impossible to kill someone when they are teleporting all over the screen. Even the menu to get to online play is quirky; many times I had to press the "Playstation Network" option on the multiplayer screen multiple times JUST to get into the lobby. Then when I get there the only thing that is guaranteed is a laggy online experience. After the second day of putting up with this, I gave up online play altogether and played Combat training, because I just found online play well....unplayable. All of the great improvements to multiplayer are completely ruined by the lag which is a shame.
Single player is much improved but multi-player overall is a huge step back even with the improvements that were implemented. I am glad I rented this game, because multiplayer is what makes games like these worth the cost. But when I can't even play multi-player why would I pay full price for it? I may end up getting this game eventually, but not until the price comes down considerably because unless they find a fix for their online mode, there is no way I'm playing this game online.
My suggestion RENT before you buy.
UPDATE 11/30/2010: (Regarding the spawn system)
While I originally stated that the spawn system is slightly improved over MW2, after playing more games online (360 version, since the PS3 version is unplayable online). I can now say definitively that the spawn system is actually WORSE than MW2 and that is saying a lot. Never before have I experienced so many instant random deaths right after I kill someone due to an enemy somehow magically appearing right behind me in the area I just left 1 second earlier. It is absolutely ridiculous and frustrating. But hey, if you like mindless chaos and instant deaths, you will be right at home with this game. It got so bad in fact that I decided to try my hand and hardcore since spawns take longer, but the obvious trade off is weapons are more powerful which is good in itself, until, yep! you guessed it someone spawns behind you, or spawn camps and kills you as soon as you spawn. So while Hardcore does limit the occurrence of enemies appearing behind you, it still does not fix the obviously flawed and untested spawn system. I hear arguments that the spawn system is like this to eliminate camping, but if this is the case, then their bass ackward plan backfired, because all this does is encourage MORE CAMPING and who can really blame players for doing so? I find it hard to believe that the QA department at Treyarch (provided they even have one) honestly could look at this game and say the spawn system was fine. But I guess these days, quality takes a back seat to profits.
based on 985 reviews
( 985 customer reviews )
