cod: black ops

This weekend there was no DVD rental, as there occasionally isn't due to how my package works out. So for this week's mini review I thought I'd give some thoughts on the recently released Call of Duty: Black Ops.

I've actually been buying and playing CoD since the beginning. I believe the only entry in the series I haven't played is the third one, because I seem to remember that was a console exclusive. Back then the original CoD was a PC-only first-person shooter that put you in the thick of the most interesting battles of WW2.

From the beginning there were several interesting ideas in CoD. One was that although you always played the allies, you switched between different factions. So, sometimes you'd be playing as an American, sometimes a Brit and other times as a Russian.

Another interesting idea was that of pre-designed set-pieces. At certain points in the game, control would either be rested from you entirely, or you would essentially be ferried down a particular path. Sometimes these were like cut-scenes, but interactive cut-scenes, and at others more getting to be in the really cool moments from films. In fact, sometimes these were clearly just scenes from films that they'd made part of the game, but that was always part of the appeal.

Another interesting element was vehicles. Rather than the approach of some games where you would jump into a vehicle when you wanted, CoD's approach was more that at certain points you transfer into a section that is a vehicle-based level or part of a level.

The reason for this is because CoD has always really been a guided path shooter. There's very little exploration in CoD games and enemy attacks are planned and involve random spawn points. In the modern gaming world these are very old-fashioned techniques, but CoD has pushed through because it's generally has a good, engaging story.

And on the whole I'm glad to say that Black Ops is more of the same. It maintains all the familiar CoD aspects of guided paths, random enemy spawning, interactive cut scenes, playing moments from films and a well thought out and interesting story.

If I was to make one criticism on this front it's that they've taken things a bit far. At times it can feel a bit like you're not really playing the game so much as pressing a key in order to let the game continue. There aren't too many of these, though, and there's lots of fun to be had.

Another thing that is a little confusing is how quickly and how much you jump around. It's a result of how they're doing the story, but it can be a little disorientating going from the North Pole straight to the jungles of Vietnam. And it's also a little odd how the same black ops people seems to get involved in just about every conflict since the second World War.

And there are some fundamental flaws in the baddies plan, which I won't discuss for spoilers. But overall, as a game, it's good and enjoyable - especially when you get to duel-wield, which works really well. It also looks amazing and you even get a bonus zombies game, which is surprisingly tense.

So yeah, I enjoyed it more than MW2 and it's certainly longer to play, although perhaps not perfect.