Black Ops Impressions?

[dendog2010]

waiting for my copy to arrive in mail how is it guys??????
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Castlevania LOS "WOW"

[mrcool37]

Some single player thoughts:

Probably the most fun I've had with any of the COD campaigns. For the first couple of stages I thought the game looked pretty bland graphically, but it really shines through on about the 4th mission (the one that starts with the sunrise)

Missions are great, plenty of variety. You're locked into certain gun types for most of the levels. Cool arnie T2 moment riding the motorbikes with the shotgun and 1 hand reloading while driving. One thing they've removed is 'load previous checkpoint'. Most of the achievements are for doing specific things in the campaign so if you miss a target, it's no longer a matter of loading the checkpoint and retrying; you have to start from the start of the mission itself. Missions last around 45 mins, a perfect length as I get sick of playing the same game after an hour at a time these days, no matter how brilliant it is.

But my god, the music. AMAZING! One of the better FPS soundtracks this gen. A couple of old licensed tracks kick in during the dampaign, perfectly encapsulating the moment. Other minimalist electronic tracks are reminiscent of Halo Reach, just awesome.

One thing I will say though, is that the AI is freaking atrocious! Worst I've seen for any COD game. The Friendly A.I does nothing to help you, and they become really frustrating at times. Instances where you have to push forward to stop the enemies from respawning, I would run forward after clearing a wave of enemies with minimum cover, and my teammates would never back me up and I would always get taken out as I have nowhere to hide after pushing forward. Was mega frustrating dying probably 30 times before I passed one particular area.

Sometimes the A.I goes ahead of you, then enemies will run right past them and try to shoot me, but the friendly A.I is totally oblivious and doesn't help out to take them down. Enemies are running around with their heads chopped off at times, just standing there ducking in front of no cover. This is all on hardened difficulty, not veteran. Difficulty-wise, I put this as harder than MW2 but easier than MW1. Probably played about 5 hours of campaign and just over halfway, so it's a longer campaign which I like (without being too long).

Will try and post a pic in here of the RC car if I'm the first to receive it. Something must be up with the COD posting, never usually this late for midnight release games.

[dendog2010]

awesome sad to hear about ai hopefuilly they patch it glad to here campaign is a decent length
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Castlevania LOS "WOW"

[ANDYBALLINA]

I've been playing this all day so far. Here are my impressions.

I'm up to the 4th mission in the campaign and have to agree with mrcool. The music is outstanding and the missions are awesome. The motorbike/prison escape mission was epic and definately one of my favourite mission's in a COD game to date. Overall the story seems interesting and it throws you straight into the action. But yeah, the AI is pretty bad.

Now for online....

Very, very good and I have to say much better than MW2, so far its less spammy and seem's to be more based on actual gun kills, than grenade spam. Some of the best map's I've seen in a COD game too, plenty of varitey with the maps . However, the maps are mostly pretty big and the online seems to be definately designed more for Team matches than Free for All.

The gun's are pretty similar to past COD games with the similar leveling up and unlock system, but this time you get money, so when you unlock weapons and perk's you have to purchase them. I've yet to unlock the more in depth customisation, eg camo's, face paint and dot site etc. It's definately the most customisable game in the series with plenty to unlock. I would say the menu system for online is a mix of Halo and COD kinda, cause you have a player card and there is a theatre system too.

I havn't played Wager mode yet, so can't comment on that.

Also, I've been playing on PS3 and the servers have been great, quick loading for games and no lag and solid connections/games all round.
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PSN: ANDYBALLINA1

[silentAggressor]

Not too sure where to post but to those who have played black ops might notice the menu screen is very interactive and you can look around as such.

SPOLIER ALERT! Kinda... (Just @ the menu screen, doesn't spoil the single player campaign)

Well I also noticed that if you press the left and right triggers of the controller Masons hands wriggle, and if you press them long enough he will actually set him self free from the chair and you can walk around the interrogation room.

Also while looking around you come across a PC which he can use and type in computer code of some sort. And all this is just from the menu screen! oh yeah you also get 15 Gamer score and unlock an avatar pic for the 360
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[G3ck0]

This game seems like it'll be a lot of fun, I think I might have to pick it up, hopefully online is a lot better than MW2 though, but from impressions it seems like it will be. Might go around to a friends house and play it with him to see what I think about it though, yay for split screen online

[A l e x]

Its way better than MW2, that shit game doesn't even come close really this is what it should of been, mostly balanced weapons/perks, the killstreaks are good/not overpowered, chopper gunner needs to be looked at but apart from that and a few spawn problems etc its really fun
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Wanna go to space?

[dendog2010]

[dendog2010]

sorry wouldnt come out in white text dont know if they r spoilers or not

p.s thanks for all the reply's cant wait to finally play this game!!!!
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Castlevania LOS "WOW"

[mrpookles]

Campaign is fantastic so far. Interesting story and epic action - pretty much grinning non-stop in the hour and a half or so that I've been playing.

I eventually grew to love MW2 multiplayer (took me about 9 months), but I can already say that BO will be better. Probably the best part is that Locale Only search is back (thank fuck!).

Also tried the split-screen online and that seems to work well. Almost the whole screen is used, which is much better than the 'one in each corner' thing they had going with WaW and Resident Evil 5. Will probably play with the missus tonight and see how it goes for real.

Anyone have a comment on how the guns feel? The M16 was one of my favourites for MW2, but it seems to have more of a jolt in BO. Not sure I'm going to be using it much more.

[ANDYBALLINA]

[ANDYBALLINA]

[A13x]

On Multiplayer, It's all the good bits of WaW, MW, and MW2 mashed together topped with a crippling stuttering problem, causing the game to freeze up at random for a few seconds before picking up where you left off, though hopefully that's something fixed either by graphic drivers, a game patch, or a steam update by the time I get back on Thursday. It seems to be affecting most of the people I've played with.

SP is pretty great, and the menu trick thing with the working command line system with Zork, the AI, and the top down shooter is a nice touch.
2/3 of the way through Singleplayer, and up to level 20 in Online play.

Off to NSW for a couple of days, then I'll pick it up again...
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<3

[Hyper the Metroid]

[nathanas]

I thought I picked the some of the voice acting. Sam Worthington and bloody Ice Cube.

[The Genius]

I am predominantly a single player gamer so its really important to me. COD games have their fair share of critics due to their over the top stuff and at the same time loved by many as its cinematic.

I am in the middle. I am not the biggest COD fan nor do I hate it. I buy games throughout the year so support all game devs.

Having played the campaign have to say anyone expecting anything new in terms of gameplay features in the campaign will feel let down. There is nothing revolutionary or evolutionarily in Black Ops. Its the same COD mechanics with the same set piece types and AI issues already mentioned. Its disappointing since we are in 2010 and seeing enemies and friendlies exchanging fire at point blank range for long periods of time for example. Its hilarious sometimes seeing this scripted AI still in the game.

MW was a classic, one of the best campaigns ever with the thrills and surprises in the game. But its getting old. This series is getting stale. Now you basically expect a set piece when playing through campaign. Its no longer as exciting as before. IW did it all in MW and that magic can never be recreated.

Black Ops SP is a 7/10 for me. Treyarch said they spoke to former Vietnam vets, well it shows story wise but not in gameplay. Nothing new here.

Not a fan of MP because of the cheating.

[jesuslol]

[TamTam79]

COD 4.2 for me. I'm well and truely over the Call of Duty series at this point in time. A serious reboot will be needed to get me to buy the next one.

I think this one is being traded in within the week.
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[EnriqueOrgazmo]

Seeing some pretty mixed opinions for this one...Guess only way to find out is to buy and try!!

[ManeKast]

Sounds like a rental, not falling for the hype yet again.
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PSN/XBL/Steam: ManeKast
Kudos to Fetidchimp for the sig.

[mrpookles]

Not sure what people expect? It's Call of Duty. But yeah, if you're not interested in online, it may not be worth buying (but the same goes for Halo, BC, etc.)

Tried the split-screen online last night. Works really well - no lag to speak of.

[ManeKast]

What I expect is the A.I. to evolve, the game to not just quaterback you with accurate grenade throws aimed only at you and co-op campaign (slap me if thats in there).

As it stands, the last few CODs I managed to finish in one sitting and while they were fun, there were some annoying flaws (mentioned above) that made me not want to play it again.

Halo, see now thats a campaign I will play several times over. Polished with great AI and an awesome Heroic mode that makes you rethink how to play Halo, not just grenade and bullet spam you. Add a fantastic co-op mode and some incredibly varied multiplayer and you have your reason as to why I would purchase Halo and not COD.

You know what though, the search for local game option rules and Zombie mode sounds fun.

So tired today....... getting old and noticing it.
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PSN/XBL/Steam: ManeKast
Kudos to Fetidchimp for the sig.

[Zhou]

Only played 40 or so min this morning after I got it installed.

Findings:

Server browser broken. It can detect how many players/games exist but doesnt show them.

Steam cloud broken. settings and rank keep getting reset.

Retarded invite system. Why the hell cant I just right click on my friends name on steam list and join game?

Weird lag even in a private game with bots. Friends kept dropping out.

Needs patch asap.
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My flickr
i7 930 | 6gb ddr3 Ripjaws 2000 | GTX 560 | 1tb 7200rpm WD |

[Azza]

Spending my entire morning trying to break free from the torture chair on PC. Can't figure out how to do it, as the left & right mouse buttons navigate the menu. Crud.

At any rate, this blows MW2 right out of the water with more balance, a far better single-player mode, local search, less game-breaking glitches and a hellava lot more.
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Facebook | Youtube | XBL Gamertag: Comrade Azza | Steam ID: Comrade_Azza

[A13x]

^ mash spacebar
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<3