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Through most of your exploits you’ll be accompanied by Russian sergeant Viktor Reznov, who you might remember from World at War. Once again he’s superbly voiced by the inimitable Gary Oldman – and serves as your primary brother in arms, showing up at the most opportune moments.

The game preserves the series’ tried-and-tested look and feel, making it instantly familiar to anyone who’s played Call of Duty before – replete with the linear, tightly scripted set pieces that Call of Duty is known for. While it looks (and runs, at a smooth 60 frames per second), superficially at least, much like Modern Warfare 2 there are some graphical tweaks that elevate it beyond its forebear. Make no mistake; Black Ops is a beautiful game. Another great advancement is the game’s incredible motion-capture and facial animation. Utilising a whole-body motion-capture technology similar to that used in James Cameron’s Avatar has allowed for pretty amazing character animation and – while it doesn’t quite cross the uncanny valley – does help convey some of the more subtle nuances of human motion and emotion.

There are of course, obligatory vehicle sections – including a motor-bike and shotgun level that more than tips a hat to Terminator 2. A night-time boat raid, set to the sounds of the Rolling Stones’ Sympathy for the Devil was a perfect case of picking the right song for the moment. Another, where you pilot a stolen HIND helicopter, instead of feeling like a chore – as they tend to  – is sublime and was the turning point from me thinking the game was good – to it being great.

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Some forum posts from those illegally playing leaked copies of the game have pointed out that Black Ops employs infinite enemy respawns – much like the first Modern Warfare – and it’s true. It’s worth mentioning though that this is context specific and appropriate; in outdoor large-scale battles enemies will infinitely respawn, but in smaller indoor battles dead means dead – so it never comes across as a cheap way to increase difficulty to make up for poor AI. In fact, AI has been improved considerably. Trained combatants, like the Russian Spetsnaz are more tactical, and will roll out of the line of fire, while more rural enemies – like those you’ll encounter in Vietnam and Laos are far more inclined to charge. Friendly AI has been improved as well, and your compadres are far less likely to trap you between a wall and an enemy grenade.

It’s a dark, gritty game exploring some pretty mature, shocking themes – but unlike Modern Warfare 2 and its infamous “No Russian” level doesn’t try forcefully evoking that sense of shock. It does however, feature some of the most brutal violence I’ve seen in a videogame – and some might consider its gratuitous violent imagery tasteless. Although its narrative is speckled with conspiracy theory and references to MKULTRA mind-control, its semi-fictional setting means it’s more grounded in reality than the last game. With its tight, interesting narrative Black Ops is without doubt the best single player Call of Duty to date.

Last Updated: November 9, 2010

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Call of Duty : Black Ops
9.0

34 Comments

  1. Steve Hofmeyr

    November 9, 2010 at 10:06

    Sweet. Getting this tonight.

    Reply

  2. MieLLiePaP

    November 9, 2010 at 10:14

    Cool Review 😎

    Reply

  3. piV787

    November 9, 2010 at 10:26

    Agghh wish kalahari.net would deliver already.

    DAmn :za: but i still :heart: it here.This game is :sick: even the :alien: thought so people are going :w00t: for it.

    Reply

  4. koldFU5iON

    November 9, 2010 at 10:50

    Good review Geoff lovely use of the English language 😉 now get online so I can pwn your bad self!

    Reply

  5. R and L

    November 9, 2010 at 10:53

    cod black ops is a awsme game get it dumass

    Reply

  6. Dark

    November 9, 2010 at 11:10

    Played first mission so far and I like it a lot 🙂

    Reply

  7. Moody

    November 9, 2010 at 13:23

    Awesome review G.

    Reply

  8. eXp

    November 9, 2010 at 13:25

    I’m going to buy 3 copies and not play it, just to sp… wait… wrong page.

    Looks awesome!

    Reply

  9. Adriaan

    November 9, 2010 at 13:31

    So did you get an advanced copy of the game? If not, I don’t think it’s entirely fair putting a “review” out just yet. I’d rather you have played the game more first and put out a proper review, because this seems more like a preview based on pre-release info.

    I understand with a high profile title like this Megarom may not be able to give you the ability to review the game properly prior to its street date, but in the future I’d like to see reviews written based on enough game play by the reviewer.

    Reply

  10. Geoffrey Tim

    November 9, 2010 at 13:34

    You didn’t read the disclosure? I played and finished the game last week, and spent quite some time on the multiplayer.

    Disclosure: The review was conducted over a three-day period at a review event outside of London. The single player review was conducted on an Xbox 360 at my own pace in my hotel room with no intervention from PR or the game’s developers. The game was played to completion on regular, and took in the region of 8 hours. The multiplayer component was played in a specified room with other media representatives. As multiplayer information is verified online, the multiplayer sessions were conducted over Xbox Live, although certain modes were tested using system link.

    Reply

  11. Gavin Mannion

    November 9, 2010 at 13:44

    lol reading fail… Thankfully Megarom gave Geoff the full ability to review this game in it’s entirety.

    as the disclosure explains quite well.

    Reply

  12. TheBeasht

    November 9, 2010 at 13:53

    Haha… troll comment fail. You’re a funny, funny guy! hey lazy! can we keep him? :biggrin:

    Reply

  13. Adriaan

    November 9, 2010 at 13:54

    Good deal. No, I didn’t see any disclosure in the review. Unless you meant the first paragraph, that if I read it again, based on the info from your comment, hints at the exclusive event.

    Reply

  14. Gavin Mannion

    November 9, 2010 at 13:57

    The disclosure is on page 4 just before the conclusion

    “Disclosure: The review was conducted over a three-day period at a review event outside of London. The single player review was conducted on an Xbox 360 at my own pace in my hotel room with no intervention from PR or the game’s developers. The game was played to completion on regular, and took in the region of 8 hours. The multiplayer component was played in a specified room with other media representatives. As multiplayer information is verified online, the multiplayer sessions were conducted over Xbox Live, although certain modes were tested using system link.”

    Reply

  15. Geoffrey Tim

    November 9, 2010 at 14:00

    The disclosure was at the end, before the score.

    Reply

  16. Nick de Bruyne

    November 9, 2010 at 14:03

    Haha!

    Reply

  17. NiteFenix

    November 9, 2010 at 15:51

    Hot Hot Hot! Getting this as soon as I get the money together.

    Thanks for the review Geoff. You are a gentleman and a scholar (albeit a hairy one).

    Reply

  18. Cloud Strife

    November 9, 2010 at 16:29

    @exp im going to buy 15 copies of Forza 3 and donate it the ANC youth league

    Reply

  19. Bobby Kotick for Dummies

    November 9, 2010 at 16:30

    I like Adriaan more than Aussious. Can we get rid of Aussious please? He’s not funny and he tries to hard. 🙁

    As for the topic at hand: Very nice review Geoff, you’ve gotten me excited for a CoD game. Gavin give this man a raise.

    Reply

  20. Cloud Strife

    November 9, 2010 at 16:33

    Im sure each room was filled with complementary champagne and strippers lol!

    @Geoff did you have fun playing the game in those conditions? seems a bit unnatural and restricted, did bobby kotick give you a visit?

    Reply

  21. dylbobjohnjoe

    November 9, 2010 at 16:34

    I think I just wet myself in anticipation :ermm:

    Reply

  22. V@mp

    November 9, 2010 at 19:29

    Good to know. Popping this in right now.
    Goodbye sleep 🙂

    Reply

  23. Nick de Bruyne

    November 9, 2010 at 23:35

    Feeling very left out right now without my own copy of Black Ops, all my friends are playing it online :cwy:

    Reply

  24. Cloud Strife

    November 9, 2010 at 23:48

    @Nick wtf!
    Why don’t you open the prestige edition cod you guys are hording , finish the game, then put it back in the case, i doubt anyone would notice ‘wink’, if i win i wont be mad.

    its all about calculated risk man

    Reply

  25. Nick de Bruyne

    November 9, 2010 at 23:56

    Dude, if I had the Prestige Edition here by me, I would have quit and skipped the country already. Sadly, I am not the one holding onto it. 🙁

    Reply

  26. Cloud Strife

    November 9, 2010 at 23:59

    lol the world is cruel, i bought black ops today and im only playing it on sunday cause of course exams im doing.

    so the world is cruel lol
    well if u moping about you can always look at the intro for gt5 which was leaked, but i won’t link it cause its a massive spoiler-thon.

    Reply

  27. Nick de Bruyne

    November 10, 2010 at 00:00

    I will have your Black Ops back to you by Sunday :whistle:

    Reply

  28. al360

    November 11, 2010 at 12:07

    hmmm will wait for second hand copy rather and rather get gt5 sig. :devil:

    Reply

  29. FSRich

    November 11, 2010 at 15:45

    I’m on a 4mb (8 or 10mb since the upgrade) line and i still battle to connect to lobbies and games are laggy as… is that everyone’s experience? Or am i being noob about something here?

    Reply

  30. Geoffrey Tim

    November 11, 2010 at 15:49

    The lag issue is a tricky one at the moment; With Mweb cutting paid-for peering links, a lot of local traffic now gets routed overseas, increasing latency and adding lag.

    The best bet, to reduce lag, would be to play with people you know who’re South Africans on your friendslist – and provided you’re all peered, it should be lag free. Once Telkom and vodacom peer with Mweb without charging for it, local lag should be significantly reduced.

    If you’re playing internationals, lag will ALWAYS be a factor.

    Reply

  31. FSRich

    November 11, 2010 at 15:54

    Thanks Geoff. *envies pc users and their local servers*

    Reply

  32. Geoffrey Tim

    November 11, 2010 at 15:56

    Don’t be too envious. The Pc version of Black Ops is completely broken. Online is pretty much *fucked* 😛

    Reply

  33. FSRich

    November 11, 2010 at 16:05

    Lolz, feeling better already then!

    Reply

  34. piV787

    December 6, 2010 at 09:29

    I only get 1 bar every time I play (ps3) wonder why mmmm????

    Reply

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