Clearly 'hype' and MP along w/ the CoD title overcomes the lack of quality, broken storytelling, and overall cheapness.
Pros:
-Perfect Shooting Mechanics
-So many GUNS
-Action Banaza
-Enviromental Variations
-Entertaining Story
Cons:
-Confused A.I.
-Cliche Story
-Interrogator Sequences
-Annoying Voice Acting
-Weak Graphics
-Cheap Motion Feel
-Explosions lack feedback
-Outdone by it's competition
Black Ops is a good game, but critics want me to believe it is the number one shooter out there. That ranking is subjective and subjectively speaking, Call of Duty is a franchise that feeds off hype. The story is more of the same old same old, but for good nature they threw in the interrogator. By good, I meant annoying. Through every cutscene, the interogator uses that irritating 'disquised' voice. Now I don't know about the rest of America, but that voice truly irks me. I hate when NBA TV uses it in the scout reports and I hate when TV shows think it's funny to use that voice for comedy. Outside of the interrogator, the story itself is truly comical. There is a twist and I didn't see it coming, but that doesn't mean I was blown away by it, just more or less amused. See critics are raving about how solid the story is considering the developers actual gave the character's character this time around, but they failed to mention the story plays the someway as the other installments. This story is both convoluted and jumps the shark too many times like MW2.
Everything is moving so fast and the game never gives you time to absorb the present conflict because they are so obsessed with the past and various other characters who hold little value to the overall sceme of things. Like many gamers have said, by the end of the game you don't even care about the story nor the characters because the presentation of the story fails to capitivate the player. Mason begins the game crazy and ends it crazy. That's isn't a spoiler, but more or less a simple synopsis of a weak story. But in the end, Call of Duty is not about storytelling. It's all about entertainment and the overall story is entertaining, but when critics have single player junkies believing they will finally get a CoD with substance, one like myself can only be disappointed or in better terms entertained. Oh yeah, the gameplay is pretty entertaing as well.
Everyone knows Call of Duty has some of the best controls to every grace a FPS. I love the controls and at the same time this installment forces gamers to actuallly play skilled rather than Run N' Gun. I truly appreciate this though alot of the game can still be played in the fashion especially in close quarters. This is the result of poor A.I. that falls prey to CoD's gameplay. CoD loves the overwhelm the gamer by floodiing the screen with infinite respawning enemies in order to create a sense of intensity, but it's hard to pull this off when all the A.I. does is stand out in the open waiting to be shot or pretend to act like a Sprite bottle out on a shooting range. When I play CoD, I feel like I'm playing a game. But I am not holding that against CoD, just stating a clear fact. But when I begin to think of the advancments in enemy A.I. in games like KZ2, the overall impact of enemy resistance in CoD's titles are underwhelming which entail creates this game-y feel. Everyone game falls prey to this, but some games escape this by creating erratic and clever A.I. that can be easily be taken out. On the otherhand, you have games like this that are truly just shooting galleries. A problem? Uhmmm...No, Enterrtaining?...Yes.
I never really dive into multiplayer that much with these titles, but from about 3 hrs of online play...it's still the same old same old and nothing is wrong with that. That's why GOWIII is loved my fans, but FFXIIII is despised. Talking about hating things, let me talk about some of the biggest downfalls of this game while explaining my reasoning.
Here's the giss, crtiics love to tell me how pure the shooting mechanics are while praising the action, graphics, etc. Hype has blinded bias critics and uncomfortable fans. First off, Black Ops graphics are a downgrade from MW2 which isn't a looker itself. Yes Call of Duty has proper human movements and more, but the blockly mudd graphics don't deserve compliments such as "Superior graphcs" and so forth. I have read far too many reviews where critics will tear a game to shreds for one problem while forgeting the problem exist in another game. COD and Rockstar have never made pretty games, yet they keep getting nods in the graphical department. Black Ops isn't a good looking game. Is this a bad thing? No, but it does destroy to overall experience once you get in the habit of comparing it to it's competiion like Killzone 2. With all the money and resource in their pocket, they could at least take the time to create a beautiful game for their fans. Many developers create some grand adventures with nice graphics only to be rewarded with flat sales and a small fanbase (Demons Souls). CoD does a copy and paste job receiving all the money and benefits while providing gamers with an enjoyable product thats inferior to it's competition. I could care less about the graphics, but critic need to be fair and tell the truth...the graphics stink. After playing top of the line PS3 exclusives, one can easily come to the conclusion CoD isn't a looker.
Now the overall action that takes place in this game in underwhelming at best. Explosions and death fill the screen with no type of impact. First thing that came to mind playing this game was Killzone 2. In Killzone 2 guns had vicious kickback, explosions affected gunplay and shock the screen. Grenade blast were devastating and controlling a Mech was exhilirating. In a nutshell, KZ2 got my blood going. Blacks Ops never accomlished this, though every second something that should make me go "oh Sh*t' happened. Now, explosions literally happen every second though I don't feel any impact (exagerration of course, but you get the point). BOOM, BOOM, BOOM everywhere and I am just like 'Watever'. This maybe due to over emphasis on action or due to the fact KZ2 set a bar the Blacks Ops didn't even try to reach. Like I said the game is entertaining, but the over emphasis on action that doesn't create a sense of war is pathethic considering the level of intensity set by its competition. The helicopter mission had to be the funniest thing ever. It was fun, but it was so wrong and so unrealistic. Unrealistic is alwasy fun, but I had a good laugh because the physics were just wrong wrong wrong. Overall the gameplay is good, but once I compared it to competion like KZ2 and Bad Company 2....Blacks Ops really began to underwhelm me as the campaign moved along. But every slow mo kill was cool and that is something I will remember.
Eveyone knows this is an FPS and the gameplay is always shoot, but this game is so relentless with infinite enemies that no battle feels grand. Every battle can be won with the press of a trigger (literally..terrible joke). Overall, the over emphasis on all out war destroys the heightened level of war. There's nothing tactical about Black Ops or any CoD in particular. Even though it is entertaining, when I began to look at the competition that surrounds Blacks Ops...I began to wonder how simplistic games will be in the future if mass appeal is the only way to make money. Games like Bioshock, Mass Effect 2, Demons Souls, Metal Gear Solid, etc. are deep games that don't appeal to everyone and it shows through their sells once you compare them to something like CoD or GTA. GTAIV may be the first GTA I actually considered great, and this is also the GTA many casual gamers don't like. Coincidence.
Call of Duty is a big franchise as everyone knows, but this is mainly due to its mass appeal. Due to this, people who value substance are left with a pretty mediocre game in the end. Now Call of Duty produces some of most exciting games and the most recent is of course Modern Warfare 2. MW2 had a pretty hackjob story, but the setpieces and vistas (minus the airport sequence) created the perfect game for action junkies. I love action like the next man , but a good story and overall quality wins me over. Call of Duty was king when it released MW1 by many critcs/fans, but by the time MW2 came out...KZ2 in my opinion eclipsed it in every way aswell as the originality of a game by the name of Bioshock. If you have played Killzone or not, the biggest complaint is the overall heaviness in the controls and pause in player feedback. Too some these are negatives, but Killzone 2 is the reason why I still like shooters. I hated the floaty feeling of FPS's, but Killzone 2 changed everything. Killzone 2 had beautiful graphics, actual physics, and chaos that shock you TV screen, controller, and sound sytem. Killzone 2 even had a nice story even though is was cliche, but the ending was superb. Killzones overall quality pulled me in while Black Ops lack of quality underminded the whole project and the hype. Call of Duty Black Ops feels cheap next to this game just like MW2 and everything else that isn't a PS3 exclusive. Then we have Bioshock which gave Shooters a grand makeover with its impressive storytelling and oh so varied gameplay.
When you begin to breakdown Black Ops for what it truly is, what you get is a pretty average game that's saved by its title. I am clearly stating a fact. People prefer certain games and CoD appeals to alot of people, but I wonder if people actually try other games. CoD is blessed with heavy marketing so everyone knows what it is, but great games like Bioshock, MGS, etc. aren't given the same exposure thus less people know about it hence the the lower sales.
Conclusion: Blacks Ops is another entertaining game this year with non-stop action and set piece after setpiece, but nothing about this game will blow you away and if it does, then you still love CoD. Like I said I am hardly a fan of military shooters (though I enjoyed Bad Company and MW2) and Black Ops gives me another reason not to be interested. The story is downright terrible, the gunplay is sublime, but the overall gameplay is underwhelming. CoD Black Ops succeeds as a game, but as a masterpiece it fails. MW2 and Bad Company 2 are better than Blacks Ops. And being a sci-fi fan, the closest miliatry that comes to mind is Killzone 2 and if you actually read this entire review then you know I believe Killzone 2 destorys Black Ops in so many ways. Time will tell if this rehashed formula will entertain fans, but looking at the current state of America...Call of Duty will be a contender for a long time. Simple violence appeals to human nature, but I don't work this way and in conclusion...Blacks Ops is 'All Flash, No Substance".