At first glance Black Ops looked like it was going to be the redeeming Call of Duty game that true PC gamers wanted.
Unfortunately after booting up the online, it only took a few moments to realise just how much of a mess Treyarch had made on this release. It felt like they just ported the 360 version to pc. Like, literally copied the xbox360 code and pasted it into their pc version without even testing it properly (or at all). The game is literally unplayable on 75% of the communuty's machines. It takes something from NASA to actually run the game at a solid 40fps.
At time of writing this review, many of the issues have been resolved, but we are talking 4 months after release. FOUR MONTHS. In this time we'v already seen the first charged content map pack from the developer (which is most likely a forced request from activision, but still treyarch, FOUR MONTHS to fix the game!?).
I've played the game for a good 30 hours, prestiged twice so ive seen all that the MP had to offer and once it was fixed, it was a decent game id already grown tired of. Once you've unlocked all of the weapons, are max level and uve bought all of the playercard backgrounds you like and the graphics/art to make your card look cool, there isnt anything else to spend your cod points on.
In a general review style though i will rate the game in its various catagories:
Graphics: 7 -
The game looks good when you turn everything up, but thanks to treyarchs awful coding its only just possible to run it at maximum settings on a decent rig dispite the fact that this game engine is over 5 years old. Up until recent patches it didnt even matter if you had it on max or minimum settings because the game ran just as bad and at the same fps whichever you had it on.
Gameplay 6 -
Short single player yet again, just like MW2 this has become all about the repetitive online MP and less about an immersive and enjoyable shooter online or off. You'l complete SP in a few hours, and grow tired of the MP after a week or two when you realise theres really nothing in it but getting a rank higher than the other dudes.
Sound 8 -
Not a lot to complain about in this department although there was some pretty noticeable sound bugs until patched. Other than that, just what you'd expect from a big budget call of duty game. Explosions, gunfire and atmospheric sound is all top notch.
Overall - 7
This release will keep you occupied for a week or two, but once you'v completed SP or got top rank / prestiged a couple times on MP, there really isnt anything else to see, and considering activision are asking for almost $20 once again for their map pack, you'd do well to just save your money for Battlefield 3. Call of Duty has overstayed its welcome.