Now, you must understand that this is coming from an ex-Call of Duty vet, after scrounging through Call of Duty 2, 3, 4, World at War, and Modern Warfare 2 (sorry, never played the original) and completing every last detail possible, I must give you my launch day impressions. I've also managed to Prestige a few times on 4 through Modern Warfare 2 before realizing its worthlessness.

I haven't played campaign, despite my super excitedness of it. However, I realized that campaign would stay static and remain there forever, and wanting to gain an upperhand, I jump into multiplayer. After getting bored to death with the same old, same old multiplayer of Call of Duty, I hoped that Treyarch could at least differentiate this from the rest. My dreams were crushed. It feels exactlythe same as previous Call of Duty games. The perk selection is decent enough, however, given enough time, someone will find some form of exploit. Weapons do generally feel powerful, and it feels just as good as 4. However, this feels like the last three installments and brings nothing new to the table.

The new multiplayer systems, CoD points, Theater mode, Combat Training, etc., while fun and entertaining in their own right, are also non-innovative. Theater mode feels like an only slightly updated version of the one from Halo. They added a few basic additions to add texture to the pie (the basic editing tools to create your own clips), however, Treyarch also takes the bulk of the pie that made it delicious in the first place. What I mean is that while they added some basic editing tools, that should remain for professional programs like Sony Vegas where you can insert your own voice commentary and have a higher amount of precision. Not only that, but they took what's so fun about Halo's Theater mode: being able to capture all your moments, regardless of game mode. I can take pictures, record clips, or just take the whole thing with my and share it with fellow player. In Black Ops, that's just limited to your multiplayer experiences. While it may not affect you all, if you find a pretty interesting glitch or hidden spot that Bungie's well known for and you want to share it with the world while still being credited with the discovery, then this form of replay is necessary.

The File Share system is also a straight rip from Halo. However, it is also similarly limited compared to Halo. You can't add in custom maps or game modes for obvious reasons, so that leaves film clips and screenshots. Halo allows the aforementioned game modes and maps. Also, I haven't seen any form of a custom search system within the game itself. Reach allows you to search by gamertag, search for a specific file, search the Most Downloaded, search the Most Recommended, and search for Screenshots of You, depicting any screenshot that had you in the frame. Therefore, you can find your best mugshot and thank the stranger. Also, Black Ops uploads directly to callofduty.com I believe, but after that, has no direct way of converting said file to a format YouTube can support. You'd most likely have to download some file converter that probably comes with malware and infections, so it's a no-go. Bungie, however, provides the nice option of allowing you to "render" your files so it is compatible with YouTube, so you can upload directly to YouTube without the hassle of third-party software.

Overall, I'm not impressed with what I've been presented with. It's just not new. Or fun. I'm not hating. I'm trying my best to like it. I'll most likely end up playing it anyways since "everyone on my friend's list is playing it." Or at least, that's what everyone tells me. Hopefully campaign wins me over. Otherwise it's bye-bye Black Ops and hello Crysis. 2. Crysis 2, that is.