Call of Duty: Black Ops
Go nuts in 'Nam
Review The 1960s: the decade of peace, love and rock'n'roll. The decade of LSD and flower power, colour television and manned space exploration.
'Knife to meet you; to meet you, knife'
Only that's not how Captain Alex Mason remembers them. Under interrogation and drugged up to his eyeballs with sodium pentathol, he's recalling an entirely different decade. He's remembering the Bay of Pigs in '61, and the attempt to assassinate Castro. He's remembering the Cuban Missile Crisis of '62. He's remembering that fateful grassy knoll on 22 November '63. And he's remembering the decade-long quagmire that was Vietnam.
Welcome to Captain Mason's 1960s. Welcome to Call of Duty: Black Ops.
The theme is an inspired choice on the part of developer Treyarch. By setting its latest Call of Duty at the height of the Cold War, Treyarch not only liberates itself from the WWII theme that saw World at War unfairly dismissed by the masses, but also avoids competing in the contemporary battlespace pwned by Infinity Ward.
Pane in the leg
The setting also provides for the best Call of Duty narrative to date. Loosely based on The Manchurian Candidate, the plot might at times bewilder, but it's a perfect fit for the politico-military paranoia that permeated the decade. It's an historical context with a contemporary resonance, one which shows the unsavoury face of democracy – interventionism - as America struggled to contain the spread of Communism under the shadow of the bomb.
Next page: Shoot to thrill
COMMENTS
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Would personally disagree with your statement Citizen Kaned. I can never be bothered playing online with kids and people who think its cool to just be a d1ck. For me and a number of my mates its the challenge of the SP game that matters.
Just my 2p :o)
My copy...
...has just arrived at home, no thanks to my girlfriend putting in the call to let me know.
I can't wait to put the kids to bed, run a bath for the misses, light a bad boy and get totally engrossed with shooting my mates online. Brilliant.
How many hours to complete the single player
It had better be a lot to justify a £55 price tag!
I know I know these games are sold for their online play bollocks. Well I don't play online I want a strong story single player game.
Try...
...chess.
I'll challenge you to a game, and I guarantee it'll take longer than 40hrs. At least on my goes. It'll only cost you a tenner.
Campaign?
8 to 10 hours of campaign for the best part of 50 quid? No thanks. Already got stiffed by COD:MW2 which lasted me less than 6 hours. I wouldn't mind but I'm actually pretty crap at games so if I can finish it in that time it's definitely not worth the money.
It's a real shame too as the screenshots look gorgeous and I'd love to play it, but I'm not getting ripped off like that again, I'll stick to games that give me a good 40+ hours for my money.
