Call of Duty: Black Ops

To begin with I am a fan of this series of games and really like the way in which it has grown. However the honeymoon period with black ops is well and truly over. The single player campaign is good and not to short, but the real reason anyone buys these games is the online play.
The online play is good with less glitches and less problems with people leaving the map, however the lobby is unstable and drops party members very easily (hopefully a temporary issue). The kill streaks are a mixed bag of interesting and just copied form MW2 and WAW, there now isn't the game ending nuke which is a good thing. The whole buying your own guns, grenades, attachments and perks is good but at the same time you still have to wait for certain guns to be unlocked by online level progression. Now so far everything seems great, but then if you are a fan of the hardcore game mode (like I am) then here comes the greatest disappointment of all there are only 3 game modes in hardcore (Team death match, S&D and free for all) gone are the HQ pro, hardcore sabotage and others. Also to add insult to injury Ricochet is gone as well so team killing is back, but this has been addressed by kicking players who commit 3 team kills during a game session (which isn't helpful if you throw grenades that team mates run on to and die) I have seen numerous people kicked due to kill streaks killing 3 members of their team or due to unfortunate grenades. The game is 100% improvement on WAW, how could it not be, the maps are really well designed but it's only about 85% the game that MW2 is and not as enjoyable.

Campaign
The games setting spans across the cold war time line with the storyline feeling very like a film reel in how the motion of visuals are displayed. Truly this is a squeal to World at War the 5th Call of Duty instalment and the first for Treyarch to bring it out of the WWII time line. I have to say I am very impressed with what they had done for the Cold War setting in a FPS by instead of just concentrating on Vietnam they explore other fields in the era. I have read other Amazon reviews comparing to Modern Warfare 2 by storyline, graphics and game play but both games are entirely different its a matter of preference but I do believe Treyarch could expand the storyline further.

Multi player:
Now you can find Zombie mode on the main menu screen and 2 more Easter eggs if you type DOA for Dead Ops Arcade and zork in the computer terminal. The newest edition is the fact you can customised your tags, emblems, character and buy different attachments for your weapons. People say the graphics are not up to MW2 and the characters look cartoonish? Honestly with the kids writing crap i'll give you my constructive verdict. The graphics are an update over World at War so its the same engine as MW2, when they say cartoonish is that you can actually see your character when customising its layout but this is the first time you get to see the multiplayer character up close so when you go in battle you can't even tell the difference between you and others.

The game play of maps are very balanced compared to MW2 with all the harriers, ac-130 and chopper gunners in the same map at once. I have to admit I have not found a good place to camp snipe yet compared to WaW/MW2 since most of the maps layout are difficult to find a spot and some are extremely large.

Verdict:
This game is a must buy and you will enjoy it to its fullest extent till a new CoD comes out; you may be comparing Infinity Ward (RIP) to Treyarch but both studios are good in their own right. This game is not a disappointment but the setting is the Cold War so you will not find the most up to date weapons but truly if your a Call of Duty fan and contemplating if its worth buying then it definitely is, but hey if you don't like the game you could always part exchange it in the future.

Pre-ordered a month before it's release to arrive on the day of it's release and had no problems. I love the Call of Duty franchise. I love all the changes they have made to this game, which make it more personilised to the player. The one problem i had with it, after paying over £60 for the hardcore edition, i realised after trying to pimp my avatar out with the free Black Ops costume, only available with this edition, i had the unfortunate messege stating that you can only dress male avatars with it. Ok it's fair to say that the vast majority of the Call of Duty fanbase is male, but spare a thought for the hardcore female gamers out there, as they DO exist!

Anyway rant over, i love this game, nothing more to say.