Black Ops Quick Preview

Call of Duty: Black Ops represents Treyarch's second entry in the Call of Duty franchise since their 2006 title Call of Duty 3. Their previous game, CoD: World At War proved successful mostly due to the fact that the developers took the multiplayer formula established by Modern Warfare and modified it to fit the World War II theme. Despite the positive reviews, not a whole lot was done to actually evolve the formula. With Black Ops, Treyarch is looking to not only include an action-packed campaign, but to also hit the ground running with the multiplayer aspect from Modern Warfare 2.

With Black Ops, Treyarch is acknowledging that Call of Duty has become a modern shooter franchise, and as such their latest game will take players out of the grit and grime of World War II and put them into the Cold War era, specifically the mid-1980s. (Supposedly the Vietnam War will also be involved). Although it is more than twenty years in the past, you will certainly see a lot more M16s than Thompson submachine guns. Black Ops tells the fictional tale of several black ops operators and their highly secretive missions behind enemy lines. Black ops operators are special top quality soldiers, and as such they are given access to "prototype" weapons that are not yet available to anyone but them. Examples of these include a shotgun that can shoot flaming ammo called "Dragon's Breath" and crossbows equipped with explosive arrows. Players can expect to experience many intense set pieces as well as the ability to actually pilot some vehicles, albeit with somewhat limited control.

But what a lot of players will be focused on is the multiplayer, which has proved to be the selling point for the last three games. Unlike World At War, Treyarch is going to take the multiplayer formula from Modern Warfare 2 and take it further, rather than adjust it to fit the setting. Things like title cards and changeable killstreaks will return. Available killstreak awards include the new RC car that can explode and napalm strikes. Several new features will make their way into the multiplayer, like Create-A-Class 2.0. Players will be able to extensively modify their guns with attachments and decals, and for the first time ever Treyarch is allowing players to actually modify their character's appearance. The exciting addition of a replay editor will surely get fans of Halo 3's Theater mode on board for Black Ops as well.

It may only be a few months until release, but what we've seen so far of Black Ops makes the release date seem much farther away. It is good to see Treyarch giving their next Call of Duty game an identity of its own rather than feeding off the popularity of the first Modern Warfare. By the looks of things, it's sure to pay off well for them.