Call of Duty: Black Ops
Genre: Action | FPS
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Introduction
This was another one of the first FPS games i was introduced to when i was a kid and i played it throughout the years and the only reason i stopped playing it is because i no longer have a working PS3 or Xbox360 and buying it on PC still costs as much as it did nearly 15 years ago (which is kinda scummy)
Story
Alright this is another one of those games where, i didn't really care about the story or plot or whatever, i kinda just wanted to run around and shoot baddies and such; however, this game has a pretty cool story, campaign-wise of course, i'm not even gonna try to explain the whole zombies lore.
While the story may be cool and all because you are running around exploding stuff and shooting things, it kinda just boils down to "allies vs enemies" type of thing.
You mainly play as Alex Mason as most missions are like his flashbacks while he is being interrogated and tortured in a room; you also play as other characters, some more important than others, however, the main one is Mason.
THE NUMBERS MASON, WHAT DO THEY MEAN?
Basic gameplay mechanics
The campaign is linear, you finish a level and get onto the next one, that's pretty much it, no multiple choice stuff with different endings and such.
Zombies however... well i guess i will make a whole paragraph for zombies at the end of the page, just so i do not clutter up the whole page with zombies stuff.
Gameplay
The gameplay, much like Halo Combat Evolved's is not all that deep.
You start most of your missions with your two guns, you can pick up the ones enemies drop and can pick up the ones you find lying around.
You also got two slots for grenades, one lethal, the other tactical (basically one slot for grenades that kill i.e. frag grenades nad one slot for things that only bother the enemy i.e. flashbangs).
Game features your average "easy to super hard" difficulty choice whenever you start a new game with all of them feeling stupidly easy until you hit veteran; in that case, the game goes from enemies dropping in one hit to enemies dropping YOU in one hit/burst, which i'll admit, is kinda frustrating.
Graphics
The graphics are ok, especially for a 2010 Xbox360 game, they do their job.
Of course you can't count the individual pores on their skin like most modern games of the same installment, and to be honest, i prefer it like that, less realistic but more "gamey-feeling" if that makes sense.
Sound Design
The sound design for this game is probably one of the most recognizable and beloved of the franchise, mostly because of the weapon's sound design.
Each and every gun makes a distinct sound which is unique to them, unlike the ones in Call of Duty: Black Ops II (2012).
I am pretty sure you could guess each and every weapon blindfolded just by listening to the sounds they make, especially with the more beloved weapons such as the M1911.
The enemies have a few bits of dialogue in their own languages, but it is very limited, with sentences such as "frag out!" or "medic!".
The music is a bit on the average side of the spectrum, it's your average "action hero" music which, if listened to without nostalgia's bias, it would be pretty uninteresting.
The music on the multiplayer menu is as iconic as the ones in previous installments of the game, and the spawn jingles feel powerful as well.
Zombies' music is a whole other can of worms, which hits you the moment you select the game mode.
Enemies
The enemies are your average military guys, nothing too important.
As for the Zombies game mode, you do have a bunch; standard zombies, crawlers, NOVA-6 Crawlers, screechers, napalm zombies, etcetera...
Weapons
While the game does feature weapons from Call of Duty: World At War (2009), it only does so in very specific cases, such in a mission of the campaign and some COD World at War Zombies maps.
HOWEVER, the Black Ops weapon roster is AMAZING.
Each and every single weapon is unique in both design and sound.
There aren't any "meta" weapons that everyone hates and uses, such as the akimbo shotguns from a previous Call Of Duty.
Each weapon has it's use cases and has the chance to be good and liked by the average player.
While the weapons were almost all viable in multiplayer, you of course had the ones that stuck out a bit more because of the handling, design and sound, such as the Famas, AUG, Galil, AK-47 and AK-74u; they did not differ too much from the other weapons in their relative category, however, they were clearly the community's favorites.
Conclusion
Alright so, this is another one of those "old but gold" type of games which has a pretty ok campaign, great multiplayer and an amazing Zombies game mode
While, the multiplayer is pretty much unplayable nowadays due to cheaters and lack of players, it is still nice to play with bots or in private lobbies; same thing applies to the Zombies game mode.
This game was an amazing experience for me and it is easy enough to pick up, even for older people; it has game modes for pretty much every player's preference and it doesen't have too deep of a lore, and can be played even without knowing the lore of the game.
Overall, a pretty good game that can easily get you invested in the franchise.