Contributors: Charlie Barratt, Nathan Irvine, Joe McNeilly
We've had our first hands-on time with Black Ops, the Cold War-spanning opus that finds Treyarch mining new eras for face-blasting inspiration. While this is the developer's most Modern Warfare-esque offering to date, Black Ops manages to distinguish itself, most notably with the introduction of Wager Modes, in which players can put their money where their trash talking mouths are. From the rampant customization options to the unique new Killstreaks, Black Ops is shaping up to be a worthy entry in the Call of Duty canon.
While we were hoping to get a taste of the rumored Commie Zombies, there was more than enough competitive multiplayer to keep us occupied for a few drunken hours. Here's what we managed to write afterwards.
WAGER MODES
The most interesting announcement of the night. You'll earn money ("CoD Points") in Black Ops, which you can gamble in special Wager Modes, each of which has its own set of creative and challenging rules. These are the four we've tested so far.
Gun Game
What is it? Start with a knife and gradually work your way up to a mini-gun (or as it's known in the game, "Death Machine") by scoring kills.
What we thought: Brilliant. In fact, it’s possibly the best of the wager modes. It all starts on a level playing field with every person on the map is equipped with a knife. Slam your blade into an enemy and you’ll be awarded a pistol. Plug another man and you’ll get a more powerful weapon like an MP5K, but to keep things fresh the armory is mixed up each time you play Gun Game. Oh, and like the blue shell in Mario Kart, if you whack a guy with a thrown tomahawk, they’ll lose all their weapons and regress back to the knife. Ouch. There’s a real sense of panic and satisfaction as you try to quickly gain the bigger weapons before your foes, and it’s always kept to a frantic pace.
Sharpshooter
What is it? All players start with the same randomized weapon. 45 seconds later, everyone is automatically switched to a different randomized weapon. Guess what happens 45 seconds after that?
What we thought: The concept seems stupidly simple, yet the results are surprisingly rewarding for two reasons. First, nearly every minute of the match is a totally different, totally unique experience. The first 45 seconds might be a traditional M5 showdown, but the next could be a ballistic knives-only game of cat-and-mouse. As soon as you've grown accustomed to the blue-scope, heat-map assault rifle, everything changes and you're running amok with dual pistols.
Second, the Sharpshooter mode – contrary to its hardcore sounding name – evens the playing field for players who aren't elite experts. The most painful part of Modern Warfare multiplayer is being thrown into a match with opponents who, because they play so much more than you do, are equipped with a much better arsenal… and a much better chance of continuing to dominate. Here, no one can pick their preferred loadout, and no one can predict which loadout will be next.
One in the Chamber
What is it? You have one bullet, one knife and three lives. Each kill earns you a single extra bullet. Last man standing wins.
What we thought: This mode is intense – imagine a mixture of the "golden gun" and "pistols only" mode from N64's classic GoldenEye, with a few important twists. You've got a knife in addition to your gun, for example. One shot kills, but since you start with only one bullet, that one shot is doubly crucial. Make that triply crucial since, if you miss, your intended target receives that bullet as a reward. Actually, go ahead and make that quadruply (that's a word, right?) crucial, since merely surviving – regardless if you've scored a kill – eventually results in match points and CoD Points. The potential downside? Hiding and camping are intrinsically encouraged.
Sticks and Stones
What is it? Everyone in the match is equipped with a crossbow, ballistic knife and tomahawks. Chaotic carnage ensues.
What we thought: This wager mode is basically an excuse to play with all of the gorier new weapons in Call of Duty: Black Ops… at the exact same time. The crossbow is the default. Upon first firing it, however, you'll wonder if you've actually done anything. Then a couple seconds later, the explosive arrow detonates and, if your aim was accurate, you score your kill. Dodging away and waiting for that +100 to show up – or not – was a wonderfully climactic moment each time. Getting "stuck" equals inevitable death, but the game gives you a warning and the chance to kamikaze your soon-to-be killer. We just wish you could also hit a button to pull the arrow out of your flesh and toss it aside before the bang. Ballistic knife and tomahawks are both slight variations on the basic throwing knife, but fast enough to make you feel like much more of a modern badass.
Sticks and Stones was a crazy, entertaining mess at the press event. What we're most worried about, in fact, is that this feeling will be lost once the general public learns to wield the crossbow, ballistic knife and tomahawk with expert ease.
CUSTOMIZATION
Treyarch have gone to incredible lengths to allow players to stamp their personality on the multiplayer side of Black Ops. From the different clothing you can wear, which ranges from ghillie suits to the uniform of the Vietnamese army to the look of your targeting reticule – the options are plentiful.
There’s an incredibly comprehensive tag editor which can be used to create a specific clan badge for you and your buddies to stick on their soldiers. As an example of the versatility of the editor we were shown a tag being quickly made of a horse rearing up that had pistols where its hooves should’ve been. Lovely stuff.
On a more practical basis there are now a few more attachments for your weapons – most notably the flamethrower. Acting in the same way as the shotgun attachment, you can clip this onto most assault rifles and when the mood takes you, click to the secondary fire to toast some enemy bums.
MAPS
Out of the 14 maps that will be available from day one, we kicked ass across four new ones. Which ones you ask? These ones...
Cracked
It’s the obligatory war-torn map that reminds us of several play-areas from Modern Warfare 2. There are disheveled homes and shops to cower in or you can even climb up to a perfect sniper spot and rain down hot lead justice from above.
Radiation
This level is set inside and around a sprawling factory completes with twisty tight corridors and open expanses that are perfect for picking off folk from a distance with an assault rifle. It also working conveyor belt that will send you to a fiery death if you don’t leap off it in time.
Summit
The snow one. Sorry, this map was the most indistinguishable from previous maps in the franchise and, as such, we don't have too much to say about it.
Launch
Here’s the map that, for us, is packed with the most personality - thanks to a whopping great nuclear warhead located in the middle of it. After a while the missile will erupt from the silo in a plume of smoke, which leaves reveals an underground area to take the fight into.
We'll be posting even more custom multiplayer footage from Call of Duty: Black Ops – as well as a bizarre behind-the-scenes look at last night's reveal event - over the next few days. Keep refreshing!
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