Metascore

Generally favorable reviews - based on 89 Critics What's this?

User Score

Mixed or average reviews- based on 1193 Ratings

  • Summary: Treyarch is developing the next installment in the Call of Duty franchise, rumored to be set during the Cold War.
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 83 out of 89
  2. Negative: 0 out of 89
  1. Dec 16, 2010
    100
    There are few video games released this year that you simply cannot miss, Call of Duty: Black Ops is one of them.
  2. Dec 16, 2010
    100
    Treyarch's game is exhilarating and beautifully orchestrated, but it feels like a full-stop, it needs to be a full-stop, because toward the end of the campaign, bombardment fatigue begins to set in.
  3. Dec 16, 2010
    86
    It is a solid, well presented title with a hell of a lot going for it.
  4. A short campaign which is never spectacular and never very clever, but always solid enough. [Feb 2011, p.99]

See all 89 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Call of Duty: Black Ops has many things going for it. Addictive multiplayer, descent story, amazing Zombies, and great replay ability. Unlike some reviewers, I do not think Black Ops is similar to previous games in the series, except in the core defining features that make it Call of Duty. I, personally, consider this the best game in the series. That being said, It is hard to argue this game is flawless. While the campaign is the best yet, the easier difficulties are altogether to easy. Honestly, in many cases you can simply sit back and let your bot allies take care of the enemies. The exception to this is veteran, which is extremely challenging. Unfortunately, there really is no medium difficulty for Black Ops. That being said, the campaign is fun and exciting, with a story that is surprisingly interesting for a Call of Duty game. Multiplayer wise, Black Ops is like any other Call of Duty. Addicting, but frustrating. Due to the majority of players buying Call of Duty for the multiplayer, I will review this section extensively. To begin, the multiplayer, like any other CoD, is fast-paced and frantic. Even though Treyarch increased the amount of damage you take, you still die quickly and you will not find yourself getting away from gunfights in most scenarios. In addition, the guns in Black Ops are disappointing. If you are trying to do well, the assault rifles are vastly superior to all other gun's, save the AK74u. That being said, in and of themselves, the assault rifles are balanced and each fun to use in their own way. Additionally, the sub machine guns, shotguns, and Light Machine Gun's are all balanced and unique, if not for the Assault Rifles outshining them in most situations. Finally, the Sniper Rifles are, sadly, useless in this game, and you will not be able to quickscope like previous Call of Duty's. While this may come to a relief to some, because Treyarch made only a couple sniper-friendly maps, the Sniper is a gun that could have easily been left out without being missed. Customization wise,Treyarch brings many new attachments, camos, perks, and kill streaks. Although some could argue kill streaks underpowered, all in all the customization is balanced and, depending on the different load outs you go with, the game can feel very different. Unlike previous Call of Duty games, the grenade launcher has a very reasonable blast radius and, when against Flak Jacket (A perk that gives you extra explosive resistance) its overall useless. On the gameplay aspect, the map's are fun and interesting, the gameplay is fluid, the control's flawless, and the graphics passable. Unfortunately, the spawns could use some tweaking. Depending on the game mode you play, you can easily be trapped in your spawn or, on the opposite side of things, switch spawns to easily and spawn behind enemies, or vise-versa. Additionally, the matchmaking is not ideal. In many cases, when playng with parties, you will get into a game with a few people missing. This never happened in previous call of duties and, even worse, you could get into a game that is already, in essence, a loss. Finally, I will address the zombie mode. Zombie's is arguably the best part of Black Ops. There is something altogether to satisfying by annihilating endless zombie hordes with a couple of friends. On the later rounds, it takes a lot of teamwork to survive. Black Ops comes with 2 map's, Kino der Toten and Five. Although Five is not as enjoyable for me, Kino der Toten is extremely fun and pack's hours of play. In addition, if you purchased the Hardened addition to Black Ops, you will gain access to the 4 zombie maps from WaW with modern weapons. While all fun, my personal favorite is Der Reise. Finally, if you purchase the fifteen dollar map pack you will gain the ability to play Ascension, my favorite zombie map. Ascension is surprisingly complicated for a zombie map, even coming with a side-objective to try if your feeling lucky. Unfortunately, its not easy and you'll need a full party of four. In the end, Black Ops is a very fun game that deserves your purchase, especially if you enjoyed the previous call of duties. Although the Multiplayer will surely attract most, be sure not to overlook Zombies and the Campaign. My only caution is that multiplayer, even the campaign in some parts, will be frustrating. However, if this happens just take a break and come back later. My final thoughts, great purchase, but if your not a fan of shooters I would let this one pass. Expand
  2. This is my first XBox 360 review, as the only reason I had one was for Halo and COD games. For the most part I am now a 100% PC gamer, but I did at one point have 360 and this game. I have to say that I did enjoy it and I do like it better than Modern Warfare. The multiplayer in Black Ops is more solid, better guns, better maps, more realistic perks. Modern Warfare was alright but the followups were flops and currently the series has kind of fizzled out, COD: BO2 might change that. XBox Live IMO is much better than PSO but if I had to pick between the 2 it would be hard because the PS3 looks much better. If your a FPS fan at all, I believe this series is a must have, but I will now be moving to the PC for Black Ops 2. Collapse
  3. I couldn't help but be very excited for this game because it was so well marketed and the expectation was that it would be better than modern warfare. Needless to say there was a big let down. The campain was good, but felt forced, with no real new ideas. I had hoped that it would be more of a solo mission without your team members which usually only add to the mass confusion when trying to shoot your way to safety. The game is called black ops but it never really felt like Black ops. Theres still a ways to go before Call of Duty will get character development right, and a truly engulfed story line.

    That being said, I do think that the multiplayer experience is a improvement. The perks are more even, the maps are better with numerous entry ways into every building, customization is great, stats/leaderboards are well thought out, and the new free for all game modes are fun (but you cannot gain xp, only cod points).

    As for Zombies I could'nt be bothered, I miss the spec ops, which was my favorite feature for Modern Warfare 2. Overall: Campain - 6 Multiplayer - 9
    Expand
  4. Total waste of money. Just like they added new maps and crappier skins to MW2. Stick with MW2 and save your money. They should ditch Treyarch, they are killing the series softly. Expand

See all 485 User Reviews

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