Call of Duty Black Ops is Treyarch’s third installment in the franchise.  You can use the “third times a charm” phrase when you talk about Black Ops, because this campaign is the most entertaining out of their previous efforts.  The game takes place during the Cold War era in the 1960′s and takes you to a mix of different locations, such as Russia, Cuba, Vietnam and others.   Some of the missions you come across in the game add a nice change of pace, and you never really feel like your in the same location all the time.  Everything from diving and parachuting off snow capped mountains, to swimming through muddy waters, picking off enemies one by one.  It’s those moments in Black Ops that make playing a special forces operative a lot of fun.

You will also come across some familiar faces and voices during the campaign.  Viktor Reznov makes a return from the World of War game and has a pretty significant role.  Also some Hollywood actors like Sam Worthington, Ed Harris, Gary Oldman, and even Ice Cube do some nice audio work for Black Ops. Not too mention some pretty historic figures make an appearance in the game that I don’t want to spoil, but it is a very nice touch and adds some extra realism to the game, as if you needed it.

The gameplay for the most part is your typical Call of Duty game.  Like I mentioned before, swimming is a new gameplay element that was put in Black Ops.  It was a nice addition, but it’s only in a couple parts of the game.  I wish it had more underwater missions and objectives, because I enjoy that stealthy mechanic that the Call of Duty series brings.  It also will put you piloting a Hind and raining down missles on unlucky enemies, which was a lot of fun in a sick way.  The controls in every aspect were done just right.  I think that’s one of the things we take for granted when playing Call of Duty.  No matter if you like the franchise or not, you can’t argue that it is the best FPS as far as controls go.  It’s the only FPS game I can think of that is a “pick up and play” for just about any type of gamer.

The story in past Call of Duty’s has usually been it’s weak point.  But with Black Ops the story is pretty enjoyable.  You play as a character strapped to a chair in a interrogation room, not sure why you are there.  The entire game is mostly played as flashbacks between 1961-1968.  As the story progresses you start to see why your there and who put you in this situation.  I don’t play Call of Duty for the story, and I dont think I’m alone in that.  But it was nice to see Treyarch trying something new, like bringing a educate story to the table.  Especially after the mess we got with Modern Warfare 2.

Graphics wise I believe it looks a little toned down from Modern Warfare 2.  Why this is I do not know.  Maybe it’s just my imagination but the game just didnt look as crisp to me, if that makes sense.  By no means is this a huge problem, and the game still runs at a beautiful 60 frames per second.

Overall, I really enjoyed Black Ops.  It’s not perfect, but for me it was more enjoyable than World at War.  It has a nice opening sequence and makes you want to continue the game and trying to find out what’s going on with your character.  Certain parts of Black Ops do fall a little flat at times.  But before you know it, it will kick back up to high gear and give you a few more thrills before it’s finally said and done.  Treyarch did a nice job with the campaign and I look forward to what they bring to the table in their next installment to the franchise.

-Kevin Clark