On Nov. 9 the Cold War begins again, thanks to Activision and Treyarch. The seventh installment in the Call of Duty franchise, Black Ops takes place during the Cold War. You play as Studies and Observation Group member Frank Woods as he participates in missions behind enemy lines.
Since Call of Duty makes a lot of money, Activision tapped the studio Treyarch so that they can develop games on the years the series main creator Infinity Ward is still in development. Treyarch’s last Call of Duty was World At War, a decent addition to the series, but lacking the polish and refinement of a Infinity Ward game.
The single-player campaign has promised more stealth missions, and a few vehicle missions, including piloting a SR-71 Blackhawk. The campaign is being worked on by one-third of Treyarch’s full studio, the same amount that made the entirety of World At War.
Zombie mode from World At War is back, and seems to be a big draw for the game. Fighting Nazi zombies in World At War was the surprise hit of the game, and became one of the most fun things to do. If you buy the Hardened or Prestige edition of the game, you get the old four Zombie maps to play using the Black Ops engine and weapons.
The biggest draw of Black Ops will be the biggest draw of any first-person shooter, the multiplayer. Treyarch has tweaked a few things about the multiplayer, and have added a few new features.
The biggest change is the addition of CoDPoints. Using this system players can earn points in matches and use them to unlock new weapons and attachments, instead unlocking them as you level up. Once you have purchased a new weapon you can purchase whatever attachments you want for that weapon, allowing you to have a scoped assault rifle right off the bat.
With the addition of CoDPoints, there are also wager matches. In these matches you bet points that you will win, and the pot is spread between the top three players. You can still earn experience, but if you don’t win, you can’t gain any points.
Black Ops is crediting itself as the biggest game of the season, we’ll see about that claim when it releases on Nov. 9 at 12:01 a.m.
