You can't keep "Black Ops" out from under the microscope after the high-profile departure of the creative minds that drove the "Call of Duty" franchise at Infinity Ward earlier this year. Can Treyarch come through with a blockbuster hit in the vein of "Modern Warfare," not just a by-the-numbers off-year title as the studio has churned out in the past? Yes and no, but "Black Ops" is the best game Treyarch has made, and a great time no matter how you slice it.
The series has always hung its single-player hat on creating spectacular moments that players remember for years. It didn't matter if you couldn't remember the name of the faceless army ranger you're playing as, because -- oh, my -- they just blew up the White House! But in "Black Ops," the story is coherent, and the characters are more than cardboard cutouts. I wanted to keep playing to find out how the plot ends, not just to see what crazy situation is around the next corner.
On the other hand, "Black Ops" loses spectacle. Outside of the excellent prison break level, the "wow" moments fall flat. Even blowing up what appeared to be half of Vietnam with an attack chopper failed to elicit much of a response. Far too much of the roughly seven-hour campaign is spent running through the same pop-and-shoot motions we've been doing for years.
The campaign puts players neck deep in the close-up brutality of combat. Limbs shatter disgustingly as bullets rip apart flesh and bone, and gore flies in all directions. In one uncomfortable sequence, the player has to torture a restrained prisoner. This is an emphatically mature game. None of this carries over to online play, where the faster pace fosters a certain detachment from the violence. Treyarch has crafted the finest "Call of Duty" multiplayer game to date. The maps are fantastic and offer great variety. The core design is largely unchanged from "Modern Warfare." The action is as responsive, technically impressive and engrossing as it has been since Infinity Ward pioneered it three years ago, with some improvements.
The fan-favorite zombies mode returns, with players cooperating against the undead hordes. It works well enough, but zombies are far down on my co-op first-person-shooter list. The objectives and strategies are so far removed from making intuitive sense that I can't get into it, although others obviously feel differently.
But it's tough to hate on something as skillfully executed as "Black Ops." "Call of Duty" remains the smoothest, most approachable first-person shooter out there. On the other hand, it's disappointing that Treyarch's much-hyped huge-budget entry in the franchise feels like "Modern Warfare 2.5."
