Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010)

I am honest, when Call of Duty: Black Ops came out, I was not expecting much. Although I enjoyed Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 enough, it was the point that I realized that all the games are/were going to be the same from that year on.

Every year, a recycled engine in a “new game”. Although this grandpa statement is true in the series today, back then, Call of Duty: Black Ops was a pleasant surprise that really impressed me.

In this game, you play in the setting of the cold war and the Vietnam war, and take control of Captain Mason. The game is set twenty three years after Call of Duty: World at War, and because of this, characters from this game make a return, like Dimitri Petrenko and Viktor Reznov. This alone was worth it and I instantly enjoyed this game. Then there is the fact that you meet historical figures like Fidel Castro and John F. Kennedy, which made it even better.

In terms of story, you play in classic Call of Duty style, in which you first try to assassinate Fidel Castro, an attempt that fails because you kill his body double and not the man himself. Mason stays behind while the rest of his squad can make extraction, and is captured by the real Fidel. You are “gifted” to Fidel’s Russian buddy, Nikita Dragovich, and send to a brutal gulag named Vorkuta.

You meet Viktor Reznov and learn of the events and schemes of the old Nazi war machine and the Soviet part in this. He tells you the tale of the heroic death of Dimitri Petrenko, who sacrificed himself to blow op the Nova 6, a cargo ship with secret weapons and intel, desired by Nikita Dragovich and the British Special Forces. After learning this, you and Reznov make plans to escape the gulag. This escape succeeds and you make your way back to the U.S., where you meet John F. Kennedy. He sends you back on a mission to assassinate Nikita Dragovich and eliminate members of Ascension, a Soviet program to grant refuge and sanctuary for Nazi scientists. You succeed and make your way to Vietnam afterwards.

Although your mission is to defeat the Vietcong, you stumble on intel about the relationship between the Vietnamese and Nikita Dragovich and try to recover a Nova 6 shipment. This fails and your squad mate Bowman is killed in a forced Russian Roulette game. You escape with Woods from the Spetsnaz and Vietcong.
In an epic plot twist, it turns out that the main protagonist, Mason, is brainwashed and “programmed” to carry out Dragovich’s will and Reznov is already dead. It is believed that Mason is behind the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the German Scientist Steiner, although Mason believed that Reznov did this.

It was a story like this that I needed to love the series again. It was just so epic and it was beyond my wildest expectations in this particular series. I still think Call of Duty: Black Ops had the best story/campaign of them all.

In terms of graphics, the game looks great. It runs on the enhanced World at War engine and it shows. Effects, lighting and gun impact look great and I just cannot complain. Animations are fluent too.

Audio wise, the sound, music and voice acting is on point and sound great. It enhanced the experience and added to the “classic cold war” atmosphere.

Call of Duty: Black Ops returned the Zombie Mode returns, better than ever. I still think this game has the best “Zombie Mode” of all the installments in the series.

The game itself plays just like any other Call of Duty game, which is smooth, accurate combat with decent AI, and a good pace.

This game is, alongside Call of Duty: World at War, the most brutal of them all. The violence, hostile atmosphere and dramatic cinematics make this game stand out.

In the end, I did not expect this game to be this good and I had a very good time completing it, restoring my faith in the series (at the time).

Definitely recommend this gem!