This is the best storytelling in the Call of Duty franchise since the series first hit the beaches of Normandy. The fact that the game is set somewhere in the past rather than in the present or the near future really helps. There's a feeling of importance to everything that you do, drawn not from the overarching threat of the game, but from the knowledge that you are revisiting moments in time and geographical spaces that are significant beyond the simple shooting of enemies that will take place there.
It also helps that Black Ops has limited the number of characters the gamer is experiencing, while focusing the narrative around just one, Alex Mason, the man who endures quite a bit of torture and explores his memories in order to deliver playable levels and the new Call of Duty narrative.
The flashback narrative mechanic is also well chosen, allowing the developer to offer a justification for the non stop action nature of the game, with well placed fade to black transitions allowing the player to skip the pieces that the creators thought would be boring overall.
The story has a few predictable twists and turns and the final third moves into some pretty science fiction territory but even there the people at Treyarch keep the story on track, playing on themes like Soviet infiltration, the Red Scare, the nature of memories and how a man can be turned against himself that are not to be out of place in a thriller set during the Cold War.
It's still all delivered using the mechanics of a huge action movie and the story is not the most important thing about Black Ops but the game never generates the feeling that all cutscenes and dialog are surplus to requirements like in Modern Warfare 2. It also lacks the shock based sequence, like No Russian and the atomic detonation, which impressed a lot of people in previous titles.
Gameplay
Coming from something wide open like Fallout: New Vegas it's almost jarring that the beautiful, huge spaces that Black Ops shows to the player cannot be explored fully and, worse, cannot be influenced in any way. But after accepting the fact that this is a Call of Duty game, meaning huge amounts of scripting, linear paths for all levels and enemies that pop up and don't have the smarts to do anything else, there's a lot of fun to be had with the new Call of Duty.
The levels are overall well designed, with exceptions like a certain rooftop chase and the Vietnam Khe Sahn battle, where a lot more could have been done. The number of enemies on the screen forces the player to pay attention and be careful with his movement and aiming, despite the fact that opposing forces are as dumb as ever, failing to try and flank or advance in big numbers at the same time. There are some cheap kills, mostly based around baddies popping out of thin air or grenades, which will infuriate players but overall it's all solid action punctuated by some vehicle sections (the helicopter one being pretty weak) and some scripted actions that can feel out of place (interrogation involving broken glass?).
Unfortunately Call of Duty seems to be developing a problem linked to actual gun identity. I found that I could very well dispatch enemies with every model and variation, never worrying about what I am wielding and if it´s the right weapon for the situation. Shotguns should be far worse at longer range and heavy machine guns incredibly hard to aim. The developers should really work to make weapon choices (some of the most significant choices to make in shooter, in general, and Call of Duty, in particular) more meaningful and at least at times make the player worry a bit about ammunition.
The constant addition of movie like qualities to Call of Duty also bears the question: how long before the series actually becomes an interactive movie or until someone hacks the code to allow the player to just use the move keys, with the fire buttons always pressed?
Black Ops already decides to take a lot of agency from the player. He cannot choose where to hide bodies. He cannot decide how to use a binocular. He cannot choose when to detonate fire bombs. He cannot choose how to stealthily approach an enemy location. At times it feels like the human behind the controller is just there to sanction decisions made by the developer and push levels forward.
One place where the Black Ops offers agency is in the zombie modes, where purchasing decisions really matter. The modes, refined after making their debut in World at War, are engaging in a way that the cooperative play in Modern Warfare 2 never were, and shooting zombies while playing certain important historical Cold War figures is a very nice piece of fan service.
Conclusion
It's hard to argue with the millions of people who will buy and then play Call of Duty: Black Ops and say that this is a disappointing video game. The reality is that it's not as long as the gamer is willing to accept the limitations that are associated with the franchise. The presentation is wonderful, the custscenes are engaging and informative, the story is very thriller like, the shooting is monotone but still engaging, the visuals good.
But there's so much more potential in Call of Duty Black Ops that goes unrealized. An extra path that leads to the conclusion of each level would have made this game so much better. More difference when it comes to the weaponry a player can use would have introduced some much needed tactical thinking and variation. Longer levels, with some boring bits like working the controls of a plane or listening to banter between other soldiers, might have added to the depth of the experience.
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