Epic. It's what Treyarch and Activision believe in. It's what they make us believe in. “Call of Duty” (COD) to all common people looks like one of those long running games that just wont end. It just keeps on coming with ‘Attention please' written all over. But that's different to the gaming community, because COD packs the experience.
The seventh of the series is called Black and is set in the Cold War (a first for the series). The entire series has taken gamers from WW2 to the International Space Station and back, but never has the cold war been attempted in the three decades of gaming history.
Encounters
The story has been personalised. The protagonist now speaks and we follow his story rather than the more generalised COD experience we know. Sam Worthington takes the lead as tortured CIA agent Mason who the players control. What makes this any different from the six games before? While it runs on the same engine as the previous games, Black Ops offers an experience like never before.
The basic story sees your team trying to kill a bunch of weird Ruskies with zero sense of humour. You fight to kill Fidel Castro. You meet President Kennedy in the Pentagon. You pilot a Blackbird and lead recon for a group of soldiers. You meet and fight actual leaders and the story weaves in and around fact and fiction and finally, you're a failed science experiment. This is where call of duty takes you and you are left thinking if you just shot a world leader.
The CODs are known for their multiplayer mayhem so the campaign ends up being quite small. The entire campaign is made up of flashbacks and is played completely through Mason's perspective (except sometimes you'll play as Hudson, the ‘take no prisoners' agent no one cares about; but that's just for a few missions).
Memorable
Just as always, the multiplayer's awesomeness comes as no surprise. The customisation options are vast and this makes firing weapons a blast. The sound effects are unlike any other. While we have seen epic battles on screen with lots of guns and grenades going in the background, COD doesn't do that. It's your game, and Activision respects that; so you'll find yourself in a musical claustrophobia with the usual guns and explosions except with the rolling stones playing for your victory. Not to mention the million dollar cast of Gary Oldman, Ed Harris and Topher Grace playing memorable characters who you actually relate to, considering their experience in making sure their presence is felt.
The graphics receives its usual update but it's the same call of duty. This is where Activision needs to offer players something different. Visually COD might get shinier each time, but it still looks the same when compared. But it's still awesome compared to other games.
The core gameplay mechanics also remain the same, but the makers conceal that with lots of action set pieces and explosions. So even before you start asking questions about the lazy mechanics and the small campaign, COD drags you into a classic story of deceit and revenge and you'll be stuck to the screen for hours and hours to come.
My verdict: Believe me when I say killing with Gary Oldman has never been this fun. Happy fragging.
