Lenas wrote:
Black Ops is a far better shooter than Reach is.
You represent one opinion. Collectively, the game didn't even break 90% (Black Ops) on metacritics. Here's how I judge what game is better. I look at the history of the two franchises, then see how far the current game has changed itself from the predecessors, for the better of course. Reach really does change up Halo more than any other game in the series has done to this point. The single-player campaign was arguably the best or second best of the series.
Black Ops, on the other hand, feels almost identical to MW2, minus some of the excessive perks. The single-player campaign is definitely the highlight, which I will admit is awesome. As awesome as it is, it's also equally short. All CoD games are extremely short-lived in the single-player campaign. That alone, in my opinion, hurts the game. At less than six hours in length, it doesn't matter how awesome it is. That's simply not long enough. CoD relies completely on the multi-player community. It's no wonder they pump out a new game every 12 months. They really only need to throw together a quick, action-packed campaign, and then modify the multi-player component to a different era and setting.
I have a hard time giving shooter of the year to a game that spent less than 11 months in production. It's even harder to consider it when you see how short the campaign is. Lastly, when you consider how little has really changed, game-play-wise, I don't know how this beats out Reach. I'm not saying reach is the best shooter ever. I just feel it's more worthy than Modern Warfare 2.5, er Black Ops.
With all of this said, I'm eagerly awaiting a great shooter to come along that doesn't have the name Call of Duty or Halo in its title. Honestly, both series have about wore their welcome. Not enough has changed in CoD since MW1. Halo has already milked the cow dry. With Halo finally calling it quits, I really don't see CoD going the same route. They're going to milk it on a yearly basis, especially since there has been such enormous sales for the game.