The Glade 4.0

Leaked out online a couple of days ago, releases on the 9th.

Semi review

Gameplay: Nothing new here, really. Normal CoD controls. Vehicles, weapon switching, melee, all of them works the same.

Presentation: This is a step up from the Modern Warfare games. Menus are quick and the initial screen ties in with the campaign. Can't comment on how long the game is, yet. I do love the story presentation more than the other games, though. You're a The game takes place during the time of the Cold War, too, which is a nice change of pace from WW2 or current events.

Graphics: Best one yet. Particle effects, camera and character animations, all top-notch. What I think is a little-known fact, is that this game is 3D on both the PS3 and the 360. I've played half of the missions normal, half 3D and lemme tell ya, the game gets intense when you've got glasses on. There were a couple times when I got so into what was going on, that I literally had to shake my head and take a breath as I felt my heart pumping.

That said, with 3D there's a learning curve, as I think it brings another level of authenticity to the game. Bringing up your scope means you're looking all the way down it, not with some depth of field blur. Shooting enemies in the distance takes a second as you recognize and focus on them. There's no doubt that I'm a better player without the 3D on (so far?) but there's also no doubt that I have a lot more fun playing with it on. Shame I wont be able to do so competitively in multi.

Fun Stuff: Black Ops losing the "Spec Ops" mode and replaces it with Zombies right in the main menu. Standard fare survival here. Nice treat though, once you beat the game you get to play as famous figures in this mode. Castro, JFK, etc.

Overall, after my first-day impressions, this is shaping up to be my favorite CoD thus far. If multiplayer turns out as awesome as previews are making it seem, this should be a purchase for any fan of the FPS genre.

Pictures:

Nice! I'll keep it in the Gamefly queue.

Beat the game last night.

Best campaign of the series.

That's what everyone says about the newest installment of the series. Not that I have disagreed yet. But I do want to play this one. The single player campaigns since they got away from the god awful WW2 crap have been amazingly awesome. Never been a fan of the multiplayer, though. That's what I have Halo and Left 4 Dead for...but the zombie mode sounds kinda cool.

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Los Angeles Kings 2014 Stanley Cup Champions

"I love this **** team right here."
-Jonathan Quick

The two MW games are debatable about which is better, but Black Ops story is just so much better.

My rental has been shipped!

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"It is true that democracy undermines freedom when voters believe they can live off of others' productivity, when they modify the commandment: 'Thou shalt not steal, except by majority vote.' The politics of plunder is no doubt destructive of both morality and the division of labor."

I was going to pass it up, but it sounds like they really refined the MP. I never liked the MW stories and find the game play repetitive and unfairly hard on harder settings. There have been some great set-pieces, but that's it for me. The MP has been where I've found the most enjoyment.

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"...the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?" -Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

I like the way the MP is set up this time around. You can buy the attachments, perks, extra weapons and stuff instead of waiting to level up or complete preset kill amounts. The contract stuff is fun and a nice addition. The maps are huge, I'm not sure how I feel about it so far. Maybe I'm just rusty but I'm getting killed from out of nowhere more it seems.

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"It is true that democracy undermines freedom when voters believe they can live off of others' productivity, when they modify the commandment: 'Thou shalt not steal, except by majority vote.' The politics of plunder is no doubt destructive of both morality and the division of labor."

That kinda goes without saying, right?

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The Dude abides.

Hahahahaha!!! You beat me to it, Screeling!

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

I'm rusty, also, but got my groove back when I picked up the 10-kill one game contract.

Having fun so far.

Best moment so far:

I get dropped into Second Chance just after loading in. Guy hides behind a nearby fountain, and I spray pistol at him. He looks out like "WTF is shooting at me", and I headshot him after taking a moment to aim. People stopped letting me lie there after three more Second Chance kills.

I'm really liking this game. It's corrected a great deal of shitty parts from past CoD games, while bringing some fresh aspects to the franchise.

Definitely takes a bit more skill when it comes to doing well in MP now.

I have it now. The review was right. They really have refined the MP. They removed some of the more obnoxous perks and abilities and added a more interesting and customizable leveling system and some neat new game types. Oh and they added nazi zombies. And a bot-mode which names all the bots after people from your friends list. It's a great way to familiarize yourself with the maps with some resistance to test things out a bit. I haven't even finished the first level of the campaign and I already think it was worth $60. Way to hit it out of the park, Treyarch. /clap

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"...the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?" -Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

If anyone else got stuck on the annoying Vietnam mission, you are not alone:

http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2010/11/12/call-of-duty-black-ops-vietnam-khe-sanh-hill-mission-stuck/

Weird. I know exactly what part he's talking about and I ran right through it first try. I'll have to go back and try the napalm barrel thing!

That's really strange, because I actually played it enough to get up to the checkpoint, and it didn't trigger the next part of the level, guys just kept respawning till I died. Oh well, the napalm barrels worked great, once I found this article.

I was thinking my PC might not be good enough to handle this game, considering the terrible stuttering problems I keep hearing about. As it turns out, having a lesser PC may be the route to go. Those quad cores are the ones having a bunch of problems.

I'm only working with a Centrino 2 p8400 @ 2.26GHz. I have plenty of ram and a good video card, but I still thought it might have issues. I was worried I wasted $60. I'm very happy with the game, and I'm having a lot of fun with it online.

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This is the best over all Call of Duty game of the entire series.

Tried playing with my little brother on split screen and that worked well. Tried to include the two of us in a party group and it went horribly. Their servers didn't seem capable of keeping our group together to find a match. We gave up and I was thoroughly pissed. I hardly have any time for video games anymore. When I do play, I expect it to work.

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The Dude abides.

I watch this when I need a good laugh

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Hokanu
Duty is a magnificent blessing because it is the sign of trust from the universe.
END OF LINE.

Couple of big patches went live in the last two days.

Match making is working properly, fixed several issues of the spawn system, increased the sound of enemy footsteps as well as reduced the melee range slightly.

I finally unlocked the G11 assault rifle and I've just been raping faces with hardline pro, steady aim and marathon.

Great game.

I'm just glad that lag is no longer doing horrible things to my rectum.

I finished the campaign. It was alright. I enjoyed the the Modern Warfare campaigns better. Black Ops had a lot of varied things to do, but they were always very short-lived. Playing the scene where you were the Blackbird pilot and guiding the ground crew and then changing to the ground crew as they engaged the enemy was a great idea. They should have let that go on longer than 5 minutes.

Also, I felt like I was watching too much instead of playing. Not worth $60, based on the campaign. I'm sure I'll feel better once I can play multiplayer more.

Modern Warfare 1 remains my favorite.

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The Dude abides.