Call of Duty: Black Ops for Microsoft Xbox 360

The "Call of Duty" franchise is back with its new game, "Black Ops." There were a lot of expectations for this game, but Treyarch, with a few exceptions, has risen to the challenge and met all of them.

For those who don't know, "Black Ops" is a first-person shooter, set in Vietnam during the Cold War. The U.S. is on the brink of war with Soviet Russia, and you hold the key to averting the crisis.

There's one problem: You have been brainwashed, repeating sequences of numbers continuously interrupt your thoughts, and you are fighting through flashbacks. You have been captured, and you don't know where you are, or who has captured you.

This is how the single-player campaign mode starts off. As you are being interrogated, your thoughts trigger flashbacks, which comprise the actual missions of campaign mode.

Your first mission is to Cuba, to assassinate the infamous Fidel Castro. During this mission, you sacrifice yourself to save the rest of your team. You are captured, and sent to a Russian labor camp.

During the course of your interrogation and flashbacks, you realize that the Russians are preparing to release a nerve agent, "Nova 6," in the United States. It is this that becomes the main crisis of the story.

Although the story is a bit confusing at first, don't give up on it. Everything ties together in the end and it all starts to make sense, producing a pleasantly unpredictable storyline.

Another good thing about the game is that real people from history are tied into the story. As previously mentioned, players are first sent to kill Castro, and then meet President Kennedy and Secretary McNamara. These real world references help players to feel more connected with the game.

What really make the game great, however, are all the details. You don't feel like you are playing a video game. You feel like you are controlling a movie. This is achieved, with the help of high-tech graphics, by things like motorcycle jumps, prison escapes, strafing runs in helicopters and incredible sneak attacks and hand-to-hand combat, just to name a few.

At the end of campaign mode, after the credits, a cut scene starts to play in which Kennedy is sitting at a table with McNamara, Castro and Richard Nixon. He is talking with them about burying the hatchet when suddenly loud bumps are heard in rooms next door ...

Zombie mode is back! Now with new maps (including the Pentagon), guns and characters, it is just as fun as Nazi Zombies from "World at War." In some ways, it's even better - getting to hear Nixon brag about his zombie-killing prowess is priceless.

This game is absolutely brilliant, The single player is fantastic with a very engaging storyline. It is based on the re-appearance of Rezanov from Call of Duty World at War.

Once you have completed the story, you are in for a real treat as once again zombies have taken control and this time they mean business, the bigger zombie levels and dead ops arcade really help to make this game what it is. I had no trouble with joining anyone on-line for a game of zombies and there are enough windows and holes in the wall (where the zombies come from) to keep everyone occupied for hours.

When you've decided to take a break from zombie mode, you can play on the incredible multi-player experience which has changed dramatically from the older games in the Call of Duty series, now you must earn money or COD POINTS to purchase weapons, attachments, equipment, perks and kill-streak rewards.

If you didn't enjoy World at War then Treyarch have really brought their rep back with this stunning new game.

I highly recommend you buy Call of Duty: Black Ops TODAY

(This game is available on PS3, XBOX 360, WII, PC and DS)

Call Of Duty Black Ops is the 7th Call of Duty in the series, After Infinity Wards Modern Warfare 2, Treyarch had a hard act to follow and I'm more a fan of Infinity Ward's Call Of Duties however, Treyarch have done absolutally amazing with this one,
: With an Epic "Single Player" story which will have you playing and playing untill you complete is so you can know how it all ends.
: Zombies, Where you can try to survive for as long as possible either on your own or with three or less of your friends or felllow Xbox Live Players, Zombies mode features many maps and exciting rooms for you to battle it out against a hoarde of Zombies
: Combat Training where you can practice against your friends who are A.I controlled on a difficulty set by you!
: Multiplayer. An amazing online atmosphere where you can play in rooms up to 12 people on a varitey of maps, leveling up and upgrading. An amazing online experience in which hours will turn in days!

The Hardened Edition comes with a Slipcase to contain the Call Of Duty Steelbook which containts the Game, A Booklet and DLC Codes which are an Avatar Item and Three New Zombie Maps! Also Is The Black Ops Medal Housed in a case and a box! All to come together to create a collectible hardened edition

The Prestiege Edition comes with the Hardened Edition (Minus the Slipcase) but also You get an ACTUAL Remote Control RC-XD Car, The Car can reach great speeds and it also has a camera with live feed on the front to which then you can see on the monitor on your remote! The quality and the live stream is amazing and well worth the £129.99 RRP however I'm sure you could find it for cheaper
A must have for any Call Of Duty Fan and SO MUCH FUN TO USE!

I'd give the game an overall 8.5/9 out of 10
A Game which surely..must be worth a go I say

Thank you for taking the time to read my review

If you are looking for a relitivly "realistic" shooter than this is probably for you. It is definalty more unrealistic than it is realistic for reasons such as weapon damage is considerably unaccurate (as they are in all CoD games) and that people can at times take considerable more damage than what is humanly possible.
In terms of singleplayer, it is basicly a alternate story behind the cold war, chemical weapons being made in secret and the americans paranoid idea of 'Sleeper Agents'. The story however is put together well in terms of pace and is definalty an improvement from MW2. However the 'Veteran' diffuclty is not challanging what so ever; the adverage CoD player could complete it in around 8-9 hours and in 10 with their eyes shut.
In terms of multiplayer it is the same old CoD idea, unrealistic damge thresholds, running around the same maps shooting people for no apparent reason. As for new game modes dont get your hopes up as there are very few new additions and they are just variations of previous modes.
The zombies however is the only reason why this game is still on my shelf, the Zombies is fun, fast paced, and addictive, espicially when online with friends.
All together this game was over-rated and is to serious for what it actually is - an arcade shooter. Its not tremendously realistic when it comes to multiplayer and the only real good aspect of it are its pace, Zombies mode, and visuals. I recommend 4 options; either buy it as cheap as possible, Wait for Mw3, Stick to older titles as they seem beter, or wait Battlefield 3 (or buy Bad Company 2) as its more realistic, with enviormental damage, bigger maps, vehicles; tanks, jeeps ect. and more importanly the guns have better damage statistics/capabilty to what they do in real life along with the fact online players will take less to bring down.

Black Ops is a first-person shooter. The player assumes the role of a foot soldier who can wield various firearms, of which two at a time can be carried; throw grenades and other explosives; and use other equipment as weapons. A player close enough to an enemy can kill with one knife blow. A character can take three stances: standing, crouching, or prone; each affects rate of movement, accuracy, and stealth. The player can dive prone from a standing position when running. The player can momentarily sprint but will then grow tired. The screen glows red to indicate damage to a player's health, which goes away over time. When the character is within the blast radius of a live grenade, a marker indicates the direction of the grenade, helping the player to flee or throw it back. Among the game's weapons are crossbows with bolts and explosive ammunition, Dragon's Breath rounds and ballistic knives.