I really like Black Ops, having stopped playing MW2 when the expensive DLC started, I haven't played it in awhile. From what I do remember though, I think the changed made to the game are a big plus.
1. Quick scoping is a thing of the past, so the days of watching players run around a map with a sniper rifle going for short range kills is suicide.
2. Sniping is actually a skill now. One hit kills take work with a sniper rifle like they should. In past CoD's anyone thought they were a sniper (
myself included who improved his K/D ratio dramatically once I realized how easy it is to snipe in MW2 over say a game like Halo ), now we often have snipers who need 2 - 4 hits to make a kill. It isn't like Medal of Honor where you spawn die, spawn die, etc. etc. You can actually get on the playing field, or even out run snipers shooting at you. Cool!
3. The over powered perks are gone, and dual wielding shotguns with assault rifle range as well. No using scavenger to spam noobtubes! Although I do miss being to replenish my claymores. It's a worthy tradeoff though.
4. Noob tubes less prevalent, and opening spawn salvos haven't been discovered yet.
The thing that does kill the game is the latency/lag issues, at times they are game breaking. Like previous CoDs you've seen killcams where it shows you not firing or stabbing your killer, when on your screen you did. Now though I've seen final kill cams where the killer didn't seem to hit his victim at all. Knife whiffing is a common practice. Which has brought back the wonky knifing range, allowing those with lightweight to run thru a hail of bullets and instant knife kill you.
If you're curious to test this... On the map Villa if someone shoots at you from the main Villa, into the small sniping room. Notice if it is assault rifle fire, after you run from the gunfire thru thru window to the stairs, you are still being hit from gun fire as your reach the steps. You won't die, but it's frustrating to say the least. So the days of seemingly being hit from gunfire around corners is still around, if not a little worse. There's is bullet penetration (
Hardened ), but it doesn't account for bullets that make it around corners.
Lately I've run into countless games where connection interrupted shows up at the end of games, and even during. Nothing makes you want to throw your controller than getting the drop on someone, connection interrupted shows up on your screen, and when the game starts again you've died. On the other person's screen nothing happened, it just shows you looking at them and NOT firing. On the Treyarch forums some have attributed this to the games bandwidth interpretation, there is a way to look at how the game sees your bandwidth. Seems for many it sees your connection as being very low.
I've taken to changing my search so it only sees 'Locale Only', which helps a little.
The tip about putting 'Rapid Fire' on your gun really helps out if you find yourself constantly getting the wrong end of the drop like I do.
About the footsteps issue, while you may not hear someone else, your own footsteps are almost deafening now. I take the Ninja perk just to NOT hear my own footsteps.
There is a spawn issue in the game, especially when the game 'spawn flips'. This is especially bad on Nuketown. If the bulk of the other team dies they will spawn on the opposite spawn. If you happen to be on that side waiting for the enemy to come, guess where they are coming from? That's right, ...look behind. At one point in every game this happens, and if you're there it becomes a maddening slaughterhouse.
The game has this weird thing where it will often spawn you in the vicinity of the person who last killed you. If they are on the move, this sometimes results into them literally running to where you spawn, giving them a cheap kill while you orient yourself. On the other hand, this does lead to one getting 'payback' kills more often.
I really do like the maps though, the sheer number of (
14 )maps keeps repetition down. The amount of things going on while you are playing is cool, with the launching rocket shaking the bulk of the map, or the train shaking one end of the map, the target dummies moving about, or the underground areas increasing the size really makes them interesting.
Not a big fan of the single player, but I do like how it offers you a large assortment of the weapons so you can become familiar with them before multiplayer. The combat training is hilarious, naming bots after people on your friend's list. It isn't much help for playing online, but does allow you to try things out before spending money in the multiplayer.
A new update or patch will be welcome, and I look forward to playing the game despite it's problems. Good fun.
