Ever since Modern Warfare came out back in 2007, the Call of Duty franchise really took off, and it it has since sold tens of millions of copies — in fact, as of writing this, Call of Duty Black Ops has already sold 6 million units. That’s the power of a brand. But we’ve always thought the Call of Duty games were far too linear to our taste, and sadly Black Ops continues down that line. But it’s also a lot of fun and if you’re a CoD fan, you’ll definitely be satisfied.

In Black Ops, the campaign follows a familiar CoD pattern, which is to say it’s not cohesive by any means and is just a bunch of levels and stories jolted together. But it’s done in such a way, that you always have interesting and high-temp missions on your hand, and the cut-scenes and voice acting are particularly done well. The story starts with you being captured and the missions play as flashback — which is kinda new. What’s not new, is that all the missions — every one of them — are incredibly linear, you move to a point, shoot enemies, move to another point the game tells you, shoot more enemies and so on, throughout the game. There are some vehicle segments, but they’re just as linear, only you’re in a cockpit. It becomes trivial, despite all the action that’s going on. Way too many set pieces, in-game sequences that mimic MTV styled music videos and Michael Bay movies.

The multiplayer part has always been a strong part of CoD, perhaps the strongest part, and in Black Ops, it’s much more of the same. The gameplay, style and pacing is just as you’d expect from previous games, although there are several new additions. Like your new guns are no longer unlocked, they’re bought by points you earn by playing, and there are new modes, like a zombie-co-op mode and offline multiplayer with bots for those who need training. Sadly however, the PC version of the multiplayer is limited with console issues, as it’s a straight port, like player limits and what not. But overall, CoD fans will certainly appreciate Black Ops, but for those who’d wish more innovation and something new, they’ll have to look elsewhere.

The Good:
Same old Call of Duty
Fast paced campaign
Polished and deep multiplayer

The Bad:
Same old Call of Duty
Same visuals as in previous CoD games
Linear missions
Bad AI

Overall score: 8/10