This review is going to be in two parts (single player and multiplayer). Both aspects are very robust and deserve their own sections. Overall, Call of Duty: Black Ops is a great game you don't want miss.

Single player

Let’s start with the campaign. Call of Duty: Black Ops was scheduled to be an incredible game for the next installment of the Call of Duty franchise; a franchise mind you that has never seemed to have disappointed anyone. Just as the rest before it, Black Ops does not disappoint. If anything, all the hype surrounding this game did not shed a single light on the game. I have followed all the hype, all of the interviews and vlogs, and honestly I have to thank Treyarch. I have to thank them for allowing me to see for myself what made the game great.

After beating the single-player campaign overnight (again I was at yet another midnight release), I am — in all honesty — confused. The story surrounding the game just confuses me, and the cinematics’ did not help that much. You often pop in and out of the game with brief (and often confusing) cinematics. At first, you are being interrogated (for the sake of spoiling, I will not reveal much) about your involvement in a certain thing, which happened in a certain some place, authorized by a certain someone. You are apart of a certain group that does not exist, with an objective that does not exist. Are you following me? What I meant to say was “did you ever suspect you would see Reznov again?”

Graphically, Treyarch did wonders. The game is insanely polished and looks as beautiful as my daughter the day she was born. I am not kidding, either; it looks phenomenal. One thing I have come to appreciate is the accuracy to detail in the weaponry. Being a sort of “gun-researcher,” they got all the weaponry down to a science.

Since I have pretty much said the single-player campaign was almost perfect, do you think the controls would be as flawless as the rest of it? There is not a single flaw in the controls; all the movements are very fluid, and the buttons are perfectly aligned the way they need to be. Every button combination I have done has been sharply displayed on screen. If I want to jump then crouch then reload, it does so with ease.

Now it’s time for ZOMBIES!

Being the somewhat Zombie connoisseur I am, it is safe to say this is the reason I got the game. I have followed Zombies very closely, and by closely, I mean very close — as in sitting a millimeter away from the TV screen, trying to find every little detail as a clue to the ongoing story in itself. In all seriousness, I have even gone so far as to take a Teddy bear, paint it with fake blood and put an arrow through its head on the wall. Does that make me a Call of Duty Zombie addict? Maybe it is the fact every night I go to bed, I dream of Nazi Zombies ... I am being serious, too!

OK. Back to the game. Zombies is an insane amount of fun, both online and solo. I am hoping Treyarch gives us an insane amount of DLC, including a ton of new Zombie maps. Although with the previous installment, my LEGIT level obtained was 135. Yeah, go ahead and look it up!

The new weaponry gives the Zombie mode a great fresh new face. It is awesome to shoot a zombie in the face with an Over-and-Under shotgun!

In conclusion, the single player (both campaign and Zombies) are a great start to this blockbuster to the Call of Duty franchise. I highly recommend getting Call of Duty: Black Ops, if not for the single-player campaign, then for the robust multiplayer!

Multiplayer

Shortly after the single-player review, I sat down and really got into the multiplayer elements of Black Ops — but not without trouble first.

It took me nearly 30 minutes to finally get into a game; I had gotten this “game lobby closed” message, which really began to irritate me. However, during this time, it allowed me to get familiar with Zombies via Xbox Live — which, by the way, made me feel awesome and somewhat appreciated.

After a few failures in Zombies, it was time to switch over to the multiplayer and get some! Finally, I had gotten into Mercenary (which is a NON-party team game), and I was thrilled. This game had the biggest hype; which was very evident, because when I got on, there were 3,456,983 people playing ... yes, that is correct ... 3 MILLION players.

Anyways, I started on a jungle map — the name escapes me — and I was given three options as per the Call of Duty standards: Assault, SMG or Shotgun. I was perfectly fine with that. I don’t mind having to earn my weaponry and my status. Of course, there was one thing slightly wrong with that mindset. It is hard to earn anything. Sure, I ranked up pretty fast, but people and their Thermal Scopes — which seemed to be really popular according to my sources at the Kill Cam academy — seemed to be just ripping me a new one. No matter what I did, I was killed by a sniper with a thermal on it.

So I did the one thing I always have done in previous Call of Duty installments: camping. I took my awesome Over-and-Under shotgun and camped in a high-traffic area. I know what you are more than likely going to say “GAH IT’S A CAMPER! LIGHT YOUR PITCHFORKS AND BRING YOUR TORCHES!” Yes, I know it’s backwards — but this time around, the experience is different. The overall pace is a great deal faster than the previous.

After ranking up a bit, I decided it was time to switch it up. I then switched to my favorite game mode: Ground War. This is where it all started for me. I got a ton of kills with a variety of different weapons, and it was safe to say I was on a roll.

Finally I unlocked some more weapons — by “unlock,” I mean purchased. My first purchase was the WA2000 sniper rifle — I am a bush wookie at heart — and tore up the fields.

I have to say the weapon choices are great, and I love purchasing the attachments and weapons. It honestly makes me feel like I did accomplish something. Other than that, the other newer additions are the challenges (which you can also buy), and the wager matches.

I honestly have not had the opportunity to play in a wager match, since I could not seem to get into a game. However, that is fine; I don’t want to take a chance of losing some cash; which I should be using to deck out my character with the beat weaponry.

All in all, multiplayer for Black Ops is a great hit. If you’re not a fan of playing by yourself, then get Call of Duty: Black Ops JUST FOR MULTIPLAYER! Trust me: It is WELL WORTH the price tag!