The Official Xbox Magazine was recently released, with a huge feature on Call of Duty: Black Ops. To check out the details hit the tabs.
General Info
The graphics, as we saw in the teaser trailer, are amazing – in particular buildings are demolished brilliantly and include ‘dynamic shadows’ that build tension
‘Black Ops has a different, grubbier vibe to MW2′
Treyarch is approaching the game as ‘3 games in one’ – single player, co-op, and multiplayer
There’s ‘dedicated co-op’, suggesting a departure from WaW – Treyarch ‘changed the subject’ when asked about zombies 
Treyarch has taken ‘creative risks’
There are more than 200 people working on Black Ops
The difference between World at War and Black Ops is similar to the difference between CoD2 and CoD4
OXM reckons, unsurprisingly, that this will be ‘one of this year’s very biggest, and best’ games
Campaign
You’re a member of SOG (Studies and Operations Group) working in deniable ops during the Cold War – we knew that.
There’s fighting in ‘Vietnam, the frosty Russian mountains, the Laotian undergrounds and everything in between’
Naturally, you’ll be fighting the North Vietnamese Army
In ‘WMD’, the mission USA Today played, you are, indeed, controlling the SR-71, and you issue orders to soldiers down below
In ‘Victor Charlie’, you start off in a crashed helicopter in the Huong River, and make your way upstream; swimming, with only a knife
In ‘Payback’, you’re in a fully-controllable helicopter – you drive it and shoot it
Gameplay
‘Stealth plays a big part’
Rappelling: you’ll be able to feel ‘each crash back into the cliff side with a bone-jarring thud’
You can call in air support to decimate NVA buildings
Your player has a voice, unlike other CoD games
Weapons
The crossbow was confirmed
As was the ‘dragon-breath’ flame-throwing rounds for the SPAS-12
The M202 ‘Grim Reaper’ rocket launcher was name-dropped
And, (thanks to WePlayCoD), the guy in the full-page picture is holding a MAC-10
Vehicles return, ‘but not the way you remembered them from WaW’
Multiplayer
Multiplayer began development early on, such that some single player levels are based on multiplayer maps
A beta is ‘being considered’ (though, since it’s in a 360 magazine, it may be 360-exclusive)
We’ve heard it before, but Treyarch will be improving multiplayer from suggestions, and acknowledged the under-the-map glitches that plagued WaW’s launch
Matchmaking for consoles has been improved (although as we learned earlier, PCs will almost certainly get dedicated servers)
Create a Class 2.0 – improved character customization includes kit and appearance items!
Pictures
Summary
So, overall, a few bits we knew before, a few we kinda guessed, and a few genuinely exciting prospects. I’ve always liked the stealth missions, so I’m hoping stealth really does play a ‘big part’ like they say. Customization for Create A Class sounds great, as does a fully controllable helicopter. I honestly can’t wait.
New video release with a few seconds of new footage, the world premiere should be interesting.
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Written by: Ace
- News Contributor
#1 by dragonx on May 16th, 2010
Still questionable whether I get this or not, really didn’t like cod:waw. Not sure if treyarch should have been giving this game to develop, could have been another developer that would have done this game right and help carry on a great franchise
#2 by Jay on May 16th, 2010 [ 82483 Points ]
personally, I like Treyarch’s WaW better than MW2. The series has been going stagnant for a while, and it seems like only Treyarch is the only one taking creative risks in the franchise, while MW2 only gave us more of the same.
I think this one might be the one that would help get back the respect a lot of people lost for the series after the release of MW2; and being able to spy from a Blackbird and fly a helicopter? Vehicles have been severely lacking in the franchise, so it’s definitely nice to see them as a big part of this one. That’s why I love BFBC2 (that, and the multiplayer is far more team oriented than the one man army approach of CoD)
#3 by Kicks on May 17th, 2010 [ 1054 Points ]
cod:w@w was a lot better than cod3 and showed that treyarch could make improvements. I’m excited to see not only this title, but what Medal of Honor will bring to the table
#4 by Royalty32 on May 17th, 2010
Im excited as well. I just hope it isnt more of the same. Hopefully they will spend some time on single player as they will multiplayer. MW2 will be hard to beat, hope there up for the BIG tASK
#5 by mrup2nogud on May 17th, 2010 [ 175 Points ]
i was a big fan of modern warfare but mw2 has left me frustrated. i think the whole perk system needs a rethink and the killstreak system needs sorting out . i like the idea of kill rewards rather than killstreak rewards ive seen the idea on several sites and the idea is you get rewards for kills rather than killstreaks i.e kills dont have to be in a row you may die but as soon as you register 7 kills you get a uav 12 maybe harrier strike 20 maybe ac130 or other support rewards forcing people or encouraging people to go looking for kills rather than camping for killstreaks any kills from rewards should not count towards the next reward also maybe just 1 or 2 sniper slots per team and the silly perks have to go commando out nuke out no lightweight or marathon just back to extreme conditioning i would also like to see deep impact return stopping power adjusted so if you dont set it as a perk your not deffo gonna die in a 1 on 1 with somebody using it
#6 by Ace on May 17th, 2010 [ 23407 Points ]
Man i’m loving the feed back guys, cool stuff.
#7 by Jay on May 17th, 2010 [ 82483 Points ]
personally, I think they should drop the killstreak system altogether. IMO, it drains a lot of the fun. Right now, the best online shooter is definitely BFBC2, but you don’t get any special abilities for kills or anything, but you do get rewarded via badges and the like, which seem more rewarding in the long run, since players don’t have to worry about the killstreaks constantly killing them off and everyone getting an equal chance of game time and the like.
Killstreaks, as it is, only rewards people who are really good, and the not-so-good players constantly get killed off either by the good players or by the killstreaks themselves, but making it so after you get a certain number of kills, despite deaths, would only make it worse since the good players will be getting them more frequently, and the bad players will be using them, too, and the result would just be quick 5 minute rounds of chaos.
#8 by mrup2nogud on May 18th, 2010 [ 175 Points ]
you might be right about getting rid of kill rewards altogether but i do like air support and so on there must be a way of making it work the game needs to be more like cod4 a lot of perks need to go you cant make the game easy just to give the poorer player a chance i was rubbish when i started out i recall entering my first match on vacant and wondering what had hit me however within a month i was holding my own skill only comes with time
#9 by mrup2nogud on May 18th, 2010 [ 175 Points ]
Just came off modern warfare 2 im utterly convinced snipers need to be limited to 1 per squad i just played the worst game ever 4 snipers in my team on skidrow it was terrible the game before that on overgrown was just as bad everyone camping for killstreaks im hoping red dead offers me something until november when i get black ops treyarch have got a lot to think about there must be lobbies with no perks no streaks just straight up gunfights
#10 by mrup2nogud on May 19th, 2010 [ 175 Points ]
just seen the new black ops trailer and from what i saw it looks very impressive ak47s and carbines i like this kind of weaponry although the trailer can only offer so much you just have to trust that beta testing and reading the forums will iron out the problems modern warfare 2 has i think a step back might be a big step forward for this game