Black Ops is a game I thought I loved. It was the first game I've played on PS3 after some years away from gaming in general, so I remember it very fondly.
Recently, I've decided to revisit some of the PS3 catalogue, so I played the campaign on Veteran difficulty...
Technically, Black Ops SHOULD be a good game. The shooting feels good, the visuals are compelling and it includes some really good action set pieces. However, the gameplay is seriously lacking in terms of freedom of gameplay and variety of viable strategies. Even simple stuff like flanking, which should be a staple in FPS games, don't work very well. On regular difficulty, it's a cakewalk, requiring no strategy at all. On veteran, the ONLY viable strategy is to hide behind cover and slug throughout the game. Because of the "need" to portray "realism", the game color palette is full of browns and greys. In some missions, is IMPOSSIBLE to distinguish enemies from the background, which makes it really infuriating dying to some enemy you can't see. S.O.G. on Veteran is probably the worst FPS mission I have ever played.
After playing some incredible FPS games over the years, like Wolfenstein: The New Order and The New Colossus, DOOM and Titanfall 2, and even some reeeeaally old stuff like Red Faction (2001), I can now recognize that, despite not being BAD, this game lacks the mechanical/artistic depth I enjoyed in those games.
The Zombies mode is still incredible though, so I'm bumping it an additional 1 star.
Recently, I've decided to revisit some of the PS3 catalogue, so I played the campaign on Veteran difficulty...
Technically, Black Ops SHOULD be a good game. The shooting feels good, the visuals are compelling and it includes some really good action set pieces. However, the gameplay is seriously lacking in terms of freedom of gameplay and variety of viable strategies. Even simple stuff like flanking, which should be a staple in FPS games, don't work very well. On regular difficulty, it's a cakewalk, requiring no strategy at all. On veteran, the ONLY viable strategy is to hide behind cover and slug throughout the game. Because of the "need" to portray "realism", the game color palette is full of browns and greys. In some missions, is IMPOSSIBLE to distinguish enemies from the background, which makes it really infuriating dying to some enemy you can't see. S.O.G. on Veteran is probably the worst FPS mission I have ever played.
After playing some incredible FPS games over the years, like Wolfenstein: The New Order and The New Colossus, DOOM and Titanfall 2, and even some reeeeaally old stuff like Red Faction (2001), I can now recognize that, despite not being BAD, this game lacks the mechanical/artistic depth I enjoyed in those games.
The Zombies mode is still incredible though, so I'm bumping it an additional 1 star.