Black Ops Multiplayer Details

Perhaps the most anticipated reveal this year went underway last week at the California Science Centre in, you guessed it, California. Press and Community reps were invited to take a peek at almost every nuance in the upcoming Activision/Treyarch FPS, Call of Duty: Black Ops. We got to take an in-depth look at every aspect of the multiplayer component of the upcoming shooter, and here we lay it bare for all of you to see. ***Warning: This is an extremely long post, almost reminiscent of patch notes in WoW***

One of the first things noticeable about the Black Ops Multiplayer experience are things that everyone would expect out of a Treyarch game. Local Search for consoles; allowing Australians to play with other Australians no matter the time of day, as well as Dedicated Server support for the PC. PC will be a steam exclusive, with VAC *groan* handling all the anti-hacking measures. There is light at the end of the tunnel however, with Treyarch currently in the development stage of modding tools for the PC audience, not to mention the Machinima potential that Black Ops has (something we'll get to in a minute).

For those that don't particularly enjoy playing online, have run out of Xbox LIVE subscription, or want to have a quick match with your friends, Black Ops introduces a 'Competitive Training Mode'. This game mode allows players to play against bots and other players locally, as well as being completely customisable. The bots behaved realistically, and in some instances, almost too realistically - they are programmed to act as close to humans as Treyarch could get them to. This mode features the same ranking and upgrade system that the online system has, but is tracked separately (Much like Modern Warfare 2).

A quick look in the new 'Create a Class 2.0' shows a multitude of guns, perks, and equipment available for your disposal. The three tier perk system returns, with Tier 1 perks being responsible for changing your characters look as well as giving abilities - meaning you can tell what perk an enemy is using by a quick glance at them. The perks have pro versions, though currently it's unknown what a lot of them do (Although some probably function like their former games counterparts). The list of perks is here, broken down into Tier and what they do:

Tier 1
# Lightweight - sprint faster
# Scavenger - pick up ammo
# Ghost - invisible to air support, spy planes
# Flak Jacket - reduces explosive damage
# Hardline - 1 less kill requirement for killstreaks

Tier 2
# Hardened - Greater bullet penetration
# Scout - hold your breath longer
# Steady Aim - more accurate hip firing
# Sleight of Hand - Faster reloading
# Warlord - 2 attachments on primary

Tier 3
# Marathon - Sprint Farther
# Ninja - Footsteps are silent
# Second Chance - Pull out a pistol when health reaches 0, no reviving!
# Hacker - Allows you to see where enemy explosives are, Similar to SitRep
# Tactical Mask - Lowers the effect of tactical grenades like flashbangs.

While you might not have noticed it, several favourites from other Call of Duties have disappeared. There is no more Stopping Power or Danger Close, although Second Chance is more like Modern Warfare’s Last Stand (at least from what was shown). Marathon is no longer unlimited sprint, and instead functions like Extreme Conditioning. Commando has been removed, as well as the death streaks of Juggernaught/Painkiller and Martyrdom… neither of which will be sorely missed.

There is an incredibly large selection of guns available to choose from, with some great fan favourites in there. While the community cried out for selectable rate of fire on some guns, it doesn’t seem to exist… however Treyarch have added a modifiable zoom scope for sniper rifles. Weapon attachments make a return in several forms, and each weapon has a unique list of attachments that make sense to the gun itself. For instance, the Python, an old revolver, has the potential for a snub nose attachment.

The amount of attachment options for many of the guns is quite large, including the well known M203 underslung grenade launcher (or noob tube), a fiercesomely powerful grenade launcher, as well as things like extended magazines and a double magazine setup (For faster reloading?). While this list is quite large, several guns were listed as ‘Classified’ and unable to be seen. What these guns are, nobody yet knows.

Pistols
# ASP
# M1911
# Makarov
# Python
# CZ75

Sub-machine guns
# MP5K
# Skorpion
# MAC11
# AK74u
# Uzi
# PM63
# MPL
# Spectre

Assault
# Enfield
# M14
# FAMAS
# Galil
# AUG
# FN FAL
# AK47
# Commando

Shotguns
# Olympia
# Stakeout
# Spas

Light Machine guns
# HK21
# RPK
# M60

Sniper Rifles
# Dragunov
# WA2000
# L96A1

Launchers
# M72
# RPG
# Strela
# China Lake (Similar in nature to thumper)

Some of the extra's are also here to look at!

Equipment
# Camera Spike
# C4
# Tactical Insert
# Jammer (Behaves akin to scrambler perk in MW2)
# Motion Sensor
# Claymore

Lethal Grenades
# Tomahawk (Similar to throwing knife, but slower and makes noise)
# Frag Grenade
# Semtex

Tactical Grenades
# Willy Pete (Smoke)
# Nova Gas
# Flashbang
# Concussion
# Decoy (Creates a false radar blip where thrown)

Specials
# Ballistic Knife
# Crossbow

There is some exciting items there, with the Ballistic Knife being a great weapon for long range stealth kills – however the return of Tactical Inserts could lead to yet another wave of boosters in this game… a hobby that was generally frowned upon in Modern Warfare 2. The Camera Spike is perhaps the most interesting idea, though the most functional would probably have to be the Decoy grenade, allowing you to show false blips on the radar to make enemies approach.

Black Ops is all about customisation. Not only are there a large array of gun camo’s (A whopping 16!), but there are facepaints, different costumes, and the ability to completely modify your gun by adding emblems. These aren’t some basic stickers though: much like as in Forza, you can customize your emblems with an emblem creator… changing size, shape, colour and position. But that’s not all Treyarch chose to do with their time… A guns red dot sight now has the ability to be changed between a whole host of different shapes and colours, from a functional standard crosshair, to a skull or smiley face, there is something in there to suit anyone and everyone.

What would a Call of Duty game be without Killstreaks? While Black Ops has several of the standard streaks, there are a few new and interesting ones to choose from. When creating the game, Treyarch had a tough time balancing all the killstreaks correctly, but now believe players will have a tough time deciding which loadout to take into battle… no more as simple as picking 7,9,11 and going for it. Best of all… No Nuke!

# 3 Spy Plane - Almost Identical to UAV
# 3 RC XD - Remote controlled explosive buggy, difficult to control.
# 4 Counter Spy Plane - Counter UAV equivalent
# 4 Sam Turret - Controllable, able to shoot down aircraft
# 5 Care Package - Contains kill streaks or rare equipment / ammo
# 5 Napalm Strike - Akin to the Airstrike, but rains down fiery doom
# 6 Sentry Gun - Sentry Gun, useful in countering attack dogs
# 6 Mortar Team - Calls in a Mortar Strike on 3 selectable positions
# 7 Attack Helicopter - Unknown, presumably a uncontrollable helo
# 7 Valkyrie Rocket - Controllable rockets!
# 8 BlackBird - Similar to a Spy Plane, except shows direction.
# 8 Rolling Thunder - Similar to the Stealth Bomber
# 9 Chopper Gunner - Not like MW2’s, you control a side gunner.
# 11 Attack Dogs - PUPPIES!
# 11 Gunship - Pilot a chopper, including movement.

So now you are probably wondering how the game itself plays. Graphically, it looks amazingly well detailed, and perhaps a little more realistic than the maps of MW2. But some of the biggest changes come with how you level and unlock things. When you kill enemies you earn experience points, just like normal... however when you reach the next level you get an amount of CP (Call of Duty Points). These points can not only be used to purchase all the unlockables in the game (Attachments, Killstreaks, Emblems, so on) they can also be used in some of the additional game modes within the game, these are called Wager Modes.

Wager Modes are played separate from your normal gametypes. Rather than your straightforward Deathmatch or Team modes, these are Free for all matches where you actually wager an amount of your hard earned CP against different factors depending on the specific game type. The game types so far are: One in the chamber, sticks and stones, gun game and sharpshooter.

One in the chamber is an easy game mode, reminiscent of GoldenEye's 'man with the golden gun' mode. Everyone starts with a gun that has a single bullet and three lives. If you kill an opponent, you are given an extra bullet, but miss and you will have to rely on your melee, which can make things interesting.

Sticks and Stones is intriguing, a game mode where you have nothing but a Ballistic Knife, Explosive tipped Crossbow and a Tomahawk. The first two are fairly straightforward, but nice ways of killing enemies... however the real star is the Tomahawk: Much like MW2's throwing knife, you throw it at your enemy and if it hits, you kill him. The difference in this game mode is that if you kill someone with a Tomahawk, they lose the money they wagered in the match. The tomahawk takes a little more skill than MW2's throwing knife - It's slower, quite audible, and doesn't go as far.

Lovers of Counter-Strike may already be familiar with the Gun Game concept, since that is where its origins lie; You start the match with nothing but a pistol, and must score a kill with it in order to receive a new gun, which you must then get a kill with in turn. The game continues until someone has gotten a kill with 20 distinct guns, ending with the Ballistic knife. To make things more interesting, knifing someone will make them have to go back a gun.

Finally there is Sharpshooter, where everyone spawns with the same gun and no perks. When you kill someone, you get given a perk and after an allotted period of time the gun changes randomly to another. It rewards players who are familiar and good with many different guns, as well as perks, and understand the tactics involved in them.

Outside of this, many things are standard. You start with five custom classes, ten by the fifth prestige. You can change your title and emblem much like you did in Modern Warfare 2, although they look far more natural and unique. You also have to unlock the ability to use a gun, before you can purchase it... although many of the guns are reportedly balanced quite well. Contracts (time-limited challenges you must use CP to purchase) are new, and add an almost quest-like nature to the game.

The last, and by no means least is the ability to record your game. But not just record your game, but the entire game you were in... view your enemies perspective before he killed you, or your team mates that you swore should have saved you. The theatre records up to your last seven days of games, up to 100 of them, automatically. You can then combine segments of this into one long movie, from up to 10 different games. These movies can then be added to your community profile, to be viewed by your friends and optionally, your recent players. Just imagine all the Quick scoping montages!!!! Oh... wait, I'd rather not.

There was unfortunately no word to be had on a few issues of importance. Treyarch had nothing to say about a Beta of any kind... No zombies were confirmed either. Also it was never made clear if Scavenger refilled your explosives/equipment/attachments. None of the pro effects were revealed and some of the guns remained locked and unable to be seen. Only four maps were shown: Summit – a snowy mountain base, Launch – the rocket map we see in the teaser trailer, Radiation – an abandoned power station and Cracked – a secluded town in shambles.

Ultimately, I was impressed with the performance of Black Ops... I had almost expected it to be something like a Modern Warfare 2/World at War hybrid, but what I got was a far more detailed and unique experience. It's been a long time since I've been excited by a new game coming out, but I know that for me, Call of Duty Black Ops will be a Day 1 purchase.