First look: 'Call of Duty: Black Ops' swoops into action

[The Sith]

First look: 'Call of Duty: Black Ops' swoops into action

|
EnlargeActivisionStealth war: Deep inside the Soviet Union.

• By Mike Snider, USA TODAY

The Cold War generates heat anew in the upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops, the latest title in a multibillion-dollar video game franchise.
Players spy on suspicious activity while piloting a Lockheed SR-71 recon aircraft over the Ural Mountains; on the ground, they tackle a radar station lodged in the lofty terrain, flurries whipping in the wind. You hear the click-click-click as your character adjusts the sights of his modified military crossbow to take out the enemies. A firefight ensues, then a dizzying rappelling scene and — guns blazing — a feet-first, window-shattering breach of a control room.
In an exclusive preview of one level, game developer Treyarch wanted to demonstrate "the game is epic in scope," says studio head Mark Lamia. In Black Ops, due Nov. 9 for the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii and PC (not yet rated), "our writers are focused on (a) story that has meaning and character and will be multi-threaded."

INTERVIEW: Treyarch studio head Mark Lamia
ALSO: More on the preview level of 'Black Ops'

Treyarch's mission is to match the firepower of megahits Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Modern Warfare 2, the first games in the series to move beyond WWII. Activision publishes the series, which has totaled nearly $4 billion since 2003; Modern Warfare 2 has sold more than $1 billion since November 2009, and set a opening-day record for any entertainment launch with $400 million in sales.

Black Ops will be closely watched: It's the first Call of Duty since Activision fired the co-founders of the original developer, Infinity Ward in March Vince Zampella and Jason West have since sued Activision for royalties and rights to Modern Warfare, and Activision has countersued.
"We don't spend a lot of time thinking about what is going on outside of what we are doing in the studio," Lamia says. "The team is working extraordinarily hard to, after many Call of Dutys, really upping our game and making it the best we possibly can."
Treyarch uses motion-capture technology employed by James Cameron in Avatar. "Instead of individual motion-capture, voice-overs and then facial animations, we actually capture the performances of the actors," including more realistic facial muscle movement, Lamia says.
Moving the action to the Cold War "offered us diverse locations and conflicts," Lamia says. "We will stay true to the Call of Duty ethos of taking (characters) around the world and dropping them into hot spots."

http://www.usatoday.com/life/lifesty...ofduty11_N.htm

[Roadside]

They have to run out of ideas sooner or later...I hope.

[squirrelbo1]

wouldnt it have been better to post this in ps3 section ? would have got waaaaay more views and defo more than 2 replied in 2 days.

[UkHardcore]

They have to run out of ideas sooner or later...I hope.

Why would you hope they run out of idea's? You not like gaming?

[squirrelbo1]

Why would you hope they run out of idea's? You not like gaming?

he means he hopes they stop milking the franchise.

[UkHardcore]

he means he hopes they stop milking the franchise.

The best games in the industry these days are sequels.

[F34R]

As long as the games are good, I don't care if they make a million of them...

[UkHardcore]

As long as the games are good, I don't care if they make a million of them...

^^This

[VintageElise]

I don't have high hopes for this but I will probably buy it. I'm a sucker like that.

[Roadside]

Look at what Activision did to the Tony Hawk and Guitar Hero series of games. Those are good examples of why people should care.

[Boogie Woogie]

I'm all for the 100th edition of Call Of Duty as i've always found they're huge fun to play. I just hope this one can add a few different game elements to it to differentiate itself from other editions of the series while not taking away from the core gameplay experience.

[F34R]

People are just "jealous" in regards to the HUGE success the series holds over exclusives that don't sell as well.

[Ubersnuber]

Look at what Activision did to the Tony Hawk and Guitar Hero series of games. Those are good examples of why people should care.

^^^^Came here to post this.
Over-saturating the market is rarely a good thing.
It happened to space shooters in the 80s, platformers in the 90s and we're now rolling with the FPS genre. Maybe not the entire genre, but MW will kill itself fast if they keep this pace up.

People are just "jealous" in regards to the HUGE success the series holds over exclusives that don't sell as well.

And we would have succeeded, if it weren't for you nosy kids!

[Roadside]

People are just "jealous" in regards to the HUGE success the series holds over exclusives that don't sell as well.

I'm jealous of Bobby Kotick, that's for damn sure.