PREVIEW
The Five Ways That Black Ops Changes Call of Duty Multiplayer
(PS3,�XBOX 360,�PC,�Wii,�NintendoDS)
Money, gambling, movies, and happy face reticules are just some of the ways that Black Ops changes up COD multiplayer. Now with new gameplay footage!
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Examples of the above include stuff like an expanded Killstreak list that includes Cold War-ized versions of popular Modern Warfare multiplayer tropes; the UAV has given way to the Spy Plane. The Napalm Strike replaces your typical airstrike. The gunship is an appropriately Cold War era helicopter rather than a modern behemoth. And there're new Killstreak rewards, like the exploding RC buggy (affectionately referred as the "bomber buggy") or the minigun called "Death Machine." But once you get past the traditional, "here's more stuff," you can see that Treyarch is actually adding five major changes or additions to what we would traditionally associate as Call of Duty multiplayer.
No. 1) Combat Training
So Treyarch has come to the same conclusion as Epic: not enough players actually go online. Despite the fact that COD hosts a thriving multiplayer community, the developers found out that a huge percentage of COD players simply never go online for multiplayer. The first major method the team wants to fix this with is through Combat Training, a sort of bot-match mode. For players who indeed are too intimidated to go online and test their mettle against other players, Combat Training will let them play against the A.I. and get used to the multiplayer experience. Online director Dan Bunting comments that the mode grew from the team's internal use of an A.I. bot (named "Larry") for balancing purposes, and they decided to let players go against Larry before jumping into the real world.
No. 2) Customization
Modern Warfare might have introduced character classes with Perks and whatnot, and while Black Ops retains that same basic formula, the team has made some distinct changes to the character system. The key thought behind customization is the idea that the player should truly feel distinct and individualized, and the degree to what can be changed has increased significantly.
For one thing, there're the obvious visual changes that come from selecting a base class. Choosing a flak jacket fellow gives you a different character model than choosing a stealthy ghost guy. After that, the team has further changed the way your armament works; gear is now divided into "lethal" (anything that can kill, like grenades), "tactical" (things that don't kill, but give you options during gameplay, like flashbangs), and "equipment" (items that can be deployed, or picked up, such as gun turrets or motion sensors).
Further than that though, you can also customize your emblems and weapons. The emblem editor lets you muck around with three layers (the emblem itself, any sort of tag or text, and the background), and it somewhat resembles the livery editor from something like a Forza game. The main example is when Bunting created a horse emblem that featured pistols instead of hooves adorned against the American flag. Then you can take said emblem, and apply it to your weapon -- in addition to changing the weapon's basic camouflage patterns or even the actual red dot sight (my favorite example is a rifle that changed the red dot sight into a blue happy face). The actual player classes, plus their gear, is part of the overall theme of player choice that Bunting cites frequently.
No. 3) Theater
Likely inspired by Halo 3, Black Ops now supports a full theater mode for sharing your exploits online. Each player gets a file share space where he or she can place films, screenshots, or even custom game settings, and these items are all searchable and viewable. Your recent matches are available for searching, clipping, machinima-ing, and everything. Bunting wouldn't elaborate on what exactly "custom games" actually entails, but it's still interesting to see that every Black Ops player will have a central hub to post bragging rights (besides a Youtube channel).
No. 4) Money
Perhaps the biggest change to COD is the concept of money which complements the leveling system. Lead multiplayer designer David Vonderhaar jokes that money came about from the simple fact that he's a greedy fellow who loves money and gambling said money. Bunting elaborates the system: in addition to earning experience points for levels, players will earn Call of Duty Points (CP). Every time they reach a level, they don't simply unlock one new gun. They unlock whole categories of firearms and attachments, and you then spend CP to buy gear for yourself. You can even take Contracts (additional challenges within a session, such as placing within the top three using a certain weapon) for additional CPs. As Bunting reiterates, the core of multiplayer is about player choice, and now in addition to designing their own looks and color schemes, players will be defining their own loadouts via money.
No. 5) Wager Matching
So with the addition of money comes the other item that Vonderhaar loves so much: gambling. Wager Match is a separate multiplayer mode where you simply gamble your CP in a series of specific matches. The four "wagers" you can partake (so far) are: one in a chamber, sticks and stones, gun game, and sharpshooter. As noted, each Wager Match mode has specific rules, and does different things to your gambled CP.
One in a chamber starts simply: you have a knife and a single gun with a single bullet. Taking down foes will earn you more bullets to use, but once you run out of bullets, you have just the knife to stab fools with. Sharpshooter also has a pretty easy to grasp concept: everyone gets a random weapon that they are stuck with, and the emphasis is on pure, well, sharpshooting skill with whatever you have. Sticks and stones gives you ballistic knives, the crossbow, and tomahawks to take on players with. While the ballistic knives and the crossbow present standard "these are neat ways to kill opponents," the tomahawk presents the most interesting effect: it fully bankrupts its victim. The moment someone succumbs to a tomahawk, they instantly lose all of the CP they wagered for the match.
For me, the most interesting mode is easily Gun Game -- which itself seems reminiscent of a PC mod for Modern Warfare. This one has players working their way through a series of specific guns during a session. At any one time, you're locked to using one specific weapon, but a kill will automatically equip the next highest gun in the list -- meaning you start out with a lowly pistol but as you kill foes, you work up to better pistols then to submachineguns to shotguns to assault rifles and the like. The inverse happens as well -- every death means you get knocked down to using the previous (and weaker) gun. The first player to have used every gun becomes the winner of the wager. From my experience, it's just pretty neat to be on a solid kill run and just watch your arsenal get more and more lethal as you score -- only to be knocked down a peg or two from someone else interrupting your streak.
There honestly is quite a lot going on with Black Ops -- more than I expected. I had walked in thinking, "this is just going to be Modern Warfare 2 with bigger numbers," but with the five things outlined earlier, Black Ops already feels like a distinct (and large-scale) Treyarch title rather than a me-too addition to the franchise.
See all Call of Duty Black Ops Previews >
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not liberals
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� RyanJ
Liberals don't want to censor video games. Liberals support liberties, it's conservatives who don't like seeing anything new come about.
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I guess so.
Posted: 11/05/2010 by� OrangeFire
The only exception is Hillary Clinton. �But yes, I do think in a way, video game rights lean toward more Democrat areas. �I kind of just think government in general is dangerous to video game freedoms, not entirely one party or another.
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a hand gun
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� the_last_mandalore
with a tac knife
thats all i need
hopefully it hasn't been forgotten with all the new multiplayer addidtions
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Glitches and hax
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� demax51
Oh my god why won't Activision take a little more time for development to work out glitches. Have they never heard of an open beta?
When this game comes out the multiplayer side of the game is going to be drowning in cheaters, guranteed, and it will be increadibly annoying.
Maybe I'll buy this game, but not within the first 3-4 months of release. I'm definitely going to wait until the majority of the kinks have been worked out.
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Damn straight
Posted: 11/01/2010 by� Menengies
paying 60$ for a glitchy game is ridiclous, they shoud do a way better job in punishing cheaters to, theirs no reason to cheat in the first place. however this might be one of those rare times when i buy something when it comes out. But im going to wait for the reveiw first, because i do not want to get suckered into paying 60$ for a sucky game or something as bad as mw2 online. the gameplay looks smoother than MW(which i play alot), but looks can be deceiving. It really suck that content from Black Ops is going to be censored in Germany,� if they can do that than the gov has way too much power, its also sad that the liberals(mostly) are trying to do the same here. Too much regulation is a pain in the a**, too little and were in trouble,no wonder voter turnout is so low, the gov is taking over everything, thank goodness theyre are people fighting for gamers like u and me!
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r u ready
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� smile_kill
for the thosands on 1up n for the millions who love to shoot the sh** outta sumthang let get a ready
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You Ready, Soldier?
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� ntrudr_800
I like what I see so far. The RC vehicle bomb--the tires on that thing look like the real Traxxas T-MAXX tires. It is a 1/8th scale gas or electric rc monster truck. I had a nitro version, very fun. I don't always like 'modern warfare', its just as fun going back in history and playing with those guns too (WaW), as long as the graphics are detailed enough. I notice the graphics are not so great [as MW2] with Black Ops, but they do the job. Certainly has an 'old school feel' to me.
Has anyone checked out Halo: Reach? I can say so far that Reach will live up to its hype. So here are the top FPS games for XBOX 360: Modern Warfare 2, Halo: Reach, Call of Duty: Black Ops. Reach will not be released until Sept. 14th (soon). Black Ops will be released (hopefully) on 11-9-2010. I will buy both Reach & Black Ops. Halo will convert all you Call of Duty players, by the way! You will love Halo again, Reach is that good. Get both Halo: Reach & COD: Black Ops!
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Just placed my pre-order with Amazon!!
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� vorhese187
they have a $20.00 credit with this purchese towards your next game and with these additions it was a no-brainer. Seriously if you are a FPS fan and are excited about this game you have issues, its a game play it and have fun, stop with the whining for once geez
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meh...
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� Dann_The_Man
Theres not enough improvements to get me to buy this game. These are ideas that can be found on other older games. Bots and customization aren't new things; they've been around for years. I might just rent the game only to be dissappointed by the lack of new features which will convince me not to buy the game.
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Yeah
Posted: 09/03/2010 by� GeneticBlueprint
I agree. I mean I want to check out the game, but I just get the feeling that it's going to be even more of a broken mess than MW2 because of all the stupid, pointless crap they feel like they have to add. Gambling? Bots? Whoopty do.
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Wager Matches
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� ZachTheImpaler
I love me some gambling so I'm pretty damn stoked for the wager matches.
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could be better...
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� Cherokee4Life
could be worse...
I still don't know how I feel about it. I mean I will buy it but not pre-order... thats for sure
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Are they kidding?
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� cameron_toste
"So Treyarch has come to the same conclusion as Epic: not enough players actually go online. Despite the fact that COD hosts a thriving multiplayer community, the developers found out that a huge percentage of COD players simply never go online for multiplayer."
Last time I looked at the score leaderboards, one of the people on my friends list was ranked in the 10,000,000 range.� Who bought this game and didn't play multiplayer?
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Two things...
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� GunBullet
...would guarantee a first day purchase for me.� Mutable Background Music and the total CARNAGE of World at War.� I don't want their death-synth playing in the background while I blast your legs off.� I prefer Metallica or A7X while I dismember.� It's purely a taste issue.
� Hmmm, after going through the videos again all I can say is FUCK!� Stages will probably be small again, music won't shut up and searing hot explosion shrapnel will make a little splat on your uniform.� Bad Company 2 Vietnam here I come.
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Zombies is on the game.....but you have to buy the $80 one!
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� ZsychoZebra
Gamestop gave away that all 4 zombies lvls will be added to the hardened copy of BO. The four special coop lvls are the 4 zombies lvls!!!!!!!!! And they remade them using the new BO�engine��so it will look good too.....I just hope that they updated the guns too!
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Zombies is on the game.....but you have to buy the $80 one!
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� ZsychoZebra
Gamestop gave away that all 4 zombies lvls will be added to the hardened copy of BO. The four special coop lvls are the 4 zombies lvls!!!!!!!!! And they remade them using the new BO�engine��so it will look good too.....I just hope that they updated the guns too!
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Zombies is on the game.....but you have to buy the $80 one!
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� ZsychoZebra
Gamestop gave away that all 4 zombies lvls will be added to the hardened copy of BO. The four special coop lvls are the 4 zombies lvls!!!!!!!!! And they remade them using the new BO�engine��so it will look good too.....I just hope that they updated the guns too!
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Zombies is on the game.....but you have to buy the $80 one!
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� ZsychoZebra
Gamestop gave away that all 4 zombies lvls will be added to the hardened copy of BO. The four special coop lvls are the 4 zombies lvls!!!!!!!!! And they remade them using the new BO�engine��so it will look good too.....I just hope that they updated the guns too!
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CoD vs Halo Reach
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� JohnnyWalker_Trivik
I am a huge CoD fan.� Even after the downfall of MW2 due to all their shortcomings, MW2 is still the game I play the most.� I was a huge Halo 3 fan back in the day and played alot.� Both games are addictively fun and both require skill to play.� CoD games have a quick pace and alot of action and Halo isnt as quick pace-wise but still isnt a slow game.� I played the beta and enjoyed what they did with the halo series.
My point to all this is people bitch and moan about either game not containing any skill level, but point of the matter is that they both do, they just require different skill sets that don't meet everyones expectations of a shooter.
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I was gonna say...
Posted: 09/02/2010 by� OrangeFire
my skills with halo are about as epic as being able to juggle axes on fire.
Which I can't do....
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halo
Posted: 09/03/2010 by� vish_1305
the problem i found with halo is that when i am shooting something, i never actually felt like the buttons were doing something. like the animation when the bullets hit the person/alien/thingamajigabob they seem like they are bouncing off. still i had some fun playing the first 2 on xbox.
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Wow
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� SerpentineZERO
i was a bit unsure about this one after seeing the first multiplayer trailer, because it looked like more of the same, but these additions sound really cool, wager matching in particular. I'll probably actually get the game now
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Comment
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� Br4nd0n1995
This looks alot better than the last multiplayer gameplay i saw. This gives more perspective on some of the things you can do in Ops and its not just a game to see who can get the most kills faster.
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game looks like garbage and MW2 is the last COD game i buy.
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� TheTHCGamer
at this point reach looks more�fun imo of course.� then again its more rewarding to me to play a game that takes skill instead of one that relies on camping in one spot and one hit kill melee swipes in close quarters.� then again the kids will love this game because it requires little skill to play but why not wait for the next version that will come out next year.� lets face it COD�has become the madden of FPS's.�
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At this point this looks more fun than Reach
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� Lame_Spartan
Imo of course
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Damn! Damn! Damn!
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� izzariovonche
Looks like I'm buying this too....
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Oh, wow!
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� Odin(Reborn)
No more Stopping Power or Juggernaut? You mean no more dying in 2 hits instead of 3? Or no more able to take 3 hits instead of 2? Man, this is looking up already!
�
That was sarcasm.
The shorter individual battles are, the less player skill there is in making a kill, and the more luck takes a frontseat role. Same game, different environments, building upon the previous game. Nothing surprising and nothing worthy of "OMG LIEK SO COOL!11!" When every gun can kill in 1-3 hits, individual battles take literally about a second from start to finish (From the time to seeing an enemy to the time of death), and battles are more focused on who is better in a game of, "Who can click first when a red dot pops up on screen" rather then who actually has more skill, the game is not skill-based.
Is Black Ops going to be a good game? Yes. Is it going to have lots of multiplayer value? Yes. Is it going to blow you away and be a magnificent game of epic proportions? No.
The game will be good, but people need to realize that all the customizations in the world don't matter when every gun is pretty much the exact same in terms of lethality. And no, don't say it's "realistic", because it isn't. It's a quick, instant-gratification mechanic that's been honed and perfected.
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Ignorance Must Be Bliss
Posted: 10/24/2010 by� Unkiesean
Odin,
You obviously are ignorant to what constitutes as skill. �Real skill constitutes closing with and destroying the enemy by fire and maneuver and repelling the enemies assault by fire and close combat. �Real skill does not translate into the ability to absorb a full magazine's worth of rounds 'ala Superman. �Granted, a 5.56 mm round lacks the shear lethality of a 7.62 mm round and I would love if developers could balance the various weapons more accurately but, if you actually had any real life experience with these lethal weapons you would know that sometimes, a 5.56 mm round to the head doesn't kill the enemy and sometimes a 7.62 mm round to an individual's shoulder ends his life.
Oh, and in real life, the ability to rapidly (and accurately) engage the enemy quickly (i.e. be the first to squeeze the trigger when a jihadist pops up in front of you) is real skill.
You may be interested in knowing that those who have actually served in a combat zone prefer Hardcore because it is more realistic.
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Bots...
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� Koudai2008
were also in Perfect Dark way back on N64... which I liked a lot!
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"Additions" yes. "Innovation" no.
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� Xer0Signal
Waging / Betting is really cool, i'll give them that, but...
Bot-multiplayer was in Killzone 2
Money points was in MAG.
Theater was in Halo 3.
Customization was in...pretty much any major current multiplayer game. just added more things to customize.
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they proved
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� OrangeFire
treyarch can be more innovative than IW. �Well. �I bet a few skeptics are changing their minds now. �And people like me who were in the middle are starting to really like the idea of this game.
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Borrrrriiiinnggg!
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� bizzarospeak
Over hyperd, over rated, Modern Warfare 2.2
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gun game
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� Infinite_Lives
gun game was a mod for counter strike, i used to play it all the time
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They
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� b.b.hagen
kept the ability to be a super fast dude who stabs people from 8 feet away? Awesome!
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No more commando
Posted: 09/03/2010 by� Liquid_Ocelot_Wesker
the knife is similar to how t was in WaW though the ballistic knife seems to have a slightly higher range when you actually have ammo for it to stab with.
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No more commando
Posted: 09/03/2010 by� Liquid_Ocelot_Wesker
the knife is similar to how t was in WaW though the ballistic knife seems to have a slightly higher range when you actually have ammo for it to stab with.
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Bittersweet news to me.
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� Juan__Doe
The first three additions listed are things I'm really interested in. I don't think I'd be to interested in Money and Wagering but I could feel different after trying it out.
I was actually hoping to see that Zombie Mode would be one of the features listed before reading the article. I'm guessing it will be released as DLC again. That blows. I would've bought World At War if Zombie Mode was on disc. Oh, well.
Black Ops looks like it might have enough features to still warrant a purchase even without zombies. We shall see when it releases.
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Soo
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� Sweatin'me
psyched for this. keeping the 11th free on my calendar. Is it me or is it introducing rpg kind of elements. the wager battles are going to be mental.
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As a Halo fan
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� Shadow13th
I enjoy the saved films feature so much. I end up forgetting how good it is until I play another game and do some amazing feat or crazy death and I wish I could capture it.
Now, with the two biggest FPS games having the same feature I hope it eventually becomes a standard 'must include' feature in all games.
It's good to see this in COD, more games need this feature.
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so...
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� vu12345678
I have a quick question, is combat training available in split screen? I've been waiting for a game that offered split screen multiplayer with bots!
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If it doesn't,
Posted: 09/02/2010 by� Americanpigdog
buy the old James Bond games for PS2 or Xbox. They have split screen bots.
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as someone who doesnt play FPS, or most TPS
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� RobotechRyan
i honestly couldnt care less.
but for that much attempt to add something new to a game, thats impressive.
i wish madden would alter (for the better, not the stupid minor things they changed in this years version) its product as much.
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Sounds amazing
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� whatdacrapisavu
because I love customization. I'll probably be able to actually stick with this multiplayer as opposed to previos titles assuming everything pans out.
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i really dont want to support activision.....
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� bigdaddydom
but damn. god dammit. this sounds so awesome.
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Even if you don't like Activision
Posted: 09/02/2010 by� untouchablenc
You can still justify buying this by also supporting Treyarch, who I believe produce the better CoD games.� Treyarch really seems to take the most basic layer of IW's creation and just make it way more fun and robust.� No more stopping power and juggernaut, fun deathmatch gamemodes, gambling, theater, soldier customization, what else could you really ask for?� And the whole buy what you want when you rank up, instead of being handed a pre-determined unlock?� Awesome!� I was really on the fence about buying another CoD title after MW2, but Black Ops has definitely gotten me excited once again.
�
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Get ready for Black Ops 2...
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� GunnyMcSword
coming around some time the next year, to the day, that this game releases. Think Madden only no roster updates.
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Fuck yes x100
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� Liquid_Ocelot_Wesker
I can't wait. I want this thing NOW!
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If this doesn't get you to buy Black Ops, nothing probably will
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� Kkleites
Everything I've seen about the game so far impresses me. They're completely taken out Juggernaut and Stopping Power so players can finally focus on playing the way they really want to, instead of relying on things to constantly protect them.It also seems Treyarch is taking a step in the right direction with the enhanced customization. Everybody wanted customized soldiers in MW2, and evidently that didn't happen.
Plus, handheld Chainguns.
