It’s time for another Retro Ad Replay article! This is the series where we head backward in time to reminisce and celebrate the anniversary of some of the most significant moments in gaming. If you find yourself wanting more content like this, be sure to visit Mandatory.com.
In this November 9 edition of Retro Ad Replay, we’re traveling back 11 years in time to when Call of Duty: Black Ops first launched on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. That’s November 9, 2010. Developed by Treyarch and published by Activision, Call of Duty: Black Ops took a different path to Modern Warfare, carving its own destiny with one of the most memorable single-player experiences and a unique spin on the multiplayer.
GameRevolution awarded Call of Duty: Black Ops a 9/10 in our review, praising the “in-depth storyline,” “Wager Matches for the skilled,” the “variety of game types,” the “effective Combat Training mode,” and “fully customizable options.”
For starters, the story in the single-player campaign in BLACK OPS is one of the better storylines in the COD series, if not the best. One of the roles you take on is Alex Mason, who is being held in an interrogation room with his clothes covered in dried blood and whose memory is strangely haunted by numbers. Once you dive into the story, the interrogator forces you, as Alex, to remember the significance of the numbers and you begin to fall in and out of consciousness.
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Multiplayer is more than just maps and playlists now. Wager matches and Combat Training offer a nice separation from online multiplayer, but you may be too preoccupied with purchasing perks, transforming your Playercard into something worth displaying, or tweaking your weapons with a variety of attachments. Despite technical errors and a few limited customization options, BLACK OPS is filled with variety, offering entertaining gameplay that will have you glued for hours.
Check out the Call of Duty: Black Ops launch trailer embedded below: