Hello, again, gang. Today, in our continued Countdown to Black Ops, we bring you an editorial from our Forum Administrator, Mike! He will be touching on one of the most overlooked parts of Black Ops, the campaign! Too many people don’t ever play campaign, or only get to it after a few months of Multiplayer and Co-op. With all of the brilliance going into Treyarch’s passionate and captivating campaign mode, it is a shame to see it go unplayed by so many people. With those few words, I will pass it on over to Mike. Five days to go! Really, who here isn’t excited? I don’t think anyone is raising their hands, so, on with today’s countdown article! I was reading through the comments on one of the previous articles, and I saw a whole string of replies talking about how some of our readers were planning to play the games campaign first for a variety of reasons. Many users of our forums will know that I could not agree more! Yes, multiplayer is the part of the game that will keep you coming back over and over again for a long time, but it is the story-driven campaign where the developers can really stretch their creativity and show their true talent at the art of creating an engaging and well worth playing video game. The SinglePlayer campaign of Black Ops promises to be one of the best yet. And so here are the FIVE things that you should expect from Black Ops campaign! (NOTE: CoD Black Ops News does not report on any leaked material, so all the items in this list are either speculation or details released BY Treyarch!) 1. Welcome to the Cold War Black Ops is taking Call of Duty to a relatively un-touched time era in video games, the Cold War. It was a time of controversy and strained international relations. The United States and the USSR were constantly at each others throats, just waiting to finally attack the other. In reality, it is a miracle that the Cold War never escalated into all-out war. However, Black Ops will look deeper into the Cold War. It will show covert operations and missions that only conspiracy theorists could believe. Of course, the story is fictional, and we have no idea what really happened during the Cold War that was hidden from the public, but one thing is for sure… It is an awesome setting for a video game! 2. It’s rated “M” for a reason… Treyarch showed with Call of Duty: World at War that they are not against using violence and language to help in the telling of the game’s story. Black Ops is almost certain to continue in that same vein, and explicative are expected to be aplenty, and violence will be prevalent. Treyarch has even said that they had to tone down the violence, as even they felt it went too far. One must also remember that conflicts during this time period, most notably the Vietnam War, were notorious for being controversial and violent. Anyone who has seen one of the many popular Vietnam war films that have been released over the years since the wars conclusion, or has seen pictures or heard retelling of the war from it’s veterans and will know exactly what I am talking about. It only makes sense that Treyarch will portray this same level of content in Black Ops. If not overdone, things like this can actually help a game’s story get it’s message across, and that is no doubt the approach Treyarch is taking. 3. That’s Not What the Book Says… The big theme for Black Ops is deniable operations and going “behind enemy lines” (something that Mark Lamia has made a point of telling us!). A lot of people, myself included, expect Treyarch to look at some of the most influential events of the Cold War Era and try to show us what might have happened that the public didn’t see. Some people may think of it as Treyarch creating their own conspiracy theories, but I feel that it is more speculation. We all love to imagine “what if…” and that is exactly what Treyarch is doing. Expect a lot of recognizable names and events to be mentioned! The Cold War was a controversial time, and Black Ops will almost certainly be using that to it’s advantage! 4. We’re Not In Vietnam Anymore… Especially early in the games development, a lot of people thought of the next Call of Duty as CoD: Vietnam. While Black Ops does have levels that take place in Vietnam, there will be plenty of other locals for you to fight in! The game will be taking players all around the globe, in various missions that go “behind enemy lines”. The trailers have show Washington D.C., Cuba, some sort of underwater location, and more! The deniable operations subject matter of Black Ops allows Treyarch nearly full freedom with the games plot, and they are taking advantage of that, creating a story that circles the globe! Expect plenty of diverse locations when we finally get to play the game in only a few more days! 5. Who are you, people? Treayarch has shown through it’s trailers that they plan to tie the games story in with the real life history of the Cold War, and that includes a number of Political Figures. Two of these well known people have been highlighted in recent Black Ops trailers. These two are Robert McNamara and John F. Kennedy. Kennedy is the better known of the two. He was president for a rime of the Cold War era before being famously assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald. McNamara, on the other hand, may be less familiar. He was Kennedy’s Secretary of Defense, and played a large role in much of the Cold War, helping to influence key events such as the Cuban Missile Crisis, and he continued to serve under Lyndon B. Johnson after Kennedy’s Assassination. McNamara was spotted in the games SinglePlayer trailer, and Kennedy was spotted briefly during the Launch Trailer, among other key protagonists, leading us to believe that he may play a large role in the games plot.
