Is Call of Duty: Black Ops the Biggest Multiplayer Game of All Time?

Treyarch, one of the developers of the acclaimed Call of Duty series, held a press event this evening detailing the multiplayer in the next installment of the franchise, Call of Duty: Black Ops. Though we have already seen snippets of gameplay floating around alongside thousands of rumors, Community Manager Josh Olin claimed that the reveal event would detail all aspects of the game’s online capabilities. Is Black Ops going to be the biggest multiplayer game of all time? Let’s dive into the details and see if this first-person shooter is going to live up to the hype.

Three pillars are to make up the multiplayer of Black Ops: compete, customize, and create. In order to ease the transition to online gameplay, new players will be able to practice in Combat Training, a mode that will pit users against AI dummies. This mode can be played alone or cooperatively. The rank progression will take place separately from the online competitive mode, reminiscent of private matches in Modern Warfare 2.

There have been numerous improvements to the Create-a-Class feature that the series has prided itself on. Perks in the first tier affect the players appearance, in that if you are a Ghost, you wear a ghillie suit. Lethal equipment is now allocated to the right bumper while tactical equipment is allocated to the left bumper. While Tactical Insertion, Claymores, and C4 are returning in the game, the Camera Spike featured in the multiplayer teaser and a Motion Sensor are going to be available for use.

Graduated Killstreaks are also making a return to the game series, featuring the “Video of Death Machine” and “Grim Reaper”. The former is a gatling gun while the latter is a rocket launcher. The RC-XD explosive all-terrain vehicle is going to be included alongside Napalm Strikes and Gunships. If that were not enough, you can also set up SAM Turrets, which render enemy airborne attacks useless.

Instead of using the traditional level-up system, Treyarch is introducing CP (CoD Points). This allows the user to unlock what they want when they want it. There will be time-limit challenges that one can buy called “Contracts”, and this fill your pocket with more CP upon completion. They will be pulled from three categories: Mercenary Contracts, Operations Contracts, and Specialist Contracts.

As if you lost enough money in the casino, Treyarch is introducing a game type called Wager, where users can gamble their CP with other players, rewarding the top three in the match. There are 4 FFA (Free-for-all) game types that will be included in Wager. The first game type is called Chamber and gives players one bullet and a knife to kill all of the other players on the map. The second is called Sticks and Stones, providing players with the explosive crossbow, ballistic knife, and tomahawk. If you happen to have the skill to hit another player with a tomahawk, you bankrupt them. Next is called Gun Game, which upgrades your weapons every time you kill another player. Finally is Sharp Shooter, which gives random weapons to players, changing at allotted time intervals.

Customization is another cornerstone in the Black Ops. Players can place your emblem on weapons, customized weapon camouflage, and custom red-dot sights. In fact, the red-dot no longer has to be red nor does it have to be a dot.

Creation is being introduced in a massive way to the franchise for the first time. An emblem editor is being bundled with the theater mode. The former allows for complete customization similar to that found in Halo 3, while the latter will allow users to use their game footage freely, saving clips and uploading them online, though it is unclear if content can be directly uploaded to YouTube.

The beta that the community has been hoping for was not mentioned during the event, nor was the successor to the massively popular Nazi Zombie mode.

During a financial call last month, Activision, the publisher of the Call of Duty franchise, stated that it was doubling its stake in the massively successful series. It seems as if their claim that this is the biggest game of all time may turn out to be true.

What do you think? Are Treyarch’s improvements to the already groundbreaking multiplayer in the series going to please the community? Let us know in the comments below.