With the exception of a few low resolution, muddy textures and minor clipping issues, Treyarch's ability to deliver a rock solid, smooth graphics engine in Call of Duty: Black Ops is fantastic. Character animation is fluid and I didn't have any object detection issues when firing the wide array of weaponry. The game environments are vastly more varied than previous CoD games and the fire effects are stellar as always with Treyarch's proprietary engine behind it. This game is vastly gorier than previous CoD titles as well, if gratuitous digital blood floats your boat. One quibble, Black Ops doesn't not run in 1080p native. I'm not surprised, considering the graphical power required for 1080p native. The engine runs in 720p which can be upscaled to 1080p. The PC version, however, is capable of 1920 by 1080 resolution.
Treyarch's effort to bring 3D to the masses hasn't gone unnoticed, but the execution is lacking. Within the main menu, you will find a toggle to turn on the 3D visuals in the options menu. This will turn on the 3D output to HD Televisions that use active-shutter, stereoscopic 3D. PS3 owners that already downloaded the 3D update are likely aware, but your TV needs to support the 'over-under' / 'top-bottom' 3D mode. Put on your glasses that came with the TV and you are ready to go. The problem with 3D performance is that it ravages the framerate and actually rips you out of the presentation with occasional graphical glitches. The experience is less involving (with some exceptions of the game's larger plot crescendos) than playing in 2D unfortunately.
A spectacular A-List voice cast comes along with Call of Duty: Black Ops. While Clash of the Titans Sam Worthington was only mildly successful at voicing Alaskan native Alex Mason, the game's audio is bolstered by the performances of the brilliant Gary Oldman as Sgt. Reznov, Ed Harris as CIA Agent Jason Hudson and even Ice Cube's Corporal Bowman. Listen carefully and you will also hear some of the more minor characters voices by Topher Grace (Predators, That's 70's Show), Eddie Cahill (CSI:NY), David Conrad (Ghost Whisperer) and Entourage's Emmanuelle Chriqui. Not only does the Hollywood voice talent pull off excellent line delivery, Treyarch's ability to stitch the lines together into a flowing conversation worked perfectly.
The game's score was composer by Sean Murray, a veteran in creating film & gaming scores. He also created the scores for Call of Duty: World at War, the last two True Crime games and several episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in the late nineties. The original parts of the soundtrack captures the drama happening on the screen with much aplomb, but the licensed music borders on cliche. The sound effect work is equally as good, especially with a finely tuned sound system. It's much easier to identify where bullets are coming from by using your ears rather than your eyes, specifically great in multiplayer.
The narrative in the single player campaign shows how much Treyarch has grown in their ability to tell a compelling story. While the plot lacks the implied urgency of preventing nuclear devastation in Modern Warfare 2, they finally pulled of the right balance of character development and the action-infused fast pacing of their previous titles. My only problem with the narrative were the forced use of key political figures in the game, but the final act pulls everything together extremely well and revisits key plot points earlier in the game surrounding JFK and others.
You are looking at about 6 to 10 hours of gameplay in the entertaining single player campaign, depending on your difficulty level. Add in the expansive, extremely addictive multiplayer and I'd be amazed if you weren't still playing Call of Duty: Black Ops six months from now. The improvements around online character building and wagering between matches are going to delight Modern Warfare fanatics. If you have any interest in first person shooters, I recommend joining the other 4.5 million people that preordered Black Ops and start building up your online soldier today. Highly Recommended