Call of Duty: Black Ops 1

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Introduction

Black Ops 1 is a first-person shooter game that was released by Treyarch in 2010 and developed by Activision. It is the seventh installment of the Call of Duty series, and it is set in the 1960s during the Cold War era. The single-player campaign story follows CIA operative, Alex Mason trying to recall the location of a numbers station that contains a dangerous chemical weapon named "Nova 6". The game modes include single-player, multiplayer, and a special zombie mode that adds to the storyline previously developed by Call of Duty: World at War. The development of Black Ops 1 began in 2009 using IW 3.0 which was also used by Modern Warfare 1 and 2. The game received critical acclaim and positive reviews from critics and the public, receiving a nomination for game of the year and multiple awards for voice acting and sound editing. Black ops 1 has sold over 25 million copies worldwide. The game's storyline and unique gameplay have contributed to it being the best-selling Call of Duty game to this date. .

Gameplay

Call of Duty: Black Ops 1 is a first-person shooter game that adopts similar movements and mechanics from previous franchise generations with the exception of Dolphin diving. Dolphin diving allows players to dive across the ground while prone. This mechanic helps players dodge explosives and avoid enemy fire. Players play game modes as special forces soldiers, equipped with a primary and secondary weapon alongside lethal explosives. When low on health, the screen displays scattered blood, which fades away as the player's health regenerates over time.

Multiplayer

Call of Duty: Black Ops 1 offers a traditional fast-paced multiplayer experience where players can participate in a diverse collection of game modes including Team Deathmatch, Domination, Search and Destroy, Search and Rescue, Ground War, Sabotage, Capture The Flag, Team Tactical, Free-For-All, Kill Confirmed, and Headquarters. Each game mode has unique objectives and can be played on 14 different maps. Additional maps can be purchased with the First Strike, Escalation, Annihilation, and Rezurrection DLCs..

Campaign

Set in the 1960s, the story follows Alex Mason, a CIA operative who is found in a mysterious room, interrogated by an unknown assailant. He is tortured to recall a numbers station. Recalling his past, Mason has a flashback to April 17th, 1961 at the Bay of Pigs invasion where he and his comrades attempt to assassinate Fidel Castro. The team failed to assassinate Castro, and only Mason was captured by Major General Dragovich who sentences him to 2 years of hard labor at the Vorkuta gulag. While at Vorkuta, Mason befriends Victor Reznov, a former Red Army soldier with a devotion to seeking revenge on Dragovich. Soon after, they launch an escape plan by triggering a prisoner uprising. At the height of the escape, Reznov was unable to jump on the train to freedom, leaving Mason to escape by himself.

Months later, Mason is contacted by CIA agent, Jason Hudon to meet with John F. Kennedy for a special mission. Mason's objective was to assassinate Dragovich and sabotage the Soviet space station with his fellow CIA operatives Frank Woods and Joseph Bowman. Although they were able to destroy the station, Dragovich managed to escape, forcing the main characters to continue to search for him. In 1968, Mason is deployed in Vietnam where his mission is to retrieve a defector with information on the location of Dragovich. Mason and his squad discover the defector is Reznov. Together, they escape Vietnam and are sent to interrogate Dr. Clarke, a scientist employed by Dragovich and the Soviet Union. Dr. Clarke revealed the location of a dangerous weapons facility in the Ural Mountains shortly before Dragovich and his men ambush them. Before Clarke could reveal more information, he was killed in the ambush.

The narrative shifts to the perspective of Agent Hudson as he infiltrates the Ural Mountains where evidence of a biochemical weapon named Nova 6 is discovered. Along the mission, Hudson recovers information on an unidentified soviet ship with intentions of using Nova 6 to end the Cold War by spreading it in the United States. While at the facility, he is contacted by Dr. Friedrich Steiner, a german scientist who works closely with Dragovich. Steiner provides Dragovich's location in exchange for safety from Nova 6 and Dragovich. After receiving confirmation on the location, Mason, Reznov, Hudon, and a squad of CIA operatives breach a Nova 6 research facility to retrieve Steiner. Reznov and Mason find Steiner, and Reznov kills him for the destruction he has caused to his country and people. It is then revealed that Mason killed Dr. Steiner, not Reznov. Reznov had actually never escaped Vorkuta and was a figment of his imagination. The mysterious interrogators reveal to Mason that he had been subject to brainwashing while at Vorkuta, turning him into a sleeper agent to perform Soviet missions in America. However, during his time at Vorkuta, Reznov unintentionally hijacked his brainwashing, making Mason follow Reznov's passionate vow for revenge to kill Dragovich and Dr. Steiner.

The unknown assailant reveals to Mason that he is Hudson and Mason's brainwashing slowly fades as he begins to remember the location of the number station. Mason finds the station on a Soviet ship named Rusalka in Cuba. Accompanied by the US navy, Mason joins Hudson and Woods in taking over the ship, stopping Nova 6 from reaching the United States of America. In their final mission, Mason kills Dragovich by strangling and drowning him to death before regrouping his squad and celebrating their victory..

Zombies

Building off the previous Call of Duty World at War, teams of 1 to 4 players fight against hordes of zombies. As rounds increase, the number of zombies grows, making survival the ultimate goal. This game mode comes with three free maps known as Kino Der Toten, Five, and Dead Ops Arcade. The first map, Kino Der Toten, takes place in an abandoned Nazi theater in Berlin where players can play as Tank Dempsy, Edward Richtofen, Takeo Masaki, or Nikoli Belinski. Five takes place in the Pentagon where players are able to play as John F Kennedy, Fidel Castro, Richard Nixon, and Robert McNamara. The Dead Ops Arcade is a map unlocked after completing the main campaign storyline.

Story

The story begins with Doctor Ludvig Maxis who founded Group 935, a secret society of brilliant scientists that aim to create global domination technology. As the group begins to lose funds during World War II, they agree to work with Nazi scientists to create a superpower weapon using the newly discovered element 115. While experimenting with element 115, the group accidentally creates undead beings at the site of a Nazi laboratory named Der Riese. Dr. Maxis then works closely with his assistant, Dr. Edward Richtofen in creating a teleportation machine and advanced weapons fueled by element 115. While testing the teleporter, Richtofen accidentally sends himself to a catacomb on the Moon where he discovers the moon pyramid device. The device causes him to hear mysterious voices that suggest he kill Maxis, forever altering Richtofen's personality and motives in the future. Two weeks later, Richtofen teleports back to the laboratory where he gathers members of Group 935 to build a facility on the Moon and secretly plots behind Dr. Maxis' back.

In 1940, Dr. Maxis requested more funds for the Der Riese. The Nazis responded by building two new facilities, Kino Der Toten and Shi No Numa. The Kino facility was a repurposed theater in Berlin and Shi No Numa was a former Rising Sun Facility that the Imperial Japanese Army handed over. In 1942, Dr. Maxis developed what was referred to as the "Ray Gun" at the newly formed Shi No Numa facility.

On December 16th, 1942, Dr. Maxis starts to second guess Richtofen's intentions and transfers to the Kino facility, leaving his daughter Samantha in the care of Richtofen. During this time, Richtofen experiments with element 115 on three captured soldiers: Nikolai Belinski, Takeo Masaki, and Tank Dempsey.

In 1945, Dr. Maxis returned to Der Riese to resume his work on the teleportation device. While working on the teleporters, Samantha's dog runs into the machine. Samantha and Maxis chase the dog and Richtofen traps them inside a teleporter, believing they would die. Maxis however was teleported to "The Crazy Place" and Samantha was teleported to the same moon pyramid device Richtofen had gone to. Shortly after, Samantha releases the undead army on Der Riese in an effort to kill Richtofen. Richtofen and the three captured soldiers successfully flee from Der Riese and arrive at an abandoned Nazi theater where they discover videotapes left behind by Dr. Maxis and Samantha. Samantha had survived the zombie attack and has ever since been hunting Richtofen with endless hordes of zombies.

Following Germany's defeat by the Allied Powers in 1945, Group 935 officially disbanded due to insufficient funding. However, several members of the former 935 group were able to join the United States under a treaty, given that they provide prior and future research behind element 115. In this treaty, they were also to develop advanced weaponry for the United States.

In 1963, the United States government stored many Group 935 inventions deep inside the Pentagon. In an outbreak of zombies, John F. Kennedy, Robert McNamara, Richard Nixon, and Fidel Castro are barricaded inside the Pentagon where they are forced to fight their way out..

Zombies Easter Eggs

Within each zombies map, there are special easter eggs that can be completed to unlock secret storyline cutscenes and bonuses.

In Kino Der Toten, the song "115" by Elena Siegman can be played after retrieving special rocks across the map. Players can also collect film reels that can be inserted into a projector that reveals short recordings of the history behind the zombies.

In Five, the song "Won't Back Down" by Eminem can be played by activating buttons on 3 red telephones spread across the map.

In Ascension, there are several radios scattered across the map which provides bits of context to what happened to the station when interacted with. The song "Abracadavre" by Elena Siegman and Kevin Sherwood can be played by collecting teddy bears across the map.

In Moon, the main easter egg is blowing up the Earth by following a mystical stone and placing it inside the moon pyramid device. The pyramid opens up, revealing a cryogenically frozen Samantha. After completing generator puzzles with teammates and playing "Simon Says" with supercomputers. Once completing the easter egg, players obtain the "The Big Bang Theory" game achievement.

Ethical Concerns

Nazi Zombies

The symbol of undead German soldiers has been recently changed in Call of Duty: WWII and future games that include the zombies game mode. This was due to Germany's ban on swastika symbols in media. Additionally, symbols of hate could also be seen as promotion which goes against the values of inclusivity for Call of Duty. In order to sell the game in Germany, one of the franchise's largest markets, Swastikas were replaced with iron crosses and Nazi zombies were identified as zombies. The change has sparked ethical debates, with some arguing that erasing history for the sake of profit is unethical and that Nazi zombies are central to the franchise's identity. Others, however, welcomed the change as they found the subject matter of Nazi zombies to be insensitive and inappropriate.

Cuba

The Cuban government denounced Black Ops 1 for its violent content and a graphic assassination attempt on Fidel Castro in the campaign storyline. Many argue that the mission glorifies the assassination of a Cuban leader and stimulates violent attitudes. Despite being condemned by the Cuban government, the game has not been officially banned in the country. The controversy surrounding the mission has sparked ethical debates about how to balance creative freedom and ethical topics in the video game industry..

Violence

It is heavily debated that violent video games such as Call of Duty lure young children into violent tendencies and create sociopathic attitudes. Controversy has sparked with the link between the two as linked cases of violence has occurred. An example of this is an eight-year-old shooting his grandmother shortly after playing Grand Theft Auto, another game with hyper-realistic violence. . Additionally, the representation of graphic violence raises public concerns surrounding the responsibility of the video game industry and its effect on the youth despite their games being rated 18 and over.

In spite of these concerns, there are others who argue that violent video games teach the morality of war and make the point that it is not much different from playing with toy soldiers in the past, shooting anyone in the way. Several studies have also shown there to be no critical evidence indicating the link between violent video games and aggressive behavior. To this day, the issue is still being researched so there is no conclusive evidence for each side.

Addiction

Addiction to video games is a rising case in the United States and often is ignored when compared to drug or alcohol abuse. While video game addiction is recognized by experts, it is still widely debated whether it should be classified as a disorder classification of the issue is different per country.

The ethical concerns of video game addiction include mental problems such as depression and anxiety due to its isolation from human interaction and real-world activities. There are also physical concerns of addiction due to the nature of the lifestyle being sedimentary which can lead to unhealthy choices such as limited physical activity and strains from prolonged sitting. The Call of Duty franchise also shares ethical concerns as the gameplay is highly competitive and repetitive, making the game susceptible to video game addiction.

Cyber Bullying

Cyberbullying is a serious issue that can have a negative impact on one's mental health and could lead to potentially harmful behavior. In Black ops 1, cyberbullying can be displayed through verbal abuse or harassment in voice or game chat. An example of harassment in gameplay is "teabagging". Teabagging is a commonly used term in first-person shooters where it involves players repeatedly crouching up and down on another player's dead body as a symbol of disrespect and is regarded as poor sportsmanship. Racism is also a big issue within the Call of Duty franchise as many players have gotten away with offensive usernames and racist comments in voice chat. Despite the game offering a mute and reporting system, the toxic behavior of many players often goes unpunished which has raised concerns about the online gaming community and measures taken by developers.