A dramatic opening act leaves no doubt about the cinematic aspirations of Call of Duty: Black Ops. For the next few hours—it took me something like six and a half to finish on normal difficulty—it delivers on that ambition better than its modern predecessors. As I played through the now-familiar hallmarks of the series—emptying clips in white-knuckled firefights, fighting room by room through running gun battles, heroically winning dramatic set-pieces, raining destruction from powerful vehicles--not only did they show the expected polish; the effort put into developing characters and plot lines, and pacing the action to create an ebb and flow that helped Black Ops be more than just a theme park ride mimicking an action movie.
Some of the credit for this success comes from the simple change in thematic direction, which the "Black Ops" in the title gives away. Call of Duty games, including, to a degree, the two Modern Warfare entries, cast the player in the midst of large-scale battles. This approach created epic encounters and brought with it a unique aspect of being there to observe historic moments. But it also forced the fairly unbelievable uber-soldier role on the character.
By embracing the small-scale covert actions behind the scenes of war, Black Ops strikes a combination much better suited to the style of shooter it wants to be. Being behind enemy lines, facing seemingly insurmountable odds, comes naturally because that's what these soldiers do. The personal nature of their exploits also lends a sense of intimacy that works better
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