I'm loving this game. The Multiplayer is very much in the spirit of COD4. Intelligent map layouts, and balanced loadout and perk options. The maps themselves have that dirty Russian feel that some of the COD4 maps had, while others, like the one in the Cuban city (name escapes me) feels a lot like Cross fire. My least favourite maps are the Vietnam ones, but at least they have an intelligible design unlike some of the cluster fuck maps from MW2. Treyarch ended what I liked to call the MW2 paradox. I felt insanely overpowered for a soldier, yet at that same time, I constantly felt like all the possible game exploits lead to me consistently having my ass handed over to me on a silver platter.
The campaign is..well..a Call of Duty campaign. I can say without hesitation that it's an all around improvement on MW2's. It has that similar outrageous feel that MW2 had but it keeps it relatively grounded by keeping the scenario's believable. In other words...decent writing (for a COD game) helps the campaign by avoiding situations in which you defend a TGI Friday's from Russian paratroopers. The level with the Blackbird is the best Call of Duty mission I've played since All Ghillied Up, hands down. Overall the campaign probably falls a notch below COD 4, but above WaW, MW2, and COD 3. I'm not sure where I'd place COD2...it's either slightly above or below Black Ops.
Great work Treyarch!
However..
Whoever is making the next COD game better shake things up though. This is like the 4th or 5th game thats felt relatively similar. We need a Call of Duty 4 level improvement if this franchise is going to continue to stay creatively fresh, although I'm sure it will continue to print money no matter what they do.
