Call of Duty Black Ops in 2026

[00:05] Hands up!

[00:13] By the time Activision deployed the

[00:15] original Black Ops in November 2010,

[00:18] Call of Duty had already revolutionized

[00:20] online multiplayer. Call of Duty 2 in

[00:23] 2005 proved itself a must-play online

[00:25] experience for Xbox 360 owners thanks to

[00:28] well-balanced gameplay and a variety of

[00:31] modes that weren't even held back by the

[00:33] limited player counts on console.

[00:35] Treyarch's Call of Duty 3 multiplayer

[00:37] raised the stakes 1 year later despite

[00:40] tepid reception at launch, though

[00:41] nothing could hold a candle to what came

[00:44] next in the fourth main line title.

[00:47] Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare long held

[00:50] the honorific of the series' best

[00:51] installment for both the single-player

[00:53] campaign and multiplayer suite.

[00:55] Killstreaks perks weapon

[00:57] customization, and the level-up system

[00:59] all first appeared in the landmark 2007

[01:01] release, which endures to this day, its

[01:04] influence permeating nearly every major

[01:06] online shooter. So, when World at War

[01:09] came along the following year,

[01:11] expectations soared through the roof.

[01:13] The Treyarch-created Nazi Zombies mode

[01:16] set World at War apart from the rest of

[01:18] the pack, meaning the studio had its

[01:20] work cut out upon taking the helm yet

[01:22] again for Call of Duty's 2010 outing.

[01:26] Enter Black Ops, the new sub-franchise

[01:29] whose debut emphasized social features

[01:31] and character customization all while

[01:33] providing players with a treasure trove

[01:35] of multiplayer options. 15 years after

[01:38] hitting store shelves for PC,

[01:40] PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii, Black

[01:43] Ops remains not only a seminal Call of

[01:45] Duty title, but also a genre-defining

[01:48] experience with a pedigree that many

[01:50] would argue has few competitors.

[01:53] This is Call of Duty: Black Ops 15 years

[01:56] later.

[01:59] The numbers, Mason,

[02:01] what do they mean?

[02:03] The numbers

[02:04] Mason, they mean nothing.

[02:08] What?

[02:09] >> [music]

[02:23] >> Incoming!

[02:27] Prior to joining the Call of Duty

[02:29] machine with Big Red One in 2005, Los

[02:32] Angeles-based studio Treyarch exhibited

[02:35] its impressive versatility across a

[02:37] series of sports games and Spider-Man

[02:39] adventures. The developers soon

[02:41] thereafter produced Call of Duty 3

[02:43] before later bringing World at War to

[02:45] the masses. Early in 2009, mere months

[02:48] after shipping World at War,

[02:49] pre-production on Black Ops began and

[02:52] kickstarted a new era for Treyarch since

[02:54] it constituted the first time that every

[02:57] member of the team worked on one project

[02:59] simultaneously.

[03:01] The 200 people attached to Black Ops

[03:03] were split into three groups, one batch

[03:05] creating the single-player campaign and

[03:07] a second building multiplayer with the

[03:10] third tackling a new and improved

[03:12] cooperative experience. With Black Ops

[03:15] shaping up to be the studio's most

[03:17] important game, this all-hands approach

[03:19] seemed necessary. Producer and online

[03:22] director Dan Bunting explained the

[03:23] benefits of the much larger team during

[03:25] a Joystick interview, highlighting how

[03:27] each dedicated division could focus on

[03:30] their part and manage the effort however

[03:32] they saw fit.

[03:33] Notably, the nascent phases of

[03:35] development enjoyed an explosion of

[03:37] creativity as Treyarch broke away from

[03:39] the World War II setting it had

[03:41] previously occupied in a trio of Call of

[03:43] Duty endeavors. The Vietnam War

[03:46] represented the next destination.

[03:55] Developers particularly zeroed in on a

[03:57] stretch of time throughout the 1960s

[04:00] wherein the Cold War period has sensibly

[04:02] birthed special operations or Spec Ops

[04:04] initiatives. The Military Assistance

[04:07] Command, Vietnam Studies and

[04:09] Observations Group, shortened to SOG,

[04:12] sat at the center of Treyarch's Black

[04:14] Ops-related research.

[04:16] US military command formally activated

[04:18] the Joint Forces unit in January 1964 to

[04:21] covertly retaliate against North

[04:23] Vietnam's aggressive behavior. Divided

[04:26] into smaller elite units, SOG carried

[04:28] out clandestine operations until May

[04:30] 1972, its assignments involving the

[04:33] sabotage of enemy munitions, conducting

[04:36] classified and unconventional warfare

[04:38] operations, and leading covert maritime

[04:41] and airborne missions in regions such as

[04:44] Laos and North Vietnam. SOG's unorthodox

[04:47] duties often required equally unorthodox

[04:50] weaponry, making Black Ops commandos the

[04:52] perfect testers of experimental

[04:54] equipment, modified tools, special

[04:57] ammunition, and prototype weapons. As

[05:00] such, they got their hands on unproven

[05:02] carbine variants of the M16 rifle,

[05:04] modified explosives, and even

[05:06] Soviet-made guns like the RPD, the

[05:09] latter comparable to a lighter, more

[05:11] efficient M60 machine gun.

[05:14] These tools proved essential for the

[05:16] unit's success, and said success relied

[05:18] on deniability as US officials publicly

[05:21] insisted they had no boots on the ground

[05:23] beyond the borders of South Vietnam. In

[05:26] reality, buried beneath the

[05:27] then-enduring Cold War was a hot war

[05:30] between the world's superpowers.

[05:31] Treyarch's developers viewed this secret

[05:34] hot war as the ideal backdrop for a

[05:36] different age of Call of Duty. After

[05:38] all, countless Cold War stories have

[05:40] stayed shrouded in mystery with the few

[05:42] Vietnam games to broach the topic

[05:44] pre-Call of Duty: Black Ops barely

[05:46] scratching the surface. Hey, you made

[05:48] special forces training, dude? Yeah,

[05:52] you are one lucky guy. A stirring

[05:54] pursuit of genuine authenticity resulted

[05:56] in Treyarch consulting invaluable

[05:58] sources of information, including Major

[06:00] John Plaster, a three-tour SOG veteran

[06:03] who, at the time, was preparing to

[06:05] release his account of the conflict in

[06:08] SOG: The Secret Wars of America's

[06:10] Commandos in Vietnam.

[06:12] Sonny Puzikas, an ex-operative of the

[06:15] Soviet Union's SOG equivalent, Spetsnaz,

[06:17] also contributed in an advisory

[06:19] capacity. Plaster walked Treyarch

[06:22] through his training, missions, and

[06:23] tactics. Puzikas' expertise provided

[06:26] similar glimpses into the Soviet Union's

[06:28] elite squad. For example, he recalled

[06:30] the drastic methods of superior officers

[06:32] who desensitized him and fellow soldiers

[06:35] by shooting at them. Bunting told USA

[06:37] Today these meetings opened up new

[06:40] avenues of gameplay, evident in the

[06:42] implementation of military-grade

[06:43] crossbows and the real-world-inspired

[06:45] Dragon's Breath incendiary shotgun. In

[06:48] addition, Puzikas demonstrated what

[06:50] developers deemed crazy killing

[06:52] techniques, several of which were

[06:54] mocapped into the actual game.

[07:01] Mocapping authentic Soviet-era combat

[07:03] represented only part of Treyarch's

[07:05] commitment to delivering a very

[07:07] cinematic and immersive experience. The

[07:09] richness of the Cold War plot

[07:11] necessitated the franchise's first

[07:13] voiced protagonist, alongside full

[07:15] performance capture, yet another series

[07:18] first, wherein the actors' voice, body

[07:20] movements, and facial expressions were

[07:22] recorded all at once. According to a

[07:24] sit-down Bunting had with The Guardian,

[07:26] the goal in this regard centered on

[07:28] ensuring lead character Alex Mason

[07:30] played an active role in dialogue

[07:32] exchanges. The game may have

[07:34] superficially presented itself as a

[07:35] story about avoiding the Cuban Missile

[07:37] Crisis, but Bunting and company insisted

[07:40] throughout the marketing cycle that the

[07:41] narrative would dig much deeper, hence

[07:44] the need for a Black Ops squad.

[07:47] Treyarch similarly applied that

[07:48] semblance of depth to the gameplay,

[07:50] emphasizing variety in so far as each

[07:53] mission felt distinctive. For instance,

[07:55] previews showcased the WMD mission's

[07:57] many moving parts, in which it opened

[07:59] with a first-person flying segment

[08:01] before switching back and forth between

[08:03] action-packed gunplay and stealth

[08:05] sequences, then finally tasking the

[08:07] player with base jumping into

[08:09] enemy-occupied territory.

[08:11] The game's locales received the same

[08:13] attention to detail, helped by the

[08:15] enhanced technologies Treyarch

[08:16] implemented into the Call of Duty 4

[08:18] engine, IW 3.0. Updates to the engine

[08:22] promoted lighting improvements and

[08:23] higher-quality texture work, and [music]

[08:25] texture streaming buffs facilitated the

[08:27] crafting of larger vistas colored by

[08:29] longer lines of sight, evident in play

[08:32] spaces like the long and narrow Summit

[08:34] map and the iconic Nuketown area with

[08:37] its mountainous Nevada background.

[08:39] Interestingly, not all locations were

[08:41] designed with single-player top of mind,

[08:43] as had previously been the case. On the

[08:45] contrary, because some content matured

[08:48] so early in the multiplayer design

[08:49] cycle, maps such as Slaughterhouse

[08:52] actually manifested as online levels

[08:54] from the start. This proved a point of

[08:56] pride for the development crew, given

[08:58] community manager Josh Olin once

[09:00] boasting that nothing in multiplayer was

[09:02] produced from single-player content.

[09:11] Treyarch didn't rest on its laurels at

[09:13] all when building Black Ops online

[09:15] suite, either. Since pre-production had

[09:17] gotten underway during World at War's

[09:19] post-launch support period, fan feedback

[09:21] from the 2008 entry became an

[09:23] indispensable resource. The developers

[09:25] obtained instant intel on what the

[09:27] community liked, disliked, and desired,

[09:30] thereby inspiring a focus on

[09:32] customization and social tools for the

[09:34] subsequent Treyarch outing. As an

[09:36] example, World at War and Modern Warfare

[09:38] 2's Create-a-Class feature returned with

[09:40] new accoutrements, namely face paint

[09:43] options and perk-specific character

[09:45] models for the player avatar.

[09:47] All manner of weapon customization

[09:49] possibilities entered the fray, too,

[09:51] allowing users to tinker further with

[09:53] attachments and cosmetically alter their

[09:55] guns by etching on unique clan tags.

[09:57] Deeper weapon personalization spawned

[10:00] from one designer offhandedly mentioning

[10:01] an interest in taking more ownership of

[10:03] their favorite gun. This even extended

[10:05] to the type of reticle a user could

[10:07] attach to their sights.

[10:09] Naturally, such personal ownership

[10:11] motives bled into the all-new social

[10:13] features crafted so players could easily

[10:15] edit and share their finest multiplayer

[10:17] highlights. Black Ops developers called

[10:19] the tool in question theater mode

[10:21] influenced in part by the advent of

[10:23] machinima content. Production on the

[10:25] original Black Ops also begat series

[10:27] mainstays like the COD Points currency

[10:29] system introduced principally because

[10:32] Treyarch felt like it'd be a very

[10:33] interesting way for players to engage

[10:35] with all of their earned unlocks.

[10:38] The title's highly rated November 2010

[10:40] release on PC, PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii

[10:44] demonstrated that critics and players

[10:46] were mostly pleased with the upgraded

[10:48] features and novel additions. Time would

[10:50] tell whether the changes would hold up

[10:52] as Call of Duty continued churning out

[10:54] annual installments.

[11:11] Don't you touch me.

[11:14] Casting call stirred up rumors about the

[11:16] seventh major Call of Duty in February

[11:18] 2010. Referenced as a significant

[11:21] in-game figure, the character Frank

[11:22] Barnes, later renamed Frank Woods,

[11:25] appeared in the casting information as

[11:26] did the SOG unit effectively confirming

[11:29] earlier speculation that the series was

[11:31] Vietnam-bound.

[11:33] Further details accidentally went public

[11:35] that April courtesy of the game's teaser

[11:37] website prematurely going live. However,

[11:39] leaks and rumors had no adverse effect

[11:42] on how audiences received the final

[11:44] product. In announcing Black Ops at the

[11:46] end of April, the Activision press

[11:47] release touted Call of Duty as the

[11:49] number one first-person action series of

[11:52] all time. Black Ops added to the

[11:54] record-breaking numbers at launch.

[11:56] The title's first 5 days on the market

[11:58] generated more than $650 million

[12:01] worldwide blazing past the $550 million

[12:05] that Modern Warfare 2 earned in the same

[12:07] time frame 1 year prior. And the

[12:09] history-making feats kept piling high

[12:12] with Black Ops topping $1 billion in

[12:14] revenue within approximately 6 weeks.

[12:17] Then CEO of Activision Blizzard Bobby

[12:19] Kotick noted that only Call of Duty and

[12:22] James Cameron's Avatar had ever reached

[12:24] such a milestone so quickly. Naturally,

[12:27] the hype, critical acclaim, and positive

[12:29] word of mouth all contributed to Black

[12:31] Ops's meteoric success.

[12:33] Black Ops racked up rave reviews at

[12:35] launch. Its Metacritic score on Xbox 360

[12:38] topping off at 87, lower than Modern

[12:41] Warfare 2's 94 Metacritic score, but

[12:44] generally in line with the ratings of

[12:46] past mainline entries. The GameTrailers

[12:48] review applauded Treyarch for closing

[12:50] the gap between its games and the Modern

[12:52] Warfare franchise with boundless

[12:54] customization and a keen understanding

[12:56] of why the series as a whole worked so

[12:58] well. Other outlets like Game Informer

[13:01] called it Treyarch's best game up until

[13:03] that point.

[13:04] For many, Black Ops's advancements with

[13:06] the franchise's otherwise stagnant

[13:08] single-player storytelling made the most

[13:10] inroads towards carrying Call of Duty

[13:12] forward. No longer were players

[13:14] barreling from one action set piece to

[13:16] another with a faceless cardboard cutout

[13:18] protagonist. Black Ops lead Alex Mason

[13:21] had a voice and personality that

[13:23] facilitated the player's connection to

[13:25] the overarching plot [music] given that

[13:27] the special forces operative's

[13:28] flashbacks steered much of the narrative

[13:30] along.

[13:32] You [ __ ] son of a [ __ ] Repeated

[13:35] perspective shifts and so-called David

[13:38] Fincher-esque twists further elevated

[13:40] the brand's story chops in the eyes of

[13:42] some, though critics who shared mixed

[13:43] and negative reviews were less

[13:45] receptive.

[13:47] Awarding it a 70, Edge magazine argued

[13:49] Black Ops failed at distinguishing

[13:51] itself from its predecessors in any

[13:53] important way. GamingTrend said the

[13:55] shooter featured a less compelling story

[13:57] than that of past titles. The Escapist

[14:00] issued far harsher critiques lambasting

[14:02] the solo campaigns' distracting editing

[14:05] techniques such as the blinding white

[14:07] light transitions and ridiculing the

[14:09] story for being ridiculous and poorly

[14:11] implemented. Mason's POV did nothing for

[14:14] the outlet either evidenced by the

[14:16] reviewer likening the operative to

[14:18] Forrest Gump in that he participated in

[14:20] numerous historical events yet bore

[14:22] little importance in terms of the

[14:24] outcome.

[14:25] The multiplayer experience similarly

[14:27] garnered a gamut of disparate reactions.

[14:29] Many a reviewer lauded Treyarch for

[14:31] improving the online suite. Zombies mode

[14:34] in particular hit its stride courtesy of

[14:36] three new levels. The German theater set

[14:38] Kino der Toten, the Pentagon-themed

[14:41] Five, and the top-down arcade adventure

[14:43] known as Dead Ops. Meanwhile, the main

[14:46] multiplayer component accumulated its

[14:48] fair share of hardcore fans. Theater

[14:50] mode proved a rousing success and the

[14:52] vast upgrade in customization system

[14:54] regularly received praise. Plus, the

[14:56] engrossing wager matches kept players

[14:59] invested for hours on end thanks in no

[15:01] small part to the frenetic gameplay.

[15:03] This free-for-all playlist came packed

[15:06] with four game types that let users

[15:08] gamble their hard-won points across

[15:10] three buying levels, each one contingent

[15:13] on the risk users were willing to take.

[15:15] Oh, this is fun.

[15:17] [ __ ] sake.

[15:19] Fan reception was somewhat of a mixed

[15:21] bag. A contingent of franchise faithful

[15:23] began feeling the downside of

[15:25] annualization with this release

[15:27] believing Black Ops succeeded at

[15:28] delivering a more cogent solo campaign,

[15:31] though the decision to frame the

[15:32] narrative around flashbacks didn't sit

[15:34] well with everyone. As such, there were

[15:37] those who thought the campaign a step

[15:38] down from Modern Warfare 2, while others

[15:41] considered the action-packed story an

[15:43] improvement over Call of Duty's usual

[15:45] fare.

[15:46] Opinions concerning the multiplayer

[15:48] modes proved less divisive. The new

[15:50] features, wager matches, and the

[15:52] upgraded Zombies experience stole the

[15:54] show by most accounts. By and large,

[15:56] community members felt rewarded for

[15:58] their efforts online thanks to the

[16:00] arguably solid gameplay balancing that

[16:02] Treyarch elevated through major economy

[16:04] adjustments as well as perk,

[16:06] attachments, and create-a-class

[16:08] upgrades. Unbeknownst to Treyarch and

[16:11] the player base, these modifications to

[16:13] the Call of Duty formula would

[16:15] eventually shift the multiplayer

[16:16] landscape in more ways than one.

[16:19] >> [cheering]

[16:23] >> If there was any doubt that video games

[16:26] weren't mainstream entertainment, the

[16:28] latest first-person shooter has blown

[16:30] that uncertainty away. Call of Duty:

[16:33] Black Ops has shattered entertainment

[16:35] records by raking in $360 million in its

[16:39] first [music] 24 hours on sale. Part of

[16:41] the appeal of the military-inspired

[16:43] adventure The cultural zeitgeist in

[16:45] which Activision and Treyarch released

[16:47] Black Ops was a different beast than the

[16:48] one Call of Duty had been born into 7

[16:50] years beforehand. By the time the

[16:53] Infinity Ward created brand came along,

[16:55] first-person multiplayer shooters were

[16:57] still getting their sea legs on console

[16:59] following the pioneering 2001 debut of

[17:01] Halo: Combat Evolved on the original

[17:03] Xbox. 2002's Medal of Honor: Allied

[17:07] Assault and Battlefield 1942 maintained

[17:10] PC exclusivity. Call of Duty executives

[17:12] understandably didn't feel the need to

[17:14] buck the trend. But times changed rather

[17:17] swiftly thus permitting an epic wherein

[17:19] first-person experiences of the

[17:21] narrative-centric and online variety had

[17:23] become all the rage on PlayStation and

[17:25] Xbox hardware.

[17:27] Amidst Battlefield, Call of Duty, and

[17:29] Medal of Honor spreading their reach to

[17:31] console, Halo had grown into an

[17:33] important fixture within the multiplayer

[17:35] and cooperative landscape during the

[17:36] years preceding Black Ops. Halo 2 set

[17:39] the new standard by popularizing

[17:41] matchmaking, a move that bid farewell to

[17:43] the common use of server browsers for

[17:45] players seeking competitive matches.

[17:47] While not an FPS title, Gears of War 2

[17:50] left an indelible mark on multiplayer

[17:52] gameplay upon introducing the wave-based

[17:54] Horde mode. Horde and World at War's

[17:57] Zombies offering serendipitously arrived

[17:59] days apart, but Gears of War shepherded

[18:02] the game type from fun ancillary mode to

[18:05] influential phenomenon that countless

[18:07] titles across genres later emulated.

[18:09] Competition between Battlefield and Call

[18:11] of Duty increased tenfold throughout

[18:13] this period, too, especially with Bad

[18:15] Company 2 giving Modern Warfare 2 a run

[18:17] for its money earlier in 2010.

[18:20] Meanwhile, genre pioneers Doom and Quake

[18:22] were undergoing identity crises. 2004

[18:25] saw the former dabble in action Horde

[18:27] and Quake dove headfirst into strategic

[18:30] gameplay with Enemy Territory: Quake

[18:32] Wars in 2007, then returned in 2010 with

[18:36] an updated version of Quake 3 Arena.

[18:38] Needless to say, Call of Duty busied

[18:40] itself with laying new ground perfecting

[18:42] a frenetic style of play that would

[18:44] beget many a COD clone.

[18:54] >> [music]

[18:57] >> Ready.

[19:01] Hey, what's up Infinity Ward? Come on

[19:03] in.

[19:05] Call of Duty: Black Ops was partly

[19:06] developed and deployed at a tumultuous

[19:08] time within the wider Activision family.

[19:11] It all started on March 1st, 2010 when

[19:14] Infinity Ward co-founders Jason West and

[19:16] Vince Zampella were escorted from studio

[19:18] premises by security. The cause for such

[19:21] an act on the heels of Modern Warfare

[19:23] 2's billion-dollar success? Activision

[19:26] had fired the pair on the grounds of

[19:27] insubordination and a breach of

[19:29] contract.

[19:31] West and Zampella filed a $36 million

[19:33] lawsuit days later accusing the

[19:35] publisher of manufacturing a basis on

[19:38] which to effectuate their termination

[19:39] and thereby avoid paying royalties owed

[19:42] for the Modern Warfare sequel.

[19:44] Activision wasted no time countersuing

[19:46] in a claim that alleged the Call of Duty

[19:48] co-creators were secretly in talks with

[19:50] business rival Electronic Arts to steal

[19:53] Infinity Ward. In the end, Infinity Ward

[19:56] suffered an exodus of talent as numerous

[19:58] staffers joined West and Zampella in

[20:00] establishing Respawn Entertainment and

[20:02] producing Titanfall in partnership with

[20:04] EA.

[20:06] When questioned in a May 2010 interview

[20:08] about how the fallout may have impacted

[20:10] Black Ops' development, producer Dan

[20:12] Bunting said he and his colleagues

[20:13] weren't distracted by it in the

[20:15] slightest. On the contrary, their focus

[20:17] remained solely on the game, a focus

[20:19] that crew maintained for several months

[20:21] after the military shooter landed on

[20:23] store shelves. Treyarch devoted large

[20:25] swaths of post-launch support to issuing

[20:28] balance improvements and fixing bugs

[20:29] through patches. Early fixes addressed

[20:31] everything from performance hiccups and

[20:33] game-breaking exploits to bizarre

[20:35] sniper-related errors that adversely

[20:37] affected ADS.

[20:39] But, the meat and potatoes came from the

[20:41] DLC Treyarch delivered between February

[20:44] and September 2011. The initial release

[20:47] being the First Strike Pack, which added

[20:49] four multiplayer maps in addition to the

[20:51] Ascension Zombies content that dropped

[20:53] players into a Soviet space station with

[20:56] two new perks, Stamina-Up and PhD

[20:59] Flopper. Ascension further introduced

[21:01] special weapons like Gersh devices and

[21:04] Matryoshka dolls, plus the space monkey

[21:06] enemies that returned in later Black Ops

[21:08] installments made their grand debut.

[21:10] These additions, paired with the mode's

[21:12] first-ever main mission Easter Egg, set

[21:14] the standard for zombie support going

[21:16] forward, thus securing Ascension a spot

[21:18] among the long list of fan-favorite

[21:20] updates.

[21:22] The Escalation Pack went live in May

[21:24] 2011, unleashing another batch of

[21:26] multiplayer maps complete with the

[21:28] star-studded Call of the Dead Zombies

[21:30] experience. Call of the Dead marked the

[21:32] first instance of celebrities featuring

[21:34] in the co-op mode, honoring director

[21:36] George Romero in an epic tale of

[21:38] survival where players assume the role

[21:40] of four adventurers investigating the

[21:42] origins of Element 115, the element used

[21:45] to create the undead. Having been

[21:47] stranded at a Siberian outpost, the

[21:49] group unwittingly let a zombie horde and

[21:51] were forced to defend themselves. The

[21:54] actors involved represented one key

[21:55] selling point since Sarah Michelle

[21:57] Gellar, Robert Englund, Danny Trejo, and

[22:00] Michael Rooker were cast as playable

[22:02] heroes opposite George Romero himself.

[22:06] No, hit me. I do it like this.

[22:09] Daddy.

[22:11] I didn't do it like this.

[22:15] Call of the Dead alone has long

[22:17] constituted a highlight of the brand's

[22:19] post-launch efforts, enough so that fans

[22:21] still hold out hope for a remake of the

[22:23] map.

[22:24] Black Ops' Annihilation DLC hit digital

[22:27] storefronts late in June 2011, boasting

[22:30] four multiplayer maps and one zombies

[22:32] locale. The Hangar 18 map invited users

[22:35] to battle each other in an Area 51

[22:37] hangar, while another, Drive-In,

[22:39] unleashed chaos on a 1960s drive-in

[22:42] theater. As for the zombies content, the

[22:44] mysteries of Shangri-La in an exotic

[22:46] jungle occupied center stage.

[22:49] Annihilation reviews fell in line with

[22:51] the map packs preceding it, settling on

[22:53] a high 70s Metacritic score.

[22:56] The same held true for the fourth and

[22:57] final DLC release, Resurrection, which

[23:00] initially launched in August and brought

[23:02] the zombie saga full circle in a mission

[23:05] to space. Set on a secret moon base,

[23:07] this content packed in extra firepower

[23:10] and whatever else players needed to end

[23:12] the overwhelming zombie threat. What's

[23:14] more, Resurrection included the four

[23:16] original zombies maps from World at War,

[23:18] giving long-time fans a chance to relive

[23:21] the nightmarish action of the Nacht der

[23:23] Untoten, Verruckt, Shi No Numa, and Der

[23:26] Riese locales.

[23:27] The community at large came away from

[23:29] the roughly 1 year of extra Black Ops

[23:31] content with different opinions, best

[23:33] reflected in each release's critic and

[23:35] user reviews. New downloadable maps were

[23:38] generally considered enjoyable, albeit

[23:40] exceptionally challenging in some

[23:42] instances. However, many were also

[23:44] chomping at the bit for more gameplay

[23:46] innovation, and without it, found

[23:47] themselves unable to justify the $15

[23:50] price per pack for anyone other than the

[23:52] staunchest of Call of Duty diehards.

[23:55] This era of downloadable COD content

[23:57] further precipitated change via a 3-year

[24:00] deal between Activision and Microsoft

[24:02] that guaranteed Xbox 360 players

[24:04] received 1 month of early DLC access

[24:07] before PC and PS3, as had been the case

[24:10] with Modern Warfare 2. Despite the

[24:12] 3-year plan, the exclusivity agreement

[24:15] lasted until Advanced Warfare in 2014.

[24:18] Then, PlayStation 4 became the place to

[24:20] play Call of Duty DLC early upon the

[24:23] rollout of Black Ops 3: Awakening in

[24:25] December 2013.

[24:28] The spin-off series ultimately lived far

[24:30] beyond the third numbered entry. Yet,

[24:32] not even Treyarch anticipated where

[24:34] Black Ops would take the studio and the

[24:36] series after the 2010 chapter.

[24:47] >> [music]

[24:52] >> Black Ops, for its part, reinforced the

[24:54] brand's staying power all while catering

[24:56] to both newcomers and veterans. Design

[24:59] director David Vonderhaar noted in the

[25:00] multiplayer overview that combat

[25:03] training stemmed from Treyarch's desire

[25:05] to provide single-player aficionados

[25:07] with a low-stakes entry point into the

[25:09] world of online play. These hopeful

[25:11] converts would get comfortable learning

[25:13] the mechanics, and multiplayer savants

[25:15] would find value in familiarizing

[25:17] themselves with certain weapons and map

[25:19] layouts. But, for all this forward

[25:21] thinking, Dan Bunting spoke in a 2010

[25:24] interview of his uncertainty about

[25:25] whether Black Ops could evolve into a

[25:27] subseries ala Modern Warfare. When

[25:30] questioned by Joystiq, the producer

[25:32] merely stated, "We'll have to see where

[25:34] it goes, because no one had even looked

[25:37] that far into the future yet."

[25:39] Unsurprisingly, one game generating a

[25:41] billion dollars in the span of 6 weeks

[25:43] had a way of shifting perspectives. The

[25:46] Call of Duty machine consequently kept

[25:48] churning, folding six more Black Ops

[25:50] titles into the mix across a decade and

[25:53] a half.

[25:54] That original Black Ops, though, Call of

[25:56] Duty's first foray into the Cold War

[25:58] era, heralded a brand new age by

[26:00] bridging the gap between the COD of old

[26:02] and the contemporary action on display

[26:05] in Modern Warfare. The zombies offering

[26:07] especially contributed to the project's

[26:09] long tail of success, given it elevated

[26:11] the World at War mode by every measure.

[26:14] Yes, Kino der Toten tossed players back

[26:16] into the zombies arc from World at War

[26:18] with simple pick-up-and-play mechanics,

[26:20] but its instant popularity served as

[26:22] proof positive that audiences were

[26:24] rooting for the mode's longevity. The

[26:26] second zombies map at launch, Five,

[26:29] similarly acted as a testing bed by

[26:31] starring playable historical figures,

[26:33] thus opening the door for the Call of

[26:35] the Dead DLC's more ambitious premise.

[26:38] And therein lies the core essence of

[26:40] Call of Duty: Black Ops and its

[26:42] significance. This once unproven

[26:44] spin-off defined a litany of the basic

[26:46] multiplayer and zombies attributes that

[26:48] have prevailed across the entire series.

[26:51] It wasn't perfect. At the time, a

[26:53] contingent of critics and players

[26:55] believed it fell short of expectations,

[26:58] but Activision and Treyarch took a

[27:00] calculated risk, one that quickly paid

[27:02] off in various ways, so much so that 15

[27:05] years later, despite growing pains,

[27:08] pitfalls, and franchise fatigue, Black

[27:10] Ops remains exemplary of the series at

[27:13] its best.

[27:15] It's over.

[27:17] We won.

[27:18] >> [music]

[27:18] >> For now.

[27:27] >> [music]

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