Well, here we are one day closer to launch. Today brings us to 52 days until we get to finally see what Treyarch has been working so hard towards. Unfortunately, today hasn’t brought us a whole flood of new stories but that doesn’t deter us from bringing you the best that we can, each and every day! With November 9th looming closer every day, we decided to recap our ten most anticipated features in Black Ops. Without further ado…

10. New Multiplayer Maps

Treyarch has said that they are not sure of the quantity of MP maps that Black Ops will ship with, but they have promised us a wide variety of weathers, sizes and environmental variables. We have seen many interesting features in the maps that we’ve already been shown, including a colossal rocket that takes off during gameplay on the map Launch.

The Rocket lifting off on Launch
We recently learned that some maps will have functional doors, but not in the traditional sense: these doors will be placed in the ground. They are doors that you can open up and drop down into a separate part of the map.

9. CoD Points

Brand new to any Call of Duty game are CoD Points (CP), a currency system in place to let players purchase anything from new weapons to customizable face camouflage. When players gain a new rank, they will earn traditional Experience Points as well as CP. There are no requirements as to what you spend your points on, however. Not all items are available from square one, items will have to be unlocked before you are able to purchase them. What will you spend your CP on? Will you deck out your M16 with a customized reticle and etch your clan tag into the butt of your rifle? Maybe you’d rather spend your points on unlocking all of your most-anticipated killstreak rewards? Treyarch has given us the choice.

8. Campaign

The fact that Campaign mode is a largely overlooked addition to most First-Person Shooters is a sad but true reality. Many gamers will never experience the exhilaration of being caught up in the heat of a mission, or the feelings of betrayal or sadness when a comrade turns on you or is lost in battle. Treyarch has a team dedicated solely to creating their campaign mode as deep and involved as they can. They have promised a moving, gripping and epically cinematic Singleplayer experience. 30% of Call of Duty players spend the majority of their time offline as opposed to playing Competitive MP or Cooperative game modes.

7. Weapons

Whether it is the China Lake grenade launcher, the Commando assault rifle or the Python revolver, Treyarch has provided a whole host of new weapons for us to enjoy. Initially, we questioned the choice to

The China Lake grenade launcher
return to the Shotgun-as-Primary setup that World at War featured, but we trust Treyarch to balance the weapons in such a way that it works well. Note: we aren’t including the Special Secondaries under this heading.

6. Killstreak Rewards

Treyarch provided an encompassing list of all the new killstreak rewards to be featured in Black Ops and provided a demonstration of many of them. Feel free to read the full list here, as part of our What We Know recap. We’re still trying to decide if we’re more excited to fly the fully-controllable Gunship, fire off a Valkyrie Rocket, zip around in the RC-XD or nostalgically call in a vicious pack of attack dogs.

5. Theater Mode

Another Call of Duty first, Theater mode promises to be an exceptional experience for gamers. In Theater mode, we will have the opportunity to review, edit, save and upload footage from our recent matches. We can also share them with our friends simply by joining a lobby with them and loading up the film in Theater mode. The potential of combining Theater Mode with Combat Training, the new game mode featuring AI bots, will be an indescribably valuable tool for some of the more serious Call of Duty clans. Keep your eyes out for a more in-depth look into that concept later on this week!

4. Special Secondaries

Many people have heard of the “Special Secondaries” that Treyarch has added to Black Ops. Most notably, the Crossbow and Ballistic Knife. These unorthodox weapons are a much-anticipated feature in Black Ops and are two weapons that this author desperately hopes will be unlocked at an early level. For those unfamiliar, the crossbow will have the option for traditional arrows or ones with explosive-tips. The Ballistic Knife is a knife that players can eject the blade from, with a frightening velocity. This may also be used to melee with, and will gain the player a little extra reach.



3. Co-op Mode

Treyarch has been exceptionally secretive, sly and quiet about Black Ops’ cooperative game mode. Speculation has been widespread, pretty much since day one, as to what co-op will entail. Will it be a return of the absurdly popular Zombies game mode? Will it be something entirely new? All that we really know for certain is that the Hardened Edition of Black Ops will feature revamped versions of the 4 original Nazi Zombie maps from World at War. This, of course, leads to speculation that if it isn’t Zombies, it will at least be something similar that works with that map structure.

2. Wager Match/Combat Training

Two new game modes that are vastly different from anything Call of Duty has done before are the Wager Match and Combat Training game modes. In Wager Match, players get the chance to wager their CoD Points against other players. When joining a Wager Match, you will be put into one of four random Free For All matches. These are:

One in the Chamber – players start with a pistol, one bullet, their knife and 3 lives. If you kill an enemy, you steal one bullet from them but, if you miss, you are left with only your melee attack.

Gun Game – players progress through 20 tiers of weapons, and the first to finish all 20 is the winner. When you get a kill with your current weapon, you will advance to the next tier. If you are knifed, you will be dropped back a tier. Players who knife do not move up, however.

Sharpshooter – this game mode rewards players who are efficient with all the weapons in Black Ops. Everyone is always using the same weapon, and they cycle after a set amount of time.

Sticks & Stones – players are given only a Crossbow, Ballistic Knife and a Tomahawk. If you hit someone with the Tomahawk, you will drop their CoD Points for that game down to zero.



Combat Training is a way for beginners to get used to playing Competitive Multiplayer, without having to play with other people online. This game mode will feature AI controlled bots, and is customizable to many degrees. This game mode can be played alone, or online with a few friends.

1. Customization

Customization, for us, is clearly the number one thing we are anticipating the most in Black Ops. Treyarch has included many layers of

Player Customization: Perk 1 affects your players appearance
customization including weapon camouflage, custom reticles, the ability to place your emblem on your weapon and custom face paint, to name just a few. Treyarch set out to make Black Ops a fresh Call of Duty experience, and to allow players to “make the game their own.” It is very apparent that they have succeeded at both respects.
Please note, these are the opinions of just this writer and will probably differ from your own.
We’d love to hear what you’re most excited for in the comments, the forum or why not join us in our Community Chat this Monday, where we’ll be discussing all of your favorite features from Black Ops.