Remember when Black Ops was announced, and everyone felt that November was such a long way off? Well it is a much different story now! We are under two months away from the launch of one of, if not the most hyped video games this year, and we think it’s a couple of hyped up new features that we will finally get to try out on November 9th. Let’s look at two features that not many people expected (or asked for) but could really be game changers to the Call of Duty experience, especially when used together!

Combat Training

One of the new features announced for Black Ops multiplayer is the offline mode “Combat Training”. In Combat Training, the player (And perhaps friends) face off against A.I. Bots (computer controlled enemies) in either Free-For-All or Team Deathmatch game modes. Treyarch has not said much more on this gametype since it’s reveal on September 1st, but there is plenty we know already.

Combat Training lets you play against the A.I., not Noob Tubers



Treyarch said that they created Combat Training as a way of helping new players get the basics and practice playing before jumping into real online gaming, where stats are tracked and CoD Points are won and lost. However, the game mode actually has a wide variety of other purposes! Have you ever unlocked a new gun while playing Call of Duty and wanted to try it, but didn’t want to risk your stats or Kill/Death ratio for that round?? Combat Training should help to fix that problem! With Combat Training, you will be able to do anything you want without changing your online profile at all! Another great thing is that you can play every map in Combat Training, so you can practice on the maps you don’t perform well on, and learn the best tactics for almost any situation.

One interesting note, however, is that Combat Training only allows the players to practice on Free-For-All and Team Deathmatch modes, and not more tactics based modes like Search & Destroy. Treyarch’s MP Design Director, David Vonderhaar, responded to a question about this in the official CoD Forums. His comment was that the A.I Bots are not developed enough to take objectives yet, such as capturing flags and arming/disarming bombs. He did say a more intelligent A.I. was a possibility for future Call of Duty titles.

Combat Training may also become an invaluable resource for competitive gaming clans. Clans can use Combat Training to practice tactics and train new members. Plus, with Theater Mode (Which we will look at next) clans can review their matches and see what everyone did, and what they need to work on. Then they can take those lessons learned in Combat Training, and take their fight online.

Theater Mode

It is not really a feature that the community was begging Treyarch to include in the game, but now that it has been revealed, it is one that everyone can’t wait to try out! In Theater Mode, a player can watch their previous multiplayer matches from any perspective, be it theirs, another players, or just free roaming! The kinds of modes have become more and more popular over time, most famously being included in the Halo series of games, and more recently included in the PS3 exclusive Uncharted 2. In both of these games, the “Theater” mode was included mostly for the creation of Machinima, a form of movie made using a video game. However, the theater mode in Black Ops could be far more useful than making a simple video.

Once again, Theater Mode could be incredibly useful for Competitive Clans. After a match, the clan can re-watch the video and see how the fight went from all angles, and see where they did well and where they need improvement. They will be able to scan the map and see where snipers are hiding, where the majority of the action takes place, and even study the starting routes that the enemy players most often take after spawning, allowing them to plan ambushes and create more effective strategies. On the front of making videos, clans could create video montages of their matches, uploading them to sites like YouTube to show their dominance.

Despite it’s unique tactical advantages, Theater Mode in Black Ops still promises to result in many great Black Ops based films. Machinima has grown in popularity rapidly in recent years. Some determined gamers even used older CoD games on the PC to create very respectable films, but the inclusion of Theater Mode promises to blow the lid off Call of Duty videos. A very popular form of Call of Duty video has been the infamous ”Frag Movie”, a montage of a players most amazing and unbelievable shots and kills. Black Ops could easily help the popularity of Frag Movies, as players will be able to combine the normal first person shots with, say, shots of the enemy (Or enemies!) being killed on the other end. It also means that it will be much easier for Console Players to create these videos, as they previously required rather expensive equipment for only average results.





These two features have great potential to be used together. It could allow clans to record their training matches and review each player, find everyones faults and strong points, and discover who is best suited for what roll. It could also allow Machinima makers to create huge battle sequences with only a few actors, using the A.I. bots as simple targets. These two rather simple features promise to be game changers for both Black Ops, and future installments in the Call of Duty franchise.

Keep watching CoD: Black Ops News for the latest on Black Ops and more great features as we count down the days to November 9th! Also, be sure to join us for our first ever Community Chat this Monday! More details HERE. And feel free to join us on our discussion forums and to check out our Pre Order page for the best deals on the game!