Call of Duty: Black Ops Multiplayer Experience

All bugs aside, is anyone else as underwhelmed about the multiplayer as I am? I have found it to be a really hollow experience, and I cannot see myself playing it pretty much anymore. There's no substance to it, no strategy, no real team play, its all a very solo experience.
I also find it quite boring! Sure its fast paced, but maps are over quickly so you can't get a feel for the map and where the action is, and spawning, running around for 10 seconds, throwing a grenade and killing someone then getting killed gets old fast, well for me anyway.
Much preferred Bad Company 2, at least there's a bit of variety in it and teamwork, even if it isn't as "realistic" as this one. After playing Black Ops Multi for 8 hours I'm already regretting spending the money on it, and its made me realise how much more fun I had back in March with Bad Company 2.
Has anyone else shared this view or am I just a pea in my own pod?

have only really tried CTF and TDM so far. It's okay, light entertainment - I think its greatest worth will come at LANs (where every game is better, even MMOs judging by the number of WoW and Aion players).

But yeah, BFBC2 was/is far more satisfying - a kill in BFBC2 is a real achievement because of the team aspect.

I'm loving it - hooked harder than I was with Modern Warfare 2. Many of game modes are spammy and unruly, but a good game of CTF, DOM or S&D are much more structured. And they can be very rewarding if you're playing with friends with some orchestration. But yes, Call of Duty, for as long as I remember it, has been a very 'solo' multiplayer experience, whether it's a team game mode or not. You have shared objectives, sure, but ultimately if you're not competing with a team in a ladder or playing with a group of mates, expect pub games to be very much 'every man for himself'.

I disagree regarding the maps being over too quickly to get into a zone. Once you learn the maps, and the game modes, you don't need to get a feel for the map nor where the action is each time. Once you've put in some real time playing, you'll know the maps inside and out, and based on the game mode you'll know where the action is. The only time this isn't the case is in TDM and FFA, which is random and chaotic (and shit).

I'd also argue that it's one of the deepest first person shooter multiplayer experiences out there, but no more so than MW2. The player customisation and ridiculous number of weapon variations means you can truly tailor your load-out to a specific type of play. Learning every weapon, attachment and perk intricacy - and their combination consequences - takes time, and pays off. It's all about the little edges, but what gives you a little edge may not be someone elses. Personally I don't even use grenades, and I never get killed by them - I run, and never stop. Knifing and hip-shooting is where it's at. Scope-what!? :)

I loved Bad Company 2, but I got bored quicker than what I did with Modern Warfare 2. I'd still be playing MW2 if they had dedicated servers. And that's where Black Ops comes into play.

I found a Nuketown 24/7 TDM server recently - the most fun i've had so far in MP :)

Ugh. That's the worst map in the entire game. Paired with the second worse game mode. What the hell is wrong with you. :P

Quote from rec;391527:
Ugh. That's the worst map in the entire game. Paired with the second worse game mode. What the hell is wrong with you. :P

Whatever's he's got I've got it too then. :p

Oh noes. :(

that's actually a good tedium map - tight quarters = frenetic pacing

MW2 outlasted BFBC2 by far for me and thats saying something given how much MW2 pissed me off.

This game has me mega hooked, loving it and not gunna stop... and i don't see the no team aspect i play with a few mates on voice chat and we work as a team the whole time...

also... nuketown = bad map

I didn't mention it in my initial rant, but there's just something so much better about the COD engine (id Tech 3/Quake 3). There's no stickiness, no clumsiness. The movement mechanic feels free, sharp and precise. It's how a first person shooter feel.

The Unreal engine comes close, but everything DICE has produced is outright clunky, and the frustration derived from that is what has killed every Battlefield experience for me.

In Quake, Couter-Strike and old Medal of Honors (Allied Assault) everything felt just right. I blamed myself when I died, not the game engine.

This is indeed coming from the perspective of an elitest (some may argue elitest tool), who spent years involved in the e-sports community, travelling for competition. Sure, some people may not feel or understand the vast difference in input/control, others may not care. But it's there, and it's a big deal when you really give a shit about your performance, and the final score.

I love this engine! I've said to many people that they could have just re-released mw2 with dedicated servers and I would have paid the 60 bucks again and wouldn't give a shit.
As rec said when you die in this game you blame yourself as there is never any unnatural responses to the inputs you give.
Now all the need to do is nerf prone and I'll give free jobbies to em

Prone is so annoying. I want to kill those people.

Quote from rec;391527:
Ugh. That's the worst map in the entire game. Paired with the second worse game mode. What the hell is wrong with you. :P

I really enjoy it because it's so fast paced.

Quote from grandinferno;391563:
Prone is so annoying. I want to kill those people.

This.

Bit unfair to compare MW2 to BFBC2, completely different modes of gameplay and on an objective-focused gameplay basis BC2 wins out easily.

I know what you mean about the clumsiness in aiming Rec, BC2 does falter there in comparison to Blops and Quake, but I guess we're just different kinds of gamers. I'm more of a team player than a Rambo, and Blops just feels like a bunch of Rambos running around imitating Flipper whilst putting a bullet in your head.

Ah I hate that dolphin diving shit - never do it. And if you're quick enough, no one else will have time to do it either. ;)

As I said, your feeling about it being a 'Rambo' game is mostly right. But there's still lots here for a team player. Just make sure you're jumping on with a few friends, or getting involved in a ladder.

which is what i like about BC2, even most PUGs can work effectively as a squad.

and am i imagining things? or do you go prone faster than kneeling?

I'm not really sure as I haven't played around with it enough. I think proning is slower than kneeling, unless you're in the air (jumping), hence why people do that. *shrug

yeh the superman dive is faster than crouching, but u cant fire while diving... not that that matters too much cos the confusion it causes gives u plenty of time to shoot once u land before the enemy works out what the fuck you are doing.

I don't use it cos it pisses me off, but im thinking about swapping out my crouch key for it.

i keep diving rather than crouching, need to swap keys

Standing is where it's at. Why crouch or prone when you're already at the perfect level to shoot some face!? :D

Quote from rec;391590:
Standing is where it's at. Why crouch or prone when you're already at the perfect level to shoot some face!? :D

because if you dont prone or crouch, it then solely depends on which player can hold down their left click the most.

Rather who is the most accurate.

rather who is the least lagged :P

Quote from Ratty;391587:
yeh the superman dive is faster than crouching, but u cant fire while diving...

Only if you're moving. If you're stationary you can drop to prone and fire straight away.

not to mention horrible steam....

New patch on the way with GPU optimisations (and other fixes): http://gamers-underground.com/content/841-jd_2020-updates-call-duty-black-ops-fix-list-pc.html

Oh PS. new highest frag score. No supply crates were used. The challenge is on. ;)

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Hmm as of last night i seemed to have developed issues with lag, my ping sits at 50-80 while spectating, but as soon as i join and start moving bang up to 300+ cant work out why.

my lag issues have been resolved - my only problem now is that playing on a capped connection (still get full speed to internode's servers) causes you to drop out when your client decides it needs to talk to the master servers for whatever reason.

what's the deal with knifing? is it a lag issue where having a gunfight with someone 30 metres away and he suddenly teleports to right in front of you with his knife in your head? the replays always show it happening the same way it appeared on my end too...

yeh thats the ridiculous knife lunge, as per another thread they fixing it for console, so hoping they sort it for PC as well... seems way too ridiculous sometimes.

i could accept it happily if the game was Call of Duty: Naruto or something, but yeah, in a semi-realistic game it's retarded.

i wouldn't mind it so much if it was consistent even, problem is some times u lunge other times while touching there back and knifing u miss (multiple times), or they try run away and u dont lunge... its messed up

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there u go rec

Nice one Unseen.

Almost there mate, just try a little bit harder. :P

Quote from deadlyrac00n;391991:
i have already uninstalled the game.. i cant be bothered with a game that takes 2-3 minutes to load a map, then find you have 1 minute of gameplay, wait for another minute to start new map, wait 2-3 minutes for next map to load - error disconnecting, leave to main browser - find servers are gone and wont refresh - restart game to get browsers back, and repeat.......
i timed over an hour the other night, i aCTUALLy played for around 8 minutes.

not to mention horrible steam....
anyone wanting a brand new B'Ops cheap $25 inc post... give me a shout. its your loss - my gain!

the actual game when i did play it was enjoyable though.

Mate, I could not agree more on the Multiplayer part...BUT I cannot agree on Singleplayer - it does have it's moments, it is worked well...however - THE GAMEPLAY SUCKS BIG TIME. Playing on Veteran is total nonsense cos' all you can do is run around hoping that this time you won't get hit by ALL the guys firing at you WHILE YOUR SQUAD does not help at all and can stand 3 meters from enemy and does not get shot at. So silly, so sad.

COD was like this from long before...but this time it went even more on the same way...in my opinion, the so poorly graded MoH is better.