Call of Duty: Black Ops

Call of Duty: Black Ops moves the series into the 1960s, when the Cold War was fought in places no government would admit to. Treyarch's follow-up to Modern Warfare 2 casts you as an elite special forces operative on covert missions around the globe. That tense, twisting campaign comes with a multiplayer suite many players still rank among the franchise's best, and with the return of Zombies.

A Campaign Built on Secrets

The story opens with Alex Mason strapped to a chair in a dark interrogation room while unseen voices demand to know what a string of numbers means. Each answer pulls you into another memory, and those flashbacks take you through some of the most volatile flashpoints of the era. Alongside Frank Woods, Jason Hudson and the Soviet prisoner Viktor Reznov, you chase a deadly secret across Cuba, a Siberian gulag, the Soviet space program and the jungles and cities of Vietnam.

These are deniable operations. If you are caught, captured or killed, your country will disavow all knowledge of your existence. Treyarch leans hard into that paranoia, and the result is one of the most memorable single-player stories the series has told, one that rewards close attention right up to its final reveal.

Signature Multiplayer, Deeper Customization

Create-a-Class and COD Points Black Ops introduced COD Points, an in-game currency you earn through play and spend on weapons, attachments, perks and gear. That gives you real choice over how your loadout grows instead of waiting on a fixed unlock order. New Perks and Killstreaks Fresh perks reshape how you approach every fight, and the killstreak lineup ranges from the remote-controlled RC-XD car to the SR-71 Blackbird, Napalm Strikes and Attack Dogs. Each rewards a different style of play. Personalize Your Soldier Deeper character and weapon customization lets you design your own emblem, apply camos and reticles, and add face paint. Over time your soldier and arsenal come to feel like your own, across maps like Nuketown, Firing Range and Summit.

Wager Matches, Theater Mode and Combat Training

• Wager Matches: Put your COD Points on the line in One in the Chamber, Gun Game, Sticks and Stones and Sharpshooter. Only the top three players cash in, so every elimination carries real weight and each round plays out with a tension regular matches rarely reach.
• Theater Mode: View, record and edit your favorite moments from multiplayer, then share them with your friends. It is ideal for studying how a match turned, reliving a comeback or cutting together the clip you will never stop talking about.
• Combat Training: Test your skills solo or co-op with friends against AI enemy players. It is a low-pressure way to learn the maps, try out a new class or simply enjoy the multiplayer rhythm at your own pace.

Zombies Returns

Treyarch created Zombies, and Black Ops brings the fan-favorite mode back for endless hours of undead survival, solo or co-op. Barricade the windows of Kino der Toten, an abandoned theater overrun by the dead, or fight through the halls of the Pentagon in Five. Every round sends bigger, faster waves at you, and every point you earn goes toward new weapons, doors and perks that might keep you alive one round longer.

Whether you are here for the story, the competition or the long nights holding out against the horde, Black Ops has plenty for all three. Settle into the chair, clear your head and find out for yourself what the numbers mean.