Call of Duty: Black Ops

(apologies for the annotations – Machinima are “subliminally” plugging Alan Wake)

Last night Mike asked me if I’d be getting the new Call of Duty game when it comes out. At the moment, I’m falling on the “No” side of the decision fence. Not because I have anything against Treyarch, or Activision, nor do I have a problem with the Call of Duty series. It’s because I don’t like trees.

I don’t have some pathological hatred of them. It’s not like I go to the park and scream abuse at them. I just mean in games I don’t like trees. It all stems back to Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. There was a level on there, in the snow, with snipers and you had to get through this forest without getting killed. It sucked. You’d be getting sniped and be thinking “if I haven’t got a clue where you are, how the bloody hell can you see me!?”.

Then there was the Ghost Recon series, and notably the Island Thunder expansion pack. On that game the AI was programmed in such a way that they would always get you with a headshot if you didn’t kill them quick enough (they disguised this with erratic firing first). So when you’re stumbling through the jungle and they catch a glimpse of you, if you haven’t seen them, you’re toast – and forget about hiding because if they lose sight of you, then they would chuck grenades directly where you were cowering.

Now we have BFBC2 – damn those trees! How many times have you been killed by someone, and the after kill cam shows you them sitting in a tree like a massive homicidal squirrel? And it’s not just wookies either, I see engineers and medics hiding in the bushes (not assault goes as much though).

So the idea of a game based around a war that was fought pretty much exclusively in a jungle environment makes me think two things: “Charlie…… in the trees” and “The horror…”

But I’m reserving judgement a little bit after seeing the trailer. It looks like Agent Orange has been doing some work already so maybe there won’t be as much foliage fear as I suspected.

Peas and loaves.

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Find me on PSN – evaDlivE

Let’s Talk About Mics….

Historically I don’t do voice comms in game. The exception to this was Ghost Recon six or seven years ago on the PC using Roger Wilco when I was playing with a couple of good online friends from a forum I was involved with. Then more recently on the Xbox360 with a friend of mine playing Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter – but that was it.

However, that’s all set to change with the gameplay of BFBC2.

Up until now I’ve been using a Motorola HS820 bluetooth earpiece thingy. I started using it when I began playing Modern Warfare 2 to negate the need to mute every player. All game chat audio went to the earpiece which sat in exile next to the TV…..bliss.

Motorola HS820

But after playing BFBC2 in a proper squad I decided that a mic was a necessity rather than a luxury, especially for this game. So I tried using the mic on the Motorola. Kudos to Motorola. The mic is really sensitive. Even at mic volume 1 it was almost red lining. Which is a problem. There’s no mute function on the mic, and being so sensitive means that EVERYTHING happening at my end would be broadcast to my squad – the sound from my speakers (hooray, gameplay with a delay…), the sound of me uttering words of encouragement at the other team, and other household nuances that I’m fairly sure others wouldn’t want to hear.

Donncha suggested that I dip into the Hauppage Fund and get myself a pair of PX21s. That would be awesome, but impractical – not just because it would cripple the fund more than it has been already, but also because they are wired. Great headset, but in my situation not ideal.

So I was looking for ways to bodge stuff together, checked out jack to usb adapters, looked at the price of headsets, even considered hooking up my guitar/mic mixer to the PS3 – but that would have been overkill. The compromise in the end was a fairly inexpensive PS3 bluetooth headset thingy from Geo-Tech.

GeoTech EX-01

So that’s another twenty quid hit to the Hauppage Fund. But it should be worth it. I had a quick test of the mic and unlike the Motorola this one only picks up what it’s supposed – my voice and nothing else. It even has a mute button for those times when I need to yell abuse at the screen cough.

I look forward to testing it out in a proper game.

Peas and loaves.

Find me on PSN – evaDlivE

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