Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Answering the Call

I've never played Call of Duty, but, from what I understand, it's a running-and-gunning military simulation video game.  In general, I don't play video games and stopped playing computer games when I started college.  But I've gotten interested in Call of Duty because some of you come in with great questions or information that you've gained from playing the game.  Last Thursday (in honor of Veterans Day?) the most recent game--Call of Duty: Black Ops--was released.  It's set during the Cold War--a time of serious tension but no direct military battles.  The Cold War lasted from the end of World War II in 1945 until the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.  During that time, the United States and the Soviet Union competed for global dominance and nearly started a disastrous nuclear war.  The Cold War is one of my favorite time periods to study thanks to an excellent Yale professor.  The reviews have been overwhelmingly positive.  From the New York Times:
I wanted to try to assassinate Fidel Castro during the Bay of Pigs invasion again. And break out of a Soviet prison camp in the Arctic again. And pilot a gunboat through the Mekong Delta again, shooting up sampans while listening to “Sympathy for the Devil.” Black Ops glistens with such moments. The cold war was never so much fun.
So, gamers, this is for you: What do you think of the most recent Call of Duty?  You can talk about the gameplay and that sort of thing, but also mention what you're learning or wondering about the Cold War while you've been playing.

1 comment:

  1. Call of Duty has always made an improvement and this is one of the biggest. The last Call of Duty game (Modern Warfare 2) has many missions that may likely to be true but no special event that actually happened so i was dissapointed but still playied it. In the old game MW2 (Modern Warfare 2) had alot of fake stuff on multiplayer like if u fall from a building nothing will happen to you, you can fling your self 5-10 feet to the person that is shooting you and stab them, and Nuclear Warheads. The Nuclear Warheads are "fake" to me because in real life you are not trying to build up a streak of 25 kills to get a Nuclear Warhead, kill everyone including yourself, and still call one in in almost every match that you can get a streak in? In the new one Call of Duty: Black Ops you have to go undercover in missions assasinate important figures that are going to harm the US, play with a game of real occurances, learn about the war, and learn about what could of happened if they launched Nuclear Warheads to the US. Overall i am happy with the new game. I also have a question: in the game you are trying to kill Fidel Castro and Fidel Castro is still alive, do you think there is enough grounds for Fidel Castro to sue Call of Duty and Treyarch (producers of the game)? Or not because Freedom of Speech?

    PS the picture of that is Call of Duty: Black Ops is the a guy with a dual pistol in a foggy place (i would send u the link but my ipad does not let me paste links)
    -Danny Garcia

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