I'd like to preface this by saying that I already pre-ordered a PC copy, I'm excited for this game, its probably going to be a fantastic game and people every where will love it...

...but I feel like the premise for this game is wasted opportunity. I'm a huge war game fan. I've played them all. CoD 2 is probably my favorite of all time because they had the sense of war down perfect. Whether it was trench warfare, storming beaches, or working with a squad to take down a tank.

My problem with Black Ops is that this is a game that is in Vietnam and it doesn't seem to be utilizing that setting to the best of its ability. While I'm sure the single player will have its scripted events that put you in the shoes of a soldier, the multiplayer doesn't seem to be trying to do that at all. Its that same action movie bullshit from the two other games. I can understand that fans of Modern Warfare and Modern Warfare 2 love this sort of thing, but all I see is wasted opportunity. Where are the traps, where are the M16s held together by pieces of string, where are the jungles, where is the atmosphere of Vietnam? Why am I not cautiously walking through a jungle with 4-5 of my buddies, keeping my eyes peeled and mowing down trees at the site of movement in the corner of my eye?

On another note, whatever happened to having two sides that play almost completely differently? Why is Counter-Strike, a decade old game, more complex than modern day FPS'es? Games like Bad Company 2, Modern Warfare 2, Medal of Honor and presumably Black Ops, they all fail to include the smaller intricacies that past games have implemented. In games like Quake or Counter-Strike, learning each and every gun takes time because they are all so vastly different. Being proficient with the M4A1 in Counter-Strike does not make you proficient with the FAMAS/AK47/Galil because all of the guns require a different skill set.

That was quite the digression from my previous point, but I thought it had to be said. Anyways, call me crazy but when I first heard about a Call of Duty in Vietnam, my expectations immediately jumped to a game that actually resembled the war and not a rehash of something we already have, and if they wanted to do that, why did they have to waste it on Vietnam? The game will probably be fantastic, but that doesn't mean they didn't waste the opportunity to make the first proper Vietnam game in a generation where the limitations don't exist.