Call of Duty: Black Ops

Awards

• The Game Awards
  • 2018 – Best Audio Design – Nominated
  • 2018 – Best Action Game – Nominated
  • 2018 – Best Multiplayer Game – Nominated

German versions

There exist two versions with German language: one with a USK rating (for sale in Germany) and one with PEGI (for sale in Austria and Switzerland). Both feature a different amount of cuts and, in contrast to the uncut version, the Windows version can be unlocked on Steam. In the USK version, the whole torture sequence from the mission "Numbers", cut off limbs, gore effect in zombie mode, burning enemies and some level specific decorations were all removed. Additionally, the song Symphony of the Dead was removed, the German audio version was cut in some instances and all swastikas were replaced with iron crosses. A detailed list of all changes can be found on schnittberichte.com (German).

The German-language PEGI version features only the replaced swastikas and the cuts in the German audio. Symphony of the Dead and the torture sequence are there, but the latter with two smaller cuts. A detailed list of all changes can be found on schnittberichte.com (German).

References

If you have collected all intel items in the mission Crash site, you can read a report about using Patrol Boat River (PBR) to transport special agents. A reference is named where an agent was transported on a PBR upon the Nung river to eliminate a renegade Special Forces colonel. Well, the Nung river is fictions and is used in the novella Heart of Darkness as well as in the movie which belong to that novella: Apocalypse Now. There a special agent is ordered to kill a renegade Special Forces colonel.

References: Terminal

This game contains a rather unusual easter egg; interacting with the start menu in an unorthodox fashion frees the player from the bonds of an interrogation chair and allows him to wander a sinister chamber, in the corner of which is an old computer terminal containing several files and simulated programs tied in to the game's story (keyboard interaction with the simulated terminal is effected through a virtual keyboard presented on-screen and navigated using the joystick).

Additionally, the terminal can run Zork: The Great Underground Empire, Infocom's chart-topping fantasy text adventure of the early 1980s, part of publisher Activision's portfolio since absorbing Infocom in 1986 and last seen in 2000 in their Zork Classics: Interactive Fiction compilation.

A Wired commentator notes:

"Although Infocom is long gone, Activision still owns the brand, which means the Call of Duty publishing company can include Zork in every game it releases.Did you hear that, Activision? We demand Zork in every game you release."

Accessing Zork unlocks an achievement, Eaten by a grue.

References to the game

Call of Duty: Black Ops was parodied in an episode of "Die Redaktion" (The Editorial Team), a monthly comedy video produced by the German gaming magazine GameStar. It was published on the DVD of issue 02/2011.

Weapon models

Much like for Call of Duty: World at War, the World War II era weapon models are re-used from Call of Duty 2. They were re-skinned with higher resolution textures, but the reload animations remain the same.