Call of Duty: Black Ops - Everything you need to know about the new multiplayer

CUSTOMIZATION

Treyarch have gone to incredible lengths to allow players to stamp their personality on the multiplayer side of Black Ops. From the different clothing you can wear, which ranges from ghillie suits to the uniform of the Vietnamese army to the look of your targeting reticule – the options are plentiful.

There’s an incredibly comprehensive tag editor which can be used to create a specific clan badge for you and your buddies to stick on their soldiers. As an example of the versatility of the editor we were shown a tag being quickly made of a horse rearing up that had pistols where its hooves should’ve been. Lovely stuff.

On a more practical basis there are now a few more attachments for your weapons – most notably the flamethrower. Acting in the same way as the shotgun attachment, you can clip this onto most assault rifles and when the mood takes you, click to the secondary fire to toast some enemy bums.

MAPS

Out of the 14 maps that will be available from day one, we kicked ass across four new ones. Which ones you ask? These ones...

Cracked

It’s the obligatory war-torn map that reminds us of several play-areas from Modern Warfare 2. There are disheveled homes and shops to cower in or you can even climb up to a perfect sniper spot and rain down hot lead justice from above.

Radiation

This level is set inside and around a sprawling factory complete with twisty tight corridors and open expanses that are perfect for picking off folk from a distance with an assault rifle. It also working conveyor belt that will send you to a fiery death if you don’t leap off it in time.

Summit

The snow one. Sorry, this map was the most indistinguishable from previous maps in the franchise and, as such, we don't have too much to say about it.

Launch

Here’s the map that, for us, is packed with the most personality - thanks to a whopping great nuclear warhead located in the middle of it. After a while the missile will erupt from the silo in a plume of smoke, which leaves an underground area to take the fight into.

We'll be posting even more custom multiplayer footage from Call of Duty: Black Ops – as well as a bizarre behind-the-scenes look at last night's reveal event - over the next few days. Keep refreshing!

Sep 2, 2010