Call of Duty: Black Ops debut trailer dissected

The first trailer for Treyarch’s Call of Duty: Black Ops has debuted with 53 seconds of insanely fast cuts. So come on in, check out the video, and join us as we dissect it frame by frame to find out what we can expect from the latest chapter in the Call of Duty series…


Above: Look carefully, and you’ll see a date listed in the bottom-right corner of the screen. It says “2010:03:2"


Above:CVGrecently reported that CoD: Black Ops might take place in Vietnam, the Arctic, and Cuba. If this is true, these nuclear mushroom clouds could be from the portion of the campaign set in Cuba


Above: It appears to be a laboratory of sorts. Perhaps these men of science are the reason why you’re lying on the table at the beginning of the trailer


Above: Looks like you’ll be going “First Blood” on enemies with this bow and arrow. Expect arrow kill videos to be the next hot thing on YouTube


Above: These guys look like they’re dressed for cold weather and seems to further confirm the Arctic as a setting in the campaign


Above: Note the hand in the bottom center. We’re betting you’ll get a chance to steer this helicopter


Above: The CoD series has always made powerful transitions from cinematic cutscenes to gameplay. We’re betting this snapshot of you rappelling down from this helicopter represents one of these moments


Above: Could the deep sea be the next new environment type we get to explore? Maybe the answer isn’t that complicated. Look at the wreckage near the bottom of the image. Looks like your chopper crashed into the sea…


Above: Years of watching Hollywood movies set in Vietnam has taught us that these are the backs of Americans fighting in Vietnam


Above: More chopper porn


Above: This screenshot screams “Apocalypse Now.” We’re hoping that this boat will play a role in a co-op mission with one player driving and the other shooting


Above: It’s almost certainly an image from the campaign, but all we can think about is how much we hate the guy who calls in air support in multiplayer and kills with it right before we get a chance to summon ours


Above: “The pain is difficult, isn’t it?” says the sinister character (who has yet to be named). Notice how the tools on the table are now bloody by this point


Above: This looks like a total “Die Hard” moment. It looks like you’ve shot at a window so that you can shatter the glass and swing in with your handy rope


Above: It appears to be from the point of view of someone riding in the belly of a chopper. Looks like helicopters will be a big deal in Black Ops


Above: The orange glow makes it seem like a huge explosion is happening off-screen. It looks like the character is base jumping from a cliff to avoid the blast before he opens his parachute


Above: With lots of helicopters comes lots reasons to repel into dangerous situations. We’re beginning to see a strong theme here


Above: You don’t get a nicely framed shot like this unless you’re one of the main characters in the game. Say hello to your new partner. His friendly face and trustworthy facial hair makes it unlikely that he’ll betray you later


Above: A fighter jet pilot who appears to be boarding an SR-71, a long range reconnaissance air craft that was introduced in the mid-60s


Above: Although the SR-71 looks like a pretty cherry jet, it’s actually almost FIFTY YEARS OLD. Keep in mind that there were no cutscenes in the last CoD game. Everything unfolds from a character’s point of view


Above: The very last action shot in the trailer. We think this will be you


Above: The end of the epic 53 second trailer with the game's title and release date. Tell us what you think we missed!

May 1, 2010

GamesRadarTylerNagata