Whereas Treyarch worked on both World at War and the tie-in video game for the James Bond film Quantum of Solace simultaneously, they focused specifically on Black Ops during this development cycle.

Among the weapons new to the series in Black Ops are crossbows that shoot typical bolts or explosive ammunition, a kind of shotgun that fires Dragon's Breath rounds and ballistic knives.

Although the game is primarily a first-person shooter, certain levels feature sequences where the player pilots a Hind helicopter and guides friendly troops from a SR-71 Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft.

"Create-a-Class 2.0" allows enhanced personalization with appearance items as well as upgradable perks;[9] weapons are extensively customizable with writing, emblems, attachments, and camouflage painting.

Missions take place in various countries around the globe, including Cuba, the Soviet Union, the United States, South Vietnam, Hong Kong, Canada, and Laos.

Opposing the CIA are the leaders of Project Nova: Soviet Army Major General Nikita Dragovich (Eamon Hunt), Colonel Lev Kravchenko (Andrew Divoff), and ex-Nazi scientist Friedrich Steiner (Mark Bramhall).

The map "Five" features a second crew comprising historical figures: Kennedy (Jim Meskimen), McNamara, Richard Nixon (Dave Mallow), and Castro (Marlon Correa).

"Call of the Dead" features the appearance of celebrities: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Robert Englund, Danny Trejo, Michael Rooker, and George A. Romero, portraying fictional versions of themselves, with the former four acting as playable characters.

Imprisoned in a brutal gulag known as Vorkuta, Mason befriends former Red Army soldier Viktor Reznov, who reveals his history with Dragovich, Colonel Lev Kravchenko, and ex-Nazi scientist Friedrich Steiner.

In October 1945, Reznov and his fellow soldier Dimitri Petrenko were sent by Kravchenko and Dragovich as part of a covert Soviet operation to extract Steiner, who wished to defect, from a secret Nazi base on Baffin Island.

Steiner provided the Soviets with the location of a disabled cargo ship carrying the chemical weapon he had originally developed for Hitler called Nova 6.

Afterwards, they destroy the Soyuz spacecraft, while Dragovich is seemingly killed in a car explosion; Mason refuses to believe that he is truly dead, and spends the next five years tracking him down.

Attempting to find Kravchenko, the team infiltrates Laos to recover a Nova 6 shipment from a downed Soviet plane, but are captured by Viet Cong and Spetsnaz forces at the crash site.

Hudson and Weaver infiltrate and destroy the facility before receiving a transmission from Steiner requesting to meet at Rebirth Island in the Aral Sea, as he suspects Dragovich will kill him to cover up Nova 6.

Attempting to use himself as a test subject, Richtofen accidentally teleports to a catacomb within the Moon, where he comes into contact with a mysterious pyramid device that causes him to hear ghostly voices, slowly taking away his sanity.

Upon returning to Germany, Richtofen secretly forms a plan to kill Maxis and gathers many members of Group 935 to build a Moon base known as Griffin Station.

Richtofen escapes as Der Riese is overrun by zombies, alongside his three test subjects, and arrives at the Rising Sun research facility in Japan, where Element 115 was first discovered.

Samantha, having survived and come into contact with the Moon Pyramid Device, which allows her to control the zombies, continues to raise the undead to hunt down Richtofen and his allies.

Zombies breach the Pentagon, trapping John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Robert McNamara, and Fidel Castro inside and forcing them to fight their way out.

Maxis, who was retrieved by Group 935 scientists, apologized to his daughter and committed suicide in front of her, prompting her to assume control of the zombies and seek vengeance on Richtofen and his allies.

Call of Duty: Black Ops features Vietnam War era music including "Sympathy for the Devil" by The Rolling Stones[53] (played during a gameplay sequence, the credits, and as an easter egg in the multiplayer map Nuketown) and Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Fortunate Son".

In the Call of the Dead zombie map the song "Not Ready to Die" by American heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold is featured as an easter egg.

[citation needed] Similarly to Modern Warfare 2's marketing, the first full-length trailer of Black Ops was aired after the 3rd quarter on ESPN during the NBA Eastern Conference Finals on May 18, 2010.

[64] A remixed version of the ESPN trailer with Eminem's "Won't Back Down" was released on June 14,[65] prior to the E3 Activision conference for which he also performed.

[69] On October 11, a single player trailer aired on ESPN during the New York Jets versus Minnesota Vikings NFL Monday Night Football game.

[70] The same trailer was aired the next day in the United Kingdom at half time of the England versus Montenegro 2012 European Football Championship qualifying game.

[85][86][87][88][89] GameSpot awarded it 9.0 out of ten and wrote "Call of Duty: Black Ops bears the series' standard superbly, delivering an engrossing campaign and exciting competitive multiplayer.

"[97] Edge magazine was less positive, giving it a 7/10, writing that "As polished and pretty and fun as Black Ops often is, it feels more like a yearly update than a sequel [which] isn't distinct from its predecessors in any important way".

[129] The Daily Telegraph praised Black Ops as its "meaty kick of the guns, the blistering pace of the action and the sterling soundtrack of explosions, gunshots and whistling bullets all serve to quicken the player's pulse and tighten their grip on the controller", and how the game is "compensated for by [the] nail-shredding tension and creepy atmosphere".

"[130] Martin Gaston at VideoGamer.com gave the Wii version 6 out of 10, complaining of Treyarch's reworking of in-game sequences as movies, poor AI, and gameplay problems from lower-resolution graphics.