Call of Duty: Black Ops - details overload

We told you yesterdaythat a big Call of Duty: Black Ops reveal was due later this month, via our UK sister magazines Official PlayStation and Official Xbox. Well details have come through a bit sooner than that, through a series of reports byUSA today.

Visiting CoD studio Treyarch, USA Today has been demoed certain parts of Cold War-set game, and revealed some pretty exciting factoids. We've collated all the most exciting and important ones for you, and created a great big list of Everything You Need To Know.

• Four-player co-op is confirmed.
  
• You'll play at least two characters in multiple international conflicts.
  
• American and Russian black operatives have been consulted. Given the above points,we reckon that means you mightplay on both sides of the conflict
  
• Exact setting dates haven't been revealed, but the game will play out over a long period of history.
  
• As black ops teams were privy to superior intelligence and had free access to any equipmenent they wanted, weapons and ammo will be more varied this time around. A military crossbow has been confirmed so far, but it's not just for sniping. CoD:BO (unfortunately aromaticacronym)allows on-the-fly ammo changes for some of its weapons, so the bow can also be fitted out with exploding arrows.
  
• There's also an AUG assault rifle that will take multiple attachments.

• TheSR-71 Blackbirdis the new AC-130. During one level, the recon plane is used to observe terrain from above, with the player directing the squad below with a pointer in order to help them avoid enemy Russian convoys. Immediately after this, you'll take control of the squad on the ground.
  
• Treyarch head Mark Lamia has said that the game is 'epic in scope', being focused around a story that 'has meaning and character and will be multi-threaded'. Perhaps more of an indication that Treyarch will be giving the Cold War an ambiguous, mutli-sided treatment?
  
• CoD: BO is using the same full-actor motion-capture technology as Avatar. That means that not just gestures, but whole performances are captured, right down to facial expressions and line delivery. Expect some serious emoting this time around.
  
• It looks like Treyarch is following Modern Warfare's lead in terms of big action movie set-pieces. Cliff-diving and rappelling through windows are already in.

May 11, 2010