Call+of+Duty+Black+Ops+II+(Megan)


 * Call of Duty: Black Ops II**
 * Brief Description of the Game**

When deciding which game to play, I went to my boyfriend, as I don’t personally own a gaming consol. He rarely plays anymore and had limited options, so my entertainment video game review is on Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. COD is a first person shooter game that introduces players to a villain named Raul Menendez who hijacks the US military infrastructure. The game has two modes: campaign and multiplayer and is most known for it’s multiplayer capabilities. This version of COD is the first in the series to present branching storylines driven by player choice. There are multiple different endings to this game.

I played the beginning level of the game, as I thought it would have done the best job teaching me how to play the game and use the controller. The game begins with a general introduction to the players and the back-story. I was hoping it would then give me a quick intro to how to use the controller, but instead I was dropped into combat with an objective. After completing a certain level or area, the game moves you to a different location with a new objective. From what I experienced, there wasn’t much feedback to tell you how you did (maybe I just didn’t make it very far). Here is the introduction trailer to Call of Duty: Black Ops II

media type="youtube" key="x3tedlWs1XY" width="560" height="315"

I will preface this with the fact that this was my first time ever playing a first person shooter game. When I was younger, I played a number of video games, but we were never allowed to play any type of shooter games. That being said, I learned a lot of the basics while playing. I also learned that I often get frustrated when I do not know what I am doing. Luckily my boyfriend was in the other room, so I could yell to him when I was stuck. I died three times in the second objective simply because I could not figure out how to jump from the helicopter onto the barge.
 * Learning**

As I said before, I was hoping that there would be a section of the game that taught me how to move, shoot, etc. but unfortunately there was not. A lot of my learning involved how to navigate through the game. It began with Alex Mason being dropped into battle and was given very little explanation of what to do. Because of the ambiguity, a lot of my learning was done through trial and error. I would press one button, hoping it would be shoot, until I found the right one; same went for walking, aiming, etc.

The game taught me as a player through a number of probe, hypothesize, re-probe, and re-think cycles. There were times that the game provided narrative to give background information, but more often than not the player was dropped into different scenes or levels and expected to figure things out. Every so often, there would be a hint or box that would pop up telling you to reload, or open something up for a tool/weapon.
 * Teaching**

Call of Duty taught through a number of different learning principles. The first that comes to mind is the Semiotic Principle or the Semiotic Domains Principle. This game is it’s own world and if you’ve never played it before (like me) there is a lot to learn about the game itself. I think that’s probably true for most first person shooter games. It also incorporates the Active, Critical Learning Principle. I tried to just hang out a time or two when I was trying to figure out my controller, but I often found myself getting shot at from behind or dead. There is no way to complete levels or objectives without being active in COD. Call of Duty uses the “Psychosocial Moratorium” Principle as well. I as a player was able to take a number of risks in this game without any kind of real-world consequence. There was no limit besides the fact that I could die and restart. Even then, it wasn’t like I had to restart at ground zero. One last principle I would like to point out is the Self-Knowledge Principle. I learned that I become very frustrated when I don’t know what I am doing and when I am not doing well. I had such a hard time trying to walk and aim at the same time – I often was facing the sky or the ground and that was so hard for me. I am sure that with enough practice, I would have gotten the hang of it, but I did not have the patience to try. It seems as though games can teach through a number of different learning principles, and that I could have kept going on and on.

Call of Duty is a very popular game and from what I was able to find, seems to have a large number of online sites, forums, and wikis. It seemed like a lot of topic on the forums had to do with group play. Many of the posts referred to teaming up and clans. There were some that separated forum posts into multiplayer and general, and included emblem tutorials as well. It is my understanding that Call of Duty is a very popular game, so the amount of forums and websites I found does not surprise me.
 * Online Sites**

I wasn’t a very big fan of the game itself, at least for myself as a gamer. I did not like the amount of things that were going on, I never felt as though I was able to collect myself and figure things out all at once. Instead, I was forced to learn while playing with the risk of dying. There were times where my boyfriend would play and I didn’t mind the game as much while watching. He was obviously much better than I was, so it was nice to see how the game was actually supposed to be played. I just never felt as though I knew what I was doing, and I didn’t like that. I also have a very weak stomach and all of the movement sometimes would make me sick. I think I’ll stick to my Mario Brothers and Crash Bandicoot from here on out J
 * Reflections**