Recent reviews by Victoria Nevosa

Rockstar game services have been indescriminately removing game currency from legitimate players in Online to try and push microtransaction sales for years now.

If you aren't buying the game to play offline, do us all a favour and don't buy it. Vote with your wallet.

I've only just completed this game now some five years on from release. Spec Ops seems to strike a chord with everyone I know who has played it, it has to be said that the basis of the game is well written and while visually lacking in this day and age the game does a wonderful job of putting imagery to the points the writers are trying to make.

However. For me all of the things that people applaud this game for; the story it tells, the statements it makes, the well coreographed cutscenes and mental breakdown sequences are all overshadowed by just how aggravating the game is to play. Frankly the whole thing would have been better off being done as a film rather than a videogame.

The cover system is clunky and doesn't allow you to transition from cover to cover smoothly or briskly, the binding of multiple actions to the same keys such as Space and Left shift means that often times you'll be punished by performing an action you didn't even intend to perform such as vaulting when you wanted to deck a fool, there are a couple of scripted sections where the game is just outright infuriating such as a midgame sequence when an enemy Littlebird opens fire on you while you run down a corridor. You will die multiple times in this section if you don't do something which is completely asinine in that situation and that is NOT to run immediately.

The result of this was that I was not able to properly enjoy the game as others have done, I was unable to forgive the game it's technical faults to the point where I got indescriminately angry at ALL the factions in the game; the 33rd Battalion, the CIA, the Insurgents and hell even Adams and Lugo, your squad members.

Frankly if you want to experience Spec Ops at it's best, just watch a playthrough on Youtube or something. You'll be better able to fully experience the nuances of the story like Walker's decscent into insanity, the White Phosphorous scene, Lugo's hazing and so on. If after all of that you enjoy the story, consider buying a copy for the privilige. I don't regret the purchase but I definitely would not recommend the "game" portion of this interactive novel.

You are an alcohol enthusiast with a car building problem. 10/10

+Game is shinier than last year
-Specialists = a cheap way of making sub par players feel useful
-3ARC learnt nothing from the complaints about the 870 in BO2
-Flinch is still here and still annoying
-Killstreaks feel worthless at times
-Networking issues oft result in being kicked from games
-Hit detection is barely workable, still unreliable
-Gamemode population is nil outside of TDM
-Non-arena playlists don't have matchmaking
-Teams are often unbalanced by default in pre-game lobbies
-Nuketown is back and will likely be forced upon players that don't want it later down the line(See Black Ops 2)
-Game released poorly with massive performance issues out the gate, still not completely resolved but at least patched promtly

Conclusion? Game go boom.

I've been playing Black Ops II multiplayer now since January 2013, so I'd like to say I've got a bit of experience under my belt. Most people purchase CoD for the Multiplayer so that is what I shall be reviewing here.

First the good stuff. Everything works. No one thing is more broken than another and most everything functions as you'd expect it to; which is flawlessly. The weapons feel solid, they're balanced and have their own unique traits but there is no real reason to use one weapon over another unless you're building classes for specific engagements/engagement ranges.
All the FPS mechanics you've come to expect from CoD are there and again, function flawlessly.

Now for the not so good stuff. Hit-reg can be a little hit and miss at times depending on your network quality and how bad your packet loss is; if I can make one suggestion it would be that you play on a good quality wired internet connection with large bandwidth. Wireless low speed connections are a big no-no in this game, more so than others, but less so than other FPS franchises such as Battlefield.
Now while CoD games are said to cater to the 'lone wolf' play style, there is one thing of note. You cannot and will not consistently win games if you do not have a party to play with (unless you are playing TDM and get your backpack on). Best played with friends but playable without.

Other things of note include:
Remington 870MCS=OP
Low playlist population
Matchmaking
No server browser
'Toxic' community (Not really, I've made a few friends on BO 2 so far)

To summarise; Black Ops 2 is a great game to play casually. Competitive isn't really a thing in CoD, if you want that go and play CoD 4 Promod or any of the Counter Strike games; you'll thank me later. But if you are looking for something to kill time (which it has done for me) and have been turned off by Infinity Ward's CoD Ghost; pick up Black Ops 2 when it's on sale.

Not quite worth the retail but still a good game.

Black Ops 2.