Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

If you wander to Activision's Support website it seems that their #1 reply to problems is that even though there are "Minimal System Requirements", many of our systems are TOO GOOD for Black Ops. Most of the suggestions are to TURN EVERYTHING DOWN. I was almost expecting to see the suggestion to use a monochrome monitor! We're told to cut down screen resolution size, turn off textures, cut down sound rates and more ... wow! For now, SAVE your $60.00 and wait until they get this stuff FIXED or just pass on this title to tell Activision we are not just open wallets. If I would have beta tested this game or played a demo, I would not have purchased it. Here is what I've seen so far: I finished the single player in about 5 hours ... all run-n-gun with zero tactics. You never get to enjoy what there is of the map graphics and are constantly blinded by the white screen flashes between game sequences. You do get to pilot a boat and copter, while the SR77 flight is ... is ... ah, useless? I agree with a few other reviews in that the AI is STUPID. Multiplayer: - LAG LAG LAG, Stutter~Stop, and more issues. Activate the in-game Lagometer and you will see in the lower green bar (not giving all the technical terms here) the lost and fragmented packets ... red can be stated as "lost" or like an interrupted connection, yellow = fragmented or incomplete. I monitored the packets using tools I have and they are a MESS. That green bar should be as fast, skinny, and steady as possible. No spikes, surges, or color changes. - CPU Load in ALL cores of over 70+% (completely inefficient on my overclocked AMD Phenom II X4) with it sometimes loading all cores to 100% and minimal GPU load at all. (plus the game is not properly coded for multi-GPU) - HACKS HACKS and MORE %$#*&@# HACKS already! People are already claiming they hack because the game sucks, or that they do so to offset the lag. The usual excuses on an FPS where the developer and all their claims to creating a cheat-free game are LIES! - Graphics are OK (if you like games prior to Modern Warfare 2, and NOT the quality of detail from say a developer like Crytek), but no better (or possibly worse in many areas) than MW2. I expected something at least as good as Far Cry or Crysis graphics with explosions and such doing residual damage, not just new maps on top of old code (OK, yes they did tweak the code for multi-core CPUs). Even the bullet holes, fire (flames), and the movable objects (cans, tires, etc) are better in MW2 ... and I'm VERY surprised by that! The big explosions are in the advertising videos and not actual game-play. - I have NO clue what is up with their range on Mouse Sensitivity .... but it is screwed up. I have to have it nearly OFF or the mouse rate is insane. - Frame Rate (FPS) cap is at 60 FPS !?! ... As you may or may not know, MW2 is capped at 90 FPS, and with say CoD4 I was able through tweaks and configurations setting to achieve 400-500 FPS average. I have not been able to get beyond 80 FPS bursts with this game, usually hovering at 70-75 FPS, and it shows negatively in the smoothness of game play. That includes a variety of tweaks and testing to even get 80 FPS! - Your own footsteps sound like someone is walking behind you and that they are not your own steps. A good 5.1 digital head set and you can hear how bad it really is. By news reports there are changes being applied at the server level, but so far nothing at the PC client. Treyarch and Activision, ... can I have my $60 back now please, consider it a deposit for Beta testing your work? Maybe you can get a commission from the jerks selling the game hacks for your titles to make up for refunding me? You are FORCED to go through Steam, and dedicated servers are contracted ONLY with Gameservers. Steam claims to remove cheaters, but I've yet to see them ever ban an account for cheating (other than those that were banned mistakenly). Above is the short list of issues ... you have a $60 expansion pack to MW2 with dedicated servers and horrendous, surging lag, and already an infestation of hackers. I agree with other reviews that I expected a MUCH BETTER game from Treyarch. STAY AWAY until these greedy developers and merchandisers (publishers) provide something of quality again.