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CoD XP: Black Ops Multiplayer Panel Details

CoD XP: Black Ops Multiplayer Panel Details

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Obviously, the main thrust of Call of Duty: XP is Modern Warfare 3, but it wouldn’t be fair if all of the other CoD titles were completely left out, right? Luckily, four of the guys from Treyarch showed up and treated us to a Black Ops multiplayer history lesson. It was severely under-attended compared to yesterday’s panels, but the information was interesting. Here’s a rundown of what was discussed.



Panel Members:

  • Phil Tasker – Sr. Level Designer

  • Alex Conserva – Lead Programmer

  • Dan Bunting – Online Director

  • David “von” Vonderhaar – Design Director

    1. Suicide Animation Deleted

    “Second Chance” is the Black Ops perk that allows the player to whip out a pistol after effectively being killed. It’s a last ditch effort to get a kill before respawning. Players are also given the chance to “take the cowards way out,” which basically means that they can commit suicide.

    Well, in the original release of Black Ops, the suicide animation was much more graphic. The character would put the gun under his chin and turn the top of his head into Old Faithful.

    However, when the ESRB paperwork was filled out, the box labelled “Are there any depictions of suicide in this game?” was accidentally checked “no.” So, they were forced to remove the animation in order to comply with their paperwork.

    2. We Played “Name that Map”

    The panel gave us a peak a into the development process by telling us how some of the Black Ops maps got their start. For instance, Nuketown was a map that was made without permission by one of the staff members. The map was inspired by Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull , so at least one good thing came out of that crappy movie.

    The cutscene that plays at the end of the round inspired all of the map interactivity that exists in Black Ops (e.g. the rocket launch on Launch and the moving targets on Firing Range, etc).

    3. Quick Scoping

    The panel also issued a comedic public apology for the removal of quick scoping from the Black Ops multiplayer. They were trying to make sniper rifles less useful at close range, but ended up making them completely useless. They’re sorry. Stop yelling.



    4. Pornography

    One of the more hilarious parts of the discussion was when they admitted that Treyarch was forced to hire a full-time staff member to police the user-made icons that were popping up. Apparently, the community is extraordinarily clever when it comes to creating pornography. However, unlike quick scoping, they’re not sorry for adding this feature. Even though it has caused a few fiascos, the number of awesome logos far outpaces the number of pornographic logos.

    Unless you consider pornographic logos to be awesome.

    5. TandborFudgely

    Vonderhaar made a speech that discussed a fictional person called TandborFudgely. I have no idea what he was talking about, but I think it had something to do with taking gaming too seriously.

    Other great Call of Duty news stories!
    CoD XP: MW3 Adds New Perks And Streaks
    CoD XP: Activision To Release MW3 Jeeps And Xboxes
    CoD XP: Treyarch Talks Zombies
    CoD XP: MW3’s New “Strike Packages”
    CoD XP: CoD: Elite Includes Facebook Integration

    By Josh Engen

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