Call of Duty®: Black Ops
Call of Duty®: Black Ops screenshot 1Call of Duty®: Black Ops screenshot 2
ActionFPSZombiesMultiplayerShooterSingleplayer

206 playing

Peak in the last 24 hours: 436

Peak in the last 7 days: 568

Call of Duty®: Black Ops Steam store

Game description

The biggest first-person action series of all time and the follow-up to critically acclaimed Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare 2 returns with Call of Duty®: Black Ops.

Basic info

DeveloperTreyarch
PublisherActivision
PlatformsWindows
Steam DeckPlayable
Release dateNov 9, 2010
Price

Prices by IsThereAnyDeal

Minimum specs

OSWindows® Vista / XP / 7
ProcessorIntel® Core™2 Duo E6600 or AMD Phenom™ X3 8750 or better
Memory2 GB
GraphicsShader 3.0 or better 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600GT / ATI Radeon® X1950Pro or better
Storage12 GB
steamyze

Review Analysis Score

Based on 401 reviews from the past 1 year

86.2/ 100
Top 30%

Steam rating: Very Positive (91%)

Metacritic: 81 /100

Review analysis summary (Reviewed Oct 22, 2026)

A Cold War campaign full of twists carries Call of Duty®: Black Ops, which scores 86.2, top 30% of games we analyzed.

👍 Strengths

164 reviews praise the campaign story, with some calling it a masterpiece worth buying the game for. Story & World ranks 90th of 1096. 119 find the zombies, campaign and multiplayer modes fun, and some return to it out of nostalgia. 19 enjoy the spy thriller atmosphere of its world, with stylish presentation and memorable music. Content Volume ranks 246th of 1351, and Visuals & Sound ranks 724th of 1249.

👎 Where it falls short

50 reviews say the price is too high for a game this old, with DLC still sold at full price. 18 report crashes, glitches and lost progress, and a few hit a crash on one mission that blocks them. 16 describe clunky controls, mediocre gunplay and erratic mouse sensitivity. Pricing & Fairness ranks 1135th of 1399, Tech & Support ranks 907th of 1399, and Multiplayer ranks 387th of 642.

Representative reviews Original reviews ↗

“plot rated 12/10 with brain explosions” · 164 reviews
“zombies, campaign, and multiplayer are fun” · 119 reviews
“full price charged without including DLC content, requires internet for solo play” · 50 reviews

How it holds up

−50+5

Controls, difficulty, progression and depth
Mentioned in 21% of reviews · Top 50% of the games we've analyzed

Difficulty +1.26 · How hard it is, how the challenge ramps, and whether it feels fair
Positive “challenging difficulty on maximum level” · 4 reviews
Negative “campaign on veteran is pain in the ass” · 7 reviews

Progression 3% · Onboarding 1% · Freedom 1% · Strategy 1% · Controls & feel 11%

Plot, characters and the world
Mentioned in 61% of reviews · Top 10% of the games we've analyzed

Story +3.91 · Plot, quests, writing, and the ending
Positive “plot rated 12/10 with brain explosions” · 164 reviews
Negative “confusing narrative structure, lost understanding of plot” · 8 reviews

Characters 12% · World 18%

How much there is to do, variety and replay value
Mentioned in 19% of reviews · Top 20% of the games we've analyzed

Replayability +3.56 · Reasons to play again — runs, randomness, New Game+
Positive “zombies mode unmatched in engine and fundamentals, still playing on Xbox 360” · 5 reviews
Negative “zombie mode has little replay value, didn't age well” · 1 review

Volume 11% · Variety 6%

Graphics, art style, music and sound
Mentioned in 20% of reviews · Bottom 50% of the games we've analyzed

Visuals +2.59 · Graphics, art style, and animation
Positive “good graphics, blood and sparks and special effects” · 13 reviews
Negative “graphics show their age with dated details” · 2 reviews

Audio 11%

Playing with others, the community and servers
Mentioned in 23% of reviews · Bottom 40% of the games we've analyzed

Playing together +2.13 · Fun of playing with friends, teammates, or rivals
Positive “playing Zombies with friends was so fun and memorable” · 12 reviews
Negative “multiplayer is not safe, avoid it” · 6 reviews

Community 7% · Servers & Connection 4%

Pricing, cheaters, balance and matchmaking
Mentioned in 23% of reviews · Bottom 20% of the games we've analyzed

Pricing -0.52 · Whether the price, DLC and microtransactions are reasonable, and how much paying gives you an edge
Negative “full price charged without including DLC content, requires internet for solo play” · 50 reviews

Anti-cheat 5% · Balance 2% · Matchmaking 0%

Bugs, performance and developer support
Mentioned in 15% of reviews · Bottom 40% of the games we've analyzed

Stability -0.25 · Crashes, freezes, save loss, and game-breaking bugs
Negative “unfixed RCE vulnerability baked into game code for 16 years” · 18 reviews

Performance 6% · Developer support 8%

Grey means too few reviews mention it to trust. — means almost no reviews mention it.

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