The Call of Duty franchise has achieved its greatest success in the online realm with its stellar multiplayer experience and detailed leveling system. In order to keep that multiplayer free from interference, many multiplayer modes have prevented gamers from participating in Party Chat via Xbox Live and with Black Ops, expect the same precautions to be made but in not as extreme a fashion.
In Modern Warfare 2 there are many game variants that prompt players to switch from party to game chat in order to continue with their game thus keeping the potential for cheating to a minimum. There are those modes, like ‘Ground War’, that players can trash talk as freely as they like without being forced to join their session’s game chat, but on the whole the most played modes do not support Party Chat.
Black Ops, in an effort to help keep cheating low but to still deliver a fun multiplayer experience to its Call of Duty fans, has cut down the number of modes that will deny party chat (‘Team Deathmatch’ will now support party chat) but there will still be those modes where party chat gives an unfair advantage and will be blocked.
While the case could be made that restricting party chat forces gamers to place themselves at the mercy of the game’s matchmaking system, no argument can be made that promotes an unfair playing experience. As a victim of countless exploits in Modern Warfare 2, I can say that there were times I felt like party chat was assisting the other time but there were other times where I simply wanted to sit back and chat with my friends while playing the game.
“We have that same restriction in certain playlists where they can use party chat to exploit the game mode. For example, Search and Destroy. Search and Destroy is one of those cases where it’s really critical that you don’t share information with anybody on the other team because it’s a very tactical, hardcore game mode.”
Treyarch has done a lot to make Black Ops not just an improvement, but a “Modern what” entry in the Call of Duty franchise. From the Wager Matches to the final confirmation of a Zombie Mode, there is going to be a lot for gamers to sink their teeth into. The Party Chat restrictions might be a bit of an inconvenience to certain gamers but you have to believe that, based on all the amazing trailers for the game, that Black Ops is going to be the best yet.
Do you agree that restricting Party Chat during certain game modes, while inconvenient keeps certain game modes free from tampering or would you rather just have party chat available for all modes? Make your case in the comments below.
Call of Duty: Black Ops releases November 9th on the Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Wii, and DS.
Source: Video Gamer
