Call of Duty: Black Ops preview (now in 3D!)
Call of Duty: Black Ops has joined the ever-growing list of 3D-enable games, even though the required hardware remains prohibitively expensive to most. Unlike Sony's crop of flagship 3D titles, this isn't exclusive to any system. Activision recently demonstraed its high-profile first-person shooter running on Xbox 360, reminding us that 3D is a feature most HDMI-equipped systems can handle. (Previous 3D games for Xbox 360 include Invincible Tiger and Avatar.)
The experience was not unlike any other 3D game I've seen or played before. Because 3D demands individual images for your left and right eye, the scene must be rendered twice, requiring developers to come up with ways of shrinking what would otherwise be a doubled footprint on the system. As with Killzone 3 and Motorstorm Apocalypse, there's a noticeable drop in the fidelity of the image. With 3D enabled, Black Ops appears fuzzier than normal, producing an image akin to what you'd experience in a split-screen game.
While the image may not be as detailed or sharp, Black Ops' selling points still remain in 3D: its fluid animation and focused art direction aren't lost in the translation. As with movies that take advantage of the feature well, the 3D effect isn't overstated here. More subtle examples of the technique -- a thin cloud of smoke that permeates the air, and the way your sniper barrel comes out of the foreground -- helped "sell" the experience. I was mesmerized by the HUD and subtitles (which also appear in 3D). But the highlight of the demo had to be a level that places you in the cockpit of a low-orbit plane. From that perspective, the dashboard, buttons and switches looked especially realistic.
The experience was not unlike any other 3D game I've seen or played before. Because 3D demands individual images for your left and right eye, the scene must be rendered twice, requiring developers to come up with ways of shrinking what would otherwise be a doubled footprint on the system. As with Killzone 3 and Motorstorm Apocalypse, there's a noticeable drop in the fidelity of the image. With 3D enabled, Black Ops appears fuzzier than normal, producing an image akin to what you'd experience in a split-screen game.
While the image may not be as detailed or sharp, Black Ops' selling points still remain in 3D: its fluid animation and focused art direction aren't lost in the translation. As with movies that take advantage of the feature well, the 3D effect isn't overstated here. More subtle examples of the technique -- a thin cloud of smoke that permeates the air, and the way your sniper barrel comes out of the foreground -- helped "sell" the experience. I was mesmerized by the HUD and subtitles (which also appear in 3D). But the highlight of the demo had to be a level that places you in the cockpit of a low-orbit plane. From that perspective, the dashboard, buttons and switches looked especially realistic.
