Screenshots & trailers
What players say
Why the number is what it is: aspect mentions counted across 297 sampled Steam reviews (258 positive / 39 negative), recent and most-helpful. Plain keyword counting, fully reproducible; nothing here is written by a machine.
What positive reviews talk about
- Multiplayer & servers11% mention it
- Story & writing9% mention it
What negative reviews complain about
- Multiplayer & servers36% mention it
- Performance13% mention it
- Bugs & crashes13% mention it
- Story & writing10% mention it
Satisfaction by hours played
Same score, different games: see how sentiment holds up the longer people play.
Under 5h
79%
80 reviews
5-15h
92%
95 reviews
15-40h
86%
79 reviews
40-100h
96%
27 reviews
100h+
88%
16 reviews
Review sentiment over time
Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.
How this score was computed
The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.
| Component | Positive | Quality (0-100) | Weight (pseudo-reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press reviews (Metacritic) | – | 87 | 6 |
| Creator reviews (1 tracked) | – | 93 | 0 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 91% | 85 | 1000 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | 76 | 24 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 91% | 85 | 73 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 209 reviews sampled · 148 total reviews in window · weighted 130.9 up / 12.6 down · computed 2h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (87)
Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.
- 90
“I'd put it ahead of World at War but behind Modern Warfare 1 & 2, to talk recent history.”
read full review ↗ - 75
“Everyone's much more accountable in multiplayer, which this time has evolved to include a currency system that smartly lets you unlock and customize your loadout specifically to echo the preferences honed in last year's Modern Warfare 2.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Black Ops is a terrific action game with a solid story and a deep, rewarding multiplayer mode.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“Treyarch have done a fine job with Black Ops. Not only does the game retain its Call of Duty aesthetic appeal, and pushes all of the series strengths seemingly as far as they can go, but now other aspects of the game are also to this high standard.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“What we have here is a refined and extremely confident product from a studio that has found its feet in the FPS world.”
read full review ↗ - 85
“But compared to the last couple Call of Duty games, Black Ops doesn't really do anything to set it apart. It is still a great game that shooter fans will love without question, just don't expect it to change your perspective on the long-running series.”
read full review ↗ - 87
“Black Ops is a solid addition to the Call of Duty franchise that really puts Treyarch on the map. You won't get anything original out of it, but if you liked what came before, then you will have a blast.”
read full review ↗ - 100
“Treyarch didn't reinvent the wheel with Black Ops. Instead of fixing what wasn't broken, the oft-maligned developer gave it a needed polishing and sent it on its way. With everything that this game has to offer, both on and offline, it will be a resident of console drives for a long time to come.”
read full review ↗ - 87
“The singleplayer is fun and narrated in thrilling manner, but it's simply too short. The online multiplayer is great and features a pretty big variety, so this is a recommendation to everyone who does not mind playing online.”
read full review ↗ - 85
“Black Ops is another game that shows why the Call of Duty franchise continues its stranglehold over the shooter genre.”
read full review ↗ - 95
“Quotation forthcoming.”
- 60
“There are games that deserve to be relegated to the bargain bin, or played when there's simply nothing else on the shelf. This is one of them. It's not broken, it's just bad.”
read full review ↗
The A.V. Club
GameWatcher
ZTGD
Worth Playing
The Escapist…and 75 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
No patch announcements found on Steam yet.