Black Ops 'Annihilation' trailer tours the latest zombie stomping grounds

@Slomoshun I work as an animator for a design company, and I don't see a whole lot of heavy color correction going on here. Different video codecs alter color & contrast, especially h.264, which has a well-known bug that washes out colors when rendered (there's an alternative x264 codec that fixes that bug in Quicktime). I've been annoyed for a long time when seeing game trailers that are all washed out when I know the actual game doesn't look anything like that. Black Ops is certainly not dull in the color dept. In fact, Treyarch has a pretty firm grasp on color use throughout their maps that is interesting and bold. Maybe you just need to adjust your tv settings.

@worldpattern I love intelligent people. Tell your friends to post comments on joystiq too. Also I forgot how much better the P.C. version of this game looks.

@worldpattern

I've been editing Machinema and Skill videos on hundreds of games on all platforms for over 15 years now..I think I have a firm grasp on what looks dull and what doesn't.

When I can take any single clip from Black Ops, put it in After Effects and add a very small Hue/Saturation effect and have it come out looking way better there's something to be said.

The game is borderline greyscale...

As for your rant about map packs..Nobody cares if they spend $15 on maps. We care that most of these maps were pre-made prior to the games release, put on the disc and locked until we pay extra for them.

This trend is catching on with a lot of publishers and it's only going to get worse. Look at Eve online...

@Slomoshun

"When I can take any single clip from Black Ops, put it in After Effects and add a very small Hue/Saturation effect and have it come out looking way better there's something to be said."

So, you add what you say is a "very small amount" of Hue/Sat and you think that equals...what exactly? And you're claiming that by adding this "very small amount" that in turn means that Black Ops is "borderline greyscale".

Let's start at the beginning... What's your source footage? Something downloaded off Youtube? Something that went from a capture card hooked up to a tv/pc (let's assume here that you did the capture yourself and didn't get the footage from a third party that may have done who knows what along their own pipeline) to Final Cut or AE then exported to what codec in Quicktime or some other wrapper then possibly run through Compressor or Squeeze or some other compression app and was viewed on multiple monitors to allow for adjustment to some happy medium for all factors involved? (Run-on, I know, but it makes a point here.) You sound pretty confident, so you must also be running some sort of color management system along your entire pipeline that guarantees you're getting reliable matches, right? And back to codecs, are you running everything along the entire pipeline (from ingest to final format before distro) in some sort of higher end option like Pro-Res 444 or something else?

The point I'm making is that there are a lot of factors in the how/why videos end up looking the way they do online. You claim expertise in this area, so you know this. If you think it was all so close to greyscale, you need to get your vision checked or start fiddling with your screen settings.

@Slomoshun

Almost forgot...

Black Ops DLC hasn't been included on the disc waiting to be unlocked. Not sure where you're coming from with that (first time I've ever seen anyone claim it was the case with this game). Both DLC packs so far have been several hundred mb and would never have fit on the disc, especially the Xbox version.

Now, as for this trend in other games, I'm in agreement with you. It's stupid. EA is especially bad about doling out tiny, mediocre content they claim is new, but is in fact just unlocks for things that either were on the disc and locked or things that should have been on the disc and unlocked from the start. Look at how terribly Bad Company 2 was supported with fake "map packs" that were just mode unlocks. That was a horrible joke to pull on gamers.

@worldpattern

I didn't read over your rant's because honestly I don't care..the game looks horrible compared to others in the same genre.

Umm..where is my proof that the game had the dlc's already on the disc? LOL I can't believe this is the first you're hearing about this. I play on PC. I go to my Steam folder, Black Ops..ooh look maps that I don't even own..and they've been there since the game has been released..

Google is your friend.

@Slomoshun

Oh man, you certainly live in a fantasyland, dude. Left over code and placeholder images for maps that weren't finished in time for Gold Master of the original game disc doesn't equal finished maps being on there, too. I'll just stop here because I'm obviously dealing with an amateur who doesn't know jack shit about web video or the way developers create DLC. Done.

@worldpattern

Slomo is an idiot. That's why his name is Slomo, because he is slow. Pay him no mind. No one else does.

@worldpattern

Yea..unfinished maps. You honestly think they don't hold parts of the game back and sell them later as DLC? AND YOU THINK I LIVE IN A FANTASY LAND..

Seriously do some research, they've been doing this for years and lately it's been getting noticed by players a lot more.

Do you even play on PC?

@PSN StaticShock

I just want something...fresh from this series. Not recycled same ol same ol

@PSN StaticShock its call of duty its been the same thing since COD4, they did do zombies and spec ops but multiplayer and campaign are still all the same

@ColorblindMonk Which anyone with a job can afford. It's the same cost as a single lunch for 2 people, the same cost as 3 or 4 beers at a bar, the same cost as a small bag of groceries. If you're poor enough to have to worry about paying $15 for a map pack, you probably should cancel your internet, cable, cell phone, cell phone data/text plan, etc as well since you're living in poverty as it is and you need to learn how to get your priorities straight and live like a halfway sensible adult in society who knows how to handle money.

@worldpattern
I'm going to live like a halfway sensible adult...and spend my $15 elsewhere. I thought the first map pack sucked, the second was pretty good, and this one is going to get skipped (at least for now), probably in favor of Trenched.

As for your rant, ColorblindMonk simply stated that this was another $15. And it is. He might have implied that it wasn't worth $15, but his comment is a little vague to assume that. He might've just been saying he was pretty anxious to get in on some new zombie killin', and this was where his next $15 was going.

tl;dr - dude, calm down

@docalien @Mr Esc is the namesarcasm is my

Fair enough. Rant mode off...for now. : )

@docalien
Totally couldnt possibly agree more. For me its not the dollar amount, its what I feel like I am getting for my money's worth. Hell im picky to buy a .99c app on my phone unless its quality.

@Silent Killer01 oops, thought I was on youtube.

@TurbineTech

I was over BO after one week. Zombies never interested me, and the multiplayer maps are dull. (I'm not bashing CoD games cuz I loved CoD4 and MW2. Also looking forward to MW3 and BF3.)

@FlashJS

I have to agree with you 100% Flash. I don't tend to get on the fanboy train, but for me personally the Infinity Ward products always felt a just a bit more tight multi-player wise. Black-Ops just wasn't fun for me... Looking forward to 4th quarter 2011!

@iJesseee
I don't think it really fell off.

@adr916

How much fun can you seriously get out of wandering around alone (or with a group of online buddies) shooting zombies, building defences, and then dying?

I know people love Zombies, I amjust not one of them, I prefer Spec Ops Challenges personally.

So I hate it when I have to pay $15 for a pack, which contains one map I never will play on :(

There should be an option for us consumers, with/without zombies maps! $3 off. :D