Call of Duty: Black Ops

Call of Duty: Black Ops is the seventh main Call of Duty game and the sequel to Call of Duty: World at War. The game differs from most previous installments, which would involve a usual three-country campaign…

81 9 November 2010 ESRB M

Shooter Action Historical Horror Stealth

Call of Duty: Black Ops is a shooter developed by Treyarch, released 9 November 2010 on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The main story takes about 13.8 hrs to finish.

Verified 20 Oct 2026 Sources: IGDB , Steam , Wikipedia

What Call of Duty: Black Ops is

Call of Duty: Black Ops is a shooter game developed by Treyarch and released in 2010. It was published by Activision. It is available on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Mac and PC (Microsoft Windows). It runs on IW Engine. It carries an ESRB M age rating.

The premise, in the publisher's words

Black Ops takes place between 1961 and 1968 during the Cold War, 16 years after the events of World at War. It portrays a secret history of CIA clandestine black operations carried out behind enemy lines. Much of the campaign is told through the eyes of SOG and CIA operative Alex Mason, primarily through flashbacks. Mason awakens strapped to a chair in a room filled with monitors, bombarded with questions by two unknown interrogators about a numbers broadcast. Mason then recalls several events from the past in an attempt to answer their questions, setting up the missions of the game.

Description from the publisher · source

How it plays

It is played from a first person perspective. Its themes are action, historical, horror and stealth. It supports multiplayer for up to 10 players online, and includes co-op. Local play supports 1 players. Available modes: Co-operative, Multiplayer, Single player and Split screen. There are 68 achievements to unlock.

Where it sits in the Call of Duty series

Call of Duty: Black Ops is the 51st of 204 entries we hold in the Call of Duty series. The next entry was Call of Duty: Black Ops - Hardened Edition in 2010. Its critic score of 81 is 8 points above the series average of 74. The highest-rated entry is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 - Collection 1 at 90.

See all 204 Call of Duty games in release order →

How it was received

Call of Duty: Black Ops holds a critic score of 81 out of 100. That places it above 77% of the 3,306 rated shooter games in our database, which average 70. Games released in 2010 averaged 70, so it scored 11 points above the year average. Player ratings track closely with critics at 80, across 1,357 votes.

How long it takes, and what that costs

The main story runs about 13.8 hrs. Completing everything takes closer to 48.3 hrs, roughly 3.5 times the length of the critical path.

What you need to run it

The minimum specification calls for Intel® Core™2 Duo E6600 or AMD Phenom™ X3 8750 or better, 2GB of RAM and Shader 3.0 or better 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600GT / ATI Radeon® X1950Pro or better. At 2GB of RAM, it will run on essentially any working PC — that is below what a budget laptop ships with today. Install size is roughly 12GB.

Full requirements and PC checker →

What it launched against

Call of Duty: Black Ops launched on 9 November 2010, within three weeks of Fallout: New Vegas, Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood, Assassin's Creed Brotherhood and Super Meat Boy. All of them reviewed better. It was a PlayStation 5 launch-window title.

Released around the same time: Fallout: New Vegas, Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood, Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, Super Meat Boy.

Cheats and codes

We have not confirmed any working cheat codes for Call of Duty: Black Ops yet. Rather than reprint a list we have not tested, this section stays empty until one is verified.

Know one? Send it in and we will test it →

Official trailer

Sourced from the publisher’s YouTube channel. See all 3 videos →

Screenshots

All media

Call of Duty: Black Ops gameplay screenshot

Characters

All 24

Alex Mason

Carlos

Dimitri Petrenko

Dr. Clarke

Fidel Castro

Frank Woods

Dlc

Call of Duty: Black Ops

9 November 2010

Call of Duty: Black Ops

9 November 2010

Call of Duty: Black Ops Mobile

31 December 2010

Call of Duty: Black Ops - First Strike

1 February 2011

Call of Duty: Black Ops - Escalation

3 May 2011

Call of Duty: Black Ops - Annihilation

28 June 2011

Call of Duty: Black Ops - Rezurrection

23 August 2011

Quick answers

Call of Duty: Black Ops — frequently asked questions

When did Call of Duty: Black Ops come out?

Call of Duty: Black Ops was released on 9 November 2010 for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Mac and PC (Microsoft Windows).

What are the minimum PC requirements for Call of Duty: Black Ops?

At minimum, Call of Duty: Black Ops needs Intel® Core™2 Duo E6600 or AMD Phenom™ X3 8750 or better, 2GB of RAM, Shader 3.0 or better 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600GT / ATI Radeon® X1950Pro or better graphics, 12GB* of storage.

How long does it take to beat Call of Duty: Black Ops?

The main story of Call of Duty: Black Ops takes around 13.8 hrs, or 48.3 hrs for 100% completion.

Does Call of Duty: Black Ops have multiplayer?

Yes. Call of Duty: Black Ops supports multiplayer, including co-op for up to 10 players online.

How many GB is Call of Duty: Black Ops?

The PC version needs about 12 GB of storage, going by the storage line in the system requirements ("12GB*"). Updates can add to that, and console versions have their own sizes, which are not listed here.

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