The 14th is finally here, and that means the Black Ops hype train is rolling along with the unveiling of new gameplay details in the UK's Official Xbox magazine and PC Zone magazine. Let's go ahead and jump into the details.

As reported, Black Ops will be set during the lengthy span of the Cold War, taking you from the war-torn jungles of Vietnam to the frigid mountains of Russia. Treyarch has said that by visiting some of the newer locations, they're hoping to bring some much-needed variety in scenery to the franchise.

As you might imagine, Black Ops was described by OXM as "unbelievably gorgeous", with improved fire and smoke effects, as well as improved character animation and "incredible" lighting. Treyarch's last installment was an extremely appealing game to the eyes, so we can only imagine how fantastic Black Ops will look with the praise it's already receiving in the art department.

As VG247 reported earlier this year (LINK), we'll be assuming the role of a member in the Studies and Observations Group, a crew that worked as a smaller team, dealing in "black operations" missions. We're still banking on our character being that of Frank Barnes, a "a fiercely patriotic veteran of WW2… A solid leader, possessed with an excellent ability to assess and respond to any situation quickly and decisively.".

The missions you'll take part in with the S.O.G. that have been detailed look to be exciting. The mentioned missions include those where you'll be rappelling from a chopper into Hue City, Vietnam in order to check up on some backroom Russian dealings, and a mission that looks to be revisiting a feature that was cut from World at War, swimming. Following a chopper crash into the Huong River, you're left to swim through the dark waters with only your blade to protect you. Sounds like one hell of a ride!




Some of the new weaponry we'll be handling is the military crossbow, which gives you the ability to either go with a stealth kill or switch over to your explosive tips and go out with a bang. Explosive seems to be a trend here, because also mentioned are the M202 launcher and an "incendiary shotgun". If you've been following the GKNOVA6 happenings (LINK), you'll recognize Dragon's Breath, which was mentioned a few weeks ago. This is a standard shotgun, with the round being specifically developed to deliver a "spark" that can reach up to 20 feet in length, making this, in a sense, a short-range flamethrower.

Not stopping there, we'll also be getting our hands on some more vehicles this time around, and it looks to be in both the campaign and multiplayer. Treyarch stated that although vehicles would be returning, they're "not the way you remember them". Aside from that bit of vagueness, OXM also mentions that not only will we be able to control a helicopter, we'll be having badass helicopter-on-helicopter battles.

Last but not least, Treyarch did confirm the return of a 2-4 player co-op mode, but are remaining silent on multiplayer. The mention of "increased character customization" does have our ears perked up a bit though.

This should be better than Modern Warfare 2!