Call of Duty: Black Ops still outpacing Modern Warfare 2 on pre-orders

By Ryan Fleming Published June 15, 2018

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Modern Warfare 2 was a behemoth of a video game. With over a billion dollars in sales within three months, a record shattering number of games sold on the opening day and even more sales records for the expansions that came out months later, it set the bar so high in terms of money generated that it is hard to imagine that its predecessor might actually surpass it. But according to GameInformer.com, which is part of retailer GameStop’s network, Black Ops is on track to do just that.

Back in July, we heard the same thing, but there was a difference. At the time, it was not all that surprising to hear that the hardcore fans who are passionate about the Modern Warfare games — and by extension the Call of Duty games — were anxiously awaiting a new version. After all, for as impressive a game as Modern Warfare 2 is, there were not all that many differences between it and the original Modern Warfare. With Black Ops it looks like Treyarch took everything that worked in Modern Warfare 2, bringing back the same gameplay mechanics including the types of weapons, and put it in a new time period (that was thankfully not World War II), and which essentially just made the game fresh again.

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Even if you are not a fan of the series, it is good news for the industry as a whole, after months of disappointing software sales.

“GameStop is tracking to all-time, record reservations on Call of Duty: Black Ops,” Bob McKenzie, senior vice president of merchandising for GameStop said in a press release. “We are ahead of where we were with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 last year, which previously set the industry standard.”

The fact that the pre-orders continue to come in for Black Ops is significant. The fact that it is outpacing one of the best selling games of all-time and doing it mere weeks after the monster release of Halo: Reach is impressive to say the least. So much for all the threats to boycott Call of Duty following the Infinity Ward drama.

Call of Duty: Black Ops releases on November 9.

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Ryan Fleming is the Gaming and Cinema Editor for Digital Trends. He joined the DT staff in 2009 after spending time covering…

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There's nothing more refreshing than taking a nice big swig of a Perk-A-Cola during an intense Zombies match with your pals in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. Besides tasting great (we assume), these colas empower you with buffs that will keep you alive until the later rounds. These bonuses are just as important as the Pack-A-Punch, but come in a wider range of flavors. It is possible to stack them all, but that gets expensive very fast so you need to be thrifty about choosing which ones are most valuable early on. These colas come in eight different types that may or may not be worth your Essence to chug. If you want to know which ones are the best in Black Ops 6, check out our ranking.
Best Perk-A-Colas in Black Ops 6

We're ranking these Perk-A-Colas based on their base bonuses, not any additional effects you can get if you Augment them, from best to worst.
Jugger-Nog
You can never go wrong with the classic Jugger-Nog. Increasing your health by 100 is useful for the entire duration of a Zombies mode, but especially in the early rounds. Going down is at best a major setback and at worst a cascade into defeat. This extra health allows you to get out of a bad situation that would otherwise end your run.
Quick Revive
This Perk has two components, with the less useful one being the ability to revive teammates 50% faster. Ideally, that shouldn't be needed but is nice. However, what makes it rank so high is the 50% shorter delay on health regen. Your health will come back over time in Zombies but at a dreadful pace. Starting to heal faster means less time running and kiting zombies around and more time in the action helping the team.
Speed Cola
The best early guns for Zombies mode have a large magazine, fast reload, or both. Running out of ammo at the wrong time and not being able to get more rounds in the chamber fast enough has ended many a run, but Speed Cola is the solution. It will speed up your reloads and armor plating by 30%. That's not a massive number, but fast enough to make the difference.
Stamin-Up
These zombies aren't the shambling types. They will chase you down like sprinters, and some of the monstrous ones can outpace you even at full tilt. Stamin-Up sounds like it would let you run for longer, but actually just lets you run faster since you have no limit on sprint in Black Ops 6. Positioning is everything in Zombies so being able to get where you need to be faster is never a bad thing, especially if it's a downed teammate bleeding out.
Deadshot Daiquiri
Every zombie has a weak spot, which is most often the head. Deadshot Daiquiri makes a critical hit hurt even more than normal, plus increases your auto-aim on those weak points when you aim down sights (ADS). That second part shouldn't factor much if you've got good aim, which is why this is only a decent Perk-A-Cola.
PhD Flopper
Not being able to hurt yourself is situationally useful, and the ability to cause an explosion by diving is a risky move. Yes, it's cool, but you don't want to be lying prone surrounded by zombies. This is a cool gimmick, but save yourself the Essence and skip it.
Elemental Pop
When Elemental Pop works, it's great. The problem with it is that you can't rely on it. It gives a small chance on every shot you take to add a random ammo mod effect, which is cool but impractical. If you have spare Essence on you, sure, it won't hurt you to have, but it isn't something that will turn the tide for you or your team.
Melee Macchiato
Finally, Melee Macchiato bottoms out the list. It is fine in the early game when the hordes are small and you're better off meleeing enemies since it will smack enemies away with each hit, but quickly drops off in usefulness. When the zombies get too strong and too numerous, you will need a lot more than a strong punch to deal with them and end up forgetting you even have it.