Since the multiplayer trailer revealed a while back there has been a lot of emphasis from @jd_2020 and Treyarch about create a class. While this article will touch briefly about other things, the main focus will be the actual Create a Class function. Create a class does closely tie in with the cod points and other customization options and it's interesting to see how it all goes together in the end.
This will not go into the black ops killstreaks, black ops weapons list or black ops perk list. You can click the respective links to view those lists in detail.
New Things
Equipment - In MW2 we became accustomed to 2 slots: Equipment and Special Grenades. In black ops it has changed just a bit on how this works. Instead of just having these two they have broken them up into 3 categories: Lethal, Tactical and Equipment.
Equipment no longer means frag grenades, semtex, claymores, throwing knife, etc. This is how it's broken down:
• Lethal - Items that will kill enemies (Frag, Semtex, Claymore etc)
• Tactical - Items that can be used tactically to gain an advantage on an opponent (Flash, stun, gas, etc)
• Equipment - These are items that can be deployed and picked up and moved. (Camera Spike, Motion Sensor, C4, etc)
Unlocking Weapons, Perks, Attachments, etc
There's been a bit of confusion on how weapons are obtained and if it's only through purchase. I didn't get a clear cut answer directly from Josh on this but will try to do so. You definitely have to purchase weapons, perks, attachments, camos and all that good stuff but it's unclear if you have to be a certain level before certain things become obtainable.
We played the game as a non prestige level 25 to start and some items had a lock icon on them so this could indicate you can only purchase certain things at levels but all attachments and almost all guns and camos were available for purchase at a level 25. Some things seemed to only be available to those that have prestiged or were higher levels.
Appearance
The way your player looks is based on the Tier 1 Perk that is selected. Based on this selection will dictate what you're player is outfitted in. For example, if you select Ghost (undectable by enemy UAV AKA as Cold Blooded in MW2) you're character is in a ghillie suit. It appears you no longer only get the ghillie suit when sniping only, you choose when you want to use. If you select Scavenger as your perk you will be a more heavily outfitted soldier as you are picking up ammo from fallen soldiers.
There are also masks and face paint options for even more unique customization to your player.
In the area of customization there are 16 camo's to choose from to customize your gun as well as even deciding what you would like your red dot site to look like in forms of color, emblem etc.
Emblem Editor
On top of all this and possibly one of the coolest customization options is the emblem editor in Black Ops. This isn't just your standard list of emblems and there's no earn this emblem by doing this. You can essentially create your own emblem from scratch in what almost seems like a basic Microsoft paint application.
This takes the Halo emblem and amplifies it by 100. You can select stock art images and move them and resize them on the emblem canvas and change those colors as well as even add multiple layers on your emblem. That's right you can create a multiple layered emblem with multiple images. @telixion was able to make two bunnies "doing it like they do on the discovery channel" as his emblem, that's how customizable it is.
