PS3’s COD Black Ops: Do you want a refund?

by Peter Chubb November 27, 2010, 22:35 18 Comments

Call of Duty: Black Ops was released about three weeks ago, and in that time much has been covered, and not all of it is good. The first issue was that the graphics were sub-par, while others moaned about the poor sound quality. However, we were a little surprised when a few PS3 gamers signed a petition to get a refund, which we discussed in a recent post.

Since learning about this news a few days ago, I just wondered how much momentum it had built up? It certainly seems as if more people have been signing it and hoping for their money back, but is this going too far? OK, we know that there are a few issues with the game, but no game is perfect.

According to Examiner more than 3,800 have now signed the petition, we have no way of knowing how serious Activision is taking this? I cannot tell you how many games I have bought in the past, only to find that they did not live up to my expectations, but how can you go asking for your money back? However, some would say that this is not your average complaint.

I do understand that there are still a few issues that needs to be solved, but seeing as Black Ops has sold in the millions already, seems funny that there are just under 4,000 signatures — would you not agree?
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Written by Peter Chubb

Peter has been writing on Product-Reviews since 2007 and in that time much has changed for him, like his hair having more grey than brown now. He loves gadgets and cars, and gets excited when big events come up, such as CES and the big auto shows.

Contact Peter Chubb: peter@product-reviews.net

He started out working in a factory and dreamed of the day when he could become his own boss; That happened back in 2002 and he has never looked back since. Things have changed so much on the Internet in that time, but he has adapted well.

Contact Peter Chubb: peter@product-reviews.net

Nick
I have never heard so many people have a cry, the graphics are fine, the sound is fine and treyarch actually Care about the community instead of releasing a hacked noobtubing Game and just leaving it, yeah the connections are much better now since the patch, and at least the host migration actually works, remember mw2 every host migration would work one in ten times, and at least treyarch have acknowledged the problems and are trying to fix them, stop whining, all the people whining probably have a kd of 0.20
Zee
What a HUGE flop!! Simply disgusted that you can sell a game as poor as this and not be legally held accountable.
The money they charge for black ops and the fact that u cannot even play 15 minutes without suffering some sort of error is just daylight robbery! But hey what do they care
Tom
Just thought I'd add that they released an update for Black Ops recently, which seems to have made sniping easier, removed some features of the Hardline Pro perk – but the connection issues are exactly the same.
chriseYe
Got refund from Game.uk
no problem at all.
They have obviously had lots of returns..
As normally its hard getting a refund for a video game.
chriseYe
Totally agree wiv tom..
Its broken big time..
Why should we put up wiv it ..
Monday is near.. will let u know how i get on trying
To get a refund from Game.
Tom
I play COD Black Ops on PS3, and have also played on the XBox 360. I have to say, the difference in graphics is slight, pretty much un-noticable.
I enjoy playing the game, I think the online play is great – but I have to agree with ChriseYe above and say that it IS FAULTY.
The freezing problem is pretty ridiculous, I’ve had the game freeze up on me completley quite a few times, it requires a reboot of the PS3 and you loose any XP/COD Points/Contracts etc.
I actually played the game for 12 hours online and experienced 25 disconnections from host, random transmission errors or freezes during a game. Not good.
That being said, when it’s good, it’s very good.
I think if people want a refund, that’s up to them. It’s personal preference really. I for one, will be keeping my copy and hoping that the issues are fixed in the near future.
Tom
…I am sure I'm not alone in thinking – it is JUST A GAME, but I can see the point – why bother marketing something as a multiplayer when it doesn't work properly. When it does work, it is very very good online play. One of the best.
But when its fraught with connection issues, you sometimes just want to give up.
If people want to ask for a refund then that's cool, it's personal opinion – if you really think that you've been ripped off then you can and should ask for your money back. Consumer rights. If you aren't happy with it you don't have to keep it.
I just hope that the Treyarch/Activision people will realise that there are problems with the online play, and that some of the millions profit that have been made out of us gamers should be put into ironing these issues out.
Tom
…As an example, I played online the other day all day (that doesn't happen often, but I had nothing else to do!) I was playing for about 11 hours. In that time I jotted down the number of failed connections….. 23 (Twenty-Three) That's over 2 per hour. Which if you take into account the average length of games is +50% failed games due to server issues.
… Compare that to Battlefield Bad Company 2 – I went through a period of being bored of MW2 and played that online for months and months, and honestly I NEVER had any connection issues at all. 100% successful.
The fact that I felt compelled to take the time to note this down and work it out in the first place is bad enough, but the results are worse!
…(continued below)
Tom
> > Heres my long winded opinion on things… should anyone care!
I play Black Ops on the PS3, and have also had considerable playtime on the Xbox at my mates house too. I think the graphics thing is petty, we both actually have the same HD TVs and I can't notice any difference.
I will agree with ChriseYe above though, the online play IS FAULTY. I've never played a game online that has been so unreliable. Lets take into account that I've played all the CODs since the first MW, online, and enjoyed them all. This one has to be the worst….. and it's got NOTHING to do with game play, features, graphics or anything like that. It's just connection, server/host issues. And the FREEZING issue is something I've never seen before, randomly locks up your Playstation – you have to reboot your PS3 and lose all your XP/Cod Points/any Contracts completed.
…(continued below)
chriseYe
Im getting a refund from gam.uk next monday.
I read their rules on refunds.. and it say
s ‘faulty’ software
Can be returned three months after purchase.
I waited a month and its still unplayable.
It ‘IS’ faulty.. it freezes my ps3.
moff
its not that the ps3 keeps losing connection its the hackers who i have reported many times are still on the leader boards what is this report button a joke to say haha come on get this game sorted out get the hackers banned its easy enough you know who they are. you did promise no hackers activision
cj
All whiney 16 year old kids that are trying to get money back from the game their parents bought them. Infinity Ward band wagon fanboy cry babies. The graphics are fine shut up and stop bitching…you sound like a bunch of women.
purity
@alex, thats the point, to make the ps3 version the same as the xbox one it would of cost more cause ps3's are harder to programme for or taken longer to make. don't understand why this is such a hard concept for so many people to grasp.
- Stop Flaming
  I don't really care how hard it is for Treyarch to make a proper engine – the cost to gamers on both platforms is the same, the products should be of the same quality.
  There is no excuse for them being amateur and trying to patch problems after release – CoD4 didn't have the same problems, MW2 didn't either. Treyarch have broken the engine and there's nothing in the PS3 hardware or development environment that is an excuse.
  If the company can't make a functional cross platform virtual machine, or work with a licensed one, then they are a total joke.
Mauricio Cabrera
This article was obviously written by a person who has never experienced the problems on Black Ops PS3 firsthand.
Alex
Its not so much that every game is not perfect. Its just that why make a game thats not up to par with the 360 why pay the same price for a game with less features. Its not fair for ps3 owners they paid full price like everyone else so they should get the same product as everyone else. But oh well I have my copy of black ops for my 360 but even then I dont really give a shit about cod. I played black ops like twice since I had it. It just sits and collects dust now. Halo reach ftw!
psn shakyjake
@purity you’re honestly expecting the general public to give a damn about programming difficulties? They just want a machine (with either MS or PS3 branding) that works. What they don’t want is a game that has been released full of bugs or is simply a shit standard from developers making a game as part of a prestigious brand.
I am personally sick of the constant kicking and disconnections. It is shocking! I have never experienced anything as bad from a modern game – particularly since these cheeky gits demand upwards of Â£40 for the privilege.
This has hurt treyarch badly and this game Will be on ebay Monday and will make me think twice about buying another treyarch game.
purity
why buy a ps3 if you know sony have made it harder to programme for and therefore games along the same time scale will always struggle in the way black op's has. the alternative was them spending more money on making it and charing people more, or releasing it later than the other copies. wish people actual read up on what they bought (ps3) before moaning about its well documentated down sides.