Multiplayer matches that include AI opponents will be a feature of Call of Duty: Black Ops ina mode the game's studio built to include gamers who are disinclined to spend much time in the game's notoriously challenging live multiplayer culture.


Saying there is a large segment of the Call of Duty community that never takes the game online, "Combat Training" is meant to acclimate new players to the maps and match structure of online play, while still serving as a useful practice for mid-level or veteran players.

Combat Training will be a "complete standalone experience," said Mark Lamia, CEO of Treyarch, the studio designing the game. It can accommodate other live players in addition to bots.


It will have its own progression system, partly to keep players from exploiting bot opponents for advancement and currency under the game's new "Call of Duty Points" system.

[Update:] Call of Duty: Black Ops' Combat Training mode will require an online connection, so calling it "offline multiplayer," as this story originally did, is inaccurate.