Call of Duty: Black Ops II is a FIRST PERSON SHOOTER video game, developed by Treyarch and published by Activision (Square Enix for Japan)it is now in collaboration with Sledgehammer. It was released on November 13, 2012 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows and on November 18, 2012 in North America, November 30, 2012 in Europe and Australia for the Wii U. Square Enix
released the game for the Japanese market on November 22, 2012 as a
subbed version. A Japanese voice-dubbed version was released separately
on December 20, 2012. The script for this version was translated by
Zenigame Nakamoto.
The single-player campaign features two connected storylines, with
the first set from 1986 to 1989 during the final years of the first Cold War, and the other set in 2025 during a second Cold War. The protagonist of
Black Ops, Alex Mason returns as the protagonist in the first Cold War section, and chronicles the rise to infamy of the game's primary antagonist, Raul Menendez, a Nicaraguan narco-terrorist and the leader of "Cordis Die", a populist movement celebrated as the champion of victims of economic inequality.
The 2025 section of the game features Alex Mason's son David as the
protagonist, in which Menendez is plotting against the United States and
China with one of his ultimate goals being to see the United States
locked in a new Cold War with China, in revenge for many of his
misfortunes. In this era, wars are defined by robotics, cyberwarfare, unmanned vehicles, and other futuristic technology
.
Gameplay
Strike Force missions
Black Ops II is the first
Call of Duty video game to
feature branching storylines, in which the player's choice affects both
the current mission and in turn, the overall course of the story. Known
as "Strike Force missions", these branching storylines appear during the
2025 storyline and feature permanent death.
Strike Force missions allow the player to control a number of different war assets, such as unmanned aerial vehicles, jet fighters and robots.
If the player dies in a Strike Force mission, the campaign continues
recording that loss, as opposed to letting the player load a previously
saved checkpoint.
Zombies
This is the third time for the Zombies mode to appear in a Call of Duty
game, and the first time to have game modes other than the traditional
Survival mode. Treyarch has also confirmed that Zombies will run on the
game's multiplayer engine, allowing for a deeper community experience,
along with new features. A new, 8 player co-op game called "Grief" is
also supported, featuring 2 teams of 4 players competing to survive,
unlike Call of Duty: World at War and Call of Duty: Black Ops,
which only supported 4 player online co-op. As with the previous game,
each map contains "Easter eggs" side quests, which is used to progress
the story.
The first map featured in the game, "Green Run", introduces four new characters: Samuel Stuhlinger (voiced by David Boat), Marlton Johnson (voiced by Scott Menville), Abigail "Misty" Briarton (voiced by Stephanie Lemelin) and Russman (voiced by Keith Szarabajka). The map is set in an abandoned town in Washington, USA. Dr. Edward Richtofen (voiced by Nolan North),
the anti-hero of Zombies and one of the previous playable characters
from the previous game, returns as the announcer. Another returning
character is Dr. Ludvig Maxis (voiced by Fred Tatasciore)
the true antagonist of Zombies, who instructs the new group to help him
defeat Richtofen. Stuhlinger, meanwhile, is the only one who can hear
Richtofen, and therefore is ordered to help him instead of helping
Maxis. Players can choose whether to help Maxis or Richtofen, which will
have different results once the story ends. There are 4 sections to
play on "Green Run": Bus Depot, Town, and Farm. Diner is also available
as part of the Revolution DLC pack. Each section has a different mode.
The Bus Depot features a Survival mode and TranZit, which acts as a
story mode that plays throughout the entire map. Town and Farm both have
Survival and Grief modes.
NUKETOWN 2025
As the favourite map of the first Black Ops, this map returns in a great fashionable way. The basic structure of the map is kept and new features are added with an extra easter egg.
Gameplay revisions
In developing
Black Ops II, Treyarch introduced several revisions to the gameplay mechanics for online multiplayer that have been a hallmark of the
Call of Duty
franchise. These include the introduction of "multi-team" games that
allow matches to host three or more teams of players, in contrast to the
traditional two factions,
and revisions to the "Create-A-Class" function that allows users to
select which guns, attachments, weapon camouflage and perks (additional
bonuses that alter aspects of gameplay) to use in multiplayer matches.
The "Kill Streak" function, which gives players in-game rewards for
killing other players, was revised and is now known as "Score Streaks".
Whereas players still receive in-game rewards, these are unlocked by
performing certain actions — such as killing other players, successfully
capturing territory, and so on - rather than simply killing other
players
. Furthermore, the "wager matches" feature included in
Call of Duty: Black Ops was removed.
These changes were introduced to shift the emphasis towards
objective-based gameplay, to reward players who work in teams and to
make the game more accessible to new players.
Additionally, Treyarch announced plans to integrate
Black Ops II into the world of "eSports" or competitive gaming.
To this end, Treyarch unveiled a matchmaking system designed to pair
players up based on their skills within the game to ensure that online
games are relatively equal in terms of player skill. They also announced
what they termed "CODcasting", a form of live streaming that allows users to stream their games directly onto YouTube from their gaming consoles.
Being a continuation of the
original Black Ops, this release is expected to awe the fans of Call of
Duty after a disappointing Modern Warfare 3. Once again, Treyarch had
not disappointed them and released a great game at an overall of 9.3. A
great plot to a single player could not be dimissed athough most of COD
fans are more keen towards the multiplayer. The multiplayer is also one
of the best competitive multiplayer gameplay compared to other games.