Call of Duty: Black Ops II
Reviewed By Stephen Pastic
Another year, another iteration on the Call of Duty franchise. Whether you're a fan of the series or a stalwart member of the 'anti-Call of Duty' brigade, there is no denying that Activision's perennial FPS is a modern commercial juggernaut. Raking in sales and earnings that would make any publisher blush, for better or worse, Call of Duty Black Ops II (Blops 2) is bound to be one of the most popular online titles over the next twelve months.
Popularity aside though, is this new installment worth your time and money, or is this the beginning of the end for Call of Duty in its current form?
Jumping ahead from the conclusion to the first Black Ops, Blops 2 is primarily set in 2025. Primarily cast as David Mason (son of Black Ops' player character, Alex), players are tasked with attempting to foil the plans of one Raul Menendez, the game's primary antagonist. Alternating between 2025 and various flashback missions set in the 80's, Blops 2 manages to tell a pretty damn interesting (albeit somewhat ludicrous) story, as well as presenting players with an antagonist that can be somewhat empathised with.
While I enjoyed the first Black Ops, I thought its story component was somewhat weak - so I was pleasantly surprised this time around when I found myself really wanting to know what happened next. Another thing worth pointing out here is the numerous instances of ridiculous cameos throughout, including one Panamanian historical figure who is central to several missions. That is to say nothing of at least two bizarre inclusions at the game's end. You'll know them when you see them.
Furthermore, Blops 2 contains something of an elastic narrative - certain missions can either see the player meet or fail particular objectives, which will have an (admittedly subtle) effect on what is to come. For example, one mission has players tasked with giving chase to an enemy as they try to escape the area with another character in tow. Depending on the players actions, they may either catch the enemy and kill him there and then, or if they take too long in catching up to them, this enemy will rear their head again at a later point.
None of these single points are particularly compelling in and of themselves, but there are quite a few points throughout the campaign which will allow players to make a decision on how things pan out, adding an element of replayability the franchise has not yet seen.
Another new addition is the Strike Force missions throughout the campaign. At certain points between particular missions, players will be informed when one of these is available. These missions can also have a subtle effect on events throughout the narrative, depending on whether you succeed, fail or even outright ignore these additional tasks (most of which can only be attempted between particular campaign missions before timing out).
Basically, these Strike Force levels involve the player utilising a squad of units (be they soldiers, turrets or other high tech combat toys) to achieve specific objectives (i.e. defend a power station). Players are given several options for engaging the waves of enemies throughout - from simply controlling a single unit in a manner similar to the standard campaign levels, to pulling up a view of the entire map and sending all units to engage enemies at a certain location, there are multiple methods to get things done in these stages.
An in-game tutorial does an admirable job in walking players through everything they will need to know the first time they have a crack at the Strike Force component, so it's not like you will have to worry about being thrown into the deep end while figuring it all out.
The multiplayer component has also undergone some changes, primarily with regard to player customisation/loadouts, and scorestreaks. Basically, the new system allows you to pick ten things to take into the fray - want three attachments on your primary weapon? Perhaps 2 perks in each slot? Go nuts! As long as you stay within the ten item limit, pretty much any permutation between extremes is possible.
Speaking of perks, it does seem that Treyarch have trimmed down the number available compared to prior releases, but everything feels pretty balanced and choosing which ones to take in certain slots can make for difficult decisions. Scorestreaks replace the old system of Killstreaks in Blops 2, causing the focus to shift from killing enemies above all else to maximising score, which helps to encourage team members to actively work together (particularly in the more team based multi modes).
The third prong of Blops 2 lies in its Zombies mode. The main mode here, Tranzit, differs from past versions of the game mode in that different areas are linked via a bus, and as such players can move from one location to another (assuming they can make it to the bus, that is). Admittedly, as a game mode this has never really engaged me, although I am well aware that for many people Zombies has been the biggest draw in a Call of Duty game since World at War. For any of these people who dig the Zombies mode, its hard to see them being disappointed with what is presented here - personally though, I would have much preferred the inclusion of Spec Ops over another one of these.
Blops 2 is simply a great game that is easily worth the cost of admission - a much improved single player campaign plus the massive potential time sinks of multiplayer and Zombies would leave only a fool complaining about value for money. Truth be told, the single biggest issue was a sense of gameplay 'sameness' that has been with the brand for a while now.
Whilst Treyarch have done an admirable job in small changes here and there to the established formula, aside from the surprisingly engaging campaign, chances are you've played this game in some shape, way or form before. For those who are primarily interested in single player fare, Blops 2 represents the franchise's high watermark. For those more drawn to Call of Duty's multiplayer offerings, Blops 2 is rock solid, but nothing you haven't seen over and over again for several years now.
Game: Call of Duty: Black Ops II
System: XBOX 360
Developer/Co-Developer: Treyarch
Publisher: Activision
