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If you like run and gun war shooters, the Call of Duty games are some of the best out there. The series has always been popular but the release of Call of Duty 4 turned it into something else. After that comes World at War which marks the start of the Black Ops subseries. The annual releases would then alternate between the Modern Warfare and Black Ops. Call of Duty: Black Ops serves as a sequel to World at War and, in my opinion, has the best storyline in the series up to that point so I have been looking forward to seeing how Treyarch would follow it up. Developed by Treyarch and published by Activision, Call of Duty: Black Ops II was released for PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii U in November, 2012. For this review, I played the PC version.
The story mode contains two connected story arcs. One set in the 1980’s and the other set in 2025. The plot primarily centers on the CIA’s efforts to hunt down Raul Menendez, a drug lord, arms dealer and the leader of a terrorist organization planning to attack the United States. Some major characters from Black Ops do return like Alex Mason, Frank Woods, and Jason Hudson and the missions set in the 1980’s chronicle their efforts while the missions set in 2025 chronicle the efforts of new characters including Alex’s son, David. There are multiple endings and the one you see will depend on certain factors like the completion of Strike Force missions.
The real star of the show here is Raul Menendez. He’s easily the most interesting character in the game and in my opinion, the best villain in the series up to this point. He’s a well developed character with a backstory that almost made me empathize with him to a certain extent. Also, the voice performance from Kamar de los Reyes is one of the best in the game. I’d also like to give a shout out to James C. Burns who delivers a great performance as Frank Woods.
Black Ops II is another entry that features notable celebrity talent. In addition to the actors already mentioned is Sam Worthington who reprises his role as Alex Mason. Ed Harris does not return to voice Jason Hudson but in his place is Michael Keaton. The game also features performances from Tony Todd, Michael Rooker, and James Hong. But wait, there’s more. The Zombies mode returns and the map “Mob of the Dead” features the talents of Joe Pantoliano, Ray Liotta, Michael Madsen, and Chazz Palminteri.
Black Ops II is probably the most interesting Call of Duty game I’ve played so far. I think the story is good but not quite as good as that of the Black Ops. Also, the tone feels different. That doesn’t mean bad or worse. Just different. I think part of the reason is the two different settings. The tone of the 1980’s missions feel a little more in line with Black Ops and the high-tech world of the 2025 missions make for something that feels very different. At least to me. In my opinion, the game doesn’t have the same kind of consistent dark edge that was present in World at War and Black Ops.
Another reason why I find Black Ops II interesting is because it shows the developers made an obvious effort to do something different with the campaign. And I respect that. Black Ops II retains the cinematic style the series is known for and takes you on another action-packed adventure but you will have to make choices during the campaign and it comes with two different types of missions. Standard missions that advance the storyline and Strike Force missions which are all set in 2025 and are optional but do affect the storyline. Whether you complete these or die trying, the outcomes affect how things play out in the plot. Needless to say, the choices and Strike Force missions give the campaign a good amount of replay value.
Unlike standard missions, Strike Force missions can require bit of strategical thinking. During these missions, you assume the role of a commander and command soldiers and different types of drones to complete objectives. You can take control of the different units and switch between them at will, tell them where to go, and even view the action from overhead in a tactical view. Unfortunately, these missions are flawed and are the one of the game’s sore points. For one thing, the keyboard and mouse controls feel awkward making it very easy to make mistakes. I would frequently fumble around trying to switch between units and issue commands to the point that I just didn’t want to bother with it. Second, the friendly AI seem to get eliminated easily so I felt like I couldn’t rely on them to do anything.
Strike Force missions that require you to capture or defend multiple targets proved to be quite difficult for me. When units get wiped out, you’ll have to wait for reinforcements to arrive and utilize whatever’s left in the meantime. I found it easier to complete objectives when controlling a soldier but enemy reinforcements frequently arrive until the objectives are completed and since friendlies would get eliminated quickly, I would usually get overwhelmed and die and it became frustrating. I preferred the more straightforward and simple missions like the one that has you defending a convoy. I could switch between multiple drones and shoot things. There was still some challenge to it but I was having fun and not getting frustrated.
The campaign does let you customize your loadout before each mission which I thought was a really nice feature. Most of the equipment needs to be unlocked by either completing missions or challenges and this does add an additional layer of replayability to the campaign. You can choose your weapons, their attachments and camo, and even select perks. The standard missions always feature plenty of firefights and many of the bigger battles are set in more open-ended environments so being able to experiment with different approaches, routes, and positions in typical Call of Duty fashion while also being able to start with different equipment each time can make each playthrough somewhat unique.
Unfortunately, something feels off about Black Ops II. I want to say it’s the difficulty but I really can’t confirm. Excluding the Strike Force missions, I feel like this campaign is a bit easier than that of the previous games and as a result, I felt some encounters were not as intense and exciting as they should have been. I should mention I did play on the Regular difficulty and that’s the difficulty I played on in the previous games as well. Sadly, the gore effects in the campaign are lacking compared to that of World at War and Black Ops. Blood squirts and will splatter on surfaces but you can’t blow off body parts. To be clear, I am specifically referring to the campaign. The Zombies mode features plenty of gore.
The lack of dismemberment aside, the campaign does feature satisfying gunplay thanks to great visual feedback and some good death animations. The action can be very fast-paced and taking cover is still crucial for survival. I do like the more high-tech weapons featured in the 2025 missions and you’ll not only engage enemy foot soldiers but also various drones. With the Access Kit perk enabled, if you take the time to look around, you can find and access equipment in the environments that can aid you like optical camouflage, molotovs, animal traps, and a Kinetic Strike Weapon among other things.
Most of the campaign features the typical run and gun action broken up by set pieces that we’ve all come to expect and I’m happy to say most of the set pieces are fun. Blacks Ops II takes you to various locations around the globe and puts you in some exciting situations. You’ll engage enemy infantry and armor while on horseback in Afghanistan, escort an NPC through a war zone in the slums of Panama, mark targets for drones to attack in multiple battles, and fly around a war-torn Los Angeles engaging enemy ground forces and aircraft. There’s some very cool stuff here.
As of this review, the Zombies mode still has active players. But that’s not to say I always found people to play with. Many times I tried to play with others and either nobody joined or players just refused to enter the ready status but I was able to play on some maps with others and had a lot of fun. It should be noted the mode can still be enjoyed solo. From what I understand, the mode now runs on a multiplayer engine which allows for more players and zombies. You choose one of multiple locations and then the map and some maps support more players than others.
Most of the mechanics and features from the previous Zombie modes return. The round-based gameplay, wonder weapons, points are equivalent to currency, zombies can drop power-ups and temporary bonuses – it’s all here. You can also find parts to build items to aid you like a shield, turret, and turbine among other things.
I couldn’t always find players to kill Zombies with but I had more luck there than I did getting into multiplayer matches. The game indicated that the Team Deathmatch playlist was the most populated but whenever I tried to get a match going, there was never enough players and after waiting for a while, I would eventually just give up and move on to something else.
The Combat Training returns and has been fully implemented into the multiplayer which I don’t really care for. It allows for a mix of humans and bots and is clearly designed to ease new players into the multiplayer experience. That’s all fine and good but I prefer the Combat Training in Black Ops – a simulated multiplayer experience with its own progression system and rewards.
Visually, Black Ops II showcases diverse and detailed environments, good character and weapon models, nice visual effects, and some gorgeous backdrops. The only eyesore I can think of is pop-in which seems is very noticeable this time around. The soundtrack contains a mix of moody tunes and more futuristic-sounding stuff that does fit the 2025 setting and high-tech elements. For the most part, Black Ops II continues the series trend of being an audiovisual feast. On the technical side, the frame rate did stutter on occasion and I did encounter several crashes upon completing missions. I was able to resolve the issue after consulting the game’s PCGamingWiki page.
When it comes to the Call of Duty campaigns, I’m noticing a trend. It seems Infinity Ward prefers to play it safe and Treyarch likes to experiment a bit more. I consider Infinity Ward’s Modern Warfare 2 and 3 to be the most enjoyable Call of Duty campaigns so far only because they deliver on what the series has always been good at: fun, intense, and exciting fast-paced action and the action in those campaigns rarely slows down. Treyarch delivers good campaigns as well but they also place a bigger focus on the tone and narrative. World at War offers more gore and the tone was darker than anything that came before it, Black Ops tells a great story, and with Black Ops II, I feel like Treyarch was trying to subvert expectations. Optional missions, multiple endings, two connected story arcs, some strategy, customizable loadout, drones – so I have to give credit where credit is due and say that I think Treyarch has developed the more interesting campaigns.
That’s not to say Black Ops II is perfect because it’s not but it’s easily the biggest deviation from the established formula. I think the Strike Force missions are a neat concept but are poorly implemented. Granted, I’m not good at strategy and tactics in general but I still think this could have been handled better. I think the campaign’s lack of gore compared to Treyarch’s previous efforts is odd and disappointing and I still say something feels off about this campaign. But it is refreshing to see a less linear campaign structure that encourages multiple playthroughs. It’s always nice to see the Zombies mode return and I was just happy to be able to play with others. I’m the sure the community has moved onto the future titles but this time I was at least able to confirm that I do enjoy slaying Zombies more with others than I do solo.
I would recommend Call of Duty: Black Ops II. It’s not my favorite game in the series but I still had a great time. As it relates to the single player experience, there are some great new ideas here and I wouldn’t object to the franchise moving towards a less linear campaign structure in future titles similar to what’s on display here. Some things could have been tweaked and refined a bit more but overall, Blacks Ops II is fun and refreshing. Definitely check it out.