Call of Duty: Black Ops II is an upcoming first-person shooter video game, developed by Treyarch and published by Activision (Square Enix for Japan), to be released on November 13, 2012 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows and on November 18, 2012 in USA and November 30, 2012 for Europe for Wii U.[4][5][6] Black Ops II is the ninth game in the Call of Dutyfranchise of video games and a sequel to the 2010 game Call of Duty: Black Ops.
Black Ops II is the first game in the Call of Duty franchise to feature future warfare technology and the first to present branching storylines driven by player choice. It also offers a 3D display option.[8] A corresponding game, Call of Duty: Black Ops: Declassified, will be released simultaneously on the PlayStation Vita
Synopsis
Characters and Setting
The single-player campaign will feature two connected storylines, one set in the 1970s through 1980s and the other in 2025. The protagonist of Black Ops, Alex Mason returns as the protagonist in the Cold War section, where he will be fighting in proxy wars for the United States in the Cold War. Known locations for this section of the game include multiple sites in Central America, Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion and Angola.[citation needed] This section of the game will also see the rise to infamy of the game's primary antagonist, Raul Menendez,[9] aNicaraguan narco-terrorist and the leader of "Cordis Die", a populist movement celebrated as the champions of victims of economic inequality.[citation needed] Mason's friend and colleague Frank Woods will also return, and narrate the story into the 2025 section of the game.
The 2025 section of the game features Alex Mason's son David as a protagonist.[10] When a cyberattack cripples the Chinese Stock Exchange, China bans the export of rare earth elements, which in turn leads to a new Cold War between China and the United States.[11] In this era, war is defined by robotics, cyberwarfare, unmanned vehicles, and other futuristic technology.[9]Taking advantage of this stand-off, Menendez attempts to bring the two powers to a full-blown war by inciting conflicts between the two. Known locations for this section of the game includeLos Angeles, Singapore and Socotra, Yemen.
It has been hinted at that the side-plot of Viktor Reznov and his relationship with Alex Mason, which began in Black Ops, will be continued in Black Ops II.[10]
Strike Force missions
Black Ops II will be 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 will appear during the 2025 storyline and will feature permanent death. The success or failure of these missions can have ramifications for the wider campaign storyline. Choosing one of the missions locks out the others unless the player begins a fresh campaign.[10]
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. The player's progress in the Strike Force missions may go on to change even the plans of the story's antagonist, Raul Menendez.[10] By the end of the game, the player may have changed the results of the new Cold War, and the player will be shown what could have gone differently.
Zombies
Treyarch has confirmed that the Zombies mode will return for Black Ops II with its own campaign. Its predecessors were Call of Duty: World at War and Call of Duty: Black Ops. This is the third time for the Zombies mode to appear in a Call of Duty game, and the first time to have its own campaign along with the main story. Treyarch has also confirmed that Zombies will implement the multiplayer engine, allowing for a deeper community experience along with new game modes. It has also been confirmed that the Zombies mode will support 8 player co-op, unlike Call of Duty: World at War and Call of Duty: Black Ops, which only supported 4 player online co-op. Treyarch announced in August 2012 that Nuketown would be remade as a zombie map for those buying Hardened or Care Package Edition of Black Ops 2. On September 26, 2012, the Zombies reveal trailer was released as well as three new game modes confirmed: Tranzit is a game mode that is a combination of multiple maps in one game and the way to travel around it is to ride on a bus, Survival is the original mode from Call of Duty: World at War and Call of Duty: Black Ops where you survive as long as possible, and finally the mode Grief which is 4 players vs 4 players vs zombies. Although a Zombies campaign is confirmed it is still unknown if Campaign is the Tranzit mode or if Campaign and Tranzit are completely different modes. On October 28, 2012 a new game mode was introduced called Infected were if you get killed by a zombie you turn into a zombie.
Development
Activision Blizzard CEO Robert Kotick stated on November 8, 2011 that a new Call of Duty game was in development for a 2012 release and will be the newest installment in the franchise.[13] The game was officially confirmed by Activision during its fourth-quarter earnings call on February 9, 2012, and promised that it will feature "meaningful innovation" for the series.[14][15]
Internal leaks
Reports of Black Ops 2 surfaced following a product page for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 appeared Amazon France before quickly being taken down in February 2012. No information has yet been released by Activision, but Gameblog claimed that Activision demanded it remove its original report too.[16] When it refused to do so, the publisher cut off Gameblog from ad support, review game mailings and future Activision events for refusing to comply.[17] Later Activision denied Gameblog’s claims that it has been cut off.[18] Around the same time, computer game artist Hugo Beyer also listed "Black Ops 2" as his current project in his Linkedin CV, before his LinkedIn page was taken down.[19] Beyer is an artist working for Nerve Software, "a Dallas-based independent developer" which has "helped" with previous Activision games including, Black Ops in 2010.[20] A "Black Ops 2" trademark by Activision was spotted January 2012.[21] Further Black Ops 2 was listed by the France international entertainment retail chain Fnac in March 2012, which touted a predictable November release date.[22]
On April 9, 2012, an image was leaked from a URL on the official Call of Duty website, which leaked the Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 logo, as well as a reveal date of April 28, 2012. The URL was later removed.[23] On April 18, 2012, Kotaku received an image from "a retail source", which showed a teaser poster that lacked a game title but had clear nods to Black Ops and a May 2 date that seemingly points to a reveal.[24] On April 27, 2012, an image containing two Target pre-order cards sent by IGN reader Richard confirmed the game's title and release date. The cards clearly display the Call of Duty: Black Ops II logo, and the release date November 13, 2012.[25][26]
Reveal
On April 23, 2012, Activision redesigned CallofDuty.com to announce that the game will be revealed on May 1, 2012 during the NBA playoffs on TNT.[27] The art featured on the site matches up perfectly with the supposed retailer leak received by Kotaku.[28] However, parts of the official website went live hours prior to the announcement, which revealed the title, confirmed the release date for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and the "21st Century Cold War" setting.[29] Activision had hinted that the game may eventually become available for Nintendo's own consoles, although has no official announcements for the time being.[30] As promised by Activision, the preview for the game was revealed in the form of a YouTube trailer that detailed the futuristic setting, the characters carried over from the previous games, and the conflict.[31] After the game was revealed, the preorder rates on the game set records three times higher than for the preorders of the first Black Ops.[32] Critics have noted the trailer's similarities to that of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.[33][34][35] On July 19, 2012 a second trailer was released by Treyarch, offering insight into the game's narrative. The storyline has been described by writer David S. Goyer as "better than a Hollywood movie".[36]
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 counternance to the traditional two factions,[37] and revisions to the "Create-A-Class" function that allows users to create customised characters for use in multiplayer matches.[38] The "Kill Streak" function, which gives players in-game rewards for killing other players, has likewise been revised and will now be 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.[39][40] Furthermore, the "wager matches" feature included in Call of Duty: Black Ops has been removed.[38] These changes were introduced to shift the emphasis towards objective-based gameplay, reward players who work in teams and to make the game more accessible to new players.[39]
In addition to this, Treyarch announced plans to integrate Black Ops II into the world of "eSports" or competitive gaming.[41] 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.[41]
| Developer(s) | Treyarch |
| Publisher(s) | Activision Square Enix (Japan) |
| Writer(s) | David S. Goyer |
| Composer(s) | Jack Wall[1] Trent Reznor (theme music)[2] |
| Series | Call of Duty |
| Engine | Black Ops II engine (Modified from Call of Duty: Black Ops) |
| Platform(s) | Wii U[3] PlayStation 3 Xbox 360 Microsoft Windows |
| Release date(s) | PlayStation 3 Xbox 360 Microsoft Windows Wii U NA November 18, 2012 EU November 30, 2012 |
| Genre(s) | First-person shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer,Co-op |
