Call of Duty Black Ops 2 - Xbox-360

Choose Platform: Xbox-360

Pushing the boundaries of what fans have come to expect from the record-setting entertainment franchise, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 propels players into a near future, 21st Century Cold War, where technology and weapons have converged to create a new generation of warfare.

Combining incredible high-dynamic range graphics and sensational new gameplay, Black Ops II sets you off on secret operations as Frank Woods – the protagonist from the original Black Ops game.

The non-linear storyline will see you battling during a futuristic Cold War, as well as tackling flashbacks from historical missions and playing as various members of the Mason family. Every decision you make during this story will affect future consequences, giving you a different experience every time you play.

With new futuristic weapons, the chance to master a number of different vehicles and modes of transport, and a mysterious villain - known simply as Raul Menendez - Black Ops II is set to be the ultimate Call of Duty game.

Beyond the Campaign
Alongside the epic Campaign and branching story is the all-new Multiplayer mode. New maps, new game-styles and new perks make this the most engaging Multiplayer yet!

Zombies Mode also makes a comeback with a series of challenging maps and missions that enable you to fight off the dead in even more ways.

About the Developer: Treyarch
One of publisher Activision’s biggest internal studios, Treyarch have worked on many big titles - including multiple Spider-Man games and the Quantum of Solace tie-in. They’re also behind Call of Duty 2 and 3, Call of Duty: World at War and Call of Duty: Black Ops.

Call of duty is easily one of the biggest franchises in Video Game history, and with the modern Warfare trilogy coming to a close, It felt like Activision decided to "Play it Safe" by granting our wishes with a follow up to 2010s fantastic Call of Duty Black ops. So with Black Ops 2 now in the disk drive of millions of consoles worldwide, how good is it, and how safe did Activision play it.

Continuing the story of the Original "BlOps" You are Alex Mason, with a future setting in 2025, within a second Cold War, and the inter-twined storyline of your father "David Mason" in the original cold war from the late 80s. As you progress you have plenty of the expected Call of Duty style FMVs to fill in the story and for the most part, visiting Woods, a friend of your father is a simple way of linking the two stories. You would be forgiven for thinking its all on rails and very much as you would expect from Call of Duty, but for the first half of the campaign, things feel far from what you would expect, especially with Treyarchs novel "Strike Force Missions" which have been described by some as an innovative new "Tower defense" style addition, but in actual fact, anyone that played Full Spectrum Warrior on the Xbox, PS2 or PC will feel these new strike force missions are much more of a rehash of an old system, allowing you to place and control various teams with the added pleasure of dropping into the action to control a set solider or group. But like with the Persistent Elite creation on Rainbow Six, very often things are overlooked and like Call of Duties "rank up system" people often forget that much of it is simply an old idea refreshed for modern day gaming. That does not mean that the new Strike Force Missions are a bad thing, certainly not, but they dont feel "Call of Duty" and its not until you hit the last half of the story when you actually remember you are in a call of duty game and all those attempts at Strike force missions look more like time-fillers than an integral part of the story.

Overall the story plays well, and especially the latter stages feel as awe-inspiring and intriguing as many other COD games of recent years, but for me they distracted somewhat from the core game, and after completing on Veteran It felt a haul to head back through even on Recruit just to finish off these optional extras. Another thing you will notice is that like the last 5-6 years, Its a very similar base to when Modern Warfare was first released but as always the console is pushed to its limits and as expected everything looks even more impressive than the years before the sounds are refined with environments, especially water and wind, sounding just as realistic and impressive as the gun fire and enemies.

The main thing that many look at now in a Call of Duty game is not the quality or length of campaign, but more so the Multiplayer, and once again Treyarch and Activision have again decided to change things a little with a new 10 point-system. This allows great customization of your load-outs, So rather than 3 perks, a gun, secondary weapon and lethal & tactical grenades your class could simply contain one primary weapon with 3 attachments, or carrying two sets of Tactical equipment. Any extras whether it be an extra 2nd perk or a 3rd attachment for your weapon are opened using a "Wild Card" so using "Perk 1 Greed" as a wildcard (1 point) means you can then use a 2nd & 3rd point to select two Perks from Group 1. You can then do the same with Perk 2 & 3 and thats 6 perks (using 9 points) meaning your a walking behemoth, but cant even add an attachment to your weapon. Using the now Free Call of Duty Elite you can copy other users Class set ups. Although one negative is that while you can open up numerous extras and create class slots, you only have one load out for the "Score Streaks" meaning If you wish to support your team with UAVs, Counter UAVs & a Guardian (enemy suppression unit (like a portable Microwave) then you have to go through and quickly juggle your streaks between matches if you suddenly start playing well and want to try out a Stealth Chopper. I just think with so many options for creating a class, and a great selection of score-streaks available it would have been nice to maybe have 3 Score-streak set-ups that you can flick between before a game starts. The early teething problems for theater where fixed quickly, and unlike the last 2-3 years Black Ops 2 did a fantastic job of remaining playable with only minimal lag ever a problem (Compared to the last few years where it was near impossible to connect for the first few weeks). SMGs seem as powerful as they should be, (its too often in a game theyre useless because of Assault Rifles or Shotguns covering long/short distance). Though a few of the pistols seem more powerful than much else and while "Quick Scoping" has been reduced, its still around.

Zombies, unlike Black ops 1 and World at War before that, Zombies in Black ops 2 is much more of a stand-alone mode. With your standard survival mode like games past and the new idea "Transit" which connects various areas by a shanty, barely running bus driven by a robotic driver. It seems just as tough as ever to take down the zombies and you soon learn one bullet in the face isnt usually enough. But as you get into the stride of it, Zombies own Ranking system, maps, tactics, leader boards and promised DLC this makes it a very worthy addition which will surely please existing fans, and capture a few others. Zombies is one example of how change should be done and with a few risks, but enough "as you expect".

So Treyarch and Activision have done a fantastic job with Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, sure they have taken some risks, and I cant say they all paid off (Strike Force missions) but overall its a great game and the slight changes are a breath of fresh air even if they are not as revolutionary as promised. Theres some bits that are amazing (the Pick 10 System online and Transit in Zombies) so overall Its an improvement. Campaign length is better than expected, it doesnt seem to take quite as long to work through per prestige and the promise of new maps galore, but with a nice selection of maps from the go this will keep millions playing this game for months and months to come. If it wasnt a sequel to a past Call of Duty maybe i would be more positive on the new approach, so Kudos for the attempt at keeping things fresh. Its a fantastic game, especially online but I feel there is one too many risks taken which might have been better saved for a new series in the Franchise rather than a Black Ops sequel.

8.5 / 10
Still amazing, just not always in the ways you expect. By Leigh Walker, Author at EurGame.

Region: PAL Version. The Format for UK, Europe, Australia & New Zealand

Category: First Person Shooter

Publisher: Activision (click here for our Activision store)

Barcode (EAN) No: 5030917119316Barcode (EAN) No: 5030917119309Barcode (EAN) No: 5030917129780Barcode (EAN) No: 5030917119323

Part Code: M3OEFPACT11162

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