
Little things such as not shooting someone in time or eavesdropping on an hidden conversation will actually matter, as events later in the game will change based on those instances. While previous games have had narrow storylines as an excuse to go from point A to point B, Black Ops II to mixes it up a little, adding multiple ways the campaign can play out. Probably the biggest new addition to the brand name is player agency.
Call of duty black ops ii review series#
While this is still very much a Call of Duty title, as you will find yourself aiming down the sights and shooting at anything that moves, important changes have been implemented that’ll shape how the series will move forward. When you go into a luscious city filled with beautifully constructed futuristic architecture, it becomes interesting to see what Treyarch’s perspective is on how the world will change in the next thirteen years. Sure, there are explosions going off every which way and bullets whizzing by your head, but it’s the beautiful environments and toys you get to play with in the 2025 sections that make this a standout title. It does contain some intriguing factors that dive into the psyche of a broken man, on both sides of the fence, but most of the action scenes and scenarios lack excitement until the last few missions. With that said, the 1980s sections where you play as Alex Mason are probably the least interesting parts of the game. That’s not to say past games haven’t had compelling conflicts, but the single-player campaign here has fantastic story beats that brings more of a revenge tale to the masses over traditional ‘kill a man because he’s bad’ ideas.


There are significant enhancements to the story in Black Ops II that, while mainly require running and gunning, are a step up from what we’ve come to expect from the Call of Duty franchise. While there’s political conflict and chaos occurring in the world, as China’s monopoly on 95% of Earth’s rare minerals hasn’t boded well with the rest of the planet, David is hunting down a terrorist who is causing a ruckus and threatening the world as we know it. The annual franchise that’s sending Activision to the bank upon every release is back once again, but instead of creating a modern epic, Treyarch has decided to chop the campaign up in telling two interconnected storylines during two time periods. It’s a series that hasn’t gone through many changes in its lifetime, but there’s certainly something to be said for creating a good formula and building on it over the years.īlack Ops II takes place in multiple eras, but the central story is set in the near future of 2025 where gamers take control of David Mason, Alex Mason’s son.
