High action story with new features to boot. Multiplayer remains strong and Zombies flags behind dragging the game down.
The campaign in Black Ops 2 has some great moments and fantastic gameplay that keeps things moving with expert pace throughout. There are new additions to the campaign too including Strikeforce, a game mode that sees you take control of a whole array of tech and soldiers rather than just the usual point and shoot. You have to complete objectives by commanding your squads from an overhead perspective, you can also 'mind jack' into any soldier/machine at any point to help out with the action on the ground. This offers a change of pace and creates a refreshing new challenge and ,what I consider, a crucial step forward for Call of Duty in terms of campaign and creating new ways to entertain.
There are also challenges to complete for each level and the ability to select and customize weapons before each mission adds up to some light replay value. If that isn't enough to encourage a second playthough then the moments in the campaign where you have to make key decisions may well seal the deal. The issue here is not with the gameplay but rather the story being told as Black Ops 2 ultimately lacks the same narrative that makes the original unique and distinct. The story moves away from conspiracies and secrets and more to the all-out, non-stop globe hopping action we see in the Modern Warfare games. There are return characters and nods to the original game but the experience Black Ops 2 provides never creates the same feel the first title did so well.
Black Ops 2's attack is one of three branches though, with the campaign just being one part of a trio of possible entertainment. The multiplayer and zombies modes are just as crucial to the games success as the singleplayer campaign.
Multiplayer has the same great feel of Call of Duties before it with none of the flair being lost. Though there are many changes to the mix, the multiplayer is still tight, competitive and rewarding. The changes are plentiful and welcomed – no longer are the days of players getting killstreaks and deathstreaks. The new scorestreaks mean that whether you play offensively or objectively you are still recognised as a valuable member of the unit and rewarded for your efforts.
There is also multi-team play for the first time in Call of Duty. The multi-team game modes on offer at time of launch were Team Death match, Kill Confirmed and Hardpoint. TDM and Kill Confirmed are great fits for the multi-team paradigm, but the Hardpoint game mode is where multi-team really starts to earn its place in the roster.
Hardpoint sees players try to hold certain sections of the map by simply, being in the area. These sections are often rooms or monuments on the map with multiple entry points and avenues of attack. Coupled with the fact you are competing against more than one team, battles often require patience and tactics such as waiting for the other teams to pick each other off and sweep in after to clean up.
Another new feature in multiplayer is the addition of league play. The premise is simple – compete in a few placement matches and you will be placed into one of three divisions to compete in for supremacy. But there are a few things to take note of before jumping into the leagues. Firstly, there are no care packages or tactical insertions here, strictly 4v4 on the field. You are given a team and solo rank, and your ranking is decided by your win to loss ratio, not your kill to death. This creates some excellent matches with people of a certain skill level all being in one place. Another note is everything is unlocked in league play, just create your loadout and you are ready to roll.
This brings me on to the final noteworthy change in Black Ops 2's multiplayer assault. Each time you level up, you gain a token. That token can be used to unlock a new piece of kit, there are more unlockable goodies that there are levels so this creates the interesting concept. The idea that you should be more thoughtful in how you level up is certainly a good one, but with the campaign allowing you to create loadouts and the league play unlocking everything from the off, it isn't too hard to find other ways to work out what you want or what is effective. This means that although the token unlocks are a great idea, it is a little flawed.
Lastly we have Zombies. If the rest of the game wasn't strong and entertaining to play, this would certainly be the coup de grâce. Zombies unfortunately hasn't grown as much as the rest of the game. There are some new additions such as a having two teams on the map instead of the usual four man team, but ultimately the gameplay remains the same. There is little in the way of radical innovation when it comes to the game type that would be enough to recommend that people invest in this game if they have the previous title.
Overall, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 has the same quality that you should expect from one of the biggest first person shooters on the market. The singleplayer is a great experience even if it isn't quite as focused on secret operations as the first title. Multiplayer has some incredible new concepts and league play is enough to keep things on the competitive edge.Although an acquired taste, Zombies still has the strength of the last iterations yet struggles to grow with the rest other elements on display.
This is a recommendable title to existing fans of the series, there is also enough refreshment on offer to recommend this to those maybe a little fatigued on the series.