The Call of Duty franchise has developed into a mundane shooting gallery experience represented in Black Ops 2

User Rating: 5.5 | Call of Duty: Black Ops II X360
The Call of Duty franchise has been delivering first person shooter action experiences now for over a decade. The original revolutionary Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare has been used in reference for all recent COD games to follow, but Black Ops 2 doesn't exhibit the same vigor prior entries insisted.

The premise in Call of Duty Black Ops 2 is quite abstruse, being set in two different time periods ( near future and cold war era ) as you experience flash backs of your past determined to meet your enemies present demise. All levels are drab, combat is repetitive, cut scenes poorly scripted and single player campaign abruptly ended. There are some choices in weapon class builds during briefings but they are all pretentious, along with the new "strike force" missions.

The savior of this new blockbuster title is the mutliplayer, delivering classic fast paced action fans thrive upon alongside new upgraded systems. New prestige modes, score streaks, pick ten and attachments insure customization while the assortment of game modes and maps promise months of extended play. The ability to create Call of Duty Elite accounts, keeping your statistics tracked alongside your clan is a worthy mention considering it's free price tag. The only issue is the lag, which if prolonged can become extremely annoying. Luckily there is no lag in zombies, occupied by new modes keeping players satisfied when multiplayer becomes tedious.

Overall, Black Ops 2 is a functional shooter, failing to innovate in it's endeavors. The difference between quality and quantity is displayed here, proving that implementing subtle changes can't hide aging core mechanics. In this time of transition, Treyarch studios is certainly treading thin water.