Call of Duty: Black Ops II is a first-person shooter video game released in 2012 by Activision and developed by Treyarch. It was released on November 12, 2012, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360, and on November 18, 2012, for the Wii U in North America and November 30, 2012, in PAL regions. [1][2][3][4][5] Black Ops II is the ninth installment in the Call of Duty video game franchise, a sequel to the 2010 game Call of Duty: Black Ops, and the first Call of Duty game for the Wii U. Call of Duty: Black Ops: Declassified, a corresponding game for the PlayStation Vita, was also released on November 13 by nStigate Games.
The campaign of the game follows the story of Black Ops and is set between the late 1980s and 2025. In the 1980s, the player controls Alex Mason and Frank Woods, two of Black Ops' protagonists, while in 2025, the player controls Mason's son, David (codenamed "Section"). In both time periods, the characters are pursuing Raul Menendez, a Nicaraguan cartel leader who is responsible for kidnapping Woods in the 1980s and igniting a second Cold War in 2025. The campaign has multiple endings and nonlinear gameplay. [6]
Critics gave Black Ops II generally positive reviews, praising its gameplay, story, multiplayer, and Zombies mode while criticizing its Strike Force missions. The game was a commercial success, grossing over $500 million in the first 24 hours of its release. [7] It held the record for the largest entertainment launch of all time until September 2013, when Take-Two Interactive announced that Grand Theft Auto V had made $800 million on its first day of release. [8] It went on to sell 7.5 million copies in the United States in November 2012, making it the month's highest-grossing game. [9] In 2015, Call of Duty: Black Ops III was released as a sequel. [10] Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War takes place between Black Ops and Black Ops II was released on november 13, 2020
Gameplay
Black Ops II is the first Call of Duty video game to feature branching storylines, in which the player's choices affect both the current mission and, as a result, the overall plot. These branching storylines, known as "Strike Force missions," appear during the 2025 storyline and feature permanent death. The success or failure of these missions may have consequences for the overall campaign plot. Choosing one of the missions prevents the player from accessing the others unless the player starts a new campaign. [13]
Strike Force missions give the player command of a variety of war assets, including unmanned aerial vehicles, jet fighters, and robots. If the player dies during a Strike Force mission, the campaign records that loss rather than allowing the player to load a previously saved checkpoint. The player's progress in the Strike Force missions may influence the plot's antagonist, Raul Menendez. [13] The player may have altered the outcome of the new Cold War by the end of the game.
Similarly, in the main story missions, there are points where the player is given different options and paths to take, which can affect both the gameplay and the story. Black Ops II is also the first game in the series to allow the player to customize their loadout before starting a mission, giving the player more freedom in how they approach a mission.
Multiplayer
Pick 10, a new system within the Create-a-Class menu, is one of the most significant changes made to multiplayer mode in Black Ops II. Pick 10 grants the player ten allocation slots in a class, which can be used for guns, perks, and grenades. The player can change the slot allocation to have more gun attachments or more perks.
Killstreaks from previous Call of Duty games have been renamed Scorestreaks, and are now earned by accumulating points rather than killing enemies. This allows the player to concentrate on objective modes, which also contribute to Scorestreaks.
In contrast to previous games, weapons in Black Ops II have a progression system that can be used to unlock weapon attachments. After maxing out a weapon's level, the player can "prestige" the gun in the same way that they can prestige their player level, and their attachment progress will be reset. In exchange, the player's weapons can be customized with custom clan tags and emblems.
In addition, Black Ops II is the first Call of Duty game to include a competitive mode. League Play is a mode that allows players of similar skill levels to be matched together and play according to Major League Gaming rules.
Zombies
Treyarch confirmed that the Zombies mode would return with new game modes for Black Ops II. Following Call of Duty: World at War and Call of Duty: Black Ops, this is the third Call of Duty game to include a Zombies mode, and the first to include game modes other than the traditional Survival mode. Treyarch also confirmed that Zombies would use the game's multiplayer engine, allowing for a more immersive community experience as well as new features. In addition, a new 8 player co-op game called "Grief" is supported, with two teams of four players competing to survive, as opposed to previous games that only supported four player online co-op. As with previous installments, each Zombies map contains "Easter eggs" side quests that help the story progress. With several downloadable content maps, another new mode, "Turned," is introduced, in which one player attempts to survive three player-controlled zombies who must turn the other player into a zombie.
Plot
Single-player campaign
Setting and characters
The single-player campaign is divided into two interconnected storylines, one set in 1986 to 1989 during the final years of the First Cold War, and the other in 2025 during a Second Cold War and Rare Earths trade dispute. [14] Alex Mason (Sam Worthington), the protagonist of Black Ops, returns as the protagonist in the first Cold War section, chronicling the rise to infamy of the game's primary antagonist, Raul Menendez (Kamar de los Reyes). [15]
The 2025 section of the game stars Alex Mason's son David (codenamed Section) (Rich MacDonald) as the protagonist, in which Menendez plots against the US and China, with one of his ultimate goals being to see the US embroiled in a new Cold War with China in retaliation for many of his misfortunes. [16] Robotics, cyberwarfare, unmanned vehicles, and other futuristic technology define wars in this era. [15] [13]
Alex Mason's CIA teammates Frank Woods (James C. Burns) and Jason Hudson (Michael Keaton) return, as does former Soviet Army Colonel Lev Kravchenko (Andrew Divoff) and disgraced Red Army Captain Viktor Reznov (Gary Oldman). Section's SEAL teammates Mike Harper (Michael Rooker) and Javier Salazar (Celestino Cornielle), their commanding officer Admiral Tommy Briggs (Tony Todd), CIA double agent Farid (Omid Abtahi), U.S. President Marion Bosworth (Cira Larkin), Strategic Defense Coalition leader General Tian Zhao (Byron Mann), and Tacitus Corporation ex-employee Chloe (Erin Cahill). Several historical and real-life characters are also featured in the game, including UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi (Robert Wisdom), former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega (Benito Martinez), Colonel Oliver North (voiced by himself), and former CIA Director David Petraeus (Jim Meskimen). In one of the game's endings, Jimmy Kimmel appears as himself, and the rock band Avenged Sevenfold makes a non-canonical appearance at the end.
Endings
The fates of Menendez, Lynch, and Alex Mason, as well as the completion of the Strike Force missions, are determined by the events of the player's ending.
- If Section executes Menendez, a video of Menendez commanding Cordis Die to revolt is uploaded to YouTube. Supporters of Cordis Die launch a massive global insurgency, resulting in the burning of the White House and widespread anarchy. This is the official ending, and it sets the scene for Call of Duty: Black Ops III.
- If Section apprehends Menendez and Lynch survives, she will stop Menendez's cyberattack and he will remain imprisoned, watching Lynch on Jimmy Kimmel Live, where she insults Menendez as he rages in his cell.
- If Section apprehends Menendez and Lynch is killed or not rescued, Menendez's cyberattack will be successful, and he will escape from prison. He goes to the Vault and murders Woods, then goes to his sister's grave, digs up her body, and sets himself ablaze.
- If Mason survives his encounter with Woods, he will be reunited with him and Section. If not, David will leave the military after visiting his father's grave.
- If all Strike Force missions are completed, China and the United States form an alliance, effectively ending the Second Cold War.
Characters and setting
Zombies takes place over several time periods, with the majority of the action taking place in the present day, in a post-apocalyptic world created as a result of a missile launch from the moon striking the Earth. The plot revolves around four new characters: Samuel Stuhlinger (David Boat), Marlton Johnson (Scott Menville), Abigail "Misty" Briarton (Stephanie Lemelin), and Russman (Keith Szarabajka). Dr. Edward Richtofen (Nolan North), one of the previous game's playable characters, returns as the demonic announcer who oversees the four characters. Dr. Ludvig Maxis (Fred Tatasciore) is another returning character who instructs the new group to assist him in defeating Richtofen. Players can choose whether to assist Maxis or Richtofen, which will result in different outcomes when the story concludes. Albert "The Weasel" Arlington (Joe Pantoliano), Billy Handsome (Ray Liotta), Michael "Finn" O'Leary (Michael Madsen), and Salvatore "Sal" DeLuca appear in the map "Mob of the Dead" (Chazz Palminteri). Tank Dempsey (Steven Blum), Nikolai Belinski (also voiced by Tatasciore), Takeo Masaki (Tom Kane), and Richtofen (Nolan North) appear in the map "Origins," as does Maxis' daughter, Samantha (Julie Nathanson).
Story
In the year 2025, a team of CIA and CDC operatives investigate "Nuketown," a nuclear testing site in Nevada, where they are attacked by zombies. Dr. Edward Richtofen seizes control of the zombies at the same time by entering the Aether from Group 935's moon base. Dr. Ludvig Maxis, his daughter Samantha, and Richtofen's former allies, Tank Dempsey, Nikolai Belinski, and Takeo Masaki, band together to stop him. Maxis responds by launching three massive nuclear missiles filled with Element 115, the element responsible for the reanimation of dead cells, at Earth, destroying its atmosphere. One missile destroys Nuketown and everyone in it, except for one person, Marlton Johnson, who escapes after hiding out in the site's bunker.
Earth has been reduced to a crumbling, hellish wasteland overrun by zombies ten years after the events on the Moon. In this new world, four survivors – Samuel Stuhlinger, Abigail "Misty" Briarton, Marlton, and Russman – have banded together to survive in Washington using a bus driven by a robotic driver. Richtofen and Maxis, who is now a digital artificial intelligence, contact the four for assistance against the other. Both former scientists request that the four help them power up a tower in the area to work in their favor. Richtofen then teleports them to a crumbling skyline in Shanghai, China, regardless of which path they take. The four discover The Flesh, a cannibalistic cult that prefers to eat zombie meat, as well as the beginnings of a new Element 115 airborne pandemic. Richtofen threatens Stuhlinger because he is aware of his past as a member of The Flesh, which allows only him to hear Richtofen and not the others. Maxis and Richtofen return to the site and instruct the four to power up a second tower.
Following their battles in Shanghai, Russman leads the group across continents to The Rift in Africa, where they hope to find answers about the unseen forces commanding them. Richtofen orders Samuel to "mending the rift." In a Western town warped underground by temporal displacement, the four gain a new ally in the form of a mute giant (real name later known as Arthur), but are hampered by a ghostly woman in a massive mansion. In the canonical ending, the group assists Maxis, allowing him to enter the Aether and assume ultimate control, trapping Richtofen in a zombie's body. The Earth, however, begins to shake, and Maxis explains to the four that he is starting the process of destroying the Earth and humanity in order to reach Agartha, where he believes Samantha is; in the non-canon ending, the group aids Richtofen, granting him unlimited power over the Aether and the Earth, allowing him to kill Maxis and condemn Samantha's soul to eternal damnation.
Development
On November 8, 2011, Activision Blizzard CEO Robert Kotick stated that a new Call of Duty game was in development for a 2012 release and would be the franchise's newest installment. [17] Activision officially confirmed the game during its fourth-quarter earnings call on February 9, 2012, promising "meaningful innovation" for the series. [18] [19] Oliver North, who was involved in the Iran–Contra scandal, served as a consultant on the 1980s portion of the game and helped promote it. [20] The game's 2025 storyline was consulted by author and defense expert Peter W. Singer. [21]
Internal leaks
A product page for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 appeared on Amazon France in February 2012 and was quickly removed. Activision had not yet released any information, but Gameblog claimed that Activision had also requested that its original report be removed. [22] When Gameblog refused to comply, the publisher reportedly cut off ad support, review game mailings, and future Activision events. [23] Activision denied Gameblog's claims that it was disconnected. [24] Hugo Beyer, a computer game artist, listed "Black Ops 2" as his current project in his LinkedIn CV around the same time, then removed his LinkedIn page. [25] Beyer is an artist for Nerve Software, a "Dallas-based independent developer" that has "aided" with previous Activision games such as Black Ops in 2010. [26] Activision's "Black Ops 2" trademark was discovered in January 2012. [27] Furthermore, Fnac, a French international entertainment retail chain, listed Black Ops 2 in March 2012, with a November release date. [28]
On April 9, 2012, an image was leaked on the official Call of Duty website, revealing the Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 logo as well as the April 28, 2012 release date. [25] Beyer is an artist for Nerve Software, a "Dallas-based independent developer" that has "aided" with previous Activision games such as Black Ops in 2010. [26] Activision's "Black Ops 2" trademark was discovered in January 2012. [27] Furthermore, Fnac, a French international entertainment retail chain, listed Black Ops 2 in March 2012, with a November release date. [28]
On April 9, 2012, an image was leaked on the official Call of Duty website, revealing the Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 logo as well as the April 28, 2012 release date.
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