Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 review
Right
when you were thinking you could skip the annual Call of Duty release
due to franchise fatigue or simply wanting to take a year off, Treyarch
delivers one of the most full-featured and best games in the series.
Call of Duty: Black Ops II makes improvements to the formula in every
single one of its game modes--from its incredibly balanced and thrilling
multiplayer to a campaign that's engaging and full of surprises and a
Zombies mode that could pass as its own stand-alone experience.
Watch the Call of Duty: Black Ops II video review
Black
Ops II takes off in the year 2025, with Black Ops' Sergeant Woods
pushing 90 and David Mason (son of Black Ops lead character Alex Mason)
taking over as leader of the future US Navy SEALs. Cyber-terrorist and
all-around-bad-guy Raul Menendez has a bone to pick with the Masons,
Woods, and the U.S. of A. over the loss of his disabled sister, and he
has waited the good part of forty years planning his revenge. The story
remains engaging throughout, with surprises and plot twists that change
depending on your performance and several life-or-death choices made
throughout the six-hour campaign.
If
that sounds unlike any Call of Duty you've ever played, that's because
it is. Black Ops II's story contains alternate paths that change small
portions of the campaign, leading to multiple endings. Whether you meet
the specific criteria of some objectives can determine if certain
characters live or die, so taking too long to rescue a V.I.P. or making a
wrong turn during a driving sequence might completely change the
ending. The branching story is surprisingly dynamic, and seeing the
substantive alternate endings adds another reason to replay the campaign
after the credits roll.
The
missions alternate between flashbacks set in the 1980s, starring Alex
Mason and Woods, and 2025 missions from the perspective of David Mason
and his high-tech Spec-Ops team. The variety is staggering and
well-paced, and though there's plenty of running and gunning, all of the
set-pieces are memorable and exciting. One mission, you'll shoot at
tanks with a rocket launcher while riding a horse; the next, you'll
guide a spider-like recon drone through a winding network of vents. The
campaign excels with its pacing, excitement, and delivery, but falls
short in one of the new additions: Strike Force missions.
The
new Strike Force missions are optional levels that pop up during the
campaign. Unlike the standard missions, you can choose to play from the
first-person perspective of any unit on the battlefield; alternatively,
you can swoop up to the tactical overhead perspective in which you
select units and order them to move, attack, or capture points like you
would in a real-time strategy game. It all sounds good on paper--but in
practice, the AI doesn't work well enough to play exclusively in the
overhead view (which should've been a viable option). Playing in
first-person isn't much better. Enemies run out from cover to be mowed
down with your gunfire, so it isn't much of a challenge.
The
addition of the Strike Force missions might have come short, but the
advancements in the fan favorite Zombies mode vastly improve the
apocalyptic survival gameplay over the previous titles. The undead
shooting survival mode has expanded to a level that is basically a
separate title in itself. The traditional Survival mode (in which you
hold out as waves of angry undead beasties attempt to eat your brains)
is now joined with three new modes: Grief, Custom, and the expansive
Tranzit mode. Grief lets up to two teams of eight total players attempt
to survive the Zombie horde and outlive the other team by finding ways
to get them killed. Discovering creative ways to deter the other team is
hilariously entertaining, since you can toss zombie bait into
opponent's defensive positions, and knife other players off balconies
into the zombie horde. Custom games adjust the match settings like your
starting round, difficulty, and whether want the mystery box power-ups
to appear.
Tranzit
expands Zombies from a traditional horde mode to a full apocalyptic
adventure. You still must survive waves of undead attackers, but you can
also explore the massive world map using an automated bus as transport
and interact with a new puzzle element involving "parts." Parts can be
used to assemble special items with unique properties, like power
generators or riot shield-like weapons--pushing players to explore, take
risks and develop strategies to open new doors. You’ll spend hours
exploring and experimenting in Tranzit's open world, and when you and
your friends unlock something new, the return for your effort is
extremely rewarding.
But
that’s enough about working cooperatively--what about the part where
you get to shoot your friends in the face? Black Ops II's multiplayer
has received several game-changing improvements. First off, the class
customization uses a "Pick 10" system. Players have ten points to choose
the items they want in their loadout, including weapons, perks, and the
new Wild Cards that allow you to do things like equip extra perks or
add an extra attachment to your primary weapon. You can also get rid of
slots you don't use. Don't want to have a Perk 1? You don't have to. Use
that point to add an extra lethal grenade or an additional Perk 2. Pick
10 gives players much more freedom in the way they choose their
loadouts and keeps the competition balanced at the same time.
Killstreaks
have also gotten an overhaul in the way they are earned and are now
called Scorestreaks. Kills are no longer the only way of earning the
multitude of air support, drones, and turrets that stack up the kills
for you. With Scorestreaks, camping out and racking up kills is often
the slowest way to earn your streak bonus. Higher score values are
awarded to players who put their efforts toward match-winning
objectives, like controlling capture points, planting bombs, and
guarding flags. The score system becomes a huge motivator for your
teammates to go for a flag capture, rather than camping out and trying
to earn a Stealth Chopper, making the cooperative effort all the more
thrilling.
The
Scorestreaks themselves have also changed with the game’s futuristic
setting, but most generally follow the same function as their previous
counterparts. Being able to unleash and control several drone types and
Predator missiles have a secondary cluster bomb option add variety to
old favorites, but new streaks like the Guardian have particularly
strategic uses. The heat-wave projecting turret prevents opponents from
crossing its area of effect, essentially forcing them to find an
alternate route and creating bottlenecks on the map. Streaks like these
create new strategic options in team games and can be devastating to
more disorganized opponents.
Outside
of the gameplay, Black Ops II has also received several other upgrades
as well. The Codcasting feature allows players to commentate on matches,
livestream, and share their videos online. Then there's League Play
that ranks your skills and places you in brackets with players that are
at your skill level. This is the most feature heavy multiplayer offering
in the series' history with options that will appeal to a variety of
players.
Treyarch
blasts away 'franchise fatigue' with one of the best Call of Duty
experiences to date. Black Ops II delivers on all fronts. Zombies drops
you into an intense, expansive world with untold secrets to discover,
multiplayer's Pick 10 system and Scorestreaks open up new strategies to
exploit, and the single-player campaign warrants repeat visits from its
captivating, branching storyline. Treyarch introduces new ideas to the
tried-and-true game mechanics of the series and improves upon them.
Every aspect of the game has been honed to a razor-sharp experience,
complete with beautiful visuals and rock-solid controls. Thought you
were done with Call of Duty? Think again. This is the new Call of Duty.
This is the definitive Call of Duty. And this is a shooter that
absolutely can't be missed.
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