Black Ops 2 Review

Call of Duty is a franchise that has recently taken the gaming industry by storm. The fast paced action, realistic battle situations, and solid multiplayer have made Activision a lot of over the past few years. Sadly, this wealth and popularity has lead to yearly installments to the Call of Duty name. Most people would see this as a positive thing, but I see it as a Publisher pushing for new games to be released with little creative licence being taken to insure that the games follow the same "unit selling" formula year after year. So, is this year's installment, Black Ops 2, worth the money or should you stick with last year's installment? Let's find out.


The Story

The boys down at Treyarch Studios have put a lot of love and care into making the sequel to their popular Call of Duty: Black Ops, and it is very much appreciated. The original took place in the 1960's and followed Alex Mason and an all star cast of memorable faces. Black Ops 2 takes place in 2025 and follows the story of David Mason, Alex's Son, as he tries to save the futuristic world from certain chaos. Although the two games take place far apart, there are several flashback sequences that tie both time periods together nicely. Although I was able to follow the story and characters very easily because of my time playing the original, I have to wonder if someone new to the series would be able to follow all the plot points easily and see how everything ties in. I'm not entirely convinced that Treyarch did an amazing job making the story completely coherent for someone new to the series, however, I am convinced that you won't really care about all the nuances of the story because the main villain, Raul Menendez, steals the show. Like many Call of Duty games, Black Ops 2 will have you switching characters periodically to tell a story that is both in the past and in the present on a global scale. This story really serves to show the player why Menedez is the Evil S.O.B. that he is. I was so pleased to see the writers put just as much time and energy into giving the villain a believable and heart wrenching story arc as they did with the Heroes. Hats off to Treyarch for that.

The game plays as well as you would expect from a Call of Duty title, which is quite well in fact. All the movements are quick and responsive, the enemies are smart and numerous, the landscapes are exciting and diverse. The addition of the futuristic technology is the spice that makes Black Ops 2 unique from other Call of Duty titles. There are four legged tanks and flying cyphers that provide all kinds of support through out the game, which adds new and interesting strategies for how to play and what to watch out for. I found myself running out into the fray several times in order to hack an enemy unit and turn it against them. The futuristic guns in the game are very well balanced and thought out as well and add a lot of flair. One thing that I really enjoyed was that before each mission you are given the option to customize your loadout. So after you have figured out what your preferred gun and scope are, you can make sure to carry one into battle with you every time. This also means that you are not forced to use the futuristic scopes and sights. A lot of those sights have great perks, but come with limitations (like limited viewing space). Another nice thing about the loadout screen is that it shows you exactly which character you will be playing as during the mission. I've never liked having to remember who I was playing as based on a name, so it was nice for them so show me a picture as well.

The action sequences get to be very exciting and visceral towards the end. You will fly harriers, operate mini-guns, hack bots, ride horses, and destroy everything in your path. There is no lack of excitement here, unless you are doing one of the Command & Conquer style missions. Basically, you are given a finite number of troops, mechs, and turrets to defend a handful of positions for a certain amount of time. You can take direct control of any unit on the field (I suggest you do because the AI leaves much to be desired) and deploy others where they are needed. Fortunately, Treyarch doesn't force you to do more than one of these missions, but there are several of them available during the main story. Overall, it is a very awkward experience that could have been left out in my opinion, but at least you are not forced to do more than one.

Multiplayer
It's impossible to talk about Black Ops 2 without talking about the multiplayer. It's back and better than ever. There are many levels and they are all diverse and well balanced, and the leveling system is really well done this time around. As you play, your character gains levels which awards you with better guns and better perks. On top of this, your guns gain levels as you use them, and these levels grant you new attachments for your gun. I find this causes people to be more cautious and more intentional about switching to newer guns. I currently have the most basic Assault Rifle leveled up significantly and I have just the right sights for it and all the right attachments to make me into a deadly killer. However, if I were to switch to using a better Assault Rifle, I would be forced to use Iron Sights until I level it up and get a better sight. So, as a player, I have to ask myself, "Do I want to continue with what I'm good at, or do I temporarily go without my preferred setup for a short period in order to eventually have a better setup?" Being the best doesn't happen by accident in this game, and it's because Treyarch forces you to be intentional or risk being left behind. 

Another nice change is the addition of a "10 Items or Less" policy. Your loadouts can only have 10 items max. Every gun, attachment, perk, and grenade counts toward your overall limit. The majority of the time, I play without a backup weapon so that I can have 3 attachments on my Primary weapon. This is my choice and it works well for me, but you may choose to take 2 primary weapons into battle and give up your tactical grenades. The choice is yours, and this customization is what makes Black Ops 2 multiplayer such a blast. One last thing that Treyarch should receive significant praise for is the fact that they store all of your multiplayer data in the cloud and attach it to your PSN or XBLA. If I go over to a friends house and we want to play split screen, I can log into my account on his console and we can both play on our own accounts, gaining experience for our own characters, and have all of our custom loadouts right there waiting for us. It really is a thing of beauty that should be incorporated into all multiplayer games from now on.

Zombies

Black Ops 2 doesn't stop with just a killer single player campaign and a masterfully crafted multiplayer experience, it also brings you Zombies. This time you have more levels to play in, more story, and more people you can play with. While the Zombies mode is meant to be silly and fun, I didn't see much improvement over previous Zombie Modes. I was severely disappointed to find how easy this mode has become when compared to older iterations. In the past, I had to really work hard to make it past the fourth or fifth wave, but this time it was nothing for me to make it to wave six or seven. 

The Wii U Effect
When compared side by side, the Wii U version is everything that the PlayStation and Xbox versions are (except with less people playing online). The major benefit to having the Wii U version is that you can play every aspect of the game on the gamepad, allowing for more quick opportunities to level up your multiplayer character if someone else is hogging the television. Playing mulitplayer online with another friend in the room is also better on the Wii U. Instead of splitting your TV screen in half so that both people can play, one person is able to play on the big screen with a Pro Controller and the other can play right on the gamepad. This is my favorite feature for the Wii U version, but if you are already invested in another gaming Ecosystem, you will likely be better off playing on your PS3 or Xbox 360.

The Verdict
Overall, Black Ops 2 delivers everything you want to see in a Call of Duty title. There isn't a lot to be disappointed about, aside from the Command & Conquer style missions and boring Zombies mode. Even if you aren't much of a Multiplayer person like me, you will still derive much enjoyment out of playing with friends. I expect to continue playing online long after this review is finished. So with that, it is safe to say that I give 


Black Ops 2 a solid $50 out of a possible $60

Written by Dexter Jaekel
Editor-in-Chief of TheTechFixation.com




SPOILER TIME!!!!

I felt that a lot of where the story was head to was spoiled by the gameplay demo shown at E3 2012 when Black Ops 2 was announced. They showed off a significant portion of the L.A. massacre and told us all that the villain has taken over all of the U.S. droid artillery. This scene is the second to last mission for the game. So all along I knew that Menedez was going to be successful in his efforts somehow. That was a major buzz kill to find out that there was only one mission left after that. This is my main complaint about the game. In an effort to show everyone why Black Ops 2 was going to be so cool, they spoiled major plot points at the games unveiling. This makes me sick to my stomach to think that they would blatantly exploit their own game in such a way to help move units. We all know that a ton of copies of Black Ops 2 were going to be sold before they even announced that it was officially being worked on. I hope this does not become a commonplace occurrence. Just Sayin'.