Call of Duty Black Ops 2 Review

I suppose I suspected it was going to be more of the same style of FPS action that is associated with Call of Duty Modern Warfare, so I decided not to bother playing it. After all I had Skyrim to get stuck into!

However it was a chance rental from LOVEFiLM that got me playing the first title and since then I have not looked back. While the original single-player gameplay was pathetically short, it still offered excellent replay value with its Zombies mode - which pits you and up to three others against wave-after-wave of the undead.

Mind you the latter was merely a bolt-on to the main title and at times it felt like it should be so much more!

In steps the sequel to Black Ops and the first thing I did (after first downloading multiple patches to resolve game crashes!) was to jump into Zombies and ironically treat the main campaign as a mere afterthought. Not that the main campaign is bad per say (though it’s not as good as the original), no siree!, as it introduces a new RTS tactical element and also brings to the table customisable load-outs for most of the single player campaign missions.

However it’s just funny how things swing in roundabouts.

Zombie Time!

There has been a lot of talk about the many features of the latest Zombie outing, but rest assured playing the game is like slipping on a favourite pair of slippers, you feel comfortable wearing them, and there is a sense of familiarity to proceedings.

Zombies is a bit like this. It’s mainly the same game, with the same music, sound effects, the same re-building of defence barriers, the same weapons and perks that you have all come to know and love, but at the same time it offers some interesting additions.

Apparently the game has a storyline, but so far we haven’t really worked this out (this is the challenge). However you can play Zombies in two main modes, the first is Tranzit and the other is Survival. In Tranzit this brings to the table a new element of Zombies.

In this mode you are not restricted to one particular game-zone as you can get on a bus that will take you to other areas of the map. However to get to the other areas you need to fight off the zombies that are trying to get inside the bus! Things can get hectic and claustrophobic when there is a crowd of players and zombies all fighting it out.

For those who decide not to get on the bus - but wander into the wastelands instead - you won’t survive very long as there is an Alien style face hugger that jumps onto your head and you need your team mates to shoot it off otherwise it’s game over.

Tranzit mode is pretty good fun as they have kept the familiarity here, but one major change to the way you play the game is the ability to select an Easy difficult setting. Not that the Easy mode is easy, in fact the highest level we have got up to (playing on Easy) is round 16, as most of the Zombies take an age to kill unless you pack-a-punch a weapon.

Of course during the game you do get Max Ammo, Double points, Instakill and carpenter bonus’s which adds to the fun and tactics.

The Box (containing random weapons) is also back but this time it is usually found in the same place every time you restart the round and though it does move (if you get the teddy bear), this makes things far less frustrating.

Additionally the game introduces a work bench which allows you to go off and collect parts to build extra defences against the zombies. These include a Zombie shield or a Zombie trap. While some of these are rubbish it does break up the Zombie killing action as the developers have taken this concept and expanded upon it. For example in order to turn on the power for the perk machines, you have to find the parts first.

Survival

The next mode of play that is introduced is Survival mode. This is a bit like Gears of War 3’s Horde mode, with the aim being to survive wave-after-wave of Zombies. This time to make things a bit more interesting you can customise the game mode. For example you can set it so you don’t get perks or pack-a-punch, which means that this game mode will test even the best Zombie players out there.

The only downside is you don’t get the bus, so once you have set which location you want to play in you are stuck in that Zone, which can get repetitive.

Other Modes

Finally Zombies introduces a team mode where you and an opposing team have to fight off the zombies. The winner is the last team standing. This allows you to select different maps and offers a variety to proceedings which was lacking in the original game.

Even so while the sequel of Zombies is better (more so when played with a bunch of mates), they still could have improved on it by introducing destructible scenery or allowing you to build better defensive weapons (i.e. sentry guns).

But this is the problem with Zombies, in that it’s not meant to be better than the main campaign, but in some ways it’s restricted by the leash placed upon it. Vice Versa the main campaign would be better without Zombies, because its splits the game into two disparate parts (or three if you count the Multiplayer). While you may gain better value this way, I think this also possess a downside. Zombies needs to have its own full game and break away from the main title.

Main Campaign

To be honest I was in two minds about the main campaign, given all the hype I found the storyline a little confusing at times, as it keeps switching backwards and forwards from the past to the present day (which is now set in the future!).

Yes, Call of Duty Black Ops 2 is set in the year 2025 and even though it is not a direct sequel to the original, you play the character role of Mason’s son (Mason is a character that may be familiar to those who played the first game). After some background cinematic’s, the story eventually leads to a character called Frank Woods (Mason senior’s old war-time buddy), who is grilled for info about a possible terrorist attack on the US – which is potentially being carried out by a nasty peace of work called ‘Raul Menendez’.

As you start to grill Woods for information - about how to track down the terrorist - this provides an excuse to go back into the past. So essentially you get to play the game like the original (with Mason senior doing the narration).

To be honest while the quality of the cinematic elements was great, there was far too much confusion and faffing about for my liking, all of this going backwards and forwards distracted from the gameplay.

However the game does introduce some new elements to proceedings, such as allowing you to customise your weapon load-outs before missions, which I liked, and when the game switches to the future style of game-play the developers have introduced some ‘Strike Force’ tactical style side-missions.

For example on one mission you can control the combat from a tactical display, moving troops into position like you would an RTS. However you can also switch to any NPC on the map or vehicle at any point and take direct control.

I should not say vehicles, as they are more like Battlefield 2142 inspired walkers (called Claws) each of which contains an arsenal of weapons.

While completing the side-missions is important, as they have an influence on the final game-ending, you don’t have to do so. As a result you can still continue the main campaign regardless.

I noted as well that the developers have borrowed a game-play style from ‘Crysis’, for example by allowing you to wear a cloaking technology to slip past enemies.

This for me is the underlying problem when playing the main campaign, as you feel as if you weren’t playing a COD game at times. That said, the parts where you go back into the past had a Modern Warfare feel, with plenty of explosions, vehicle missions (including riding horses!) and intense fire fights. However I did start to get a bit bored with this after a while.

I think it depends on what difficulty level you play the game on. For example on Hard difficulty it’s more frustrating, not that it’s difficult, more so in the way you progress. Most of the time it’s a case of one step forward and two steps back. As you move a short distance, then die, then move forward a few more paces, then die again, which repeats until you get to a checkpoint – well for me this was the case! To be honest there is far too many explosions and bullets flying about which hindered my progress through the game, rather than offering a true challenge!

This is typical COD Modern Warfare gameplay though, however this was not as noticeable in the original game and for me this is one of the elements that let the main campaign down.

Multiplayer

I had a respectable go on this game-mode and while it’s not my cup-of-tea, Treyarch has done a respectable job of polishing the multiplayer element and adding plenty of different game-modes and a wealth of setup options.

Load-outs now work on a points system, so for example you have a certain number of points to allocate your perks, equipment and weapons. Thus you can customise to a greater degree by making one area stronger than the other to suite your style of game-play.

In terms of game-modes you get Team Death Match, Capture the Flag and Search and Destroy (to name but a few) – all classics of course. But you do get a few variations on the latter such as ‘Hardpoint’. In this game-mode the idea is to capture specific points, and then you have to defend/hold them for as long as humanly possible, so you can increase your point total.

Kill Streaks have also been replaced by Score Streaks, which work slightly different, mainly by rewarding those players who may not be the best at shooting, but work really well in a team, such as by capturing points on the map.

However one thing they have changed - which I sort of like - is the way Newbies can join the multiplayer side of things for the first time.

Instead of previously going head first into a public game - against more experienced players and getting slaughtered (which is one of the reasons why I’m not a fan of COD Multiplayer). Treyarch has included Combat Training, so newcomers to the game can join other like-minded players (with the same level as you) or a combination of players/bots, in a Team-Death match mode. This allows you to build up your experience level up to level 10, without the worry about getting annihilated too much.

Then after level 10 you can still fight bots but you only get half of the experience (so you don’t abuse the system).

This system did work, in that I was able to score a few more kills. Unfortunately the Combat Trainings secondary function, which is to compete in Objective Challenges is completely flawed, in that I was a level 3 player going against level 28 to 42 players?!

For those who don’t want any conflict you can also create custom games so you and your buddies can fight against bots.

Second Opinion (Dan)

I have to agree with Brett that the Zombies mode was the best mode in the game; it takes the core elements from the original and expands upon these to offer more satisfying game-play. Its survival mode is ideal if you just want a quick blast before tea!

However unlike Brett I personally liked the campaign, I thought the story (and the movie style presentation) was good and the futuristic elements were fast paced and action packed.

Mind you the Multiplayer element is another take-it or leave-it part of the game, but I also agree that there are a lot of options available so if you are into this type of game-play you will have a ball!

Summary

COD Black Ops 2 does provide something for everyone, in that you have three different styles of game-play (Campaign, Multiplayer and Zombies). Dan and me both agreed that Zombies was the best mode and it’s great fun in co-op. However it still needs to be launched as its own dedicated title, as there is so much more that this can bring to the table.

That said we both appreciate the new additions to the multiplayer. Though on a sour note at the price they are selling this game for it could have been better as its core element – i.e. the campaign – for me was the weakest link, which in turn puts more strain on the other components. However Dan did find the campaign good, so we are split in this regard.

Mind you if you liked the original, you will probably like this, but if you are playing the campaign do this on an easier level as you may get bored/frustrated of being killed time after time, not by skilled AI opponents, but more by the sheer number of explosions and bullets that riddle the playing field.