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4 December 2012
By Aaron Sanders, Diversions Editor
After a rather dull gaming season – the only real highlights being Spring’s Mass Effect 3 and Max Payne 3 – the holiday game rush has finally arrived. With so many titles to choose from (Assassin’s Creed 3, Halo 4, Borderlands 2, Dishonored, Hitman: Absolution), how can someone decide what to spend his or her parent’s hard-earned cash on? While any of the aforementioned titles are more than worthy of any gamer’s attention, most gamers will mindlessly cling to the latest rendition of the Call of Duty franchise, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2.
The latest round of the aging military shooter series – this time from Treyarch (Call of Duty 3, World at War and Black Ops) – is, as much as it pains me to admit, the most satisfying installment since Call of Duty 4. While the multiplayer is as expected – that is, derivative of the previous games – Black Ops 2 earns all its points with an engrossing campaign and addictive zombie mode. So let’s begin with the campaign.
Black Ops 2 takes place during two time frames: ten years after the events of Black Ops when you reunite with the last game’s protagonist Alex Mason (Sam Worthington) and the year 2025 when you embody Alex Mason’s Navy Seal son David Mason (Rich McDonald). The game begins in 2025 as David Mason and his partner Harper (Michael Rooker, who most will recognize as Meryl from The Walking Dead) rush to a veteran’s home to get intel from an elderly Frank Woods (James C. Burns), who was believed to have died in the previous Black Ops game. The player re-enacts Woods’ recital of events from the perspective of Alex Mason (and at times as Frank Woods himself) sometime during the Cold War. The first mission sends Alex Mason, along with Agent Hudson (another returning character from the first game), on a rescue mission to retrieve Woods from a POW camp in Hanoi. This is where we are introduced to the big baddie of the game, Raul Menendez. Menendez (Kamar de los Reyes) is a Nicaraguan drug lord with anger issues who, after a face-scarring encounter with Alex Mason and the life-shattering loss of his sister, swears revenge on America and China through his cult-like Cordis Die viral personality (a 99% against the 1% thing), but most specifically targets the Mason family. Menendez is equally relatable and terrifying, unlike Modern Warfare’s trite villain Makarov. Players will easily find themselves rooting for the bad guy only to detest him a second later. I might even consider him the best game villain from the past two years.
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Black Ops 2, unlike any other Call of Duty game, employs a “choose-your-own-adventure” system where the player has the ability to make choices throughout the game that can drastically affect the end. The introduction of the sandbox game mode “Strike Force” also provides players with a new sense of control over the story. “Strike Force” puts the player in an omniscient position as he or she commands soldiers, drones and bots on the ground to attack or protect objects. The player can also become one of the infantrymen and go Rambo on the situation if need be – which actually turns out to be the most efficient option.
This particular campaign is actually quite special because Treyarch managed to get Dark Knight Rises scribe David S. Goyer to pen the story, whose influence is evident in the emotional prowess of the game’s major scenes. It was not until the end credits montage that I realized how visceral and disturbing the game actually was. Fortunately, the heavy campaign is lightened by the hilariously epic post-credits scene that surpasses the one from Black Ops.
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Now it’s time to get to the real business: zombies. Zombies is back and bigger and better than ever. From launch, players have access to three zombie maps: Bus Depot, Town and Farm. All three maps are conjoined through the most ambitious game mode called “Tranzit,” where a team of up to four players takes a bus through the one massive map. Treyarch also added a new mode called “Grief” where two teams of four players attempt to survive the zombie horde while also trying to eliminate the opposing team by any means, such as by tagging them with raw meat to attract zombies or knifing them into lava. Most gamers will spend their time on “Tranzit” once they notice how small the initial maps are, but there are definitely map expansions coming soon. And make sure to let your curiosity run rampant – you never know what you may find.
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Multiplayer – or as pious gamers call it, “the bane of all existence” – is more fun than expected. While “haters” will continue to “hate,” there is no denying Black Ops 2 offers the most unique military shooter multiplayer – yes, even more so than the overpraised Battlefield 3. Instead of the traditional “create-a-class,” Black Ops 2 introduces a nine – point system in which the player has nine tickets, one to spend on each of the nine equipment options. This allows for an unprecedented range of customization. Players distribute points so that they can have two primary weapons, pistols-only, two perks from the same class, an extra-special grenade, three primary weapon attachments or two primary weapon attachments. Emblem creation has returned, which unfortunately means you will come across the occasional Swastika or perverted symbol. The Prestige system has also been revamped. The level cap is now at 55 and when a player decides to prestige, he or she only resets his or her stats. However, his or her weapons and attachments remain unlocked.
After the murky Modern Warfare 3, Black Ops 2 manages to reinvigorate its fan base and get back some previously wary fans. To anyone on the fence about buying this one, don’t worry; it’s safe.
9/10
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wIZp_E2CxQ