Critic & User Reviews
Fun shooter, but new ideas not well realized
posted by tjsmoke (NORTHAMPTON, PA) Nov 17, 2012
Member since Dec 2008
2 out of 6 gamers (33%) found this review helpful
"Call of Duty: Black Ops II" continues the story from its predecessor, though this time around you play more as David, son of Alex Mason, the protagonist from the first game. The story jumps between the Cold War of the 1980s and 2025, where a threat born of those earlier times has surfaced. The story is fairly well done (written by David S. Goyer) and is well acted by a prominent and talented cast that includes Sam Worthington, Michael Rooker, and Tony Todd. The campaign runs the typical length of single player campaigns in a FPS, clocking in around 6-7 hours. The difference here is that there are choices that result in an alternate ending. It's not quite "Spec Ops: The Line", but it does offer a little incentive to replay the solo missions. Added to the mix are Strikeforce missions, which can be played in FP view on the ground, or from an aerial view, allowing you to move entire units around the map to carry out objectives. It's a nice idea to interject a bit of strategy sim into the formula, but sluggish controls and clumsy insertion into the campaign hold this back from what it could've been. They ultimately don't seem to affect the game's outcome all that much, and if you play them out of order they serve no real purpose at all. Over in the popular Zombies mode, things were changed as well. There's still the expected Survival mode present, along with a mode called Grief (in which two teams combat each other and try to edge one into the zombies' clutches) and a sort of story mode called Tranzit, which allows you to board a bus to visit other areas. Solo these are more frustrating than fun, so you're better off playing with friends or going online. I didn't try the multiplayer, though it's reported to have been tweaked to make it more newcomer friendly but there have been connectivity problems for PS3 owners. Overall, this is a fun shooter with some new ideas, even though those ideas aren't as well realized as they could've been. Worth playing. 7.5/10 stars