Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 review

DEAD SECOND

Treyarch’s ever-popular cooperative Zombie mode – previously seen in World at War and the original Black Ops – makes a return in Black Ops 2. Whereas previous editions saw players fighting off increasingly tough waves of zombie attackers, earning points and buying better weapons and power-ups, the new version adds an ad-hoc story mode. Here, an AI-controlled bus links multiple locations in a fifties-style ‘town of the future’.

Zombies are hackneyed, but the new mode is actually the most adventurous piece of game design in Black Ops 2

Players can build special items by combining parts in the various locations. It’s certainly more engaging and for a game that’s usually so transparent and straightforward, but the mode is still surprisingly raw. There’s no tutorial and no backstory – it just throws you in and let you get on with it, ending up feeling like an indie-game curveball thrown into the midst of an otherwise predictable line-up.

THE THIRD PLACE

Speaking of the predictable, we eventually arrive at the single player game. The developers have tried to shake up the formula, but even branching paths and strategy-influenced Strike Force missions couldn’t overcome our general ennui with this element of the series. For starters, the game’s plot isn’t entirely self-contained, and unless you have good recall of the events of previous games you’ll be wondering who is who and why they are all so pissed off about everything.

Shooting stuff, in corridors, but now with drones

The plot cuts between the near future and the 1980s, which at least ties the speculative future events into (somewhat) factual cold war history. It also means you cut between the super high-tech gadget driven combat – complete with predator-style camouflage and drone assistance – and more gritty AK47s in Afghanistan.

Individual missions retain their corridor shooter design, and the endless spawning enemies are still present in places, so gung-ho assaults are practically encouraged over careful area clearance. The Strike Force missions help mix things up, but the controls are pretty confusing and we’d rather have seen more complex missions from a purely first-person view than this ungainly hybrid.

Controllable drones mix things up a bit, but the larger ones feel ungainly and overly scripted in their appearnaces – unlike say the vehicles in Halo 4

All that said, it can still be highly enjoyable stuff, much like a brainless Hollywood blockbuster. Some of the near-future settings are excellent, we particularly liked the floating pleasure island and the nightclub shootout.

It’s not entirely linear, as the missions have different outcomes depending on your actions, which then affect the flow of the overall plot and its conclusion. Plus you can reconfigure your loadout for each mission, much like the multiplayer game. Still, it’s not enough to lift the single-player segment above previous efforts though, and despite the extra endings we weren’t tempted to give it a second playthrough.

SUMMARY EXECUTION

Given its age, it’s actually quite impressive that the Call of Duty series continues to provide what the fans want without running completely dry. With little competition, you’d be foolish to bet against a successful transition to next-generation consoles in 12 months’ time. Before that though, there’s plenty of multiplayer thrills to be had here, and if you like online FPS games it’s still incredibly slick, bolstered by a more objective-centric style of play. However, if you’re only buying it for the single-player element, then we’d certainly check out Dishonored, Borderlands 2 or Halo 4 (on Xbox 360 only) first.