Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 has a great single player campaign, comprehensive multiplayer modes and an expanded zombie mode. It's a dramatic and engaging first person shooter that has enough developments to be fresh, without losing what makes Call of Duty successful.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is set in 2025, and the military relies heavily on computer-controlled drones to do its dirty work. This reliance proves fatal when America's enemies manage to take control of this high tech drone army, and turn it on US cities.
The single campaign in Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 follows Alex Mason in the 80s, and his son David in 2025 as they fight a terrorist called Raul Menendez. It offers greater replay value than most triple A shooters, thanks to its branching storyline. During a game you will make choices that change the game, and give you one of six different endings.
The near future missions feature some cool technology, which feels fresh after so many years of the same old adversities! Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 isn't revolutionary, but it feels a lot more dynamic than Modern Warfare 3's coridoor like story. One thing that hasn't changed, luckily, is the totally over the top story telling. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is finally an FPS that you could buy for the sinlge player mode.
Optional Strikeforce missions put you in control of multiple units, and feature Overwatch Mode. This gives you an aerial view of the battlefield, so you can order your troops around. You have various objectives, and have to guide your troops to victory.
You can jump into the action with any soldier on the field, and also control the various drones at your disposal. There's a lot of freedom in these kinds of missions, and they are totally different to what we've seen before in CoD. Controlling the quad copters which allow you to zip around above soldiers heads armed with rapid fire machine guns is great fun!
These are 'sandbox missions' - you can complete them any way you like, and in a totally fresh turn, you are free to lose the battles too.
Call of Duty Zombies returns, and has been expanded with a story mode of sorts, but doesn't feel as well made as the rest of the game.
Multiplayer modes are pretty much what you'd expect, but instead of classes and set loadouts, there is now 'Pick Ten'. This means you can just pick the weapons and attachments you like, without worrying about whether you are a sniper or not.
There are 14 multiplayer maps, and they are all well designed, and will no doubt provide months of great competition. Overall, while the multiplayer is solid, it doesn't feel as fresh as the single player campaign.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 does enough to ensure its success. It's got a great campaign, and a deep enough multiplayer mode to keep you playing until next year's game!
Pros
Branching storyline
Extensive multiplayer
New game modes
Cons
Graphics engine showing its age