Call of Duty Black Ops 2 Review by Neco555

Call of Duty Black Ops 2 is the 9th installment of the Call of Duty series by Activision. Treyarch was the developer of this game as with the original Black Ops. The game consists of a Campaign, Multiplayer, and Zombies modes. The game is placed in a not-too-distant future in the year 2025 when technological warfare has come to the forefront of the worlds conflicts. This review will cover the Multiplayer and Zombies modes as those are the modes that I play and feel knowledgeable about (my apologies to campaign fans). It will contain descriptions of aspects of the game as well as my personal experiences and comments. Keep in mind that this is a review of the game after the first week so it is possible I may have missed something. I will try to update/edit this review as I see fit to give the best possible information to you, my readers.

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Modes - 4 out of 5

Except for hard point, the modes are exactly the same as Modern Warfare 3 minus team defender. Hard point is a new addition where the players attempt to stay close to a capture point for as long as possible without a player from the opposing team being at the capture point at the same time. Its similar to headquarters with respawns and you don't have to destroy the capture point. It just moves after a certain amount of time. The modes play as usual and offer a variety of gameplay tactics and strategies. Overall, I've enjoyed the game modes that have always been a part of the Call of Duty series. Some of the new additions to the different games have been successful and fun while others were frustrating. I am happy to see they kept kill confirmed and hard point has been enjoyable the few times I've played it. Modes get a 4 out of five because there are no real groundbreaking modes but still the old classics.

Create a Class - 5 out of 5

The create-a-class system has be reworked in this iteration of the franchise. Instead of selecting your preferred weapon or perk for every slot from a select list, you can customize the class to contain exactly what you want through the use of new wildcards. This means that you don't need to select all 3 perks if you don't want to...or you don't have to choose a secondary weapon. This adds increased flexibility to your loadout. For instance, I rush a lot so I have a class with an smg, 3 attachments, no secondary, no grenades (tac or lethal), and 5 perks. You can create classes that complement your play style better with this system. The classes I have set up were made for specific situations and playstyles. I believe the new create-a-class system can make you more versatile and can give you an advantage at any point in a game. At any time you can switch to a drastically different class and put the opposing players at a disadvantage. I don't see any real con to the new system as you can do everything you could plus more.

Scorestreaks - 5 out of 5

The scorestreaks operate a little differently than in previous Call of Duty games. Instead of being based on kills or a set point value for each positive event (like in MW3), the scorestreaks are earned for pretty much any event, like completing an objective, killing someone or helping killing someone. How and when you do each of these also affects how many points you earn. Say a kill is 100 points, a kill while capturing a flag would be worth 150 or 200 points (just an example so may not be actual point values). Unlike Black Ops 1, the scorestreaks stack in this game so scorestreaks can help you gain other scorestreaks. However, the scorestreak events are weighted lower so kills with the dragonfire are worth less points than normal kills. I like this new system as you get rewarded for pretty much everything and putting yourself in danger in order to complete an objective can have a huge effect on your scorestreaks. Countless times I've tried to capture the B flag in domination, kill a couple guys and capture the flag and I come away with all three of my scorestreaks. Case in point, PLAY THE OBJECTIVE! I think the new scorestreak system is an expansion of the scorestreak system in MW3. You don't have the 3 strike packages but you get points towards your scorestreaks for pretty much anything you do in the game. Furthermore, the points vary depending on how difficult an act is so if you try to push yourself, you will get rewarded.

Maps - 4 out of 5

For the most part the maps seem pretty good/typical. As opposed to other FPS games, the maps are all relatively small for action packed gameplay (which I love). The maps consist of a variety of sightlines and pathways to complement different playstyles. I haven't noticed any problem areas where someone has an overwhelming advantage. Early on, the sides and areas of the maps seem pretty balanced. However, I play domination mostly and I notice that many of the maps have a high sightline over B flag, so windows, ledges, etc. This makes it really difficult to capture B and it'd be fine on a couple maps but it seems redundant over more than that. The scenery of the maps adds to their distinctness. I don't feel like I'm playing the same map over and over. They vary enough to keep it interesting match after match. For the map variety and balance with some repeated elements I give the maps a 4 out of 5.

Gameflow - 4 out of 5

The overall flow of the game is similar to that of the previous games in the series. It is fast paced, action packed, team oriented and objective oriented. It takes at most 15 seconds to get into the action from any spawn. The environments allow for endless places to settle down and defend or take cover in. However, there are some cons that I've noticed early on about the gameplay. There are some inconsistencies, like other games, where connection plays a big part in the game or what looks like its happening on your screen isn't what happens in reality. While my overall connection has been great, I have experiences where the lag shows zero hit markers where I'm clearly aiming directly at an opponent. I understand that it is difficult to simulate zero latency but it can still be frustrating and have negative impacts on your game and stats. For these minor issues I give the gameflow a 4 out of 5.

Modes - 5 out of 5

Black Ops 2 Zombies is broken down into 3 game modes: classic survival mode, 4v4 grief mode, and tranzit mode. The latter 2 are both new to zombies. Suvival mode, as most of you probably know, is what zombies consisted of before black ops 2. Endless waves of zombies spawn and try to attack you and you have to fight them off for as long as you can until you are inevitably overrun. Grief mode is a team-based zombies mode add to BO2 and is where you try to outlast the other team of players. You cannot directly hurt opposing players but indirectly exploit flaws in formation or tactics so that they are at a higher risk than you. Lastly, tranzit mode is more of a campaign mode for zombies. It consists of a 5 part map where you take a bus to each part and complete little side objectives that ultimately help you survive as long as possible. The new modes add some different tactics and experiences so I'll give modes a 5 out of 5.

Maps - 3 out of 5

I am slightly disappointed with the maps in Black Ops 2 zombies. First off, none of the old maps are included in the new game. They might come in DLC but they should've been included from the start. I did get Nuketown zombies with my preorder and I do not particularly care for that map as the zombies don't come through windows and seem to spawn wherever they feel like (more like just from unbarricaded spots). The map, as you know, is small so it can get hectic quickly if you don't know where you are going. The tranzit areas are small and rudementory on survival mode but when they are combined for tranzit mode they work together nicely, I think. It gives an individual game variation that leaves me refreshed and excited to continue through the areas. The side objectives span over multiple areas making completing these intense and rewarding. Although I don't care for the Nuketown zombies, I like the tranzit mode areas when they are used together so I will give the zombies maps a 3 out of 5.

Innovations - 5 out of 5

Treyarch brought (seemingly) countless innovations and changes to Zombies in Black Ops 2. The addition of tranzit mode and grief mode gives the overall Zombies experience more variation. While you can still play zombies like you always have, the new modes bring different tactics and experiences that haven't existed in Zombies before. The tranzit mode is an expansive look at the classic survival mode where new areas can be unlocked and explored. New side objectives give new meaning to unlocking areas and how to defend yourself against the endless waves of zombies. These side objectives include crafting new devices and enchancing defenses to the bus that takes you around. This makes the game more intersting with new goals in mind.

Grief mode was not even possible in the previous Call of Duty games because it allows up to 8 players where there was a limit of 4 before. The zombies mode was moved to the multiplayer engine of the game before Black Ops 2 so now they have more flexibility in terms of the number of players and zombies. Grief mode also introduces new tactics that can be implemented as you are not playing with everybody and now playing against other people, effectively adding versus aspects to a coop gamemode. Treyarch has done a nice job with Zombies. Taking a repetitive survival mode and adding some twists to it to keep it interesting. For these innovations, I will give Treyarch a 5 out of 5.