Call of Duty: Black Ops II is a first-person shooter developed by world-renowned Treyarch, who is also famous for creating the original Tony Hawk games as well as most of the Spiderman games. Its release date on November 12, 2012 shook game stores worldwide, as its release was the largest grossing entertainment medium of all time, reaching $650 million in sales in just the first five days.
Black Ops II is available for Windows, Wii U, Steam, PS3, and the Xbox 360. Although the overall story line and objectives stay the same from console to console, the graphics can sharpen when playing it on the PS3 compared to the Xbox 360.
It’s the year 2025, and the world is still finding reasons to start warfare. You start by playing as Alex Mason, who is leading a group of special force operatives to a secret place called “the vault”, where Frank Woods is hiding out. Mason and his partner, Harper, suspect Woods to have very valuable information on the whereabouts of Raul Menendez, who was the protagonist in the prequel, where (spoiler alert!) he killed Alex Mason and Jason Hudson. Woods admits to Menendez seeing him, which leads to Frank reliving his missions during his military career, which sets the scene for the beginning of the game.
Throughout most of my childhood, first person shooters were somewhat of a joke as the graphics and correlation of the games were mediocre at best. As modern technology advanced, so did game developers and story lines. The new millennium brought interesting and fun ideas for the future of first person shooters, and Treyarch hit a home run when it released its most popular game, Call of Duty.
The release of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was the beginning of the end for me, as I spent most of my time diving into the realm of online game play, slaying zombies, and trying to figure out the best perk and weapon combination. Through much trial and error, I eventually gained momentum and started becoming somewhat of a “hard-core FPS gamer”.
Once Black Ops came and went, I was a little heartbroken to see that Treyarch was already pushing the sequel merely six months after its first release. I fell in love with the first Black Ops, and I just didn’t want to think there was anymore room for a follow-up game. Although I have to say, the zombies on Black Ops II blew its predecessor’s out of the water.
The multiplayer functions and leveling system is the same as most Call of Duty games, with a few added bonuses. You begin with a basic tier of weapons and perks, which you can modify and experiment with the more you gain experience and level up. The more you play, the better you become and the higher levels you can gain. Once you reach the cap, you can start over again and move to another Prestige (i.e. skill tree).
The game really draws you in with its spectacular graphics and overall fun and compelling story line, it’s both a win for the plot and multiplayer matches. The zombies option is just another added bonus to this great game. If you are ever tired of playing a typical match with people online, you can always switch over to zombies and play by yourself or with some friends!
The main story isn’t very long, but you can also try beating it on the other difficulties to unlock achievements as well reaching an alternate ending. On average, you can more than likely beat the entire story line in six and a half hours. Anyone who loves FPS games, as well as multiplayer tier leveling and zombies, should have no trouble spending lots of time glued to their screens.
