Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2 is a game that brings a lot of things to the table. It succeeds in bringing a thriving and varied campaign to the table while delivering epic cinematics. Multi-player and Zombies are back boasting a varied array of weapons and maps that is sure to hook you in for hours.
The only problem that I – and many other fans – have is the fact that the game fails to stay fresh. The repetitiveness is still here. Even though Treyarch tried their best to change multiplier into something that is new and exciting, it falls flat. The game plays just like all of the past Call of Duty’s. You run in, get killed, and run back in again. This isn’t a problem, but when it has this same fundamental style for years, it starts to wear out.
Don’t get me wrong, multi-player does have innovative features. For example, the new pick 10 load-out system lets you customize your classes to your play style. Never use your secondary? Swap it out for a primary. Are crappy tactics getting you down? Don’t worry, you can trade it for another attachment on your primary! Kill streaks have also been overhauled and are now score streaks. This means that players earn points towards their kill streaks by doing things like capturing flags or holding hard points. If you are the kind of player who usually can only muster up a five kill streak, you can now still earn high level kill streaks, like a lightning strike or ARG drone, by just playing the objective. This helps to give more leverage to support players and helps them contribute more to a team.
Over-powered kill streaks have all too often been a problem in the Call Of Duty series, and this one isn’t all that different. Spawning into a kill streak becomes too common and unavoidable deaths by aerial support seem to take the skill aspect out of the game. If you die to an unavoidable drone, the player who beat you isn’t necessarily better than you, which creates unbalanced game play in more aspects than one.
The map variation can only be described as horrible. The map sizes range from small to medium, and the map layouts are also very similar. The small sizes of the maps create game play that is too hectic, which results in the average life span of seven seconds. I guess some people like the hectic style, but having 60 kills and 60 deaths in 10 minutes is just ridiculous. The map size also gives an undeniable advantaged to sub-machine guns. The high rate of fire gives the person with a sub-machine a huge advantage when battling someone with an assault rifle at close range. This isn’t a problem since assault riffles have the advantage at long range, but since the maps are generally small, the person with the sub-machine gun has the advantage the majority of the time.
Zombie Mode is also back, but really isn’t worth the hype. The first map, TranZit, is boring and uninspired. It drops you into a small bus station where you play as one of four new, but uninspired charters. You kill zombies and take a bus to other locations in a small town that’s battling the undead. Along the way you find parts to craft contraptions like traps to stop zombies. The mode, or the level at least, feels very bland and I don’t think you can find enjoyment in it for very long.
The campaign is also amazing. The settings spanning
Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2 does a great job. It’s a AAA shooter with a lot to offer in terms of campaign, multi-player, and Zombies. If you are looking for an amazing game for Christmas, you won’t be disappointed with Black Ops 2. If you are an avid Call Of Duty fan, you may be disappointed by the lack of freshness, but it is still definitely worth your time.
