Call of Duty: Black Ops II

Call of Duty: Black Ops II
Studio	Treyarch
Publisher	Activision
composer	Jack Wall
Erstveröffent- lichung	November 13, 2012
platform	Microsoft Windows Xbox 360 Xbox One PlayStation 3 Wii U
Game engine	IW Engine 3.0
genre	Ego shooter
system advantages preconditions	Windows Vista (SP2) / 7/8, Intel Core2Duo 2.6 GHz or AMD Phenom X3 2.4 GHz, 2 GB RAM (32-bit) or 4 GB RAM (64-bit), DirectX 11 compatible 512 MB Graphics card (from Nvidia Geforce 8800 GT or ATi Radeon HD 3870)
Age rating	USK PEGI
information	German retail version cut, official uncut patch available.

Call of Duty: Black Ops II is a first person shooter developed by Treyarch and published by Activision . It was first released on November 13, 2012 for Windows , Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 platforms . April 2017 the game became backwards compatible with the Xbox One . Among other things, it was a launch title for the Wii U on November 30, 2012. Within one day, the game achieved sales of US $ 500 million, the most successful sales launch of a video game to date. After 15 days, the game had reached more than $ 1 billion in worldwide sales. By 2013 over 24.3 million copies were sold.

As the ninth part of the Call of Duty series, it is based directly on the events of the previous title Call of Duty: Black Ops . The plot takes place partly in the 1980s and in the year 2025. The player can influence the plot through his own decisions , among other things, through the new Strike Force modes. The setting should be based on real-time strategy games in individual sections .

action

background

The world has developed rapidly: Treyarch continues the principle of Moore's Law , according to which computing power doubles approximately every two years. Accordingly, in 2025 supercomputers , which are unthinkable for today's times, will also be available in small format. This change has also had a significant impact on the military. World powers like the US and China have largely replaced their armies with unmanned robots, mechs and drones; significantly fewer human soldiers are still on duty.

This development is under strong criticism; There is a potential security risk that someone takes control of the unmanned machines and turns it against the original operator himself.

Main storyline

The world is in the midst of a second cold war between the People's Republic of China and the United States over the precious rare earth metals , those 17 elements that are essential to modern technology. When large quantities of such metals were discovered in China, 95% of the global supply of these metals came from China, which made the United States in particular dependent on China. However, when China bans the export of these metals, a cyber attack paralyzes the Chinese stock exchanges. Since then, the countries have been in a subliminal conflict; however, tensions are mounting and, as in the Cold War era , there is a permanent danger that armed conflict will actually arise.

This conflict is fueled by the terrorist Raul Menendez, who leads the terrorist organization Cordis Die , which has over a billion followers. As the story progresses, Menendez's background is highlighted, blaming American capitalism for the suffering and death of his beloved sister Josefina.

The playable storyline begins in 1986 in Angola . Alex Mason and Jason Hudson are looking for their comrade Frank Woods. In exchange for information about his whereabouts, they support Jonas Savimbi in the fight against the MPLA . Eventually they find Woods, who is being held captive by the arms dealer Menendez. A scuffle ensues between Mason and Menendez, as a result of which a shot is fired, which hits Menendez's face, which will disfigure him for the rest of his life.

The next mission takes place in Myanmar in 2025 , where Alex's son David and his comrades Mike Harper and Javier Salazar break into a research facility owned by Raul Menendez, who has now become a terrorist, in order to obtain information about the rare earth Celerium. There you will also find information about a cyber weapon called karma.

In 1985, Mason, Woods, and Hudson seek information about Menendez's involvement in Afghanistan. They fight with the mujahideen against the Red Army , but are ultimately betrayed by the mujahideen who cooperate with Menendez. After they are rescued, they go to Nicaragua to arrest Menendez with the help of Manuel Noriega . At the sight of Menendez, Woods, who was tortured by Menendez in Angola, loses his nerve and throws a hand grenade at him. However, the grenade kills Menendez's sister Josefina, and Menendez apparently dies too. At Hudson's request, it was agreed not to disclose the events.

There is a change to the year 2025, when David and Mike infiltrate one of Menendez's bases and find evidence of karma again. The trail leads to the floating city of COLOSSUS, where they finally find karma, which turns out to be a human being: It is about the hacker Chloe Lynch, who is obviously of great importance to Cordis Die, since the mercenary DeFalco tries to kidnap Chloe, what David is trying to prevent.

The action jumps to 1989. During the invasion of Panama , Mason and Woods are ordered to arrest Noriega. After they succeed, Hudson orders them to exchange Noriega for a prominent prisoner. This one is none other than Menendez. Woods gets the order to kill the bound and hooded Menendez with a sniper rifle. But it is a trap of Menendez and Noriega: the truth is that the prisoner is Mason and they made Hudson submissive by threatening to kill Alex's son David. Menendez mutilates Woods by shooting his kneecap and kills Hudson. He promises the young David who is also present that they will meet again one day.

In 2025, David, who was informed by Woods about his father's fate, succeeded in smuggling a mole named Farid into Menendez's organization with the aim of arresting Menendez. After this has been successful, he is taken to the (fictional) aircraft carrier USS Barack Obama . However, after a short time he was attacked by mercenary troops, Menendez freed himself and captured the Obama's command center. There he uploads a virus to the US Army network, which he uses to gain control of the US drone fleet and escape.

His first target is the meeting of the G7 heads of state in Los Angeles and David is given the task of protecting the US president. After the president has been brought to safety, the location of Menendez's headquarters can finally be determined, it is in Haiti . The invasion succeeds, Menendez cannot be found at first, but speaks up via live stream worldwide. He calls a revolution against the governments of the world and destroys the entire US drone fleet. David pursues Menendez fleeing in US uniform and the final confrontation ensues in the ruins of the facility.

The end credits follow, in which the following events, including the consequences of the decisions made by the player, are presented, so that there are several outcomes of the story. The end credits are followed by a live performance by Avenged Sevenfold at Club Solar , with Woods on drums, Menendez on guitar and all the main and supporting characters of the game in the audience who cheer for the performance.

Gameplay

Around a third of the missions play as flashbacks in the 1980s, for example during the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan . These missions focus on Alex Mason and Frank Woods, two protagonists known from Black Ops. Above all, the past of Raul Menendez should be cleared up, while the focus is on the action in the future. In the present, the main role played is David Mason.

Strike Force

There are new so-called strike force missions. These missions are embedded in the main campaign and part of the storyline. When choosing a mission, the player can choose between several missions to take on one of them himself, the others are done by allies. Their outcome is only known later in the plot. It is irrelevant whether a mission has been completed in full, the action continues regardless. Thus, different courses of action and different game ends are made possible, through which the player should be animated to try out different possibilities. These missions are intended to increase the replay value.

Struggle for survival

Treyarch has reinstalled the fight for survival known from Call of Duty: World at War and Call of Duty: Black Ops into the game. This can be played together with up to 4 players in co-op mode, whereby the levels have been increased compared to the predecessors. There is a card to choose from, which is divided into 3 parts. In the survival mode 'Pain' 8 players (2 groups of 4 players each) are possible. More maps will be available in 4 map packs / Revolution / Uprising / Vengeance / Apocalypse.

Multiplayer mode

The multiplayer mode has been retained as with its predecessors.

Public mode

In contrast to the single player or the campaign , the multiplayer mode largely dispenses with a story. There are a total of twelve modes in normal mode to choose from (five hardcore modes). There are also the league modes. The twelve modes in public mode are:

Surname	Distribution of players	target
Team deathmatch	Two teams compete against each other	Be the first team to get 75 kills
Multi team	2-3 teams of 2-3 people compete against each other	Be the first team to get a percentage of kills (in relation to the total number of players)
Mercenary mosh pit	Different numbers of teams of different sizes	Players can choose from random maps as well as modes
Free for all	Every man for himself	Get 30 kills in a given time limit
Domination	Two teams compete against each other	Capture all flags and protect them from being recaptured
Ground war	Two teams compete against each other	3 different game modes (rule, team deathmatch, kill confirmed) in which more points are required than in these modes themselves, in this game mode the teams consist of more people than in the other modes
Demolition squad	Two teams compete against each other	Detonate commando units with a bomb. One team defends, one attacks.
Kill confirmed	Two teams compete against each other	The team that picks up 100 brands first wins. Kills only score 50 points. Another 100 points by collecting the dog tag acquired the slain enemy
position	Two teams compete against each other	Secure certain sections of the map from opponents. The team that keeps a section free of opponents for a certain time receives points. Whoever reaches 250 points first wins. 3 sections per lap
headquarters	Two teams compete against each other	A headquarters appears on a random spot on the map, this must be taken. Once captured, the team that controls the headquarters cannot re-enter until the enemy team has destroyed the headquarters
Capture the flag	Two teams compete against each other	The aim is to steal the opposing flag from its start zone and bring it to your own.
Search & destroy	Two teams compete against each other	A command unit has to be sought, which then has to be detonated with a bomb, as in the "Explosive command" mode. One team attacks, the other defends. No re-entry

All modes include a limiting timer that ends the game after a certain time. The team with the most points wins the game. If the points are equal, the game ends in a tie.

League modes

In contrast to the public mode, the system in the league modes puts the teams together so that players who are as good as possible face each other. This variable is intentionally ignored in public mode. In order to assess the skills of a player, he must have completed 5 classification games. Attention is paid to the ratio of kills to one's own deaths. The classification takes place in so-called divisions.

Surname	Percentage of players
master	The top 2% of active players
platinum	The 18% of the active players below it
gold	The 20% of the active players below
silver	The 20% of the active players below
bronze	The 20% of the active players below
iron	The bottom 20%

There are three leagues, the Mosh Pit League, the World League and the Team Deathmatch League.

Mosh Pit League

The Mosh Pit League is designed for the upper segment of the "hobby" players. The following modes on all maps are played there: Team Deathmatch, Kill Confirmed, Capture the Flag, Hardpoint, Domination.

World League

The World League is again designed for semi-professional players. The following modes on all maps are played there: Capture the Flag, Search and Destroy, Hardpoint.

Team Deathmatch League

In the Team Deathmatch League, only Team Deathmatch is played. This is carried out on all cards in the game.

Development history

For the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 , Activision Blizzard CEO Robert Kotick testified that they were already working on a new offshoot for the Call of Duty series. On February 9, 2012, the release of a new title was officially announced, stating that it would offer "meaningful innovations".

reception

Meta-ratings publication Rating PS3 Windows Xbox 360 Metacritic 83% 74% 83%

The Swiss magazine GBase gave Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 a rating of 8.5. The test report praised the intense atmosphere, the cinematic staging and the new strike force missions. In return, for example, the opponents' somewhat weak AI was criticized.

arrcade.de awards a rating of 8.0. The test report praised the multiplayer framework and the communal aspect of the zombie mode. The outdated graphics and below-average poor AI were criticized.

The website GameTrailers recorded Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 as best shooter from.

Trivia

• The series of points "Guardian" in multiplayer mode requires 1.21 gigawatts according to a label, which is a homage to the Back to the Future . The time machine needs 1.21 gigawatts to travel through time.

Web links

• Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 at MobyGames (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Official trailer (German)
2. ↑ [1] (English)
3. ↑ http://www.schnittberichte.com/schnittbericht.php?ID=465361
4. ↑ Ulrich Hilgefort: Video game redeems half a billion dollars on the first day . Heise online, November 17, 2012.
5. ↑ Brendan Sinclair: Call of Duty: Black Ops II tops $ 1 billion in 15 days. In: GamesIndustry.biz. December 5, 2012, accessed December 13, 2012 . 
6. ↑ Call of Duty: A Short History. Retrieved November 10, 2017 . 
7. ↑ ^{a b c d} PCGames: Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 - All information summarized - story, setting, features, PC version, beta, trailer and more , accessed on May 5, 2012.
8. ↑ Black Ops 2 spans decades, offers branching missions and choice (English); accessed on May 2, 2012
9. ↑ Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Zombies. (No longer available online.) Callofduty.com, archived from the original on November 20, 2013 ; Retrieved March 10, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
10. ^ John Scalzo: Activision announces Call of Duty: 9, multiple Blizzard titles for 2012 , Warp Zoned. November 9, 2011. 
11. ↑ Andrew Goldfarb: Activision Confirms New Call of Duty Game in 2012 . IGN. February 9, 2012. Retrieved February 10, 2012.
12. ↑ Meta-ranking Call of Duty: Black Ops II (Windows). In: Metacritic . CBS Corporation , accessed April 23, 2015 . 
13. ↑ Meta-ranking Call of Duty: Black Ops II (PlayStation 3). In: Metacritic . CBS Corporation , accessed April 23, 2015 . 
14. ↑ Meta-ranking Call of Duty: Black Ops II (Xbox 360). In: Metacritic . CBS Corporation , accessed April 23, 2015 . 
15. ↑ Test report of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 on GBase.ch
16. ↑ Test report of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 on arrcade.de
17. ↑ GameTrailers: Game of the Year Awards - Best Shooter