Thu, May 03, 2012 | 08:07 BST
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 revealed: every detail
Activision has officially announced Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 for a November 13 worldwide release, envisioning a new Cold War in the year 2025.
Activision released the first trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. The video confirms a 2025 setting, featuring glimpses of Los Angeles under attack. A Middle Eastern setting, robots and even horses are spotted in the trailer.
Sgt Frank Woods, the co-protagonist of the original Black Ops, also appears in the video. The game will take place in two timelines: the late 1980s as the end of the Cold War as Alex Mason from Black Ops 1 and 2025 as Mason’s son David.
The story sees the US and China in a second Cold War over Rare Earth Elements, used to built tech devices and military weapons. Part of the war is also instigated by antagonist Raul Menendez, who’s hacked into drones and various robotic weapons to kick off the war’s combat. The 80s timeline will show what started Menendez’s path down the events in Black Ops 2.
Its story will come from co-writer of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight David Goyer.
Black Ops 2 will supposedly answer the question of what happened at the end of the first game, according to Kotaku, regarding Mason. When asked about the return of Gary Oldman’s Reznov character, Treyarch boss Mark Lamia and game director Dave Anthony played coy.
Pre-orders have now gone live in the UK, and GameStop stores will offer pre-order incentives in four waves.
The first wave starts May 2 with the offer of a limited edition, two-sided poster. PowerUp Rewards members who pre-order by June 30 will also net a Prestige Token for MW3 as well as all bonuses coming in the additional waves which are to be announced in July, August, and October, respectively.
The publisher has gone live with an official website for the game, which will release on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on November 13, and released two early screens:
In the wake of the trailer’s release, information has begun hitting in earnest. Although multiplayer is still largely under wraps, Treyarch boss Mark Lamia confirmed the game will have the biggest and best zombies mode to date. The developer hopes to support eSports, but won’t commit to dedicated servers just yet.
Treyarch game design director David Vonderhaar told OPM UK multiplayer would go down “a different route” than whats previously been on offer.
“Lets take all this stuff we had and strip it down to its core. Let’s challenge these long held assumptions we’ve had about how systems work. Why does create a class work the way it does. Why do killstreaks work the way they do. Why is the unlock progression exactly the way its been before. Why do we have to start with what we had before?”
Vonderhaar added Black Ops 2 would have a “well-designed gameplay system” instead of refining it from past games.
“Let’s challenge the assumption we have to start from the game we had before. Figure what’s really important to the game and keeping it simple and fast and pure and clean. Let’s get rid of some baggage. Let’s just create a really well created gameplay system period; regardless of whether we had it before.”
On the single-player side, the series will venture into non-linearity for the first time with Strike Force missions, allowing players to take on various roles around the battlefield and directly impact the game’s plot. The game’s story follows on directly from the first Black Ops, and is part of a different canon than other Call of Duty games.
Retired US marine lieutenant colonel Oliver North, who was convicted of selling weapons to Iran in the late 80s before being cleared on appeal, has been brought in as a consultant to the game. Watch him talk about his involvement in the game below.
Activision has 300 staffers on Black Ops 2 at the moment, and some of the tech Treyarch is using is shared between studios.
Treyarch has also promised (via OneofSwords) a “visual overhaul” for the game. The studio’s Dan Bunting showed off an unpopulated level from Socotra Island in Yemen featuring work on HDR lighting, self-shadowing, bounce lighting and reveal mapping, a new texture technique.
PC players will be able to “take advantage” of the game if they have DirectX11-enabled hardware.
Leaky
The debut of the trailer came ahead of what was expected to be an official reveal during the NBA Playoffs overnight in the US, but the identity of the game began leaking in earnest last weekend.
The reveal confirms a video last week from FPSRussia indicated the next CoD would be set in a futuristic timeline by at least 10-15 years; the original Black Ops took place within the 60s and 70s during the Vietnam War and the Cold War..
Assets from the game’s website were spotted online before the website went live, showing the game’s box-art, logo and the release date of November 13 (thanks, Robotix).
[By Johnny Cullen, Patrick Garratt, Stephany Nunneley and Brenna Hillier]
This article elsewhere
Black Ops 2 spans decades, offers branching missions and choice - Joystiq
48 Things That You Should Know About Call of Duty: Black Ops II - Kotaku
Call of Duty: Black Ops II is a true sequel in every way - Destructoid
Black Ops 2 preview - PC Gamer
Call of Duty: Black Ops II In-Depth Preview - AusGamers
Preview: Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Branches Out - GameSpy
Call of Duty Black Ops 2: We've seen it - Zombies, multiplayer, giant mechs - CVG
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Posted in: Activision Blizzard, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tags: black ops 2, black ops II, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, treyarch
111 comments
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#51
Len
01/05/12, 4:29 pm
Not for me. Stopped playing blops at some rocket launch level I think, stopped playing mw3 at the Docklands bit and I just ain’t going back. Not for me anymore…
#52
DeyDoDoughDontDeyDough
01/05/12, 4:52 pm
Halo?
Is it me you’re looking for?
#53
ASBI
01/05/12, 5:55 pm
http://callofduty.com/
there are new stuff in here
one of them redirects to FPSrussia
#54
_S_E_R_G_
01/05/12, 6:02 pm
your IP is blocked
for me on official site
#55
JimFear-666
01/05/12, 7:26 pm
my ip is blocked, i guess they only accept u.k ip?
#56
ASBI
01/05/12, 8:33 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNPJMk2fgJU
i think they hired him or something
this video has a lot of stuff from the official COD website
http://callofduty.com/
check his shirt + the future weapon
#57
ASBI
01/05/12, 8:42 pm
http://callofduty.com/content/dam/activision/callofduty/teaser/assets/900x506_classified_03.jpg
the logo on FPSrussia’s shirt
#58
JRNO
01/05/12, 11:06 pm
Call of Duty set in the future? I’ve been waiting to see this one!
I’m getting a BF2142 vibe from the screenshots, which isn’t half-bad.
#59
mad1723
02/05/12, 1:10 am
I’ve just watched the trailer and one thing has really been clear throughout the trailer: The engine is getting more than long in the tooth. Textures are muddy or downright horribles, models are very low res and animations are ok at best. Honestly, the 2 year alternance with the studios is starting to make victims me think.
#60
mathare92
02/05/12, 1:11 am
Eh, nice modelling on the narrator dude, but visually, there doesn’t seem to be any improvement. They’ll have to buck it up significantly if they want to compete next-gen.
#61
Sam Clay
02/05/12, 1:34 am
Anyone subscribe for some Horse of Duty?
http://t.co/jdUdXsvP
#62
ejams
02/05/12, 1:35 am
Looks strange. Still won’t budge me to buy it yet, but we shall see how much has really changed. Graphics in the video were outright horrendous in my opinion.
#63
mad1723
02/05/12, 1:44 am
Sam: I think they are preparing a spin off! New wager match: Bet on the horse you think will finish the match alive!
#64
Sam Clay
02/05/12, 1:57 am
@63 They’ve spent their entire budget on horses
#65
xino
02/05/12, 2:16 am
OH MY GOD!
F***KING SICK!
HAHAHAHHA…
i’m gonna enjoy this man!
awwwww, I still need to play MW3!!!:(
#66
G1GAHURTZ
02/05/12, 4:01 am
Not sure what to say…
I don’t like the look of it one bit.
I personally don’t like playing games that involve fake stuff. Fake cars, fake football teams or fake guns.
Don’t like them.
I’d be disappointed to find out that Treyarch listened to a handful of idiotic fanboy haters and decided to change the game like this for a few less thumbs down ratings on the internet.
Because from that video, this isn’t Call of Duty.
This is some pathetic attempt to change things just for the sake of it. And changing things just for the sake of it is nothing less than stupid.
Right now, I just want to wait and see the multiplayer, because if it looks like they messed that up too, I’m not going to be in a good mood.
#67
naveto
02/05/12, 5:46 am
Wow, that was a dumb trailer. Whoever is writing the scripts needs a talking-to.
#68
Gekidami
02/05/12, 6:35 am
Sounds like its going to have a Terminator vibe, only rather then becoming sentient, the machines get hijacked by the enemy. It looks ok i guess, i cant imagine fans of the series being too pleased though, the series has never really been realistic, but at least being loosely based on actual military equipment has been a pull. But Deus Ex ‘rocket’ helicopters and robot armies… They’re taking a risk i guess, and you have to respect that.
#69
Patrick Garratt
02/05/12, 6:47 am
That was awesome. It’s very different to what’s come before. Looks extremely cool.
#70
Erthazus
02/05/12, 6:56 am
Genius as always. They copied Battlefield 2142 and Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun (and they enjoyed Deus Ex:HR soundtrack with Uncharted 3 horse stuff). But whatever, sheep that recently bought 50 million Angry Birds will want some “Serious Shooter” and here you have it just around the corner and it’s the reason why this industry stagnate. Because you can sell this to newcomers for at least 10 years like it was before when everything restarted with CoD 4 and Halo.
The engine looks so bad that 10 face palms are not enough. Vita can easily have this port with all the belts and whistles in 30 frames per second. But it’s going to have 60 frames per second on console. Achievement.
#71
Fin
02/05/12, 7:32 am
This look awesome!
@70
Let’s home it’s better than BF2142 and Tiberian Sun, they were both a bit shit!
#72
Erthazus
02/05/12, 7:35 am
@71, you never played them to begin with. These games are PC classics and one of the greatest games ever made in the history of gaming.
But you can repeat your experience in 2012.
#73
Fin
02/05/12, 7:37 am
@72
Please don’t lie, I’ve played both of them.
I wasn’t fond of 2142′s weapon set and unlocking structure, and Tiberian Sun’s voxel technology and general storyline put me off.
You mean I can repeat the experience of playing a shit near-future game? Oh, I thought you said 2142 and Tiberian Sun were good!
“one of the greatest games ever made in the history of gaming.”
NOOOOOOOOOOPE
#74
StolenGlory
02/05/12, 7:43 am
Holy shit.
I must admit, i’m quite taken with this.
This is the first CoD game in a long while, that i’ll actually care about checking the progress on.
Bravo, Treayarch.
#75
Erthazus
02/05/12, 7:43 am
” Tiberian Sun’s voxel technology”
It’s 1999.
“I wasn’t fond of 2142′s weapon set and unlocking structure”
unlocking structure? Ok. You never even touched the game. Next thing you will say that Call Of duty invented dog tags?
#76
Gekidami
02/05/12, 7:55 am
OMG, did an idiot really just say BF2142 & Tiberian Sun were some of the “greatest games ever made in the history of gaming”? New levels of saying BS for the sake of trying to prove a point have just been reached.
But anyway, as an idiot once said:
“But really it does not matter. If game is great, then why not? Why not to sell it?”
#77
Fin
02/05/12, 8:02 am
@75
Who gives a fuck if it’s 1999. Voxels. Were. Shit.
Yeah bro, unlocking structure. If I recall correctly, you even had to unlock grenades, that always annoyed me.
#78
Fin
02/05/12, 8:13 am
Hang on, this bullshit is coming from the lad who put 500 hours in Black Ops 1.
Talk all you want bro, we know you’re going to support Activision day one, and play it for months.
#79
Patrick Garratt
02/05/12, 8:15 am
We’re all going to play it, right? Isn’t it a no-brainer?
#80
G1GAHURTZ
02/05/12, 8:21 am
In all honesty, I’m not certain right now, Pat.
#81
Patrick Garratt
02/05/12, 8:22 am
Because it’s sci-fi?
#82
Erthazus
02/05/12, 8:29 am
@Gekidami, “OMG, did an idiot really just say BF2142 & Tiberian Sun were some of the “greatest games ever made in the history of gaming”? New levels of saying BS for the sake of trying to prove a point have just been reached.”
You never played them. Tiberium sun is an instant classic and a very good game. If you don’t understand that then you never played them. Bro, you never played games in 1999 and you found out about Battlefield only with Bad Company on your PeeS3, so keep talking trash.
Battlefield 2142 is still a classic to this day and people still play it.
@78, “Talk all you want bro, we know you’re going to support Activision day one, and play it for months.”
WRONG! I did not bought MW3 and will not buy this. I’m not sheep like you.
“Who gives a fuck if it’s 1999. Voxels. Were. Shit.”
Well, of course they are shit. Almost all RTS, RPG games had voxels at that time. Cool story brah. That’s just a good level of stupidity to call voxels “shit” for no reason at all.
#83
G1GAHURTZ
02/05/12, 8:35 am
@Pat:
Not entirely.
I don’t mind sci-fi in general, but it has to be done correctly.
Watching that video, I just feel like I’m not watching a CoD game. It feels like something that somebody made to make other people happy, and tick some boxes.
People can say what they want to about CoD’s realism, but at least it had the look of being based on reality.
You can do sci-fi based on reality, and sci-fi based on fantasy, and I’m really not interested in the latter.
If they’d have gone for a more realistic sci-fi, I think I’d be more interested, but come on… Are there seriously going to be stealth bombers that can hover 5 feet off the ground flying around in 13 years?
I might as well just play Halo.
#84
Gekidami
02/05/12, 8:36 am
@82
Played them both, still own them in fact. They’re both either average or bad.
#85
Erthazus
02/05/12, 8:42 am
@84, if you own Battlefield 2142, show me your EA Battlefield account. If you played it then it must be there like (any other Battlefield game in your account). Also, it shows date when you purchased it (and date for every other Battlefield game in the series)
You can just show me EA Battlefield account/Battlelog. No need for Origin and etc. It’s pretty simple.
If you can’t show, then GTFO and lie somewhere else. Saying that Tiberium Sun is average that was in 1999 is indeed a “stupidity”.
#86
Patrick Garratt
02/05/12, 8:48 am
@83 – Yeah. The big difference I can see is that the lead character looks like something out of Bulletstorm. Changing the setting and timeframe’s one thing, but changing the “being part of the regular army” bit is seriously different.
As I said, though, I do think it looks very cool and I’ll definitely play it. You’re right about it not looking instantly like a CoD game, though. Maybe that’s what they wanted.
#87
Edo
02/05/12, 8:48 am
Well that was …different(but like stealing from others “different”).
#88
Gekidami
02/05/12, 8:58 am
@85
I’ve long since lost my old BF account, but here:
http://i46.tinypic.com/d9s7r.jpg
Now fuck you.
#89
Maximum Payne
02/05/12, 9:06 am
I watched interview they said PC will support DX11 and some kind of new anti cheat method.
#90
noherczeg
02/05/12, 9:08 am
This trailer was so shitty it almost represents my opinion on the whole series lol.
#91
TheBlackHole
02/05/12, 9:17 am
That was… underwhelming.
#92
Da Man
02/05/12, 9:27 am
Can you ban people for stupidity?
#93
Takeshi
02/05/12, 9:33 am
Well, color me interested. Hopefully, it’ll feel genuine and be interesting and not just a shallow “oh, look, we did something different, please like our game.”
#94
freedoms_stain
02/05/12, 9:47 am
@92, keep going the way you’re going and you’d be a prime candidate under that stipulation.
Seriously man, give it a rest.
#95
Da Man
02/05/12, 9:50 am
Perhaps I really should though.
#96
mathare92
02/05/12, 10:07 am
“Its story will be penned by co-writer of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight David Goyer.”
Well, actually he was only credited for the story not the screenplays. Still, if they’ve got talent like that working on the narrative, colour me interested.
#97
AHA-Lambda
02/05/12, 10:37 am
this looks fucking awesome
#98
Dimaco
02/05/12, 12:12 pm
^ yup, if by “fuckin awesome” you mean a pile of crap…
Com’on, it looks outdated and… robots? For real? Where are we?
#99
Overdos3
02/05/12, 12:16 pm
Same BullCrap again and again… They take us for idiots.
Plus, when you play in PC and you see such low resolution cinematics, textures, models etc… It is normal that we should hate consoles because they are keeping gaming behind while PC tries to go forward
#100
Maximum Payne
02/05/12, 12:19 pm
@98 and if was in modern day , you would again say same as modern warfail bla bla. Point ?
Treyarch at least try to do something different like branching story,sandbox level,controlling Ai,piloting aircraft…
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