TheLemon96
Just Drafted
Available Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Wii U.
Platform Used in Review: PS3
ESRB Rating: M for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Drugs
ESRB Analysis: Blood does appear when an enemy is shot. A few occasional scenes of brutal deaths do exist in the single player mode, but are small in number and brief. Mutilation is common in the game's "Zombies" mode, but is not emphasized . The use of profanity is common, but is not the worst I have seen. There are a couple of female characters who are not in modest apparel. The drug reference probably refers to a marijuana storage area in a basement in a building.
DLC owned at the time of review: Revolution, Uprising
Completion Status at the time of review: Story completed on Veteran difficulty, 5th prestige in Multiplayer, all current zombie maps played, easter egg completed on Mob of The Dead.
Overall: 7.5/10
Black Ops 2 is the first game in the Call of Duty series to offer the player the ability to customize his or her loadout and make choices in the single player campaign. I was delighted to observe some character development on the enemy side, something rare in the Call of Duty franchise. Zombies servers have also been updated to support larger maps and additional features, such as a moving bus. While there is nothing truly new about Black Ops 2's multiplayer mode, the game features an almost perfectly balanced arsenal of weapons; with the current version, only one weapon sticks out: the HAMR. While the graphics are obviously not the most detailed and beautiful, the game compensates with a high frame rate and extremely responsive controls. Treyarch clearly displays a different philosophy from Infinity Ward in creating games; Black Ops 2 focuses more on gun fights and competitive play than its most recent predecessor.
Gameplay: 7/10
Another year of Call of Duty, another year of bullshit. Honestly, it's not that bad. Knifing in this game, as many other players have put it, "requires skill." The knife does have significantly reduced range, so be warned: no eight feet knife lunges anymore. I still fail to understand the logic of getting hitmarkers with a 50. cal sniper rifle, however. As I said before, the frame rate is high, and the the controls are solid; if you die, blame yourself, your connection, or an occasional glitch (or as I like to call it, Call of Duty BS). Scorestreaks have replaced the point system that Infinity Ward implemented in MW3. Treyarch attempted to encourage playing the objective with this system, but you can still run around Domination and rack up a ton of kills, the only problem is that it will take longer to get your scorestreaks. Going on kills alone, it will take you an astonishing 19 kills to earn the highest scorestreak in the game, the swarm. Kills and assists from scorestreaks do count towards the next, but are only worth 25 points at the most. This allows the player to work his or her way to the next scorestreak, but restrains continuous use of devastating air support. This scorestreak system combined with several unique weapons contributes to the balance of the multiplayer mode. There are not many new perks; most have already existed at some point in the franchise and some have been tweaked (Ghost received a considerable nerf from Black Ops; the player must be moving to stay off the radar, and the extra effects of Ghost Pro must be obtained through other perks, such as Blind Eye and Cold Blooded). I was slightly surprised to see that there are no Pro versions of perks in the game.
The host system has returned once more, and the criteria to select a host is noticeably stricter than most other installments of the franchise, even after the update. In Zombies, the game no longer ends when the host leaves; it searches for a new host (you still shouldn't expect to get to a high round in a public match, however; the community hasn't improved). Grief is a new mode in Zombies that places two teams of four against each other. One team must outlive the other to win the game. While it does offer a competitive element to Zombies, I prefer the main map, Tranzit. The new Zombies installment features buildables, a huge map, a defendable moving bus, and a new zombie: the Denizen of the Forest. Traps have been removed, making it slightly harder to achieve high rounds. The new "wonder weapon" or whatever you want to call it, (I will probably get blasted by hardcore Zombies fans for calling it that) the Jet Gun, can one hit zombies.
The campaign is by far the best in the series. The player has the option to customize his loadout before entering the battlefield and can also affect the progression of the story in a somewhat limited manner. Another mechanic that the single player campaign introduces is the Access Kit. This allows the player to access worthwhile weapons and gear, such as a Tactical Cloak and even an AGR (a small robot that drives around shooting targets), that would otherwise be inaccessible. The choices the player will be forced to make can affect the ending cutscenes and slightly affect mission scenarios. I was somewhat disappointed with the latter; no major changes occur within the campaign regardless of the choice the player makes. At most, you will be missing one teammate as a result of your choices (It should be no secret that enemy and friendly AI is crap).
Story: 8/10
As mentioned earlier, the player's choices affect the ending and the progression of the story, although nothing incredibly different happens until the end of the game. The year is 2025. Frank Woods, ret., has important information regarding a terrorist known as Raul Menendez, who intends to enact revenge against capitalist nations, especially the United States, for the death of his sister. He leads a socialist movement known as Cordis Die, which is extremely popular among the common population. Menendez has an extremely elaborate plan to bring America to its knees, and the military doesn't recognize his traps until it is too late.
The player will play as Frank Woods, Alex Mason, David Mason a.k.a "Section", and a small number of Navy Seals who have little significance to the story. The game alternates between 70s and 80s missions and 2025 missions, giving the player some backstory to the pursuit of Menendez while having him or her discovering his plans for 2025. Unlike the previous antagonists of the Call of Duty series, Menendez does have a reason to hate the United States: the burning and eventual killing of his sister in addition to other actions by Americans in his hometown. The story may evoke emotions of sympathy towards Menendez in the player, but will also display him as a character to be despised. The campaign is short, and most of the Strike Force missions, which put the player in command of a few poorly trained squads, have little relevance to the main story, which ends up making these special missions more of a nuisance, especially on higher difficulties (Screw you, FOB on Veteran!)
Graphics: 7/10
If the framerate didn't drop so badly in Mob of the Dead after activating a trap, this would have been an 8. Keep in mind that Treyarch did not aim for high definition; they aimed for gameplay over beauty, which I personally like. The views that the game presents are noticeably more colorful than most, if not all, of its predecessors, and the mountain views and glimpses of colossus are not boring to look at. HUD elements, dirt, and blood will not block your view like it did in MW2, and some obvious effort has been put into the character models.
Longevity: 6/10
Like every other Call of Duty game, this game's only savior from becoming a barren wasteland is DLC. You'll beat the campaign in no more than 6, maybe 7 hours, unless you're playing on Veteran. You'll eventually get tired of quickscoping and getting fragged, and you may want to die after playing Zombies all night. To its credit, the single player campaign does feature challenges, something never seen on Call of Duty before (unless you consider trophies/achievements). Going for the traditional multiplayer challenges may increase longevity, depending on if you go for them. I'm personally going for Diamond Camos; the problem with this is, most challenges for the guns are similar or the same. Some are even nearly impossible to obtain, not because of difficulty, but because requirements in the game are rarely met (why the hell do I have to shoot an AGR with a lock-on only missile launcher? No one even drops those things). If you really want to, you may go for all weapon camos and 11th prestige, but I don't think it's really worth putting the time into it, considering that the game only offers you a reset option if you get that far. Well, at least it's there. The factor of Activision releasing a COD game every year also kills this game's longevity. In a few months, everyone will be playing Ghosts.
Should you buy it?
If you're planning to skip Ghosts, then yes. Prices are going down, and while it may not be as good as COD4, this is the best COD in the last 3 years. However, if you are planning to buy Ghosts or have already pre-ordered it, skip this game and save your money for a DLC pack. If you flat out hate the series and its style, skip the game, because this game's multiplayer mode is not much different from previous installments.
I accept constructive criticism and comments.
***SPOILERS MAY OCCUR BEYOND THIS POINT***
Platform Used in Review: PS3
ESRB Rating: M for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Drugs
ESRB Analysis: Blood does appear when an enemy is shot. A few occasional scenes of brutal deaths do exist in the single player mode, but are small in number and brief. Mutilation is common in the game's "Zombies" mode, but is not emphasized . The use of profanity is common, but is not the worst I have seen. There are a couple of female characters who are not in modest apparel. The drug reference probably refers to a marijuana storage area in a basement in a building.
DLC owned at the time of review: Revolution, Uprising
Completion Status at the time of review: Story completed on Veteran difficulty, 5th prestige in Multiplayer, all current zombie maps played, easter egg completed on Mob of The Dead.
Overall: 7.5/10
Black Ops 2 is the first game in the Call of Duty series to offer the player the ability to customize his or her loadout and make choices in the single player campaign. I was delighted to observe some character development on the enemy side, something rare in the Call of Duty franchise. Zombies servers have also been updated to support larger maps and additional features, such as a moving bus. While there is nothing truly new about Black Ops 2's multiplayer mode, the game features an almost perfectly balanced arsenal of weapons; with the current version, only one weapon sticks out: the HAMR. While the graphics are obviously not the most detailed and beautiful, the game compensates with a high frame rate and extremely responsive controls. Treyarch clearly displays a different philosophy from Infinity Ward in creating games; Black Ops 2 focuses more on gun fights and competitive play than its most recent predecessor.
Gameplay: 7/10
Another year of Call of Duty, another year of bullshit. Honestly, it's not that bad. Knifing in this game, as many other players have put it, "requires skill." The knife does have significantly reduced range, so be warned: no eight feet knife lunges anymore. I still fail to understand the logic of getting hitmarkers with a 50. cal sniper rifle, however. As I said before, the frame rate is high, and the the controls are solid; if you die, blame yourself, your connection, or an occasional glitch (or as I like to call it, Call of Duty BS). Scorestreaks have replaced the point system that Infinity Ward implemented in MW3. Treyarch attempted to encourage playing the objective with this system, but you can still run around Domination and rack up a ton of kills, the only problem is that it will take longer to get your scorestreaks. Going on kills alone, it will take you an astonishing 19 kills to earn the highest scorestreak in the game, the swarm. Kills and assists from scorestreaks do count towards the next, but are only worth 25 points at the most. This allows the player to work his or her way to the next scorestreak, but restrains continuous use of devastating air support. This scorestreak system combined with several unique weapons contributes to the balance of the multiplayer mode. There are not many new perks; most have already existed at some point in the franchise and some have been tweaked (Ghost received a considerable nerf from Black Ops; the player must be moving to stay off the radar, and the extra effects of Ghost Pro must be obtained through other perks, such as Blind Eye and Cold Blooded). I was slightly surprised to see that there are no Pro versions of perks in the game.
The host system has returned once more, and the criteria to select a host is noticeably stricter than most other installments of the franchise, even after the update. In Zombies, the game no longer ends when the host leaves; it searches for a new host (you still shouldn't expect to get to a high round in a public match, however; the community hasn't improved). Grief is a new mode in Zombies that places two teams of four against each other. One team must outlive the other to win the game. While it does offer a competitive element to Zombies, I prefer the main map, Tranzit. The new Zombies installment features buildables, a huge map, a defendable moving bus, and a new zombie: the Denizen of the Forest. Traps have been removed, making it slightly harder to achieve high rounds. The new "wonder weapon" or whatever you want to call it, (I will probably get blasted by hardcore Zombies fans for calling it that) the Jet Gun, can one hit zombies.
The campaign is by far the best in the series. The player has the option to customize his loadout before entering the battlefield and can also affect the progression of the story in a somewhat limited manner. Another mechanic that the single player campaign introduces is the Access Kit. This allows the player to access worthwhile weapons and gear, such as a Tactical Cloak and even an AGR (a small robot that drives around shooting targets), that would otherwise be inaccessible. The choices the player will be forced to make can affect the ending cutscenes and slightly affect mission scenarios. I was somewhat disappointed with the latter; no major changes occur within the campaign regardless of the choice the player makes. At most, you will be missing one teammate as a result of your choices (It should be no secret that enemy and friendly AI is crap).
Story: 8/10
As mentioned earlier, the player's choices affect the ending and the progression of the story, although nothing incredibly different happens until the end of the game. The year is 2025. Frank Woods, ret., has important information regarding a terrorist known as Raul Menendez, who intends to enact revenge against capitalist nations, especially the United States, for the death of his sister. He leads a socialist movement known as Cordis Die, which is extremely popular among the common population. Menendez has an extremely elaborate plan to bring America to its knees, and the military doesn't recognize his traps until it is too late.
The player will play as Frank Woods, Alex Mason, David Mason a.k.a "Section", and a small number of Navy Seals who have little significance to the story. The game alternates between 70s and 80s missions and 2025 missions, giving the player some backstory to the pursuit of Menendez while having him or her discovering his plans for 2025. Unlike the previous antagonists of the Call of Duty series, Menendez does have a reason to hate the United States: the burning and eventual killing of his sister in addition to other actions by Americans in his hometown. The story may evoke emotions of sympathy towards Menendez in the player, but will also display him as a character to be despised. The campaign is short, and most of the Strike Force missions, which put the player in command of a few poorly trained squads, have little relevance to the main story, which ends up making these special missions more of a nuisance, especially on higher difficulties (Screw you, FOB on Veteran!)
Graphics: 7/10
If the framerate didn't drop so badly in Mob of the Dead after activating a trap, this would have been an 8. Keep in mind that Treyarch did not aim for high definition; they aimed for gameplay over beauty, which I personally like. The views that the game presents are noticeably more colorful than most, if not all, of its predecessors, and the mountain views and glimpses of colossus are not boring to look at. HUD elements, dirt, and blood will not block your view like it did in MW2, and some obvious effort has been put into the character models.
Longevity: 6/10
Like every other Call of Duty game, this game's only savior from becoming a barren wasteland is DLC. You'll beat the campaign in no more than 6, maybe 7 hours, unless you're playing on Veteran. You'll eventually get tired of quickscoping and getting fragged, and you may want to die after playing Zombies all night. To its credit, the single player campaign does feature challenges, something never seen on Call of Duty before (unless you consider trophies/achievements). Going for the traditional multiplayer challenges may increase longevity, depending on if you go for them. I'm personally going for Diamond Camos; the problem with this is, most challenges for the guns are similar or the same. Some are even nearly impossible to obtain, not because of difficulty, but because requirements in the game are rarely met (why the hell do I have to shoot an AGR with a lock-on only missile launcher? No one even drops those things). If you really want to, you may go for all weapon camos and 11th prestige, but I don't think it's really worth putting the time into it, considering that the game only offers you a reset option if you get that far. Well, at least it's there. The factor of Activision releasing a COD game every year also kills this game's longevity. In a few months, everyone will be playing Ghosts.
Should you buy it?
If you're planning to skip Ghosts, then yes. Prices are going down, and while it may not be as good as COD4, this is the best COD in the last 3 years. However, if you are planning to buy Ghosts or have already pre-ordered it, skip this game and save your money for a DLC pack. If you flat out hate the series and its style, skip the game, because this game's multiplayer mode is not much different from previous installments.
I accept constructive criticism and comments.
***SPOILERS MAY OCCUR BEYOND THIS POINT***