Call of Duty: Black Ops II

"THE FUTURE IS BLACK."

- Official tag line "They'll always need men like us. Those who are willing to do... what others cannot."

- Frank Woods in the Reveal Trailer Call of Duty: Black Ops II, stylized as CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS II, and also abbreviated as COD: BO2, or simply BO2, is an upcoming first-person shooter developed by Treyarch and published by Activision. This is the ninth main installment for the Call of Duty franchise, set for release on November 13, 2012. It is the sequel to Call of Duty: Black Ops and was announced on May 1, 2012, during the NBA basketball game. It is the first game made by Treyarch to be set in the future, and also the first direct sequel produced for the series by the studio.

The link to the Call of Duty: Black Ops II website was also granted access to the public to coincide with the world reveal during the NBA basketball playoffs.

Story
The story takes place across two seaprate arcs, one recounting events in the 1980s, and the other following characters in the year 2025.

1980s
The 1980s story arc follows the exploits of Alex Mason, fighting in a proxy war in Angola whilst suffering from a disorder as a result of his brainwashing. Viktor Reznov will reportedly return in this section of the game, and it has been suggested that his friendship with Mason will continue to be explored.

This portion of the game chronicles the rise of Raul Menendez, the primary antagonist of the game in the 2025 chapter.

2025
In 2025, a cyberattack targets the Chinese economy, crippling the Chinese Stock Exchange. In retaliation for this, the Chinese government has banned the export of rare earth elements, sparking a "Second Cold War" between the United States and the People's Republic of China. During a Chinese invasion of Los Angeles, David Mason - the son of Alex Mason - and a team from the Special Operations Group must escort the American and French presidents to safety as they come under attack from automated weapons and Menendez's men.

In the time since the 1980s, Raul Menendez has styled himself as the leader of the Cordis Die, a populist faction hailed as the champions of victims of economic inequality. In his role as their leader, Menendez has taken control of the "keys" to the armed forces, hijacking the United States' automated weapons systems and turning them against their masters.

Meanwhile, it is revealed that Frank Woods has survived his encounter with Lev Kravchenko and escaped from Hanoi. He has taken refuge in a secret location known as "The Vault" and has anticipated Menendez's rise to prominence. Woods serves as the narrator for the 2025 story arc.

Gameplay
Departing from the notorious linear campaign style of past Call of Duty games, Treyarch has decided to take a non-linear and sandbox approach to Call of Duty: Black Ops II, (meaning no back-to-back missions with the same outcome every time replayed) instead the old linear style has been dropped in favor of "a more open ended campaign that relies heavily on player choice."

There will be significant points within the single-player campaign where the player is essentially given control over the course the game will take. It won't be a simple "A, B or C" choice either, it will be more expansive than that, for example, not protecting a certain character won't lead to a mission failure, instead it will change the course the game will take.

To help with the departure from a linear campaign are a set of special missions dubbed Strike Force. These missions are sandbox, and play similarly to a Real Time Strategy game. The player can assume the role of a commander, command ground forces, and on top of this, there will be the ability to go back to the traditional first-person and take part in the action yourself. The player gets to have a chance of taking control of many different warfare technology such as unmanned vehicles, jets and robotic automoblies. If the player dies in a Strike Force mission, the story will go on, keeping the record of deaths rather than loading to the last saved checkpoint. The missions will go on to change the story, even change Menendez's plans. By the time the cold war ends the player will see that they have made the results different.

United States of America

 * Los Angeles, California
 * "The Vault"

Zombies
"If you like Zombies, you're gonna be really happy with what we're doing with Black Ops II. It's our biggest most ambitious Zombies effort—ever."

- Mark Lamia, Studio Head of Treyarch, confirming Zombies.

The Zombies mode from Call of Duty: World at War and Call of Duty: Black Ops is set to return in Black Ops II  with numerous additions and changes, such as it running on the game's multiplayer engine rather than a modified single-player engine which lets it support twice as many zombies and twice as many players as before and the inclusion of Theater Mode. It was confirmed that zombies will be receiving their own campaign. Rather than a 4-player co-op, the game has set to put in an 8-player co-op. While specific gameplay and story-related elements have yet to be announced, a promotional poster for the game depicts an unknown woman holding the head of a zombie, as well as a and a sword, which is hanging on her right leg.

It has beenconfirmed that the M1911 will be the starting weapon as it always has been.

Videos
Call of Duty Black Ops 2|Debut Trailer Villain Trailer - Official Call of Duty Black Ops 2 Trailer|Villain Trailer Call of Duty Black Ops 2 Exclusive Trailer E3 2012|E3 Trailer Treyarch Behind the Scenes|Behind the Scenes Behind the Scenes with Trent Reznor & David S. Goyer - Official Call of Duty Black Ops 2 Video|Black Ops II Interview with Trent Reznor & David S. Goyer Multiplayer Reveal Trailer - Official Call of Duty Black Ops 2 Video|Multiplayer Reveal Trailer

Trivia

 * This is the first game in the Call of Duty franchise that contains mountable horses for transport.
 * This is the first Call of Duty that Treyarch has produced and set in the future.
 * The game box cover has the character sitting in the exact position as the character on the first Black Ops game box cover, with both characters resting their arms on their knees in the same spots, the only difference being that the right arm is pointed upwards.
 * This is the second Call of Duty game to feature hitmarkers in campaign mode, the first being Call of Duty: Road to Victory.
 * It is the third game in the series to feature hitmarkers in a gamemode outside of multiplayer. The first is Road to Victory and the second is Modern Warfare 3.
 * A prequel available only on the PS VITA has been announced entitled Call of Duty: Black Ops: Declassified.
 * During the YouTube section of the Villain Trailer, it says "Sign in or register" as if an account wasn't logged in, but the features you need an account for are there (Video Manager, Channel Settings, etc.). This is probably an overlook by the developers.
 * In the Multiplayer reveal trailer, all players reuse the third person sprinting animation from Modern Warfare 3. However, this can be a placeholder.
 * Some of the weapons in the multiplayer reveal trailer share the same firing sounds from weapons in Black Ops. These weapons include the Commando, Skorpion, SPAS-12, Strela-3, and Python.
 * Some features from Black Ops will be returning, like Dolphin Diving, Face Paints, Emblem Customization, and Custom Red Dot sights as seen in the multiplayer trailer. Also one can see the 15 Prestige icon next to an enemy's name.
 * Your gun no longer disappears if you move while prone, instead, crawling animations have been created, it is unknown how this feature will work for Second Chance in Zombies mode.
 * This is the first Call of Duty game to not include Sleight of Hand and Steady Aim in multiplayer since it's debut in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Additionally, Pro Perks will not be featured for the first time since Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.
 * This is the first Call of Duty game where the player can attach 3 attachments to a single weapon in Multiplayer.