User blog:Damac1214/Review of Call of Duty: Black Ops II

Hi, it's me Damac1214. I've played a sufficient amount of Call of Duty: Black Ops II, so I think I can finally give an honest review on the game without getting too biased, so let's just jump right in.

Story
I thought the story was pretty impressive, much more so than I expected it to be. Raul Menendez ended up being a pretty deep and well explained villain who actually appeared to have motives and reasoning behind why he decided to be a terrorist. They were able to connect the 1980's and 2025 sections pretty well also. I never felt like I was playing a level in 1980 just for the sake of playing as Alex Mason again. The story seemed plausible, though it recquired a little bit of suspension of disbelief, it was definetley an epic and engaging story. The branching storylines were also a huge plus, and the fact that they violated my expectations thrilled me even more. More often than not, what I thought was the right course of action led to worse events in the storyline. Every level seemed to fit, and the progression of the story and the changing timelines never seemed random or uncalled for.

My only real trouble with the story was I didn't fully understand what Cordis Die was or what it's goal was. Too me, Cordis Die is the only element of the story that should have been expanded upon. What could have been a very cool army of fanatical followers of Raul Menedez, who you could sympathize with the goals of, ended up just being another terrorist group to shoot at. I also, admittedly, felt that Woods/Kravchenko being alive could have been expanded on, and I had been hoping Reznov would have a larger role in the 1980's sections.

Gameplay
Now, I had been hyping up Black Ops II for awhile, but even I was blown away by the campaigns gameplay. The first couple levels didn't really get me, they felt like your standard Call of Duty levels, almost like a direct continuation of Black Ops campaign to be honest. By the second level however, things really started to pick-up. Create-A-Class, retrievable in level equipment, challenges, drone warfare, the HUGE array of weapons, the choice moments, the huge levels with multiple routes and playable areas, and the free driving and flying sections really set this apart from past Call of Duty campaigns. I can honestly say, this campagin did not dissappoint me in the slightest when it came too looking for a fun campaign.

Multiplayer
I was initially hesitant about Multiplayer. I am not a big multiplayer guy, always preffering the story based modes, so I didn't get myself to psyched up for an awesome multiplayer experience. But just like Halo 4 did the week before, Black Ops II pleasently surprised me with it's multiplayer. It just felt right, stronger than both Modern Warfare 3 and Black Ops before it. In my opinion, it's currently equal in fun to Modern Warfare 2. One of the biggest factors in this is Create-A-Class. The new Pick-10 system is a lot of fun once you start unlocking everything. It takes a bit, but once you can fully utilize Pick-10, the options are endless. None of the new weapons or attachments feel Overpowered or Cheap, even the worrysome MMS and Target Finder. The map selection is strong, with very few bland maps. The new Scorestreak system is another highlight, and the obvious next step after pointstreaks.

Overall I was impressed with the multiplayer, though the fact that Treyarch did not include the 1980's weapon set in it slightly dissappoints me, the more the merrier you know? There could have been a couple new or changed gamemodes as well, with only Hard Point and Multi-Team fitting in too this category.

Zombies
Anyone who knows me knows how much I LOVE zombies. It may be my favorite mode across all Call of Duty titles. I enjoy sitting down, playing a long game with my IRL or Wiki friends and then laughing about it afterwards. So I was psyched when Treyarch announced TranZit, and instantly bought the Hardened Edition when I heard about Nuketown Zombies.

At first, I was actually a little disappointed. My first game on Nuketown Zombies was difficult, and the size of the map disappointed me a little, I had been expecting more of the town too be open. My first game on TranZit didn't go so well either. It was large and confusing, and the Denizens in the fog just seemed to make the map annoying.

Come the weekend however, things began changing. Me and my friends quickly learned the tricks of both maps. The buildables on Tranzit, the Galvaknuckels, how to open the Pack-A-Punch, what weapons were good, etc. The sheer difficulty and size of Green Run when playing TranZit is what really gets me, I love it. I think it's completely awesome. Green Run may even end up being my favorite Zombies Map. Grief is another highlight of Zombies mode, though being played on smaller maps, having 8 players running around fighting each other is definetly a lot of fun, something I fear may end up getting underrated.

I still, however, am disappointed with two things. Survival Mode, for starters, just feels like a watered down TranZit. It's disappointing, considering the only unique Survival map is Nuketown Zombies. Hopefully, this is corrected in DLC. The other dissapointment is the lack of perks PhD Flopper, Deadshot Daiquri, and Mule Kick. The only one of those I like using is flopper, but it's nice too have options you know?

Overall, I'm very impressed with Zombies, though it's not 100% what I was expecting. Maybe 90%.

Overall
I am very happy with how Black Ops II turned out. The changes Treyarch has made this time around don't feel pointless or experimental, but instead necessarry and fun. Combine that with Awesome storytelling, surprisingly fun multiplayer, and the biggest Zombies map, Green Run, too date, and you have yourself a truly awesome game. I don't doubt it will end up being one of my favorite Call of Duty's. It doesn't have everything, but looking at the few cons would take away from the huge number of pros.

9.8/10 Would Bang