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
This video confirms that Call of Duty: Black Ops II takes place in the 1980s for the first third of the game, and in 2025 for the final 2/3. The video mentions that it will be sandbox style, meaning the player can make choices that will affect the story. This confirms that the campaign will have multiple endings. The campaign includes "unmanned armies" built to keep populations safe which turn against their own countries when the main antagonist, Raul Menendez, steals the "keys". The campaign also includes new vehicles, such as CLAWS, Tiltjet Planes, X-47 Pegasus, Quadrotors and new weapons, such as the KAP-40, and old ones, like the AK-47 (seen briefly in trailer). The player also has an opportunity to fly in a F/A-38 and operate with a Quadrotor, and control their squadron of Quadrotors.

The majority of the game, as indicated by the trailer, appears to be set in war-torn Los Angeles in the year 2025. The People's Republic of China has invaded Los Angeles due to a global struggle involving rare earth minerals.

Frank Woods returns from Call of Duty: Black Ops, age 95 and retired. The protagonist of the game has the name David Mason.

A new character known as Harper is also present in the game.

This video also mentions that a lot of characters from Call of Duty: Black Ops will be returning as playable characters. Specifically named are Alex Mason, Frank Woods, and Jason Hudson.

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 favour 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.

United States of America

 * Los Angeles, California 2025
 * "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, and also being able to support twice as many zombies and twice as many players as before due to this. 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.
 * Theater Mode has been confirmed for Zombies.

Trivia

 * This is the first game in the Call of Duty franchise that contains mountable horses for transport.
 * This is the first direct Call of Duty sequel that Treyarch has produced.
 * This is the first Call of Duty that Treyarch has produced that is 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 first Call of Duty game to feature Hitmarkers in campaign mode.
 * A prequel available only on the PS VITA has been announced entitled Call of Duty: Black Ops: Declassified.