Black Ops 2

[G]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/black-o...-radar-6363855 (http://www.gamespot.com/news/black-ops-2-due-this-november-retail-radar-6363855)
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 will go on sale this November, according to Spanish retail site Fnac.


Is Black Ops 2 coming this November? One retailer thinks so.
Activision had previously confirmed that a new Call of Duty title would ship in 2012, but did not provide a name or a release window. Call of Duty has had new installments debut between late October and mid-November every year since the franchise was launched in 2003.

The retail listing does not provide further information regarding the game, and as of press time, Activision had not responded to GameSpot's request for comment.

This is far from the first indication that this year's Call of Duty game will be Call of Duty Black Ops 2. Two weeks ago, Amazon France reportedly posted (and then pulled) a listing for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. Later, a contract art studio employee's resume included mention of the game.

Treyarch developed the original Call of Duty: Black Ops, which was set during the Cold War. For more on the original Call of Duty: Black Ops, check out GameSpot's review.

[LoDownM]

I see what you did there G.

[G]

i hope diving is still in

[LoDownM]

God yes. Miss dolphin diving in MW3.

[G]

i missed blops the first time around since i didn't have a 360, but now i will bring the pain.

[G]

by pain i mean 2nd to last place

[#BROKEN Hasney]

Eagerly awaiting the second act of the Black Ops 2 Fallen Angel show after this releases

[G]

Should we make a pool on how many times he sells/rebuys?

[El Capitano Gatisto]

I predict he will make 500+ posts in this thread talking about how is not going to buy it, buy it, sell it then buy it again. I pretty much predicted this in the MW3 thread and it came true.

[El Fangel]

I predict he will make 500+ posts in this thread talking about how is not going to buy it, buy it, sell it then buy it again. I pretty much predicted this in the MW3 thread and it came true.

You were right. I will man up and admit that. Though for console FPS games we are left with little choice.

As for Black Ops 2, I do plan on buying it. Out of all the CoD games I have played I feel Black Ops was the most balanced and fun to play.

[LoDownM]

The custom emblem editor needs to come back in this as well. Don't know how that didn't make it into MW3.

[El Fangel]

The custom emblem editor needs to come back in this as well. Don't know how that didn't make it into MW3.

This. I had a very nice emblem and enjoyed seeing it on my guns.

In hindsight, I fail to remember anything in Blops that was particularly bad. Spawn system was annoying at times with people tending to spawn in behind you a lot but I believe they fixed that early on. I think the best part of the game was the in game cash for weapons, equipment which allowed you to unlock what you wanted in the order you wanted instead of waiting 53 fucking levels for a claymore :mad:

[D Mac]

Fuck you g. I found this news first.

[El Fangel]

I hope they have Napalm Strike again, probably the best killstreak CoD has ever had.

[RP]

Fallen Angel wont buy this....unless he does.

[D Mac]

http://www.tpww.net/forums/showthread.php?t=117746

[El Fangel]

D Mac, you failed. This thead is G's.

I think it would be interesting if they had a weight capacity for weapons and equipment. Really could add to the uniqueness of each class.

For example, you can choose your weapon, how many clips, your secondary, grenades, tactical, etc. How much you are carrying determines your movement speed as well so if you want a class that's fast as hell pick a SMG and nothing else.

Definitely would support this.

[Captain of Fun]

Black Ops had the best multiplayer in the series, in my opinion.

[El Fangel]

Agreed. Napalm Strike as I have mentioned before was the best killstreak reward I ever used as it could be used both offensively, defensively or to force the enemy to take the root right to where you are waiting.

[Savio]

http://f0.bcbits.com/z/38/78/3878275097-1.jpg

[El Fangel]

Thnks 4 yr take.

[D Mac]

D Mac, you failed. This thead is G's.


:(

[El Fangel]

sorry brother. Damn quickscopers.

[G]

I read this online somewhere, and figured you might like to see.



This year, Call of Duty will return with it’s ninth installment with Black Ops 2. As expected it will be following Treyarch’s previous game Black Ops. It’s release date is set for the 6^th of November.
Game Modes


Escort, a new game mode

Similar to Search and Destroy however a live player must be escorted to one of three areas (or two depending on the map) without being killed.
The match will have rounds, consisting of one life only.

Drop Zone and Kill Confirmed will return
Team Defender and Infected will not return

Pointstreaks


Will follow from Modern Warfare 3’s system
Larger emphasis on objectives

A bomb plant is worth 2 points
A neutral flag is worth 1, however an enemy flag is worth 2
A flag assist capture is worth 1, a capture is worth 2

The Specialist Pointstreak has be modified

2 kills now gets you 1 perk
The 4th kill gets you 2 more perks
The 6th kill gets you 3 more perks
The 8th Kill gets you 4 more perks
You do not get every perk when you reach 8 kills
Perks only become “Pro” when you have them Pro

RC XD will not return
Heat vision

Is a new Pointstreak reward
When you get the required points, you can activate this Pointstreak and your player pulls out a scope and attaches it to your weapon.
This scopes main advantage is it’s ability to detect enemies through most walls.
Note, the scope can only be attached to primaries not including shotguns

Item Packages

Requires 5 points
Fall along side care packages and air drop traps.
Features a list of package items only
Including ammo, mini gun, grenade launcher, rocket launcher, and body armor



Prestiges


There will be 15 prestiges
There will be 50 ranks
Every two prestiges there is a 5 rank increase
The final prestige has 90 levels

ELITE 2.0


ELITE is being fully incorporated into Black Ops 2
Combat record has been modified and re-named as ELITE Stats
There will be a specific lobby for clan matches (new way of leveling clans)
Clan Tournaments can now be implemented

Removed


No MOAB or Nuke
No last stand
No death streaks
No flame thrower attachment

Map Design


Map design and size will be following Black Ops not Modern Warfare 3

Sniper Rifles


Improved sniper rifle usage.
No aim assist for any sniper rifle.
Less sway

Customization


No longer just perk 1 chooses the players appearance
Appearance is a combination of all perks and type of Pointstreak being used.

Hardcore


Larger emphasis on hardcore than ever before
No grenade launchers
Only vehicle guided rocket launchers permitted
Respawn timings decreased (for most modes)
1 bullet in the foot will no longer kill a person, a head or chest shot is usually required.
A person will now bleed out if severely injured.

Perk System 2.0


The Perk Pro system has been upgraded
There is now 2 options a perk can advance to.
Both require different challenges to unlock
Once the desired Pro version is unlocked, the player can select that as their “Perk Pro”.
Once selected, the only way to choose the other option is by entering prestige mode.
For example Perk slot 1 has the perk called Speed
Speed – Reduces the time taken to aim down the sight

Pro I – Swaps weapons faster
Pro II – Throws equipment faster



Combat Training


Will be returning with vast improvements.
Difficulty is no longer based on how long the bots take to start shooting.
Bots now have an advance AI system
Similar to the behavior seen in the MW3 Spec Ops survival



Heat vision


Is a new Pointstreak reward
When you get the required points, you can activate this Pointstreak and your player pulls out a scope and attaches it to your weapon.
This scopes main advantage is it’s ability to detect enemies through most walls.
Note, the scope can only be attached to primaries not including shotguns

[RoXer]

Heat vision


Is a new Pointstreak reward
When you get the required points, you can activate this Pointstreak and your player pulls out a scope and attaches it to your weapon.
This scopes main advantage is it’s ability to detect enemies through most walls.
Note, the scope can only be attached to primaries not including shotguns

FARSIGHT (a lite version of it at least)

[G]

I'm really excited they are bringing on their version of Vegas 1's Dr Phil mode. I could see me playing that more than S&D.

[Emperor Smeat]

:-\ no more flamethrowers as attachments.

Probably a sign the story in this one is more towards the 80s and early 90s since flamethrowers started to be used less after Vietnam.

[G]

The "Only vehicle guided rocket launchers permitted" means they are putting vehicles back into Hardcore. Fuck off

[RoXer]

I can't wait to goozex this except I most likely won't because goozex probably won't exsist by then

[G]

http://www.baytreecapital.com/images/goozex.jpg Baytree will purchase a majority interest in Goozex, Inc. (Goozex), the owner and operator of Goozex.com, one of the most active online communities of video game traders. Goozex's feature-rich platform enables users to find both new and used games, and to trade in old games. Over the coming months Goozex will be adding several new features to the platform to enable it to better compete with other players in the space including eBay, Amazon and Gamestop, the goal being to become the web's leading one stop shop for video gamers.


The web's leading one stop shop!

[G]

"Goozex's feature-rich platform enables users to find both new and used games, and to trade in old games"

I must have overlooked the part where you can get new games.

[RoXer]

why is the website down right now?

[LoDownM]

Like everything I've read about Blops 2.

[G]

no idea

[G]

forums are fine

[Big Vic]

props on RCXD not returning.

[El Fangel]

Think Treyarch just knocked it out of the park.

[LoDownM]

Treyarch's CoD games are always better then IW's.

[Iop]

I wish they would make a mode where u have to collect the heads of the guys you frag and the guy with the most heads at the end of the round wins but you have to hide your heads on the map so someone else cant steal them.

[LoDownM]

That mode is in Halo, go play that. Also, go away.

[Iop]

That mode is in Halo, go play that. Also, go away.

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c173/ewrgame/WWF%202006/Roster/Tyson_Tomko.jpg

[LoDownM]

We know you are gay for guys with tattoos.

[El Fangel]

Treyarch's CoD games are always better then IW's.

Don't think I am going to by an IW made CoD game again, just play the Treyarch ones for two years at a time as they know what the hell they are doing.

[Miotch]

MW3 is great, and if you don't think so maybe you should just go sell your copy.

The best thing about those changes to me is no more aim assist with sniper rifles. Begone, quickscoping faggots, begone.

[LoDownM]

MW3 is terrible compared to Black Ops. The only good things about MW3 is the killstreak system and the survival mode.

[LoDownM]

I am a little disappointed Infected won't be returning tho.

[Blitz]

Any source on all that besides "the internet"?

[El Fangel]

MW3 is great, and if you don't think so maybe you should just go sell your copy.

The best thing about those changes to me is no more aim assist with sniper rifles. Begone, quickscoping faggots, begone.

I honestly am anxious to see the good quickscopers now. If you can do that without aim assist then goddamn, you are deserving of my respect.

MW3 is terrible compared to Black Ops. The only good things about MW3 is the killstreak system and the survival mode.

It is, the only thing I can think of besides what you said is my favorite gun is in MW3. Then again, the PSG1 was pretty badass.

[RoXer]

I honestly am anxious to see the good quickscopers now. If you can do that without aim assist then goddamn, you are deserving of my respect.

what

[RoXer]

If they take aim assist out then there will be no need to quickscope-- haven't we been down this road?

[El Fangel]

There are likely going to be people who will still try it. Blops made an effort to hinder it, yet people still did it. Yes, aim assist still helped.

Id really like to see if any of them are good enough to do it without aim assist.

[G]

Any source on all that besides "the internet"?


http://kalyxtriad.wordpress.com/

[Iop]

We know you are gay for guys with tattoos.

I am straight but whatever u prefer in your fantasie.

I wish COD would take Battlefield (Baddlefield) full on and make a game with larger maps and vehicles. Maybe even make a sea map with submarines and battleships.

[Blakeamus]

Anything on Zombies? One of the things I love in the Treyarch franchise.

[El Fangel]

I was thinking about this today and I really enjoyed BlackOps. The only thing they are doing is making it better. Honestly excited.

[RoXer]

There are likely going to be people who will still try it.

No, there are likely going to be people who do not try it seeing as how the feature that made it possible for an instant lock-on kill is going to be completely taken out. Those who do try are idiots.


Blops made an effort to hinder it

No it didn't.

Id really like to see if any of them are good enough to do it without aim assist.

Again, the point of quick-scoping is to get a moment of aiming where it's an instant, lock-on kill. If they took that feature out I don't see how someone who knows that feature has been taken out would try something like that.

If they do, then it's most likely an instance of just having fun and screwing around. No one would attempt a quickscope for an advantage if it has been taken out of the game.

[RoXer]

This is all depending on if this information is true and what exactly the mechanics are of "No aim assist for any sniper rifle." Could still be something in the engine that makes the aiming lock on, or some other exploit. Could be telling the truth and they fixed it or it could be all bullshit. We'll have to see.

[El Fangel]

Of course. I am not seeing anything that isn't a possibility or outside the realm of one so in taking this at face value.

Blops had it where SoH didn't allow faster ADS in Sniper Rifles. That's what I meant as hinder. Not sure it did much though.

Lastly, the people who quickscoped before likely have a decent idea where the center of their screen is by now. Of course aim assist was the primary reason why people used it. Id like to see if they are skilled enough from doing it with aim assist to do it without.

[Fignuts]

head explodes

[The Jayman]

No last stand

:y:

[Miotch]

I didn't mind last stand so much in Blops, because if you put someone into last stand and someone else finished them off you still got credit for the kill.

[El Fangel]

That is irritating in MW3. Ill snipe and try to pump that second shot in someone but some bastard will steal it on me :mad:

[LoDownM]

I don't understand why IW didn't carry over that and the number of captures/defends on the domination scoreboard.

[Emperor Smeat]

Might be related to the former IW bosses "hating" Treyarch and not wanting to use anything they've work on. Also really hated them for being able to modify an engine they said was impossible to do.

Same reason why no Zombies in MW games and their refusal to fix the multiplayer while Treyarch games had stuff hated from a MW game fixed up a bit for their games.

[The Jayman]

I didn't mind last stand so much in Blops, because if you put someone into last stand and someone else finished them off you still got credit for the kill.

But in Blops someone in last stand can be revived

[LoDownM]

Only if they had the pro version. And honestly, people hate last stand enough, saw a handful of people get revived in Black Ops' entire run.

[El Fangel]

Only if they had the pro version. And honestly, people hate last stand enough, saw a handful of people get revived in Black Ops' entire run.

I did it when I could because it is retarded NOT to help your teammate.

[LoDownM]

Nah, fuck that, not reviving last stand tards in Domination.

[El Fangel]

Nah, fuck that, not reviving last stand tards in Domination.

I meant in TDM.

There was several matches we only won by a single kill, maybe two that would have been the opposite had I not taken the initiative not to let my teammate die.

[Verbose Minch]

I don't see why you wouldn't revive a team mate in any mode.

Seems silly.

[El Fangel]

I don't see why you wouldn't revive a team mate in any mode.

Seems silly.

People I wish to keep alive when playing Call of Duty

1) Myself
1A) Any people I know
2) Anyone else

In Domination, you helping could result in a Double Kill easily.

[LoDownM]

Kills don't win Domination, so it doesn't matter. I've done amazing in Domination games, easily doubling the next guy in points/kills and still been on the losing team because I'm the only one on my team capping and defending flags.

[Requiem]

Kills don't win domination, but how does letting your teammate die and have to go through a respawn timer and likely run across the map, help your team at all?

That's retarded logic. Oh hey, my teammate is downed and we're trying to get to the objective.. so I'm just gonna let him die so he has to run all the way back here and take more time getting to the objective; not to mention, I'll run into battle with one less person there to help.

Edit: Actually, kills -do- win domination. Assuming your team is pushing toward an objective and not just -completely- retarded, the team that can outkill the other typically wins. Allowing your teammates to die because you're selfish and don't want to take the time to revive them, is stupid and makes no sense.

[El Fangel]

Kills get Killstreaks, Killstreaks cause problems. Best plan? Don't get killed or let others get killed.

[BrockLesnarRulez]

The BL in Black Ops should stand for Brock Lesnar and the game should involve punching people in the face

[LoDownM]

:roll: Req, posting in a thread about a game series he hates, again.

9/10 times if someone capping a point with you has last stand, the guy that put him in last stand is gonna kill him. Or since I play ground war, 1 of the 50 grenades thrown at the flag is gonna kill him. And if he's helping me cap and I actually have a chance to, I'll revive him. But you can still cap in last stand, and I'd rather not be defenseless for those few seconds reviving him and we both die and don't get the flag.

But I'm not gonna go out of my way to revive the guy in last stand that's camping in a building or no where near any of the flags and is not capping or defending shit. My team getting the flags and keeping them is more important then the other team getting 1 kill.

My point stands tho, kills don't matter in Domination. I've seen youtube commentators have amazing k/d ratios in Domination, ones that I'd love to have in a TDM, but they lose the match.

Not sure I was gonna post this, but fuck it, first and only "req post" from me.

[Requiem]

I notice you, more than anyone else, seem to bring that up as if 'me' posting something is somehow a magic shield that protects you from the stupidity of your own logic. Black Ops was my favorite of the CoD series. My complaints have been almost exclusively about EA and Infinity Ward. I didn't purchase MW3 as proof of my disdain for that series. Blops received a few complaints about features, but I feel the time I spent playing it was worth the money. Black Ops 2 actually has potential to be a decent game, if only because it is a Treyarch game.

With that pointless distraction out of the way... :roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::rol l::roll::roll::roll:

You obviously fail to understand basic FPS tactics. Minch pretty much said it already. I don't know why you wouldn't revive someone in -any- game mode. There is no con that outweights the many pros. Preventing killstreaks, respawn times, and distance from spawn to objectives. Not even accounting for how helpful it is to have a second person alive to help you, potentially get more kills, continue THEIR killstreak, or even be there to take a bullet instead of you in a time when it would really matter.

[El Fangel]

Also, want to add the most obvious thing ever here.

If you do it for him, you could be the guy with your back on the ground next time.

[Miotch]

For the record this is a stupid argument, but hey, may as well point out why this is stupid.

The killstreak argument generally goes out the window though when you're talking about reviving someone. When if ever does someone get put in last stand and a team mate revives him before the attacker is dead? If anything the killstreak argument would work against what you're both saying, because when you try to revive someone there's a good chance you're both going to die if the attacker is still alive. Dead attacker = ended kill streak.

[Requiem]

So that one thing negates everything else?

[El Fangel]

Killing the attacker is top priority.
Saving the person is second.

If you can't do the first, attempting the second is best.

[Miotch]

Then you both die and in comes a PAVE LOW.

And Req, if you can SAFELY revive your team mate then yes, by all means do it, but just trying to save your team mate for the sake of him not dying is retarded and going to get you killed.

[Miotch]

I love how we're discussing something that won't even be in the next game.

[El Fangel]

Yeah lol.

Accolades in MW3, I have 211 highest K/D ones. Out of 645 matches.

Roughly 1/3 games, I have the best K/D because I play to get kills but not get killed.

[Verbose Minch]

For the record this is a stupid argument, but hey, may as well point out why this is stupid.

The killstreak argument generally goes out the window though when you're talking about reviving someone. When if ever does someone get put in last stand and a team mate revives him before the attacker is dead? If anything the killstreak argument would work against what you're both saying, because when you try to revive someone there's a good chance you're both going to die if the attacker is still alive. Dead attacker = ended kill streak.

Why would you revive someone if the attacker is still alive?

[El Fangel]

If it's a sniper, ill leave tgeguy to die.

[Miotch]

Why would you revive someone if the attacker is still alive?
I'm not sure, but we were talking about reviving someone to stop their killstreak, which is why I was discussing that. If he's dead the whole killstreak argument is moot.

[G]

New Call of Duty set for world reveal during NBA playoffs on May 1 (http://www.joystiq.com/2012/04/23/new-call-of-duty-set-for-world-reveal-during-nba-playoffs-on-may/)

by Ben Gilbert (http://www.joystiq.com/editor/ben-gilbert) http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.joystiq.com/media/writer_rss.gif (http://www.joystiq.com/editor/ben-gilbert/rss.xml) (43 minutes ago)
11 (http://www.joystiq.com/2012/04/23/new-call-of-duty-set-for-world-reveal-during-nba-playoffs-on-may/#comments)

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2012/04/codrevealheaderimg530pxtnt151252.jpg (http://www.joystiq.com/2012/04/23/new-call-of-duty-set-for-big-reveal-during-nba-playoffs-on-may-1/)
Like Madden and Punxsutawney Phil, the annual reveal of a new Call of Duty game isn't what we'd call surprising. It is, however, quite a thrilling notion to many millions of people the world over, which is why we're here to tell you that, yes, another Call of Duty game is getting ready for its big reveal. According to a new countdown timer on Call of Duty's official website, said game will be revealed during the NBA playoffs on May 1 via TNT (apparently the station's "Drama, period" slogan also applies to sports playoffs).

Given the nature of the Call of Duty series, it's very likely that 2012 will see the launch of the next Treyarch-developed CoD title (2011's Modern Warfare 3 (http://www.joystiq.com/game/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-3) was a collaborative effort lead by Infinity Ward). And what might Treyarch be working on? Many (http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/01/spanish-retailer-lists-call-of-duty-black-ops-2-for-november/) (many (http://www.joystiq.com/2012/02/17/treyarch-contract-art-studio-employee-lists-black-ops-2-among/)) indications (http://www.joystiq.com/2012/02/17/report-black-ops-2-listing-spotted-on-amazon-france/) point to a sequel to 2010's immensely successful Black Ops (http://www.joystiq.com/game/call-of-duty-black-ops), but we'll see for sure on May 1

[LoDownM]

Picture is a dead give away for Black Ops 2.

[G]

Bet they make it a trilogy

[El Fangel]

Galil, Ak, Gas Grenades and Napalm strike and I'm happy.

[D Mac]

And the Stoner 63 and Commando.

[El Fangel]

Yes, loved the Stoner.

[Miotch]

How many times are you going to buy this game?

[El Fangel]

I can't predict the future any better then you can.

[Miotch]

So 5.

[El Fangel]

Alright, I will buy it five times in total.

[Emperor Smeat]

Based on a couple of leaked images and a teaser by Activision, Black Ops 2 will end up being farther ahead in terms of timeline than the Modern Warfare series. Not completely futuristic but "near future" in terms of setting and weapons.

http://www.egmnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Black-ops-Quad.jpg

http://www.egmnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Black-Ops-Quad-3.jpg

http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/special-effects-firm-leaks-first-black-ops-2-in-game-shots/

[G]

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2012/04/codblops2ignheaderimg530px.jpg

[El Fangel]

Well that's interesting. A November release on a tuesday. That normal?

[LoDownM]

Yes.

[El Fangel]

Thought Blops came on a Thursday.

[LoDownM]

Nope. Was a Tuesday, only Arcade/PSN games come out on Thursdays.

[El Fangel]

I bought it that Thursday. Looked at receipt #1 of 76

[G]

99% of releases are on Tuesdays. I thought we had this discussion before. Every CoD has always come out on a Tuesday.

[El Fangel]

I just explained why I though Thursday. Is that not good enough for you,G? Is it?

[LoDownM]

http://callofduty.com/uk/en/blackops2

There's a reveal trailer, but it wouldn't load for me. But looks like Black Ops 2 is Official.

[LoDownM]

Looks like someone realized they fucked up, page doesn't work anymore.

[G]

<object width="640" height="360"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/x3tedlWs1XY&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/x3tedlWs1XY&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="360"></embed></object>

[LoDownM]

Nice.

[Blitz]

Looks sexy. I'm in.

[El Fangel]

Sick.

[G]

Is that an old Mason. I can't remember much from the story or who was what. I do remember the name Mason.

[LoDownM]

That was Woods in the trailer. Was with Mason through the entire game almost.

[Emperor Smeat]

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110625154660/callofduty/images/thumb/c/c8/Woods_Looking_Like_Hammered_Shiatsu.jpg/504px-Woods_Looking_Like_Hammered_Shiatsu.jpg

http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120502030006/callofduty/images/thumb/d/d1/OldManWoods.png/640px-OldManWoods.png

Yeah has to be Woods since the only other guys who were with Mason as long were Reznov who is already dead and Hudson but the old guy is missing the scar on the head.

[LoDownM]

It also says it's Woods in the trailer right at the beginning.

The Vault
Sgt. Frank Woods, USMC (Ret)

[Blitz]

http://bulk.destructoid.com/ul/226705-preview-call-of-duty-black-ops-ii/Black%20Ops%20II_Harper-620x.jpg
Call of Duty: Black Ops II (PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)
Developer: Treyarch
Publisher: Activision
Releases: November 2012
Black Ops II is a direct sequel to Black Ops, meaning that they've taken their finely crafted historical fiction and have pulled it into this next game to create a huge time-spanning narrative, stretching from the Cold War era in the late 1980s to their new fictional cold war, taking place around 2025. Treyarch's game director, Dave Anthony, once again sought assistance from Hollywood's David Goyer, writer of Batman Begins, Dark Knight and the upcoming Superman: Man of Steel film, for the story. They teamed up to craft this multi-generation story starting some 18 months ago, and they're finally ready to show a bit of it off.
The full details on how this will all work out are still scarce, but we do know that you'll play as characters from Black Ops in this sequel. Contrary to popular belief, Frank Woods is still alive, and you'll see some of the story through his eyes. Note that somehow he is alive in both time periods of the game, too. Alex Mason, the protagonist of the first game, is also back, and you'll play some segments of Black Ops II as him. In the game's future 2025 setting you'll play as David Mason, Alex's son.
Treyarch assures that this future world was built to be plausible. They worked with 21st century war expert Peter Singer, the author of "Wired for War," to get a solid view of what future warfare might look like. What they learned is that robotics and drones would play a big part in future war, and that Moore's Law would figure heavily into how weapons will change. Singer also shared a vision of what future global tension and conflicts might surround, and it is not oil.
http://bulk.destructoid.com/ul/226705-preview-call-of-duty-black-ops-ii/Black%20Ops%20II_LOS_ANGELES-620x.jpg
Rare Earth Elements are just now becoming newsworthy. Some 17 metals make up these elements, and they're used in the creation of many key technologies in our lives, including mobile phones, tablets, and computers. They're also key in the creation of new energy technologies like hybrid car batteries and wind turbines, not to mention in future war applications, like stealth tech, laser guidance and drones. As it stands now, China mines and controls 95 percent of the world's REE. Just last month President Obama announced a challenge with the World Trade Organization along with the EU and Japan against China for recent export restrictions on these valuable minerals. Treyarch has crafted their story for future global tension around this potential issue of the throttling of these elements.
In the bit of story we were able to witness, this cold war gets hot when villain Raul Melendez creates the first spark. Melendez manages to break into the military infrastructure, digitally hijacking America's remote controlled robots, drones, missiles and other military intelligence. Through this hijack he is able to send our own drones into many major American cities, including Los Angeles, where the President is. David Mason, son of Black Ops' Alex Mason, is there on assignment with the President, and quickly finds himself fighting through the war-torn city.
The demo opens to the President, Mason and other soldiers in a vehicle, speeding down L.A.'s freeways as it's being attacked by low-flying drones. They're working to get her to a shelter, but vehicle fires, gunmen, and chaos from the city evacuation are making it difficult. Fire and explosions are also hindering progress, but they're nothing compared to the downed helicopter that takes out part of the freeway bridge, sending the convoy vehicle tumbling.
The first-person gameplay starts here, with Mason crawling out of the wrecked vehicle, jumping over debris and immediately into a vehicle-mounted turret to take down incoming drones. Barely escaping before this vehicle tumbles over the edge of the broken bridge, Mason immediately starts sniping distant attackers, providing cover for the President and her escort team. Being a future rifle, the scope lets Mason see through walls and automobiles, and the energy pulse gunfire can actually penetrate these surfaces to hit the enemy behind them if charged long enough. (Your days are numbered, campers.)
Later in the stage Mason finds himself in downtown Los Angeles, which has been transformed into a war zone, apparently waking up from a blackout. He comes to just in time to see a policeman ripped apart by machine gun fire from a quad bot with a machine gun on its back. This walker goes down after a few hits with explosive rounds, but a truck comes crashing through some of the wreckage to release even more of the same bots into the area. Mason makes his way into a shopping center near the Staples Center and convention center, fights his way through heavy fire, and makes his way out the other end just in time to see the 110 building come crashing down on its side, causing a quake-like rumble throughout the city.
http://bulk.destructoid.com/ul/226705-preview-call-of-duty-black-ops-ii/Black%20Ops%20II_QUADROTOR-620x.jpg
Now all of downtown is on fire, and the visibility is low due to smoke. Mason finds a jet and climbs in to continue his mission from the sky. In the jet, Mason hovers up and flies out to take down drones from the sky, firing cannons and missiles as he weaves through Los Angeles' skyscrapers. He does his best to fly down the streets to provide cover for the President's convoy, but soon finds that he has to take the jet into high gear to chase down attackers. Things seem to be going well until he collides with a drone, sending him out the cockpit in a parachute.
As mentioned earlier, in the background of this hijack attack by Melendez on America is a cold war with China. The situation becomes even more complicated when he decides to redirect the attacking drone fleet to China's major cities, effectively using these powers as pawns for his own endgame.
The downtown Los Angeles demo for Call of Duty: Black Ops II is easily one of the most impressive live gameplay demos I've ever seen. The action and tension never stopped for a second; I actually felt stress in my neck and upper back from just watching! There was a nice variety of gameplay that flowed from one type to another, but it all was paced so beautifully that it didn't seem segmented. It was big, loud, cinematic and thrilling -- and we're only talking about 15 minutes of play here.
Up until this point, death in the Call of Duty titles has had little meaning or significance, as players could simply restart after dying to try to complete an objective. This changes with Black Ops II, as your performance in the game will influence the story in meaningful ways. Studio head Mark Lamia explained that main story characters, squad members, and villains will live or die depending on what you do and how you perform. Your choices and mission performance will directly impact the ending, having some effect on the cold war between America and China. Lamia says that everyone will get different results, and in the end they're going to show you how things could have been different.
You'll guide the narrative through your decisions and performance in a new type of level called Strike Force. These levels turn around the classic CoD structure, bringing sandbox-style missions to the mix. In between standard story missions, operations will inform you of other conflicts that need Black Ops attention, and you'll choose from several of these Strike Force missions to proceed. In these, your success or failure will have some effect on the underlying cold war story. This means that it's entirely possible to completely fail the mission and have the game's story continue. As mentioned earlier, you'll find out in the end how your performance might have changed the outcome of the cold war.
http://bulk.destructoid.com/ul/226705-preview-call-of-duty-black-ops-ii/Black%20Ops%20II_CLAW-620x.jpg
These sandbox-style missions are unique in that players are able to approach the objectives in whatever way they'd like. They're free to use whatever troops, weapons and methods that are presented to them. If a player wanted to oversee the level as a general the entire time, they could, but a player that would rather play it just as they have with every other Call of Duty, with gun in hand, could just as easily. Either way, the results of this mission will affect the geopolitical arc of the game.
A play-through of one of these stages had a team taking out cargo on a Singapore dock by hacking into a defense system. Using the overhead command view, the player was able to jump into any player or vehicle on the play field, doing whatever was needed to complete the mission. There was a constant flipping between soldiers, small remote bots armed with machine guns, flying drones, and a larger robot, leading up to being able to call in an air strike to destroy the cargo and complete the mission. What's interesting is that if any one solider or drone were to be destroyed, the player could "go into" another to continue the mission. If all play possibilities are exhausted, the player fails the mission.
Treyarch is not quite ready to talk full details on Black Ops II multiplayer, but Design Director David Vonderhaar was on hand to tease with as many tidbits as he could. The multiplayer will take place in 2025 exclusively, and Vonderhaar says the motivation for that is purely gameplay. They're thinking about how future technology will apply to weapons, attachments and killstreaks, but now also to robots and drones. He says that this new technology has opened up some creative possibilities, letting them do things they would have liked to before, but couldn't justify.
Vonderhaar also stressed that eSports is a big agenda for Treyarch. They want the game to be as competitive as possible as the culture moves into the mainstream. They also realize that making Black Ops II enjoyable to watch as a spectator is important. Finally, clean, efficient social media tools have influenced the way the multiplayer team thinks about interfaces. It sounds like we can expect concise menus with high visual impact in multiplayer.
Oh, and zombies are coming back. No details were given, but we were told to expect even more ways to play zombies. We'll hear more on this at later date, says Treyarch.
http://bulk.destructoid.com/ul/226705-preview-call-of-duty-black-ops-ii/Black%20Ops%20II_AFTERMATH-620x.jpg
Black Ops II is shaping up to be the best looking game on consoles. Dan Bunting, Director of Online, showed off some impossibly beautiful stage examples in a presentation. He says that their goal was to bring PC quality graphics running at 60 frames per second to home consoles, and if these stages were any indication, they're going to knock that goal out of the park. Through revamped systems and improved pipeline processes, a coastal island off in Yemen looked photorealistic. Bunting showed off new lighting engine abilities that permit very natural looking bounce lighting in dark areas, with lights shining through windows and doorways realistically. The new lighting along with new texture blending techniques made for remarkably detailed surfaces, like sand that had blown into the cracks and crevices on a cobblestone street. HDR techniques had sun glaring on the side of a weapon, and water looking hot white from the sun.
For a contrast, a close-up look of war-torn L.A. was also shown. High-resolution textures made for some incredibly detailed rubble and wreckage. The texture blending technique made the toppled over skyscraper look eerily real, with its contorted rebar and crumbled walls strewn everywhere. The detail packed into each scene was almost overwhelming.
Just as impressive is the new animation technology the motion capture team is using for Black Ops II; new technology allows a degree of motion capture so detailed that a comparison video of the same performance using Black Ops' tech looked primitive. The new tech is so good that raw capture data applied to a model looked much better than the old techniques after a week and a half of tweaking. One especially impressive demo showed a female making a video call to a loved one, with the camera close to her face. Realistic movements like brow quivering, lips sticking together, and eyes tearing up were easily noticeable. In the pursuit of convincing performances they even brought in a horse to the mo-cap studio for capture. Seeing a finished cutscene from Black Ops II really brought it home: they've left Uncanny Valley far behind, and now nothing is standing in the way of full cinematic immersion.
Visiting Treyarch's offices, I could feel it: This team is fired up. It was clear that creative forces are working every angle to make Call of Duty: Black Ops II something so much more ambitious than its predecessor. It all centers around a huge, multi-generational narrative with branching story lines, and it's paved with their famed super-cinematic gameplay, and the all-new Strike Force sandbox-style levels. And the twist is that it's all set in 2025, which is just futuristic enough to be believable, but not so much that you're being hit over the head with off-the-wall sci-fi. It's running at 60 frames per second, looking and sounding better than anything in recent memory, and it's packed with new weapons, mechanics, enemy types and gameplay experiences that takes the franchise into brave new territory.
Treyarch is clearly excited about what they've created, and after seeing it for myself it's safe to say that you should be, too.

[Fignuts]

Technically the series narrative goes all the way back to WW II, with Resnov being in World at War.

[El Fangel]

A gun that shoots through and sees through walls. I am fairly apprehensive about that. Otherwise looks awesome.

[RoXer]

Let's Talk About the Future of Call of Duty

Sharper graphics. Branching campaign. Open-ended level design. This isn't the Call of Duty sequel you were expecting.

By Jeff Gerstmann | May 1, 2012

Mark Lamia is starting to freak me out.

He's telling me about the future--or, specifically, he's talking about the future of warfare and how that plays into the scenario they're building for the campaign in Treyarch's next release, Call of Duty: Black Ops II. After talking to P.W. Singer, an author and director of an institution that gets paid to worry about such things, the team at Treyarch is building a plausible version of the year 2025. By spinning out from today's ideas about how wars are fought and the resource struggles likely to be causing problems by then, much of the next Call of Duty game is concerned with China's hold on rare earth elements, the 17 elements that go into making all sorts of modern devices, from your iPhone to the batteries in today's hybrid automobiles to, well, all sorts of high-tech military items. In fact, it's not hard to conduct a headline search or two and discover all types of talk about China's stranglehold on these increasingly vital substances, and it's even easier to find people talking about the eventuality of a new Cold War rising out of all this. And that's today. By 2025? Well... like I said, Treyarch's argument sounds pretty convincing.

It's funny, because I was prepared for this trip to be a sad confirmation of my expectations with regards to the future of the Call of Duty franchise. Or, more specifically, my interest in the future of the Call of Duty franchise. Over the past couple of years, Activision has published Call of Duty games that are positively competent. Fine games if you're into that sort of thing, but the last couple of years have really left me wondering if I was still a part of that group. It wasn't until I started thinking about writing this story, for example, that I decided to finally toss Modern Warfare 3 back in to download all the maps and stuff that had come as a part of the Call of Duty Elite subscription that I definitely wasn't using. And as far as the actual gameplay and multiplayer is concerned, I suppose I'm still on the fence. But after hearing Treyarch's pitch for its story and the sorts of things the studio has planned for Black Ops II's campaign, I'm definitely excited enough to look forward to seeing how the next chapter from Frank Woods, Alex Mason, and Jason Hudson. Their story, though, will play out in the 1980s.

The bulk of Black Ops II will put you in the boots of David Mason, son of Alex Mason, who ran the show in the previous game. The younger Mason is hunting down a bad guy by the name of Raoul Menendez, who first started stirring up trouble when Reagan was in office. The game will open with David Mason heading to a CIA facility known as "The Vault," where the agency keeps people who are too important or crazy to be walking around the streets. It's here where Mason finds Frank Woods and confronts him about his and Alex Mason's past with Menendez. This sends the game flashing back to "old" Cold War as you'll see 1980s Afghanistan and other hot spots that show you what the original Black Ops crew did after Vietnam. Rather than giving you all of the '80s stuff up front, the game will flash back and forth between the past and the future, where Menendez has become the type of action movie villain that would take control of the entire US drone fleet and turn it against both us and China.

So what will warfare look like in 2025? Well, for starters it'll look a whole lot nicer. Treyarch has put in a lot of work on the renderer, and overall, the whole game looks a lot sharper and more detailed, while still running at 60 frames per second. Facial animations looked especially nice, better showing off some of the performance capture that the team has been doing, which includes mocapping horses for that '80s Afghanistan level. But there are plenty of more futuristic things to deal with, as well. In 2025, unmanned drones will apparently rule the battlefield, giving you more targets to shoot at that aren't just your standard soldier. In the downtown Los Angeles level that was shown, Mason went up against the CLAW (Cognitive Land Assault Weapon), which looked like a big, bear-sized robot with a turret mounted on its back. You'll be able to get in on the action, too, by deploying quadcopters with extra-mini miniguns mounted on them. You'll be able to order your drones around a bit with new squad controls. Grenades also look a little different, so in Treyarch's future you'll be launching grenades out of an arm-mounted cannon.

OK, what's the other big knock against the Call of Duty franchise? Seriously, when you're on a message board talking mess about it, what's the thing that everyone brings up? Right, the scripted part where it's totally on-rails and almost completely out of your control. That part is also being addressed in a few ways, which means that Black Ops II will have a branching campaign with multiple outcomes--or at least varying shades of a similar outcome. It's hard to get a read on how different things will actually be in the final game. Some of these changes are extremely simple--for example, the Los Angeles mission has two on-screen icons at one point, allowing you to either rappel down from a broken freeway to help cover the President as she makes her way through an increasingly-hot battlefield or you can choose to stay up on the freeway and snipe as the rest of your crew covers her escape. That sniper rifle, by the way, can see targets through walls and penetrate cover via a charged-up shot that expends more ammo than a standard shot.

That's a minor change, obviously. But it gets bigger. Things you do in the game will impact the overall state of the United States' cold war with China as well as the level of success that Menendez achieves. Some of these changes will be choice-based, but others will hinge on player skill. The clearest example of that on display to us was a Strike Force mission, which takes the campaign in a pretty different direction. These missions are attached to the story, but put you in the role of a team of SEALs who are out to capture a set of objectives. How you achieve these objectives is sort of up to you, giving the game a bit of a sandbox vibe, but overall it looked like a multiplayer sort of map overhauled to give it a set of single-player objectives--points that need to be captured, and so on. If you like, you can stay in the role of a soldier and run around, just like any other Call of Duty game. But you can also pop out of that soldier and get above the battle in "overwatch" mode. From above, you can order your forces around the map like a mini-RTS or pop into any unit to take direct control. This means you can directly control quadcopters, assault drones, and other non-human units. If the unit you're controlling is destroyed, you'll have to find a new unit to control and play continues as normal. But here's the catch: if you run out of units, you fail the mission and the action continues on. Those SEALs didn't capture that objective, and that will have some sort of impact on the overall story. You'll certainly be able to take multiple attempts at the Strike Force scenarios in case you want to ensure a specific outcome, but the idea of hitting a fail state and continuing onward is pretty exciting. At the very least, it's definitely not something I was expecting to find in a Call of Duty game.

When you finish the campaign and see "your" ending, the game will give you some sort of indication as to the points in the game that put you on that course, with the goal being to drive people to play the campaign more than once to see what changes if you play it differently. Again, this isn't the sort of thing that is completely foreign to video games, but in the context of a Call of Duty game, it sounds pretty cool. That Los Angeles level also has you freely flying a VTOL jet in jet mode above downtown LA as you attempt to keep the hacked drones off of the President. It doesn't look like the sort of thing that turns the action into a full-on flight simulator, but it definitely looks more dynamic than some of the diversions that have popped up in previous COD games.

So what about the multiplayer? Other than confirming that all the MP will be set in 2025, they're not really talking about that right now. But the goal for the multiplayer team is to revisit every single system and rebuild any that need rebuilding. This sounds like it could be more than the typical annual shift in how the progression works and what sort of perks you can equip, but it's hard to say. The team is attempting to build a multiplayer game that allows the people who just want to get in and shoot stuff up with their friends to have a good time without alienating the budding professional crowd that wants to shoot people in the face at MLG events. Combat Training will return and Zombies will also return as its own full mode.

Without more hard details on how the multiplayer mode is coming along, it's hard to know if Black Ops II will recapture the hearts and minds of lapsed fans like myself. But I can definitely say that I'm very interested in seeing how Treyarch's campaign ideas play out. Unsurprisingly, we'll all be able to find out in November... assuming that some fiendish villain hasn't taken over or our own unmanned Predator drones and bombed us all back to the Stone Age before then, of course.

[RoXer]

So if you read the last intel, the CIA want Mason, Hudson, and Weaver dead. So they hire a young Captain Price to assassinate them in South Africa.

I wonder if there will be a crossover in an upcoming COD.

Gunna go out on a limb and say that if there are flashbacks in the game which occur around the 80's than we will most likely see the Black Ops dudes meet up with Captain Price at some point since it was hinted at in Black Ops when you collect all the intel.

[RoXer]

A gun that shoots through and sees through walls. I am fairly apprehensive about that. Otherwise looks awesome.

FARSIGHT!

FARSIGHT!

FARSIGHT!

FARSIGHT!

FARSIGHT!

FARSIGHT!

[RoXer]

http://www.perfectdarkforever.com/perfect-dark-weapons-images/perfect-dark-n64-weapons-farsight.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_vYnOKofz4yM/SuRY6pq3l4I/AAAAAAAAAGo/oKLfbyFpyd0/s400/farsight-perfectdark.jpg

pewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww................

[El Fangel]

I can't foresee that going well at all. It just seems too easy for someone to lay hidden aiming through a wall until someone comes into view.

[Blitz]

Fallen Angel being doom and gloom at very early details for a COD game? I never would've believed it.

[#BROKEN Hasney]

There's an easy way to acclimatise to this change Fallen Angel

Step 1) Get Perfect Dark

Step 2) Don't buy COD as you have Perfect Dark

Everyone is a winner in this scenario.

[Emperor Smeat]

Gamestop is using a tiered or wave setup for pre-orders which basically means the sooner you pre-order, the more goodies you get later on.

Multiple waves of bonuses will be offered depending on when you decide to place your pre-order. Do so now and you will be entered into the first wave which gets you a limited edition two-sided poster.

Power-Up reward members who pre-order before June 30 receive an instantly redeemable prestige token for Modern Warfare 3. Not amazing, but it’s something for nothing and if you’re already pre-ordering you probably play the game a lot.

Finally customers who pre-order now, entering the first wave, will also receive the bonuses for wave two, three and four, once they are announced.
http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/gamestop-reveals-black-ops-2-pre-order-bonuses/

[RoXer]

What if they added a Team Fortress-esque Spy class?

[El Fangel]

As a sniper Id be completely fucked.

[El Fangel]

Fox News, on the other hand, has branded the hackers “domestic terrorists,” a role Anonymous has been cast to play in the latest Call of Duty Black Ops II, in which Anonymous appears as the enemy who takes control of unmanned drones in the not-too-distant future. (That creative decision may have put Activision, the creator of the video-game series, at the top of the Anonymous hit list.)


Wow. Had no idea this was the premise for the games main storyline. If they are using this sort of thing against Anonymous I cannot see myself purchasing the game out of spite. Not looking at getting at a political debate here, but casting Anonymous as a threat in my opinion is just wrong.

[RP]

Wow. Had no idea this was the premise for the games main storyline. If they are using this sort of thing against Anonymous I cannot see myself purchasing the game out of spite. Not looking at getting at a political debate here, but casting Anonymous as a threat in my opinion is just wrong.

Shut the fuck up

[RoXer]

As a mod, how do I make posts bigger? With like flashier font and maybe some animated gif arrows?

[alvarado52]

Lol

[#BROKEN Hasney]

Wow. Had no idea this was the premise for the games main storyline. If they are using this sort of thing against Anonymous I cannot see myself purchasing the game out of spite. Not looking at getting at a political debate here, but casting Anonymous as a threat in my opinion is just wrong.

On a forum that contains such illuminating posters such as Iop and Indifferent Clox, this is the stupidest thing I have read here that I can remember.

Edit: Only slight hyperbole. Kris P takes the cake.

[RP]

Kris P always takes the cake.

[#BROKEN Hasney]

<marquee>http://netanimations.net/arrowkk2.gifhttp://netanimations.net/arrowkk2.gif
</marquee>
<marquee> http://media.photobucket.com/image/shut%20the%20hell%20up/lowdensity/OTHER%20FIGS/EBAY%20PICS%202/PRINTED%20SHIRTS/shutup1.jpgShut the fuck uphttp://image.blingee.com/images18/content/output/000/000/000/70d/669236470_649473.gif

http://www.clker.com/cliparts/8/c/8/a/12065697902136786863pitr_red_arrows_set_1.svg.med.pnghttp://www.clker.com/cliparts/8/c/8/a/12065697902136786863pitr_red_arrows_set_1.svg.med.png</marquee><marquee></marquee>

[D Mac]

Preordered. Got a neat poster with a hot chick holding a zombie's head on the back.

[D Mac]

This might be the last COD game I ever buy.

lol now I sound like FA

[El Fangel]

I have too many games I need to finish first anyway and Dark Souls has really sucked me in.

[Emperor Smeat]

PC version to have dedicated servers just like MW 3 and the first Black Ops although probably won't have a catch like with Black Ops 1 using just GameServers as the exclusive provider.

The announcement came via a tweet a bit earlier today from Treyarch’s director of technology, Cesar Stastny.

“Confirmed: Ranked Dedicated Servers for #BlackOps2″

http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/dedicated-servers-confirmed-for-black-ops-2-on-pc/

[RP]

I have too many games I need to finish first anyway and Dark Souls has really sucked me in.

SHUT
THE
FUCK
UP

[alvarado52]

lololololol

[Emperor Smeat]

Nintendo is pushing to get Black Ops 2 released for the Wii U while also trying to entice them into saying the tablet can enhance the franchise a lot more than it currently is right now.

http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/nintendo-wii-u-gamepad-would-enhance-call-of-duty/

[LoDownM]

Treyarch is "re-imaging" Nuketown for Blops 2 like they did for Cliffside in Blops.

http://www.destructoid.com/-re-imagined-nuketown-map-to-appear-in-black-ops-ii-230284.phtml

[The Rogerer]

It's a limited edition thing http://uk.ign.com/articles/2012/06/27/nuketown-returns-as-black-ops-ii-pre-order-bonus

THE BIGGEST INCENTIVE IN CALL OF DUTY HISTORY. Brilliant, the idiot map is now dangled like a carrot on a string, maybe they'll remove the two (term) limit on voting for maps so people can clap like seals and play nuketown forever, but only if you pay double for a big stupid plastic box.

[LoDownM]

It says it's pre-order stuff in the link I posted. I assume everyone here can read so I didn't post that part.

[RP]

You assumed.

[Kalyx triaD]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Dre21lBu2zU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Fignuts]

Neat.

[LoDownM]

Can't wait.

[Blitz]

Looking good. New riot shield tactics are interesting.

[Crimson]

Looks good...looking forward to creating my playercard!

[Blitz]

Multiplayer preview from Destructoid. Looking pretty hot. Really interested to see how this new system will play out.

Black Ops II reinvents the multiplayer experience (http://www.destructoid.com/black-ops-ii-reinvents-the-multiplayer-experience-232613.phtml)

http://bulk2.destructoid.com/images/ui/authorpoint.gif2 hour ago - 1:00 AM on 08.14.2012 | Hamza CTZ Aziz (http://www.destructoid.com/elephant/index.phtml?a=1331&tab=1)


http://bulk.destructoid.com/ul/232613-cod1.jpg (http://www.destructoid.com/black-ops-ii-reinvents-the-multiplayer-experience-232613.phtml)




Call of Duty: Black Ops II broke retail records (http://www.destructoid.com/black-ops-ii-pre-orders-tripling-2010-s-black-ops-numbers-226890.phtml) a mere 24 hours after the public debut of the single-player campaign (http://www.destructoid.com/black-ops-ii-pre-orders-tripling-2010-s-black-ops-numbers-226890.phtml). An impressive feat, considering that multiplayer, the franchise's bread and butter, wasn't even shown off until just a week ago (http://www.destructoid.com/call-of-duty-black-ops-ii-multiplayer-revealed-232701.phtml).
It's a good thing for fans that Treyarch isn't a studio who would just settle for minor refinements, then. They very well could have, but instead, the team has rebuilt the multiplayer system so much that you would be forgiven for thinking they're insane.
The Create-a-Class system as you've known it from past Call of Duty games -- and pretty much all first-person shooters these days -- is dead. Treyarch challenged the assumptions of what multiplayer in an FPS should be and has created something that makes the Call of Duty experience feel fresh again.

Call of Duty: Black Ops II (http://www.callofduty.com/blackops2/) (PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 [previewed])
Developer: Treyarch
Publisher: Activision
Release: November 13, 2012

Pick a number between 1 and 10
The Create-a-Class system up to this point has followed a pretty simple formula. You've always had to pick at least one primary, secondary, attachment, lethal, and tactical, and multiple Perks and Streaks to craft your custom character. Well, forget this system completely, as you now have total freedom over what you want to bring in.
The new system is referred to as "Pick 10," and it's exactly what it sounds like. Players are now allocated ten points and have the choice of taking any ten pieces of content they want, each of which takes up an allocation point. For example, you don't have to bring in a secondary gun and can instead use its allocation point on something like an extra attachment for your primary or an extra lethal grenade.
To further drive home what this means, players can literally jump into a game with nothing but a knife and just use all of their allocation points on beefing up their character with Perks. Of course, that's an extreme example, and you'll be relying on pure luck to find a gun on the ground quickly. Still, it's something you could do if you're crazy enough.
http://bulk.destructoid.com/ul/232613-black-ops-ii-reinvents-the-multiplayer-experience/Aftermath---Evac-Route-Blocked-620x.jpg

Perks are no longer "absolutes"
Perks have also been completely redefined. For starters, Perks only impact the player's traits now, and don't give any enhancements to the weapons -- those have been relegated to the attachments. Pro Perks have been completely killed as well, so now the system is simply a matter of what you get from the start.
Most important of all, Perks aren't "absolutes" anymore, as game design director David Vonderhaar referred to them. The example David gave was the Ghost perk, which in past games would completely hide a player from UAV detection. In Black Ops II, Ghost will hide a player from UAV detection only while they're on the move.
It's crucial to note that what I saw was in alpha state, so some things can and likely will change before release. With that said, here are the Perks that were available during my hands-on time:


Perk 1: Flak Jacket, Ghost, Blind Eye, Hardline, Lightweight
Perk 2: Hardwire, Scavenger, Cold Blooded, Toughness, Fast Hands
Perk 3: Engineer, Dead Silence, Extreme Conditioning, Tactical Mask, Awareness, Dexterity

http://bulk.destructoid.com/ul/232613-black-ops-ii-reinvents-the-multiplayer-experience/custom1-620x.jpg

Greed is good
The Pick 10 system has all your traditional weapon slots for creating your class, but it also adds three new slots called Wild Cards. This feature lets you "break the rules" of the traditional system by allowing you to stack your character like crazy.
There were six Wild Cards that Treyarch showed off, with choices like being able to take a third attachment, an extra lethal, two primary weapons, an additional attachment to add to your secondary, or an extra Perk 1, Perk 2, or Perk 3. Each Wild Card will of course use up one of your allocation points, as will whatever extra ability you take from the Wild Card menu.

Welcome to the grid
Black Ops II simplifies the customization presentation by putting everything right in your face. Before, you'd have to move about multiple sub-menus, which made the process of customizing cumbersome. Now when you select something like the Assault weapons category, a visual carousel comes up that lets you scroll left or right so you can see all of your options.
Not feeling an Assault gun? Then simply press up or down to navigate to the shotguns, machine guns, pistols, rockets, and so forth. It's now very easy and, more importantly, fast to jump to all of the different sections when you want to equip your character.
The system is also about keeping the door always open. Say you've used all ten of your allocation points but you try to pick something else anyway. Rather than graying out all of your options, the game simply shows you your currently equipped items so you can easily swap one out.
http://bulk.destructoid.com/ul/232613-black-ops-ii-reinvents-the-multiplayer-experience/BOIIMP-Turbine-Bridge-Closed-620x.jpg

GUNSGUNSGUNSGUNSGUNS
Black Ops II's multiplayer is set in the year 2025, which means you get FUTURE GUNS! Here's a list of the weapons I saw, but note that it's not the final list:


Assault: AN-94, M8A1, Type 25, SA-58
Shotguns: M1216, Saiga-12, R-870, MCS
LMG: LSAT, MK 48
Sniper: DSR 50, SVU-AS, Ballista
Lethal: Grenade, Semtex, Axe, Claymore, C4, Bouncing Betty
Tactical: Smoke, Flashbang, Concussion, Shock Charge, EMP

Again, this isn't the final list. One developer told me that the crossbow will be back, much to my delight. Also, notice the lack of Riot Shield? It's been replaced by the Assault Shield, which does the same job but can also be literally planted in the level to provide mobile cover on the fly. It can be picked back up, and it will die off with the player too.
Another new weapon mentioned in the Tactical list is the Shock Charge. It's a stick that you throw to plant into the ground. Once an enemy steps within its proximity, the stick will immobilize the player with an electric shock. It's non-lethal but can kill someone if their health is low enough.

Pimp my gun
There are a lot of fan favorite attachments returning to Black Ops II, but there are also a ton of new ones that take advantage of the 2025 setting. One of my favorites is the "Select Fire" Attachment, which makes the first couple of rounds from your gun fire at a faster rate over the rest of the clip when you hold the trigger down. Players who can feather their triggers will have a real advantage here.
On the more futuristic side, there's the Millimeter Scanner, which is kind of like the evolution of the Heartbeat Scanner. As you look through the sights, a pulse wave is sent out that shows you the silhouette of stationary enemies who are hiding in smoke or are behind a wall. Another one, the Laser Sight, increases hip fire accuracy. Sound familiar? This used to the be the Steady Aim Perk from past games.
Here's the full list of Attachments I saw that work for either all or some weapon types: Reflex, Target Finder, Hybrid Optic, Fast Mag, Fore Grip, Laser Sight, Adjustable Stock, Quickdraw, Millimeter Scope, Grenade Launcher, Select Fire, ACOG, FMJ, Extended Clip, Dual Wield, Tactical Knife, Rapid Fire, Variable Zoom, and Ballistics.
http://bulk.destructoid.com/ul/232613-black-ops-ii-reinvents-the-multiplayer-experience/Cargo---Flag-Rush-620x.jpg

Killstreaks are dead, long live Score Streaks
The old Killstreak system has been kicked to the curb in favor of the new and improved Score Streak. Everything you do nets a certain point value now, which goes towards filling up your Score Streak meter located on the bottom right of your HUD. Reaching a certain point threshold will then unlock one of your three Streak rewards.
David gave a great example where a player grabs a flag (100 points), kills a guy (200 points for a flag kill), and then scores the flag (150 points). With the 450 points accumulated, the player is able to unlock two of his low-level Streak rewards, one that cost 375 points and the other 400 points. That's right, rewards aren't mutually exclusive.
This system is able to better reward offensive and defensive players. One prime example of the defensive reward is with the UAV, as the player who calls it in now earns 25 points for every kill their teammates are able to get thanks to the spot assist. So much for just ignoring the UAVs, eh?
"Using score lets us reward desirable gameplay behavior," David told us. "Tying the reward system directly into score is one of those assumptions we challenged pretty hardcore and said, 'Wow, duh!' There was a real obvious moment where we were like, 'Of course, that makes perfect sense!' We need granularity here, let's use something better than strictly kills or the equivalent of one point."
There's going to be somewhere around 20 Score Streaks rewards, including returning rewards like K9s, Death Machine, and more. Some of the new ones include:


Guardian: A portable microwave turret. It transmits a highly radioactive signal that will cook anyone who gets caught in it for more than a few seconds. It's a crowd-control tool and great to place at doorways. It can't just be straight-up knife destroyed, so you'll need to use a couple of grenades to take it out.
AGR: An AI- or player-controlled mini-tank drone. Like all the drones, you can take control or jump out any number of times while it remains on the field.
MQ-27 Dragonfire: Like the AGR, except it's a quad rotor.
Hellstorm Missile: Like the Predator Drone, but it can also let you disperse a cluster of bombs over a wider area.
Gunships: Standard Gunship, except you can tell the pilot to move to another grid on the map if they can't find a target or are taking fire. This can be done with most of the AI-controlled aerial vehicles, and you are always receiving feedback about what the pilots are doing as well.
Lightning Strike: A jet that strikes at three desired locations on the map as fast as a flash of lightning.
Swarm: A bunch of tiny flying drones that kamikaze attack players and equipment.
War Machine: A bigass grenade launcher.

Early on, I found my perfect Score Streak setup: a combination of the UAV, Lighting Strike, and any of the higher-tier aerial vehicles. UAV and Lightning Strikes were both great ways to quickly stack up the points for whatever heavy reward I had in the line-up. Oh, and keep in mind that the Score Streak meter resets every time you die.
http://bulk.destructoid.com/ul/232613-black-ops-ii-reinvents-the-multiplayer-experience/BOIIMP-Turbine-Fallen-Tower-620x.jpg

HOW DO YOU GET THE THINGS?!
Black Ops II does not have CoD Points. Instead, you earn an unlock token every time you level up, which can be used on weapons, Perks, equipment, Wild Cards, Score Streaks -- everything, basically. However, while you get to chose what you want to unlock, not everything will be on the table right away.
Content will revealed to you in small bursts every time you accomplish a major rank change, such as going from Lieutenant to Captain. This way, players won't be totally overwhelmed by all the options. Plus, this gives players something to look forward to through their multiplayer career.
"This is a lesson from Black Ops I," David told us. "Something that CoD Points, in my opinion, suffered from. Whereas CoD Points were really awesome, I could just buy everything I wanted by level 33, and I'd start to tap out at that point cause I got what I want."
So yes, this means content is gated by rank changes, of which there are 55 ranks in all. However, there are over 100 pieces of content, which means you won't be able to unlock everything by the time you have to Prestige, of which there are 10 levels of. That said, Prestige-ing will also play a part in unlocking content, and Treyarch will be revealing more on that at a later date, promising that it "will all make sense."
http://bulk.destructoid.com/ul/232613-black-ops-ii-reinvents-the-multiplayer-experience/Yemen---Street-fight-620x.jpg

Modes and maps
Treyarch showed off four maps: Aftermath, Turbine, Cargo, and Yemen. Aftermath was set in the ruins of downtown Los Angeles. Turbine felt a little like the Afghanistan map from Modern Warfare 2, though it offered more verticality. Yemen had an urban setting with a nice chokepoint in the middle, perfect for CTF games. Cargo was the most interesting, as the center of the map was always changing due to shipping crates getting placed/removed by a giant crane.
Two of the new modes we got to play were Multi-Team and Hardpoint. Hardpoint was a King of the Hill gametype with a constantly moving hot zone that the player needed to hold and dominate to score points. Multi-Team is the first time that more than two teams can fight each other on a map, up to six teams in all. Plus, Black Ops II supports a max of 18 players in a lobby now.
Additionally, challenges will be back with "a twist," Wager Matches will be back in some form too, custom games will offer further customization features, and the emblem editor will provide new opportunities to offend everyone.
-------------------------------
And that's a taste of all the new things Black Ops II's multiplayer will be doing. To say I was stunned by all of these changes is putting it mildly. It's without a doubt a game-changer, not just for the Call of Duty series, but for the first-person shooter genre in general. Now more than ever, you really have total control to create the playstyle that will best fit you.

I had a lot to say here, but believe it or not, that's not all Treyarch had to show off to the press. In an industry first, they're adding the ability to livestream your matches online on PC AND consoles, plus they're even providing the tools for you to SHOUTcast matches right from the game itself. This is a huge addition for not only Black Ops II but for the industry as a whole, and you can learn all about it in our SHOUTcast preview (http://www.destructoid.com/livestream-shoutcast-your-black-ops-ii-matches-232618.phtml).

[El Fangel]

Too lazy to look, but is there a weapons list yet? I am wondering if they have the Steyr Aug in it, because christ do I miss that gun :(

[Fignuts]

Hot damn

[Pintint]

Sounds pretty good.

Hopefully they can get some GOOD MAPS this time around.

IMO, Modern Warfare 3 map design was pretty poor.

[Feed me!]

Fucking dropshotters

[LoDownM]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Xcj_vbh8F_A" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

50ish Minutes of multiplayer, don't know if it'll get taken down or not, so enjoy while you can.

[Blitz]

Big breakdown of known MP stuff (http://digitalwarfare247.com/games/blackops2/519-50-bo2-mp-facts)

[Requiem]

Nice, I'm liking what I read/see so far.

[Crimson]

Seems like a lot of new content with weapons/perks/scoring system..I like it. Props to them for not playing it safe and keeping everything the same.

[RoXer]

Not really paying attention to this. Gunna goozex it too so "y'all" are going to have an advantage over me when I eventually do get it..

[El Fangel]

Fucking dropshotters

I really do not see why people complain about this in all seriousness, IF this was real combat (and yes I know its not) one of the smartest things to do when someone is firing little chuncks of metal at fast speeds is to hit the ground.

[Kalyx triaD]

Bitch please.

[Pintint]

I really do not see why people complain about this in all seriousness, IF this was real combat (and yes I know its not) one of the smartest things to do when someone is firing little chuncks of metal at fast speeds is to hit the ground.

In real combat, you'll also die from a couple of shots. This is a gayme and thus should be treated as such. Emphasis on fun.

[Requiem]

Never had a problem with drop shotters. I just aim down, and if I hit them I'm more likely to hit them in the head due to their shot box getting smaller while their head remains the same in it.

[Fryza]

Drop shots always annoyed me, but I play casually. So it was just a frustration factor.

[El Fangel]

The one thing that has always amused me about Call of Duty.

1) Player fires unsilenced weapon or a UAV is up and they don't have Assassin/Ghost/Etc.
2) You see them heading toward you on the mini-map (hey, who knew keeping an eye on it could be useful right?)
3) Lay down or hide behind something and wait for them to come towards you
4) Shoot them or stab them in the back
5) FUCKING CAMPERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Kalyx triaD]

There will always be people who put there failures on the player who beat them, that's every competitive game. Apparently I'm a button masher in SoulCalibur V. But there was a serious problem with campers in the CoD series, because the gameplay rewarded it (sometimes rather blatantly).

The interesting mechanic changes in this game shows that not only are they aware (and a give a damn a lot more than IW), but that they recognize CoD can be a lot better without it.

Pretty sure you'll still be called a camper for setting up an ambush, though.

[alvarado52]

Going away from the 'kill streak' format will be for the better in terms of rewarding camping.

[El Fangel]

Ill admit at times I have legit camped when my team is spawning on the other side of the map and im lonely and frightened.

Or to make sure I get that 5th kill .

[alvarado52]

To me, he said everything right.

<div style="background-color:#000000;width:968px;"><div style="padding:4px;"><iframe src="http://media.mtvnservices.com/embed/mgid:arc:video:gametrailers.com:4972f536-9adc-4751-9f85-8820774f3fb7" width="960" height="540" frameborder="0"></iframe><p style="text-align:left;background-color:#FFFFFF;padding:4px;margin-top:4px;margin-bottom:0px;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px;"><b><a href="http://www.gametrailers.com/games/up67ye/call-of-duty--black-ops-ii">Call of Duty: Black Ops II</a></b></p></div></div>

[Emperor Smeat]

3 special editions were revealed along with prices and stuff inside of each.

CARE PACKAGE (Xbox 360/PS3) SRP $179.99:
* Call of Duty: Black Ops II
* Remote Controlled MQ-27 Dragonfire Drone - Command cutting-edge technology, exclusively for this once-in-a-lifetime combat collection.
* Nuketown Zombies Bonus Map - Battle hordes of Zombies in this beloved 1960s nuclear neighborhood.
* Nuketown 2025 Bonus Map - Relive the close quarters chaos of this classic fan-favorite map re-imagined in a 1960s visionary depiction of the "model home of the future."
* Collectible 2-Sided SteelBook - Limited edition game case featuring exclusive artwork.
* (2) Challenge Coins - Limited edition challenge coins that serve as your key to exclusive digital content.
* Weapon Camo - Rank-up in style with an exclusive multiplayer weapon skin.
* (2) Player Card Backgrounds - Liven up any killcam with two exclusive player card backgrounds, inspired by Nuketown 2025 and Zombies.
* Official Call of Duty: Black Ops II Soundtrack - A digital copy of composer Jack Wall's epic in-game score with Theme by Trent Reznor.
* Xbox LIVE CLAW Avatar Prop - An exclusive avatar prop, deployable to a dashboard near you.
* Xbox LIVE Zombies Avatar Costume - Show off your pride with an avatar costume built exclusively for fans of the Call of Duty undead.
* (PlayStation 3 versions include a dynamic multiplayer theme of the Turbine map as well as a dynamic Zombies theme that shows off Call of Duty: Black Ops II Zombies)

HARDENED EDITION (Xbox 360/PS3) SRP $79.99:
* Call of Duty: Black Ops II
* Nuketown Zombies Bonus Map - Battle hordes of Zombies in this beloved 1960s nuclear neighborhood.
* Nuketown 2025 Bonus Map - Relive the close quarters chaos of this classic fan-favorite map re-imagined in a 1960s visionary depiction of the "model home of the future."
* Collectible 2-Sided SteelBook® - Limited edition game case featuring exclusive artwork.
* (2) Challenge Coins - Limited edition challenge coins that serve as your key to exclusive digital content.
* Weapon Camo - Rank-up in style with an exclusive multiplayer weapon skin.
* (2) Player Card Backgrounds - Liven up any killcam with two exclusive player card backgrounds, inspired by Nuketown 2025 and Zombies.
* Official Call of Duty: Black Ops II Soundtrack - A digital copy of composer Jack Wall's epic in-game score with Theme by Trent Reznor.
* Xbox LIVE CLAW Avatar Prop - An exclusive avatar prop, deployable to a dashboard near you.
* Xbox LIVE Zombies Avatar Costume - Show off your pride with an avatar costume built exclusively for fans of the Call of Duty undead.
* (PlayStation 3 versions include a dynamic multiplayer theme of the Turbine map as well as a dynamic Zombies theme that shows off Call of Duty: Black Ops II Zombies)

DIGITAL DELUXE EDITION (PC) SRP $79.99:
* Call of Duty: Black Ops II
* Nuketown Zombies Bonus Map - Battle hordes of Zombies in this beloved 1960s nuclear neighborhood.
* Nuketown 2025 Bonus Map - Relive the close quarters chaos of this classic fan-favorite map re-imagined in a 1960s visionary depiction of the "model home of the future."
* Weapon Camo - Rank-up in style with an exclusive multiplayer weapon skin.
* (2) Player Card Backgrounds - Liven up any killcam with two exclusive player card backgrounds, inspired by Nuketown 2025 and Zombies.
* Official Call of Duty: Black Ops II Soundtrack - A digital copy of composer Jack Wall's epic in-game score with Theme by Trent Reznor.
* Call of Duty®: World at War Game Download Token - A digital download of Treyarch's classic title, traversing WWII storylines from the Pacific to European theaters of war.


http://www.screwattack.com/news/activision-reveals-various-editions-cod-blops-ii

[alvarado52]

No Elite subscription = no buy.


Only reason I got hardened MW3 was to get Elite (dlc) $10 cheaper. Guess ill just get the standard ed.

[Emperor Smeat]

Might have been announced or teased before but Black Ops 2 will not have deathstreaks of any kind.

Call of Duty: Black Ops II game design director David Vonderhaar has revealed that the game’s multiplayer will not feature deathstreaks. The news came during an interview with One of Swords, when Vonderhaar was asked about the inclusion of the much hated Last Stand perk.

“There’s no Second Chance; there’s no Last Stand, there’s no Final Stand,” Vonderhaar explained “There’s no combination whatsoever of perk or deathstreak that puts the guy in the “downed” state in multiplayer. It’s still used as the revival state in Zombies when you get downed. But it’s not in multiplayer—there is no perk and there are no deathstreaks, so there is no Final Stand or equivalent of it. Absolutely not. Please stop yelling at me.”

EGM says that was only a feature for Modern Warfare 2 and 3 but didn't Black Ops have the Last Stand or a variation of it being possible and I think only pistols could be used?

Also explained were scorestreaks can loop around if you live long enough in a single life while the emblem creator from Black Ops 1 is being improved.

http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/black-ops-ii-wont-feature-deathstreaks-or-last-stand/

[El Fangel]

Tempting, but still don't see me purchasing it.

[El Fangel]

Not solely for the reasons states but I am attempting to get through the backlog of games I have.

[alvarado52]

You'll buy it... you always do...

[El Fangel]

Have no intention of it. I do like what I hear, however that usually changes when I play the game. Hope to be starting Mass Effect 2 by the time this comes out.

[LoDownM]

No Dead Man's Hand or Final Stand? Thank god.

[Vietnamese Crippler]

I don't understand why people hate Final Stand/Last Stand so much.

[El Fangel]

Have you ever shot someone in the back as they ran, gone to run back only to get shot by some bastard who had that? It gets annoying that players who die a lot and wouldn't otherwise likely kill you gets a cheap surprise kill.

[Vietnamese Crippler]

That used to happen, but then I got in the habit of continuing to shoot after a guy goes down to make sure he's actually down.

[El Fangel]

Which is one of the stupidest things in the game, the same as Maytrdom was in CoD4. It rewarded really shitty players with cheap kills because good players who killed them had to alter their style JUST to avoid getting killed by those perks alone and I know several times I had to put myself in danger of getting killed myself to CONTINUE killing someone.

[Kalyx triaD]

I made this same argument in an old CoD thread and got shit for it.

[El Fangel]

I agreed with you Kalyx. I know you play a very strategic style as do I. That is why having to adjust it for those variables sucks in the middle of a good run.

[Kalyx triaD]

Now some would say that watching for post-kill hazards should be accepted in your overall strategy, but I personally feel it breaks a potentially 'smooth flow' of gameplay. If you get me. Having hazards pop up randomly (as some would have it, some not) makes the game into Duckhunt with free movement.

[El Fangel]

The thing that annoys me the most and perhaps I sound a bit arrogant here, but players who die enough times in a row to get these things are generally not the ones able to kill me otherwise.

[Kalyx triaD]

That's understandable, albeit a slippery slope. You don't wanna be that guy who blames losses on X-Factor or 'random' Ultras. But those mechanics are constant, you never know when somebody had an extra chance or some grenade drop upon death.

[El Fangel]

Oh of course, I am not so arrogant to state I am the best ever but I believe I am a solid and reliable player who very rarely if ever negatively affects a team. I have I think 750 Juggernaut accolades and around 600 Best Kill Ratio ones out of around 2200 matches.

Basically, I die little and get loads of kills. Play a really conservative, stealthy and strategic style revolved around keeping myself at the advantage at all times being ambushes or map positioning.

[Kalyx triaD]

Until the old Last Chance, eh? hate having a Killstreak ended by... hilarity.

[El Fangel]

During good runs being ended like that, I have dropped my controller on the floor and quit. Playing when you are pissed is going to cause you to die...a lot.

[El Capitano Gatisto]

Oh of course, I am not so arrogant to state I am the best ever but I believe I am a solid and reliable player who very rarely if ever negatively affects a team. I have I think 750 Juggernaut accolades and around 600 Best Kill Ratio ones out of around 2200 matches.

Basically, I die little and get loads of kills. Play a really conservative, stealthy and strategic style revolved around keeping myself at the advantage at all times being ambushes or map positioning.

i.e. you are a camper.

[El Fangel]

I really do not want this debate, so I will simply state that sitting in one spot with a gun pointed at a doorway is camping. Killing someone and then running to a position with a clear view of where they were killed last to shoot them when they come back for you, is in fact not.

[El Fangel]

Also, I snipe.

A lot.

[Emperor Smeat]

PC minimum and recommended specs revealed:

OS: Windows Vista SP2 or Windows 7
CPU: Intel Core2 Duo E8200 2.66 GHz or AMD Phenom X3 8750 2.4 GHz
Memory: 2GB for 32-bit OS or 4GB for 64-bit OS
Video Card: Nvidia GeForce 8800GT 512 MB or ATI Radeon HD 3870 512 MB

http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/call-of-duty-black-ops-2-pc-specs-revealed/

[El Fangel]

Yeah, would definitely not be getting this for PC in any case.

[Emperor Smeat]

Several new in-depth details revealed by Treyarch for the game in regards to the leveling system and unlocking stuff.

Black Ops II will have a level cap of 55 and the amount of experience required to reach it will be comparable with the original Black Ops.

At level 4 players will unlock the Create-a-Class option and are given the following items:

1 Assault Rifle
1 SMG
1 LMG
1 Shotgun
1 Sniper Rifle
1 Perk from each of the 3 perk categories
1 lethal grenade
1 tactical grenade/equipment

From this point leveling unlocks are as follows:

Level 5: Perk
Level 6: Equipment
Level 7: Scorestreak (3 free and 3 optional ones to unlock with tokens)
Level 8: Perk
Level 9: Scorestreak

After this a pattern will emerge for unlocks and every three levels you will get an extra unlock such as a new gun. “At level 10, we start to settle into a pattern. There are exceptions, but the pattern is generally like this. At every major rank change, which is every 3 levels, we give you a gun and usually “something else” as a bonus for reaching a major rank change,” Vonderhaar explained.

http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/black-ops-ii-leveling-unlocks-and-create-a-class-details/

[alvarado52]

Hmm...wonder if that something else is completely random per player, or if its something everyone gets when they hit that level. I've always been a sucker for the 'random box item' system (which ropes me into buying packages in Mass Effect 3 multi CONSTANTLY)

[El Fangel]

Interesting.

[Emperor Smeat]

List revealing all the multiplayer maps and possible spoilers for the game's campaign were released recently.

The only known map missing is the Nuketown remake since that is a pre-order bonus and not part of the actual set of maps.

Carrier: “Chinese Supercarrier. Open engagements on the deck, with great close quarter fights through the hull.”
Cargo: “Port of Singapore. Good for close quarters engagements and verticality.”
Drone: “Hidden drone facility in the heart of the Mynamar jungles. Great long engagements down the center, fun close quarter fights through the facility.”
Express: “Los Angeles bullet train station. Good long to medium engagements up and down the bullet train tracks.”
Hijacked: “Luxurious super yacht. Frantic, yet controlled close quarters engagements.
Aftermath: “Set in a ruined downtown Los Angeles after an invasion.”
Meltdown: “Pakistan nuclear power plant. Battle for control of the nuclear cooling tower and the surrounding facilities.”
Nightclub: “Floating resort in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Tight corners and angles throughout.”
Overflow: “Peshawar, Pakistan. Great urban engagements in the flooded streets.”
Raid: “Fight through this hillside mansion, in the Hollywood Hills. Hectic close quarters engagements.”
Slums: “Run down section of Panama. Great close quarters engagements and tough chokes to fight over.”
Socotra: Update: Originally “Yemen” as seen in the Black Ops 2 Gamescom live streams. “Urban streets of Yemen. Tight alleys and close quarters engagements.”
Turbine: “Wind farm in the steep hills of Yemen. Fight across the different tiers and angles.”
Village: “Border town between China and Kyrgyzstan. Classic engagements and destinations to fight over.”


Majority of the game appears to be occurring between the Pakistan and China region of Asia.
http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/rumor-black-ops-2-multiplayer-map-and-campaign-mission-lists-leak/


A new single player trailer by Axitivison shows off wing suits and jet packs being used.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/N6220dX-h4E" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[El Fangel]

Weapons list.

http://www.blackopsii.com/bo2/weapons-list/

[El Fangel]

Something I was just thinking while reading through that list is that its odd that since I doubt it could be that difficult, why new guns aren't released with map packs for use in all game types and maps. Other players having not bought the map pack might be inclined to do so to get the gun as usable as part of a custom class.

Also, that list is gorgeous and one thing would actually get me to buy it, because all the guys I love are there save one. If the Steyr Aug is confirmed, I might get this if the multiplayer feedback is good.

[alvarado52]

I just want to respawn by air jump/wing suit. That'd be sweet! I know they got rid of death streaks, but that would be awesome.

[RoXer]

2 LMGs? Or only 2 so far?

[El Fangel]

I just want to respawn by air jump/wing suit. That'd be sweet! I know they got rid of death streaks, but that would be awesome.

I think this would be a goddamn excellent game type. Two teams each elect a leader to determine where to spawn first on the map by marking it. The two teams could end up in a savage firefight or at opposite ends of the map.

In hardcore mode.

[Emperor Smeat]

Lots of details in regards to Zombie mode for the game:

The Story Behind It
⁃ Actions on "The Moon" map (DLC in Black Ops 1) will have impact on zombies in BO2 and play into the story
⁃ New Playable Characters
⁃ New Zombies with new abilities.
⁃ Largest Zombies World Ever
⁃ Multiple areas with land inbetween
⁃ Transportation in between areas
⁃ New Weaponry
⁃ Future tech, zombie weapons

Zombies will feature three main modes:
1) Story Mode
⁃ 1-4 Players in co-op
⁃ Expansive World
⁃ New Gameplay Mechanics include:
⁃ The Bus that can provide shelter and move you from location to location. The downside is that it is compact.
⁃ If you don't want to move around in the bus you can go out in "the fog" which can be very dangerous but has big rewards.
⁃ Buildables, meaning you can put things together to create weapons, defense or access to other weapons

2) Survival (Classic Zombies)
⁃ 1-4 players
⁃ Custom made playable areas. Made from areas in larger world

3) Greif (vs mode)
⁃ Humans vs Humans vs Zombies
⁃ 2-8 players
⁃ last human team standing wins (standalone levels)
⁃ can't shoot the other players but can do things to make it harder

The Zombies Multiplayer Engine Features:
⁃ Leaderboards
⁃ Stat Tracking like most boarding, most kills, etc
⁃ Improved Matchmaking that will match your team vs similar skilled teams
⁃ Ability to create custom games in every mode including options like:
⁃ Set Starting Round (points given at the start to open doors, etc)
⁃ Headshots only challenge
⁃ Magic Items being turned off

Solo players have the option of playing on easy or normal difficulty.
http://www.screwattack.com/trailers/craig-gets-scoop-about-new-game-modes-black-ops-ii-zombie-mode

[#BROKEN Hasney]

Grief mode has actually tempted me to get this... Sounds a blast.

[Kalyx triaD]

That zombies mode should be a game in itself. The one thing I love about the Treyarch CoDs.

[Emperor Smeat]

In case anyone was considering getting the Vita version, there is no Zombie mode at all in the game.

Treyarch states they've been pretty stretched thin working on all the versions of the game at once so the Vita team decided it was more important to focus solely on developing the multiplayer structure than splitting time working on an extra mode.

http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/call-of-duty-black-ops-declassified-not-getting-its-own-zombies-mode/

[El Fangel]

I am calling it now, they make it available as a DLC.

[Emperor Smeat]

Starting with Black Ops 2, Call of Duty's Elite services will switch from a paid to a free service. While stat tracking will be free, DLC content will be moved into the Season Pass structure.
http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/call-of-duty-elite-goes-completely-free-dlc-to-be-offered-separately-new-trailer/


The Season Pass contents for the game has been leaked recently although prices shown are for the UK market so the Pass itself probably won't be $55 in the US.

1) THE ULTIMATE WAY TO GET MORE OF CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS 2.
2) 4 EPIC DLC MAP PACKS – 1 GREAT PRICE AT $10 OFF*
3) Get 4 Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 downloadable content Map Packs, delivering a variety of new content, including Multiplayer and Zombies playable content.
4) Save $10, at discounted suggested retail price of £34.99*
5) Content expected to be available in 2013 – following the game’s launch on 11/13/12. Check for availability at your local Game Stop or Best Buy.

*Based on Season Pass suggested retail price of £34.99 and four DLC Map Packs at a suggested retail price of $14.99 each.
**Season Pass and DLC Map Packs may not be available on all platforms or in all territories. Pricing and release dates may vary by platform. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 game required; sold separately

http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/black-ops-2-elite-free-dlc-season-pass-spotted/


New trailer for the Zombie mode of the game shows off the new building elements of the game as well as the brand new Zombie Shield item.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/wUbVZAy8XeY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[alvarado52]

Glad to see they went with the season pass method. Guarantee Elite was NEVER used by paid premium members other than for DLC. That website is useless.

[Miotch]

False. It was used for Clap Ops and other shit to do with your clan.

[alvarado52]

Only teenagers take clans seriously. Everyone else just considers their friends playing withttheir clan.

[El Fangel]

Hateful when they all play different versions of the game. One friend plays WaW and another BlackOps.

Any updates on the weapon list? Steyr Aug still not in?

[Emperor Smeat]

According to Treyarch, prestige mode now includes guns gaining experience themselves but doesn't reset when someone wants to reset their stats with a prestige rank.

MP1st reports that Treyarch’s David Vonderhaar tweeted one of the site’s sources saying, “Did you know that you can Prestige any gun two times?” The source then followed up by asking, “If weapon XP converts to next prestige, will you have to prestige your weapon or will it go back down to 0 or stay at max?”

”Stays where it was. Weapon level and weapon prestige level totally independent of your level. Not reset by level prestige,” Vonderhaar replied.

http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/its-not-just-players-who-can-prestige-in-black-ops-2-weapons-can-too/

[El Fangel]

Should have always done that tbh. Getting the AK at 68 was just annoying if you planned to prestige.

[SNLfunnyguy]

Only teenagers take clans seriously. Everyone else just considers their friends playing withttheir clan.

Teens and internet nerds actually.

Nothing funnier than playing a clan of men in their 30's taking their shit very seriously.

[Kalyx triaD]

There are degrees. I ignored many clan invites during my Halo and CoD days, I rather play with my buds. My brother started a fighting game clan that I will be affiliated with, and I'll play on his stream, but I wouldn't join it. Clans are good for actual leagues and such but pointless for horsing around against randoms. I find Clan matches exciting, though.

[#BROKEN Hasney]

I just seen the advert of this with Back in Black blaring. It looks ridiculous.

I mean that in a good way.

[El Fangel]

There are degrees. I ignored many clan invites during my Halo and CoD days, I rather play with my buds. My brother started a fighting game clan that I will be affiliated with, and I'll play on his stream, but I wouldn't join it. Clans are good for actual leagues and such but pointless for horsing around against randoms. I find Clan matches exciting, though.

Remember that night we played against the actual clan and whipped their asses? Fuckers were raging hard.

[LoDownM]

Love it when that happens. I(and I seriously mean just me, the rest of my team sucked that game) completely dominated a clan in a TDM on Black Ops. Their rage during the final killcam/in the post game lobby was amazing.

[Blitz]

Miss playing TPWW sessions with Req and Roxer and the rest except Fallen Angel.

[Requiem]

Get Halo 4 and there will probably be many more sessions. I'm not getting Black Ops 2 right away, or maybe at all. More excited for Halo.

[Blitz]

lol no

[RP]

Halo lol

[#BROKEN Hasney]

Halol

[alvarado52]

Halolololololno

[DAMN iNATOR]

Black Ops II, I'mma let you release, but 11 11 11 was the best release date ever.

[El Fangel]

Love it when that happens. I(and I seriously mean just me, the rest of my team sucked that game) completely dominated a clan in a TDM on Black Ops. Their rage during the final killcam/in the post game lobby was amazing.

There is no better feeling then being the sole reason your team won.

Miss playing TPWW sessions with Req and Roxer and the rest except Fallen Angel.

:(

Get Halo 4 and there will probably be many more sessions. I'm not getting Black Ops 2 right away, or maybe at all. More excited for Halo.

Friend has been trying to convince me to buy it. I refuse for multiplayer but may for single.

[Blitz]

I guess I do miss playing it with Fallen Angel too because his rants were hysterical for all the wrong reasons.

[El Fangel]

I don't even get upset much anymore, occasionally I will have a run of terrible games and just drop the controller and hold my head in hands and then play Skyrim.

[Kalyx triaD]

Remember that night we played against the actual clan and whipped their asses? Fuckers were raging hard.

Was RoXer there? We had a few matches like that.

[RoXer]

Remember that time I beat some guy 1 on 1 and he used c4 and I used tomahawk/ballistic knife

[alvarado52]

I still remember the hail mary play where Roxer (i think) threw a sticky on my back and I ran across a bridge and killed DMac with it.

[RoXer]

Got a challenge for it too

[El Fangel]

Was RoXer there? We had a few matches like that.

Yes, RoXer like a fucking boss with that riot shield of his and myself who used one for the sole purpose of covering his ass in the corner near B in that rooftop styled map in MW2.

We managed to cap B at the absolute critical moment and went on to win the match 200-199

I went full troll in the lobby.

Remember that time I beat some guy 1 on 1 and he used c4 and I used tomahawk/ballistic knife

It is truly marvelous watching you screw with peoples heads using those.

I still remember the hail mary play where Roxer (i think) threw a sticky on my back and I ran across a bridge and killed DMac with it.

Yep. Remember once playing Blops CTF, I am covering RoXer as he returns the flag, guy out of nowhere comes in behind Roxer and ahead of me. RoXer gets fired at but gets around the corner and I nail teh guy in the ass cheeks with a tomahawk and keep going.

Always loved that.

Got a challenge for it too

Seriously? for sticking a teammate and getting a kill?

[Requiem]

Remember that time I beat some guy 1 on 1 and he used c4 and I used tomahawk/ballistic knife

LOL yeah, forgot about that. Pretty rofl.

[Kalyx triaD]

The highlights of my time with the series usually involved playing with you guys.

[alvarado52]

I was a fan of your War Machine loadout

[El Fangel]

Very rarely does a match with a bunch of random halfwits become something memorable Kalyx.

[Kalyx triaD]

I was a fan of your War Machine loadout

I did it more as a joke but that shit was pretty wicked on certain maps. Very loud. Very deadly.

I don't know what magic RoXer was doing to slaughter people with a fucking riot shield. Been playing with Steve Rogers all along.

Very rarely does a match with a bunch of random halfwits become something memorable Kalyx.

It's the pre/post-match conversations that really sell it. So much salt.

[RoXer]

I'm all about the Riot Shield in MW, but in Blops I steal (i.e. perfect) Kalyx's "War Machine" loadout and with dual PMwhatevers and did pretty fucking well with it

[Kalyx triaD]

"Swims around the bait and ever upstream."

[RoXer]

I still remember the hail mary play where Roxer (i think) threw a sticky on my back and I ran across a bridge and killed DMac with it.

Also, one time this happened when I was playing on PS3 with G and it was for the winning kill


<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/G9gmZsH7fkk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Miotch]

What was the 'war machine' loadout?

[El Fangel]

Dual P90s with extended mags and dual glocks as well I believe.

Basically a ridiculous amount of firepower and no attention paid to accuracy.

[Emperor Smeat]

Treyarch says Black Ops 2 matchmaking will now be based on latency and ping rates instead of the previous generic region based.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 will remove region-based matchmaking in favor of matches made based on latency and ping according to Treyarch’s David Vonderhaar.

“Yes. It is in and being tested. Not region based anymore. Latency/ping based exclusively,” he wrote on Twitter in response to a fan. Hopefully this change will result in less drop outs and host migrations, something that has plagued Call of Duty‘s online component for many years.
http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/black-ops-2-matchmaking-will-be-based-on-latencyping/

[Kalyx triaD]

I do believe I had the turret killstreak to go along with War Machine for a hilarious kind of over the top hallway/capture point defense.