Summary

Black Ops II is the first game in the Call of Duty franchise to feature future warfare technology and the first to present branching storylines driven by player choice as well as selecting weapons before starting story mode missions.

Storyline

In Cold War-era Nevada, a team of CDC operatives investigate a nuclear testing site known as "Nuketown", where they are attacked by zombies. Dr. Edward Richtofen is heard via a television, carrying out his scheme on the Moon. Richtofen seizes control of the zombies by entering the Aether, but Dr. Ludvig Maxis works with his daughter Samantha and Richtofen's former allies, Tank Dempsey, Nikolai Belinski, and Takeo Masakai to thwart him. To this end, Maxis launches three massive nuclear missiles filled with Element 115, the element responsible for the reanimation of dead cells, at the Earth, destroying it. One missile completely destroys Nuketown and all present.
Years later, Earth has been reduced to a crumbling, hellish wasteland overrun by zombies. In this new world, four survivors - Samuel J. Stuhlinger, Abigail "Misty" Briarton, Marlton Johnson, and Russman - have banded together to survive in Washington with the help of a bus driven by a robotic driver. The four are contacted by Maxis, now an digitally-rendered A.I., who is seeking humanity's aid against Richtofen. Maxis implores them to power up a tower in a cornfield using an electricity-based zombie. However, Richtofen contacts Samuel, who is able to hear voices from the Aether, and commands him to convince his friends to power up the tower in his favor. The player may choose to follow either Maxis or Richtofen's orders. It is revealed in audio transmissions that survivors from all over the world have been contacted by both Maxis and Richtofen, though there is widespread conflict between the followers of both Germans; particularly in a settlement known as Jackass Flats, which was initially a safe haven, only to fall to the zombies when the Maxis-Richtofen conflict consumed it.
Regardless of who they choose to aid, the four are teleported to a crumbling skyline in Shanghai, China. Here, Richtofen commands Samuel to "mend the rift" and accept his fate as a follower of Richtofen, threatening to expose his past as a member of a cannibalistic cult known as The Flesh, who eat zombie flesh to survive. Richtofen continuously revives the group whenever they fall to the zombies until they follow his orders. Maxis, who is no longer hampered by electric devices, contacts the group again for aid. The four learn through televisions scattered across the area of the Flesh, as well as the beginnings of a new airborne plague of Element 115, the element that reanimates dead cells and causes zombies.
Following their battles in Shanghai, Russman leads the group across the continents to a large hole in the ground known as "the Rift" in Africa, hoping to find answers about the unseen forces commanding them. Maxis and Richtofen contact them once again, more desperate than ever to achieve their goals. Both of them ask the group to power up the third and final tower in their favor. Maxis promises to heal the Earth, and Richtofen promises to save them from Maxis. The four gain a new ally in the form of a mute, unnamed giant in a western town built underground, and are hampered by a ghostly woman in a massive mansion. Depending on who the player has aided in the story, there are two possible endings. If the player has aided Richtofen, he will gain unlimited power over the Aether and the Earth, kill Maxis and condemn Samantha Maxis' soul to eternal damnation. He will then enter the body of Samuel as a reward for his aid, but finds he cannot exit it, and is at the mercy of the zombies as he was before. If the player has aided Maxis, he uses the power from the towers to enter the Aether and assume ultimate control, trapping Richtofen in a zombie's body. However, the Earth begins shaking, and Maxis explains to the four that he is beginning the process of the destruction of the Earth and humanity to reach Agartha, where he believes Samantha is.
Unbeknownst to all, Samantha is indeed in Agartha (which her father ultimately fails to enter) but reaches out to her father in 1918 France during World War I. Maxis is a leader of Group 935, who operate to secure Germany's victory in the war. To this end, they have created towering mechanical robots, suits of armor, and staffs that control the powers of the elements. Group 935 also stumbles upon an ancient tomb believed to be of Vrill origin, but this unleashes the first known zombie outbreak in history. Aiming to stop Germany, Japan, Russia and the United States of America send Takeo, Nikolai and Dempsey to capture Richtofen, the mastermind behind the advanced technology. By this time, Group 935's operatives have been wiped out, and Maxis himself was lobotomized when he began to turn into a zombie. The group put aside their nationalities to fight the undead, and are contacted by Samantha, begging to be freed from Agartha. Richtofen puts Maxis' brain in a flying drone, and he joins the fight against the zombies and to free Samantha. The group is eventually successful, and while Maxis meets his daughter, they enter Agartha to be rewarded. A cutscene is played of Samantha with a boy named Eddie, playing with toys of the characters who have appeared in the Zombies game mode throughout all three games. Air raid sirens are heard and the two children retreat to the basement with Maxis, with Samantha noting her father has a plan to make their games real. It is ambiguous as to whether the events of the game mode have actually occurred or has all along been simply in Samantha's imagination.


Call of Duty: Black Ops II Activation Instructions

Call of Duty: Black Ops II Reviews & Ratings

10
Review by wpredw [user]
March 30, 2013

Just an absolutely horrible game I cannot find a single thing to appraise MW3 better, MW2 better, BO1 better battlefield series way better.Just an absolutely horrible game I cannot find a single thing to appraise MW3 better, MW2 better, BO1 better battlefield series way better. I have played three previous versions something like 3-400 hours and found them enjoyable but the controls in this is just plain frustrating, no one is playing I would probably declare this the death of the franchise unless they step up in the next release

40
Review by vahn [user]
March 7, 2013

Hated MW2. Hated MW3. I was able to try this one for a short time. Couldn't wait to get angry and start raging on how bad this series is, andHated MW2. Hated MW3. I was able to try this one for a short time. Couldn't wait to get angry and start raging on how bad this series is, and so off I played. After playing for 2 days of experiencing and trying basically enough, I have to say this...it has improved. It hurts me to say, but it has few improvements over the previous games. First of, I liked how the perks are extremely few and unlike the previous, which many were useless and only few were good, now we get few perks and almost none are that useful and actually work as "perks". Instead, some of the "old" perks are now some sort of "attachments" to weapons which are unlocked by using them more often, and in here we also get the levels for weapons, which is a nice addition. They tried hard to balance the game, even by limiting our perks, weapons, attachments and everything with a limit of 10...which balances things....I guess? Weapons are still rather similar but they TRIED to make them different this time and I noticed few differences while using some of them...like one would give less recoil...another would do more...but the same damage...? Arenas have improved as well: we get colors! Few, but it's so great to find more than 2 colors in an arena, without mentioning that I haven't played that many matches with campers (there were, but nothing impossible to counter). And jokes aside, they tried to make most of the arenas trying to be careful on blind corners...which unfortunely still are present, showing either that it's programming fault or their own choice. People will either think I'm joking or being serious but to be honest, the answer is just one: this game is still horrible, and that's no joke. While it has improvements over the others, it's still not worth a single cent on this game: weapons are still too similar and have the biggest fault of having no need to aim at all: just shoot and you'll kill (you might need to aim only on long distances); arenas, while cured a little more, show how graphics are HORRIBLE and simply unacceptable and while I accepted the graphics of the previous games, this one is totally unworthy of attention. And campers are still around in some arenas, so it's not fixed yet; balancing of the classes is still far from being even remotely good, letting us customize with just tons of useless perks (even if fewer than previous games) and overpowered killstreaks, which works with points instead of kills, but still can be a gamebreaker pretty easily and without letting you escape. This game is just mediocre, like the previous games, and while it may be a good purchase this time, the game is still expensive like day 1 and, in all honesty, you can spend those euros/dollars for much better games (and cheaper as well). If you ever find this game on discount (not gonna happen) you might give it a try and maybe even having fun until the next installment arrives (after that, this game literally dies). But seriously, if you want to play an arena based fps, with lots of weapons, with very low graphics, no real physics and simply fast pacing gaming....play either Quake 3 arena or Unreal tournament.

60
Review by rykeith [user]
January 26, 2013

The campaign story is one of the best COD has recently offered. The one glaring (and frankly, unforgivable) flaw is with the Strike ForceThe campaign story is one of the best COD has recently offered. The one glaring (and frankly, unforgivable) flaw is with the Strike Force missions. If you are not planning on playing on the harder difficulties, they really are not that big of an issue, albeit poorly executed with respect to controls and friendly AI. On the harder settings, these become a gigantic nuisance due to the terrible friendly AI. The multiplayer is also good, and I think I enjoy it more than the BO1. Overall, above average game that could have been great.

95
Review by DailyGame
January 7, 2013

If the original Black Ops was Treyarch's coming-out party, then Black Ops 2 is the studio's affirmation that their COD expertise was no flash in the pan. If you're one of the 16 people who hasn't played this gem yet, go buy it now. Conversely, if you're among those who bought the game but hasn't ventured into the single-player campaign (yes, it happens), there's a great narrative and divergent gameplay awaiting your experimentation, so check it out.

20
Review by DarrkHawk [user]
December 27, 2012

Another year and all is the same with the Call of Duty franchise and I eventually gave up and rented it. 9 games now how the infamous "Call of Duty" title and this one is by far the worst. Campaign wise, the story is a very poor follow on from the half decent Black Ops. With the "past and future" story completely dominating the game which makes the flow of the game just fall apart. The level layout, objectives and story progress are literally the same as of the previous 5 games. Maybe next year we will get a bit of variety? The only real change to this game is the stolen aspects from other games that treyarch have tried to bind with this game, but failing to make it work. The futuristic aspect of this game is clearly taken from that of the crisis series and abilities are just a rip off of the ever more popular halo series. It is nice that treyarch are trying but their QA team needs to step in and stop such creations. The whole feel of the games just isn't the feel that Call of Duty once had (Call of Duty 4). The multiplayer aspect is certainly nothing new. The EXACT same feel, the EXACT same flow, the EXACT same server quality, the EXACT same unbalancing and the same poorly designed maps. This games multiplayer actually got me asking the question "why is Call of Duty so popular?". The reason I came up with, slap this title on any other game and it will sell just as well. People see those 3 infamous words and immediately want in. Pre-teens nag their parents for these games to fit in with the crows (despite the 18 certificate), Teenagers want the game for an easy game to yell abuse and annoyances down the microphone. Adults buy the game because of its annual tradition and the gaming season. These are the only reasons I feel that keeps the CoD title alive. The one redeeming feature I thought would help this game is the infamous zombies. Loved by many since world at war and by far the greatest part of the Call of Duty series. However, even this falls short. Zombies is about endurance and having fun. So why have treyarch started interpreting stories into this. Sure, It can be fun to search and unlock the story but it is just not necessary. Keep zombies the fast paced endurance game it once was. I can safely say I am glad I didn't pay full retail for this game. Even the £8 i paid for rental is too much of a loss. I could have bought a lovely pair of socks and be more satisfied (and have some change for a snack). Call of Duty, you are kept alive by the bandwagon that your name of created.

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Game Information
Release Date November 12, 2012
Publisher Treyarch, Activision, Square Enix
Content Rated M (Mature)
Game Modes Single player, Multiplayer, Co-operative, Split screen
Player Perspectives First person
Genres Shooter
Themes Action, Science fiction, Warfare
Platforms PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii U