Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Review (PS3)

Axe: Call of Duty is a big game, and one that often evokes a lot of emotions from fans and haters alike. While one person could review it, at Good Game we've pooled resources to make sure we have a balanced, comprensive review, with Graph, Live, Straussy and m'self all chiming in.

Axe: The core gameplay of the Call of Duty series, ever since Modern Warfare, has been fast-paced arcade shooting, and Black Ops 2 sticks to the excellent formula that's been laid down in the console generation. The weapon handling is excellent, with just the right amount of auto-aim to keep the action fast, but not so much so you feel the game is playing itself for you and the movement is smooth and enjoyable. If you like the way CoD games do shooting, you'll find a whole lot to like here.

Live: Also, there's little to no recoil at all on most guns (I was actually expecting a bit more recoil than in Modern Warfare 3, like there was in the original Black Ops).

Axe: The single-player campaign (we'll cover off Zombies and the classic CoD Multiplayer in the Multiplayer section, below) is filled with cinematic moments, and lots and lots of bad guys to shoot. Black Ops 2's shooting sections were well put together, and as well as the entirely linear corridors, there are a few sections where you have a small amount of choice about how you use your cover and environment to proceed (similar to the MW3 campaign). Use the cover on the street or pick 'em off from the houses on the side? Up to you. There is also a reasonable amount of enemy variety (if not variety in enemy behavior - enemy AI in the CoD series has never been strong, and it looks like we might have to wait for the next generation for that to change), helped by the near-modern setting of many of its missions.

Axe: As well as the core shooting part of the campaign, CoD goes to a number of places it's never been before. You'll be faced with live-or-die decisions for key characters, tactical missions that you can fail, a variety of endings and a dance floor! While the variation is good, it's clear that Treyarch has far less experience in this area and the tactical missions in particular lacked polish. They're a welcome addition, and have potential to add another significant rung to CoD's already generous ladder of content, but for the moment they're a bit below-average (but still very much playable, and worth attempting).

Axe: My only grumble about the gameplay in single player is that there were a few spots in the campaign where you have to suddenly react to something and it's a 'get it right or die and restart' moment. However, it's not always clear exactly what has to be done, and it ends up as frustrating trial-and-error gameplay as you work out what the devs want. At one point, it took 13 restarts to get past a section, which was particularly frustrating given that the controls were deliberately limited making the actual gameplay fairly unintuitive. Fortunately, though, there are only a handful of these in the whole campaign, and they're worth persevering through to enjoy the rest of what it has to offer.

Axe: While Call of Duty doesn't sit at the top of the table for graphical quality, as it did back when Modern Warfare released, it still boasts geometrically complex environments, decent texture work and reasonable lighting. It's not top of its class, but it's still well above-average and it's definitely good enough that you'll be sucked into the action without worrying about the visuals. One of its strengths is a consistency of visual performance - there may not be many jaw-droppingly impressive moments, but there also aren't huge variations in texture and lighting quality, or effects, and this consistency goes a long way towards greater player immersion.

Straussy: The most important thing is that the game runs at 60 FPS on consoles (well most of the time).

Axe: It’s another top-notch soundscape in Black Ops 2 – they never hold back with production values and it shows, from quality, often celebrity voice talent (Sam Worthington’s back as Alex Mason) to polished sound effects and a thumping score, your ears will enjoy every moment. The only part of the presentation that isn’t quite best-in-standard is the gun noises, which don’t quite have the depth of those in Battlefield 3, but they’re still very much quality.

Straussy: With so much happening in this game the sounds can be utter chaos. As it has always has been in Cod to stimulate the player and make heart beat faster.

Straussy: Controls in all CoDs are really responsive and a must for a twitch/arcade shooter, and BO2 delivers the excellent standard gamers have come to expect from the series. User interface on the whole is mostly fine when navigating the menus and making any changes you want to options, but the game does occasionally freeze in and out of the game while in a menu.

Axe: Aye, the menus can be a bit laggy, and until you get used to it, it’s easy to think the game hasn’t registered your menu selections for a few seconds. It’s a bit reminiscent of GT5, particularly before they were sped up in a patch, and I suspect it’s due the very networked structure of the whole game adding some network communication time in between everything. It’s no biggy, but it stands out in a game that in most other respects is very slick and direct.

Axe: The story behind Black Ops 2 is well put-together and entertaining, with plenty of twists and turns and, for a first in the series, some user agency over exactly which outcomes and endings you’ll see. I won’t go into details, as spoilers in reviews are bad form, but safe to say who lives and who dies will depend for some on what you do, and this adds an extra layer of enjoyment and replayability to the game. The actual story itself is more than a little far-fetched, but this is par for the course for a non-WW2 Call of Duty game and just like the any James Bond film, far-fetched can be a lot of fun.

More broadly, the presentation of Black Ops 2 is excellent – you can choose whether the game goes straight to the campaign, multiplayer or zombies when it loads, taking away one layer of menus when you’re hitting up your favourite mode. Loading times are relatively short, and in SP covered by cut-scenes.

The sheer breadth of content is also excellent – 14 multiplayer maps (plus Nuketown 2025 for pre-orders), a 6-plus hour campaign, and five zombie maps (again, plus Nuketown 2025 for pre-orders). The only black marks as of writing are continued connection issues for some users (although Treyarch has already patched away a number of connection problems, and has indicated they’re working hard on fixing the rest), and intermittent, brief freezes while playing both the SP and MP. It’s not a biggy, although in MP can be more of a problem if you’re in a tense firefight.

Competitive

Axe: Black Ops 2 offers up more of the rock-solid arcade shooter action which is synonymous with the CoD series. There are a great range of weapons, numerous attachments, all of the usual perks and more scorestreaks (killstreaks are now known as scorestreaks, and things like capturing a flag or domination point will earn credit towards them, in a move that encourages people to play the objectives more) than you can shake an MP7 at. As is usually the case in a CoD, the starting weapons are some of the most balanced in the game, although low-level players will be at a disadvantage for their lack of attachments, and restriction to the low-level perks (which are arguably far from the best in the game). Levelling, however, is quick, and before long any player will have a good range of options to build their favourite classes from.

Live: There is a good variety of map types and layouts in a range of sizes in Black Ops 2. A few of the smaller, more symmetrical maps such as Hijacked and Express promote extremely fast-paced gameplay where the action definitely lies around the centre of the map. Meanwhile, the larger maps such as Turbine and Carrier can cater for various playstyles; whether you would prefer to stay back and use long-ranged weaponry to take out enemies, or move from cover to cover for some good old CQC action. There are usually many objects and rooms on each map to take cover from, meaning more strategising can be used or may be required to take out enemies.

Most maps also have many smaller side and building routes to take along with the conventional three-main-route layouts, as well as windows and platforms to climb and flank enemies and to reach objective points. I guess this also helps to ensure that players can't really camp or hold out in one spot for too long because there are more ways to access and outflank them. However, players of all styles need to be wary of enemies seemingly popping out of openings, windows and alleyways anywhere in the maps as well because there are just so many. In addition, some maps have been designed with many levels of elevation, such as bridges and underground passages, as well as interactive environments like the Bullet Train on the Express map that often also add to the feel of how diverse the maps are.

The spawn system (in TDM at least) seems decent so far; you usually spawn in safe spots (maybe at least 2-3 seconds from seeing the next nearest enemy) or near team mates. Sometimes I have spawned very close to or behind enemies though - not directly standing behind them, but they were in clear view or running into my view when I spawned.

Straussy: I really like the pick 10 system and think it was a great idea. However, that is where the fun kind of stops unless you run a party of 6 people who will watch your back. This game makes it hard for lone wolves to play a role during the battle and as such I think the majority of times I have won a game online was in a party.

Axe: Treyarch have also worked magic with their netcode as well. If you’re playing with a solid host against locals (Aussies and Kiwis), you’ll struggle to tell the difference between it and a dedicated server game, and even in league play, where you’re more likely to bump into teams from further afield, the lag is significantly better than earlier CoDs.

Graph: Leagues are a top new feature in Multiplayer. It can take a bit of time & patience to get a game in leagues as you can't join in-progress matches, so you would need to wait for the 50 odd matches being played to finish before being put up against another team. But the wait is well worth it as the majority of other players are in parties with their clan & will be playing hard out to win, making it far more enjoyable than a pub game if you're looking for something more competitive, or even just a good change of pace.

In the leagues screen you have everything unlocked & have separate classes to create from your pub classes, which is brilliant. I'm guessing that the Leagues will build a good deal of momentum when everyone stops trying to level up as fast as possible & starts looking for something different. It's pretty much like jumping in & out of clan wars as it suits you, but with random map & mode combos which you only see for a few seconds before the match starts (along with who you're playing against & in this period people can't leave).

Zombies

Axe: Zombies has also expanded – as well as the usual “grab three mates and survive for as long as you can” on single maps, there’s also the new “TranZit” and “Grief” modes. In TranZit, you can traverse different areas either on foot or using a bus, while the zombies come at you in waves, and also are able/have to build things to survive, by scrounging gear in the environment. In Grief, there are two teams of four playing, and while you can’t shoot other humans directly, you can cause trouble for them by leading the zombies towards them and other ‘griefing’ options. It’s a robust range of coop survival options, supported by leaderboards, matchmaking and CoD Elite.

Straussy: Gotta love zombies and with three new game modes there is lots of time to practice your aiming to get more headshots. I love playing survival with a group of friends. TranZit is interesting and trying to figure out how to assemble the parts can be fun up until a point where you run out of patience and find the answer on Youtube.

Live: In TranZit mode, you are free to play your game however you like. In a few of the lobbies I have played in, my team mates exited the first area in the first round and we hopped on the bus straight away. The only bad thing was that we didn't have enough points when we wanted to open doors or buy guns or use the mystery box in the next areas. It was still really fun and challenging, and having the bus as the main mode of transport can really change the pace of the game depending on how you choose to use it. Communication and teamwork is much more important for travelling to different areas safely as a team (especially since missing the bus can be pretty scary and lonely if you're not prepared).

Axe: It's clearly still a bit early to know the ins and outs of its weaknesses as a hardcore competitive shooter, as it takes weeks of playtime to get to the bottom of those, but there's no doubt that Black Ops 2 is one of the best arcade shooters ever released. It's wide range of content, and its moves to expand all three of its core elements (campaign, multiplayer and zombies) show that while it might be the second Black Ops and the seventh (!) console Call of Duty this generation, the series still has a lot to bring to gaming. Combine that with it's incredible online community (there were well over half a million online when I was playing a few pub games earlier today) and it's an easy recommend for fans of arcade shooters.