![]() Although missions take place in Angola, Yemen, Pakistan and other potentially offensive hotspots, the story avoids the predictable post-9/11 plot devices. While rival shooters continue to herd themselves down the cul-de-sac of military realism, Black Ops 2 throws itself into pulp sci-fi with gusto. The near-future setting comes close to being a corny gimmick, with its cloaking armour, robot spiders and flying wingsuits, but it also frees the game from the jingoistic onanism of Modern Warfare. Hopping between flashbacks to Black Ops hero Alex Mason in the 1980s and his son David in 2025, you'll pursue charismatic terrorist leader Raul Menendez across the decades. The story is absolute nonsense, of course, but still devilishly entertaining. The story builds to a suitably apocalyptic conclusion, but it avoids too many silly set-pieces. There are still a few headbanging checkpoints where you can see the ghost of CODs past in the waves of spawning enemies that only cease once you hit the right trigger spot, and the AI still won't be winning any chess matches, but Call of Duty hasn't felt this alive in years. The maps accommodate and embrace this freedom too, offering broader routes that reward the exploratory player and secret areas, containing better weapons or useful intel, that can only be accessed with a special perk. ![]() You can now choose your loadout and equip perks before each level, much like multiplayer. ![]() No longer are you handed a pair of weapons and shoved down a corridor of scripted stunts. Bucking the trend for increasingly stunted single-player shooter experiences, Treyarch has returned to the belief that the solo portion of an FPS is the beating heart of the game, not a grudging tradition useful only for bombastic trailer shots. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the campaign mode. This is a game that dares to take a billion-dollar formula and muck about with it. For so long considered the second-string studio, brought in to add to the series on Infinity Ward's off years, Black Ops 2 sees Treyarch not only adding to the franchise but taking ownership of it. It may be destined to earn all the money in the world between now and next November, but that assurance has gifted developer Treyarch with confidence, not arrogance. Sorry to disappoint, but Black Ops 2 is not the cynical obligation you might think. We're conditioned to root for the underdog, not to cheer on a champion that's already spent five years on top. Is this the game that will finally turn the tide and see Call of Duty given a bloody good kicking? Believe me, I understand that impulse.
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