POSTED 20/11/12


CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS II

Activision
PS3 (also on Xbox 360, PC, Wii U)

Number nine, number nine, number nine, numbe-THUMP!

Much to Activision’s credit, they’ve tried to revolutionise a series they could just as easily have farted out and still flog enough of to continue having as many caviars they could smoke and cigars they could ride. Or summat.

This one’s a time travel tale, starting with the 1970s through ’80s Cold War and ending up in a new shivery conflict come 2025. Alex Mason returns, complete with Sammy Worthington voice goodness, and future bits see his son, Dave, take over. It’s nice to know he’s got something happening other than more The Reels reunions.

Single campaigniness ultimately revolves around rare earth minerals, which are – ironically - required for most everything future tech. The big bad’s a Nicaraguan bloke named Menendez, who gives serious Dr Evil with his world superpower shit-stirring to further his means. Means meaning moneys, mainly.

You’ll scuffle from Cuba to LA, flitting from Spider-Manniness to Batmanliness in seconds with the odd supposed-to-tug-on-heartstrings-but-really-rather-gauche cutscene, utilising weaponry from peashooter to rocket launcher with more guns in-between than within Charlton Heston’s mancave. You’ll also discover the series’ big new thing – multiple endings! Things may usually feel more on rails than a Melbourne tram, but certain decisions or reaction times affect outcomes. Then there’s the hot RTS injection, which isn’t hot (or welcome). If arcadeishly bang-bang-shoot-shooting, you don’t wanna get all armyistically grunt bodysnatching Poindexteral. But yay for trying, we guess.

Meanwhile, multiplayer’s mostly familiar – ‘Domination’, ‘Kill confirmed’, ‘Abject moron fucksticklebricks online’ and such – but things like leagues of those similarly ranked and mucho tweakingability are ace. Then there’s party games, social integration and, natch, teh zombiez. You can even go all the-wheels-on-the-bus-go-round-and-round with the latter in ‘Tranzit’.
 
Ultimately, you’ll still get stuck on pebbles and regularly wonder WTF just murderated you, but frustration never looked better. It's all the same thing, in this case manufactured by someone who’s always...

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