[Update: Check out the official announcement trailer for Black Ops 2 right here!]
It’s official: The Cold War is back in Call of Duty: Blacks Ops 2 – and not because we’re returning to the 60′s so we can blast “Sympathy for the Devil” out of a swift boat whilst gunning down hordes of North Vietnamese militia as a creepy Russian manifests his psyche in our brains.
The Cold War in Black Ops 2 will be a future Cold War – a 21st Century, near-future exposition on terrifying potential of warfare, when a confluence of advanced technologies and next generation weaponry lie in the right (or wrong) hands.
Those are the story details, according to Eurogamer, that have leaked on the game’s official UK website pre-order page in advance of tonight’s NBA Playoff reveal. While the prevailing notion for quite some time was that Blacks Ops 2 would expand on the exploits of Alex Mason, taking players back to the real Cold War and perhaps Vietnam, the information affirms more recent teases – like the FPS Russia video of a quadrotor helicopter drone – that hinted at a future destination.
That’s not all, though. Tonight’s debut trailer has been set up on the UK CoD website and locked, but images have leaked to All Games Beta depicting scenes of rampant mass destruction in what looks to be another flaming American city (New York received the matchstick treatment in Modern Warfare 3) – likely Los Angeles judging by the freeway congestion palm trees and architecture. Future weapons are on full display, as a bulky APC stampedes through the streets and waves of quadrotors, drones, and stealth fighters dot the sky. There’s also fresh box art that appears to bear the poster image we saw earlier today. Have a look:
It’s worth noting that some of the leaked images represent the larger make-up of the microscopic teasers Activision has been posting to the Call of Duty website. Another two have gone up today: One showing the cannon on the side of the above APC, while the other shows an aging man’s forearm – whose tattoos confirm the reappearance of Black Ops‘ Sgt. Frank Woods.
The addition of Woods – or anyone else from SOG team – is vital. It seemingly confirms that Black Ops 2 features some form of tie-in to the original Black Ops storyline, however entrenched in the future it may be. Does this mean that the Modern Warfare mythos of World War III is still accounted for as nations appear to collide once again? Or, is there also a chance that Black Ops 2 carves its own narrative into the 21st Century as wheelchair Woods/Mason explains how the Cold War never truly ended?
Ranters, let us know what you think about the latest – and most quite possibly most revealing – Black Ops 2 info yet. And be sure to stay tuned when we cover the upcoming reveal trailer set to air tonight.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 releases November 13, 2012 for the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC.
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Follow me on Twitter @Brian_Sipple
Source: Eurogamer, Call of Duty, All Games Beta
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*sigh* if there is zombies I might just have to get it. Damn.
this might not look like an average COD….but this time, i might have to preorder because it looks beast
Hmmm this could get interesting.
These screenshots looks pretty awesome, especially that APC. I don’t normally say that about CoD games. Also, I think it’s pretty funny how all this info was leaked just hours before the official announcement trailer.
Great. Another “MODERN” warfare title– this time from Treyarch, which has excelled when they produce historically-set COD games. I had high hopes for another COD set in the past. I’ve had my fill of “modern” titles. Not exceited at all if this is true.
Yeah because you see A TON of walking battle drones today. Its not modern its futuristic.
Yeah Dan, this is set in the future, idiot. Granted, it seems to be set in the near future, but still.
Oh look, early version of starwars.
Wow, this is a definite skip for me. Bland and generic as all get out. This is everything every other future FPS has already done.
You can’t judge it already, Tabori. These are just screenshots. Few in number. They’re not trailers or gameplay videos. You can’t say a game is going to be bad just because you’ve seen screenshots. For Halo 4, they could take a picture of the ground and release it as a screenshot, but you couldn’t judge the game from a screenshot of the ground. We have virtually no details outside of the setting of Black Ops 2 and a couple of its new weapons. You have to give it a chance.
I’m judging it on the basis that I don’t like any of what I see. I’m tired of drab piss/brown generic apocalypse worlds. It’s just so overdone. That’s the beauty is I really don’t have to give it a chance. And taking a picture of the ground is not the same thing. They are trying to impress me with these shots. If they release a trailer that is somehow magically amazing, maybe my opinion will change. But this looks awful so far.
You may be able to judge the setting (the “drab piss/brown generic apocalypse world”) but you can’t judge the overall game. You can’t say the gameplay is bad just because you don’t like the setting. That’s like if Halo 4 was set in some boring village in Africa, but you don’t know anything about how good the gameplay will be, yet you call it garbage instead. You can’t do that.
I can if the setting ruins the game for me. What pulls me in doesn’t have to be what pulls you in. I’m not saying I’m THE factual viewpoint on this matter. I personally don’t want to play through another “exploded world” game with generic future tech. It just doesn’t appeal to me. Trust me, it will do just fine without me.
If you buy FPSs like CoD for their setting, then you obviously don’t know what they’re all about. They try to impress you more with their arsenal of weapons and vehicles and killstreaks and gameplay. Setting isn’t a major part of any FPS that emphasizes multiplayer because they just squeeze out a quick 5-hour campaign and then focus solely on the multiplayer. The setting isn’t emphasized.
Saying I enjoyed something wrong is totally ridiculous.
When did I say that?
Why I bought and enjoyed COD or any game is my business and at my whims alone. You can’t tell me what about a game I enjoyed or didn’t enjoy, or what will pull me into giving a game a shot or not.
No I can’t, but what I can tell you is that if you expect a game that doesn’t focus on setting to have an amazing setting, then you’re expectations are way too high.
You’ve missed my point entirely.
No, I got your point. I’m just saying that you have exceedingly lofty expectations given the focal points of the developers on the franchise in question. If you continue to decide whether or not you will buy a CoD game based on its setting, you may likely never buy another CoD solely because you dislike the setting, which is utterly ridiculous.
It will probably be California. If you type the numbers that are in one of the boxes on the COD website into google maps, it takes you to Santa Monica.
That’s because Treyarch is located in Santa Monica. DERP.
wow, was really hoping to go back in time. but theres still plenty they can do with the title.
are we all sure this isn’t Crysis 3: b******* Edition?
Are we all sure Crisis 3 isn’t Halo 4: D*ck edition?
Why is Cod Bringing back Battlefield 2142 (-.-”)
AAAAAAAHAHAHAHAH giant mechanical robots and ariel drones WTF !!?!?!?!?
Wow, those are some of the LEAST practical looking vehicles I’ve ever seen… I really can’t see the military actually using things like those…
If they did in todays standards, these things would break down every time.
I think this is something fresh that the COD franchise needed to do. If they tie in the events from the first Black Ops, some how, then we may have a campaign worth playing with this game. Looking at the trailer, I just keep thinking about the type of jump Konami did with Metal Gear Solid 3 to Metal Gear Solid 4 (interesting similarities actually). Either way I’ll be buying this one because I want to see how the characters/story tie in from the original black ops. And this is coming from someone who swore off Modern Warfare games because of the lack of progression between games. I’m looking forward to jumping back into black ops.
if theres zombies it wil be mad as
Coolio