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Generally favorable reviews - based on 73 Critics What's this?

User Score

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 1667 Ratings

  • Summary: Call of Duty: Black Ops II injects players into a potential near future - a Twenty-First Century Cold War in which technology and weapons have merged to create a new generation of warfare. Black Ops 2 introduces players to a diabolical villain named Raul Menendez who hijacks the US military infrastructure to advance his own agenda. Take control of the power of near-future technology and next-gen robotics to pull the world back from the brink of annihilation. Expand
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 67 out of 73
  2. Negative: 0 out of 73
  1. Jan 7, 2013
    95
    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.
  2. Nov 14, 2012
    86
    That Treyarch and Activision aren't just resting on their laurels, and are happy to inject new ideas into the experience, is something that should be rewarded by your interest. Interactivity in the way the campaign flows, in particular, is rewarding and fresh, and is something I hope we see more of.
  3. Dec 12, 2012
    85
    Black Ops II is a mixed bag. The single-player features the most coherent and engaging storyline seen in the series so far. While the story really shines, the campaign itself feels over-scripted and underwhelming. It's hard not to enjoy the multiplayer, though. While one could argue it's the same old Ground War, it's still a lot of fun. [Dec 2012]
  4. Nov 13, 2012
    74
    Right now military shooters share the problem of the WWII action games from about five years ago: Eventually you have seen everything and played everything, over and over, again and again. Sure, the campaign has its moments, but nonetheless Black Ops 2 would love to be Modern Warfare – and that is a five-year-old game. And so it is once again the established multiplayer with its plethora of modes and personalization option (all of which are basically known) that comes to the rescue of this run-of-the-mill shooter.

See all 73 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. The call of duty is my favoruite FPS serial.And this game brings a possibility to choose a one of the 5 ends.This isn't a best Cod,but it's very good because it brings lot of new things in CoD series,like a optional Strike Force missions,5 ways to end a game,two stories and more. Expand
  2. It's made some vast improvements since Black Ops, with non-linear level design, choices that effect the future of your game, and some RTS missions to do once you get bored. I found the story quite engaging. If you haven't played the first one to the end, you'll be lost, no doubt, but I still cared about the characters and the writing is largely believable and actually quite funny at times too. Yes, the general gameplay is quite dated, it doesn't feel as organic and as free-flowing as some other shooters do, but it still runs at a consistent 60 FPS. The aesthetic is also consistent, and it's quite effective too. You really feel like you're in the future, and you get immersed in the world you're in. To those who think this is just the same thing over and over again, you're largely wrong. It has the same shooting gameplay, but that doesn't mean it's the same as previous ones. You can't say Black Ops 2 is the same as Black Ops 1 because you're shooting people with a gun in first-person. If you were to come up to me and say that Half-Life 2 is exactly the same as Duke Nukem Forever because in both games there's first-person shooting, I would be forced to kick you in the balls. I would say it's audacious for Treyarch to do this, but they knew that COD was going to sell regardless, so they mixed up the formula and the end result is actually quite surprising and really good. The level design means everything to me; I love different branching paths in which you can clear out enemies, and I like having one set area in which I can run and gun and have a **** great time. People are just giving this game a low score because of prejudice, I'm sure many of the people that rated this haven't even played it yet. Their theory is: Call of Duty is popular, therefore it is **** I had this prejudice too, I was expecting an aggressively linear, nonsensical, poorly paced, piece-of-**** retread of the previous COD games, because what else would you expect? You weren't expecting a masterpiece, nor did we get a masterpiece, but we did get something that is entirely different from its predecessor and also something I would recommend. Up to this point, I've hated the Call of Duty series, with MW1 being the only good one (it was actually quite fantastic) and all the others being rather **** and boring. Black Ops 2 is a huge turn around for the series, and to those people who say it's exactly the same, you obviously haven't played it. Expand
  3. This game is is one of those games that you constantly hear is terrible then when you actually decide to play it your blown away this is one of the better online experiences and with everyone complaining about it being unbalanced yet these guys will go ahead and play mw2 don't miss this game if the price is right its fun with friends and good by your-self Expand
  4. 1
    The single player is easy on the highest difficulty but that isn't the reason you buy this game.
    The other mode zombies feels wrong where bla
    ck ops 1 zombies was entertaining for an hour or two this zombies held my attention for all of 5 minutes.
    Multiplayer is riddled with annoying players, absolute noobs and MLG wannabes.
    Overall a terrible game.
    Expand

See all 746 User Reviews

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