Call of Duty: Black Ops II Xbox 360
User Score
4.5 out of 10

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 1667 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 640 out of 1667
  2. Mixed: 175 out of 1667
  3. Negative: 852 out of 1667

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  1. Captain_Howdy
    May 22, 2013
    7
    I usually don't get many CoD games since, they have the tendency to lack in change, after playing WaW, BO and MW3 at a friends, i realized the game just lost its innovation, if you get this game every year, I'm not sure why you bother, but anyways, after playing this game, I feel like it was worth while. I mean the story mode was pretty alright, took me about 5 to 6 hours off an on, on Veteran. Multiplayer is still the same as ever, although repetitive from previous games, I do give Treyarch a thumbs up for the new pick 10 system, it adds new ways to set up your equipment. I say if you're iffy about the game and have the previous one, don't bother, stick with the one you have, if you're like that haven't bought a CoD game since MW2 give it a try but don't bother with the season pass or dlc, to my opinion it just isn't worth it. If you're a fan of the series, well there's nothing I can tell you to change your mind, you're probably playing it AND have the season pass.… Expand
  2. mohmed
    May 20, 2013
    0
    Black Ops II is just another copy of CoD 4, both multiplayer and singleplayer. The multiplayer is super boring, you'll get completely outgunned by smg's and shotguns, which are much stronger than any assault rifle.
  3. VoxelMob
    May 18, 2013
    5
    ever since black ops 1 the call of duty games have lost their wow I mean the only great thing about this is its story but everything else is just awful like the graphics its just the same thing over and over again and the shooting it is just awful.
    Activision has to let call of duty rest for some time then the games could be more polished and also with a new graphics engine this is what i     want but no they wont because is such a big money maker and will never stop being a money maker I have basically lost hope on the call of duty series now its just gone… Expand
  4. Maxim1925
    May 18, 2013
    4
    This game is not an AAA fps-shooter its only an arcade Xbox shooter with an outdatded old crap engine And ugly graphics and a short,boring Classic story but the multiplayer content is even better.But a month later is became boring.Now I think its only 4 out of 10.
  5. mark1003
    May 16, 2013
    0
    This game is simply unplayable. The story is ridiculous, the gameplay is painful, and don't start about the multiplayer. If you really want to play this bad a game, then you should probably buy Jumper of something like that. Otherwise, steer clear.
  6. Cyroy
    May 13, 2013
    2
    Call of Duty 4 was great, Modern Warfare 2 was playable but everything after that went seriously downhill.

    Just as in MW3 there's a lack of inovation, Yes it might be a succes formula but there are people (most of them who do recognize a good game) who start seeing that nothing is improving. I had myself skip Blops and MW3, because of the lack in improvement that were already noticable     in the trailers, but thought by myself I'll give CoD one more chance. I've never seen 55$ wasted this bad.

    Singleplayer: Wasn't bad, maybe quite enjoyable but a multiplayer game shouldn't rest entirely on the campaign mode.

    MultiPlayer: If I have to sum COD's multiplayer up in a sentence it's free for all team deathmatch, You are in a team yet there's no need to help eachother, because having one good player in your team can win the game and this isn't a good thing, It's TEAM deathmatch, not working together should result in failing miserably.

    Hacking and lagg issues still haven't been solved, They had 3 games to fix this and they still didn't do it.
    And there's nothing new to make MP more enjoyable.

    BLOPS 2 brings nothing new on the table, Same different day. Although the Singleplayer is still enjoyable it doesn't really mean anything for it's unchanged multiplayer, sligthly tweaked engine and graphics and still awfull soundeffects    … Expand
  7. CheckGamesList
    May 13, 2013
    9
    Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 was actually my first owned COD game, and my experience was very good.

    Let me state up front: Haters gonna hate. Opinions are opinions, but the fact that one out of virtually any five ratings are zeroes, which either means that they bought COD, played it for thirty seconds, and threw it out the window, or are other FPS shooter fans who haven't touched the game     and pretended to be an 'unbiased' reviewer.

    The game took tons of effort, and for some reason flash games are appreciated more than this. The reason this isn't a perfect ten is just because of the occasional glitch, the less-than-preferred but still adequate graphics, and of course, I'll understand the community isn't very polite either.

    Other than that, the game's truly great. It's not the same game, having still played other games in the series (not owning them though), and the improvements are obvious.    … Expand
  8. ILoveMyUnicorn
    May 13, 2013
    0
    No really, this game is like the same than 5 years old Call of duty, nothing new, still this casual gameplay and the community online is based on 8 years old people.
  9. mihajlogamer
    May 11, 2013
    10
    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.
  10. killerghs
    May 10, 2013
    7
    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
  11. Hybridizm
    May 9, 2013
    6
    Basically once again, Recycled goods? First off I'll start by explaining that I do not hate the CoD franchise in anyway, in fact I was a severe lover of the original games and of course that one particular game that set the bar for all FPS games in the future Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare.

    CoD4 easily took at least 25 days of my life away from me, I couldn't put it down at all. The si    mple feeling of gaining two helicopters (7 Killstreak) in one TDM just made you feel like rambo. I remember actually being credited for my performances sometimes, back in the good old days when party chat didn't kill the social aspect of gaming. I enjoyed every mode on that game, for it's simple mechanics and challenging multiplayer.

    Now though? CoD has become nothing more that constant cycle of well yes Recycling. All the new games in the series really add is more killstreak variations, new guns (some old) and new maps. It's because of this, I couldn't find any enjoyment out of reaching max prestige and consistently playing even after that. I would state the single player isn't all that bad but who really buys CoD for the single player? The only reason I've ever bought the latest installments of the franchise is due to friends wanting me to get it, so I'll sit there at the midnight release each year with my pals hoping, just hoping that the next release will hit my gamer heart so hard that I will want to grind the hell out of hitting max prestige again. Sadly none have done this, and I think I will definitely be giving the next game a miss.

    I will however state that regardless of the creativity the game lacks, it's still a fun shooter. Of course it can be frustrating but what FPS isn't. It's worth getting just to shoot a few peeps, but don't expect anything special out of it. I think I will defo be sticking to Battlefield from now on.    … Expand
  12. HaloFreak78
    May 8, 2013
    6
    The only reason this score is so low is because of two words: Lag. Compensation. While you see something on your screen, the server has essentially decide your fate. The person you shot at is already two steps behind you and knifed your back. And don't even get me started on the knifing. Clunkiest melee combat system ever devised. The campaign was interesting, suspensful, and the best of the series. Zombies is back and better than ever. Zombies was the main reason I bought this game. But I digress. If you come for the multiplayer, you are going to throw your controller at your screen a couple of times...like always.… Expand
  13. AdpoGamer
    May 8, 2013
    2
    another game that's just the same as all other Call of Duty games.
    same multiplayer, same guns, same graphics.
    just new maps
    feels like an expansion for black ops.
  14. Iamthejuan
    May 6, 2013
    5
    MW3 and all BF games these BO games

    I am a shooter fan. I don't care about COD versus BF, I want both to be good. The people making these black ops games should go work for resident evil team (since they can't make a good zombie game), and stop trying to make PvP shooters. The only good part about this or BO 1 is the mini-game, and this is supposed to be a warfare simulator not freakin    g Resident Evil.

    It is really bad for new players; the matchmaking does not separate the games by rank, only the teams. Which means if you are level 5 and you are in a game with 10 other max level players, you are going to be highly outgunned no matter what team you are on. The only people who ever use their mic's are 10 year old boys. All around poor playerbase, with very little focus on teamwork. The only way to get a good group with microphones is to be in a clan (or is it klan?), and they expect unrealistic level of dedication from people who play video games in their limited spare time between work and college courses.    … Expand
  15. mask48
    May 4, 2013
    3
    Well, where do I start. As a player of the first cod, i had loved the series and the improving gameplay. That is, till Cod MW 1. i mean, it is also great, but as the new cod games go on, the improvements had slowed down to a crawl. The new cod games keep the same gameplay, barely to nothing new, and very minor improvements. COD Black Ops has the same style of gameplay as COD MW 1, Black Ops 2 is same as MW 2. The games became so lazy with the improvement job, they just paint over the last game. But even with the same stuff over and over again, then why does people just keep buying these games? Out side repeat gameplay, the story is still a little lack luster, but i like the part when COD Black Ops 2 tried to be lest liner by giving more then 1 ending. But honesty, don't buy this game. Every one smart sticks with at least MW2, because they are not really missing out on much.… Expand
  16. Crawdad
    May 3, 2013
    9
    In my opinion black ops2 is the best call of duty yet. The reason I didn't give a perfect score is that the multiplayer, while good, has a lot of downsides such as lag and it feels imbalanced (if you want a good multiplayer, try battlefield). The Zombies mode is incredible. Building and putting things together to use is awesome and genius. After about ten rounds weapons become increasingly weak and ammo low, even LMGs, creating a more frenzied and intense when I play. The graphics (which look really good anyway but are still hated on) are an improvement, especially cutscenes. Many people still say it looks like 2007, but any person telling the truth of has EYES can see it is much better. The campaign is the best in the series by far. More intense, future warfare, and like battlefield the bullets don't always hit right on the reticule, or sight, but are usually close. But the best part is the story. Most choices will affect the ending, and the story is a lot more deep than the rest of the series, and for many military shooter of the simpler type. In the end, it is a well done game, and I don't think cod will drastically change for a long time, after all, they don't wont a reputation destroyer like RE6.… Expand
  17. GrandTrollArmy
    May 3, 2013
    4
    Better than Modern Warfare 3 and not a total copy and paste, this game still falls short of a 60 dollar price tag. The non-linear campaign is appreciated, but there's no real way for players to think strategically on how to make the right choices that will contribute to a better ending. Simple incidents in the story that players could have not foreseen in any way render a previous decision that may have seem good at the time a bad one. It is also the longest campaign in any COD game ticking in at 7-8 hours, but that's first run through, it is well under 4 hours in replays. Multiplayer, ah, multiplayer... IT IS THE EXACTLY THE SAME! OOOOHHH LOOKY HERE NEW PICK 10 SYSTEM SUDDENLY IT'S COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FROM THE PREVIOUS GAMES! It feels, plays, and even looks exactly the same as all the other games. And I know this is a Xbox 360 review section, but the PC version also does not feature dedicated servers players can rent and own. This will become a problem later in this game's cycle. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is still thriving on PC will a large amount of players due to dedicated servers allowing players to customize their experience.

    Multiplayer is just go in, shoot the other players, and get out. They add tons of new game modes this year but most are overly complicated so no one's playing those and some are way too simple that they're down right boring. And multiplayer is INFECTED with 12 and under little kids. There is an average of 240,000 players playing this game's multiplayer on the Xbox 360, subtract all those under the age of 12, and you get the PC player count which is around 12,00-15,000. Multiplayer is boring and is poorly executed. Weapon customization is strong though.

    Zombies mode returns in Black Ops 2 but once again, it proves to be nearly identical to the previous games. Just sit there and wait for the zombies to come, shoot them and kill them until one magically pops out and kills you and that's it. TranZit is neat but really, really gets boring after you played it once. And don't even get me started on Grief mode. No one is playing Grief because it is down right boring. The trailers made grief look like it was going to kick-ass but after I managed to find one match, I found it quite boring.

    Just don't buy this game. Call of Duty is not what it used to be. Activision needs to step up their game, work with new developers and add real innovation to upcoming games, the developers need to take their time and not rush to get in before November.

    COD:

    Children's
    Online
    Daycare    … Expand
  18. WhovianFantatic
    May 3, 2013
    2
    In my opinion the only good cod game was WAW.. the first few were boring hard and uninspired up until WAW then modern Warfare 2 came along.. I thought it was nothing special or nothing spectacular.. but then cod BO 1 came out... its zombies was ok but the story itself was horrible and no tension was caused throughout the entire game.. Then MW3 came out.. and im my opinion that is one of the worst games I have ever played... The game was boring uninspired just like the first few.. cod gets a new game every year and it just goes to show no work is put into it.. This isn worse then MW3 mostly because of its zombie mode but if you think about it. this is the same load of garbage since MW2 the graphics look the exact same and nothing stands out beside 1 mode in zombies.. the rest is boring and stupid.. zombie mode lets us down here only with 1 good thing.. the story line is about 2-3 hours long and it had no tension in it just like the last because all you do is talk about the past... so you know you live until the end.... its worse because I never liked any of the characters and they all felt like this game is crap... and now i hear there are 2 cod games coming out in 2013... give me a break... cod is the same load of garbage every game...… Expand
  19. shakilndtht
    May 2, 2013
    10
    black ops is fit for buying purpose and deserves the rating it gets. the graphics are excellent and when you play it has a smooth game play. this game is very very popular and well known.
  20. aborle
    May 1, 2013
    5
    CoD, CoD never changes. Well that's not completely true. They do try to add new things to the each successive iteration. But the problem is that the changes done this time do nothing to make things better. Assuming that the rest of the game is the same old same old lets look at the changes shall we? (focussing on sp here) :
    -loadout screen in front of each mission ala ranbow six. While t    his might have been welcome addition, it really doesn't matter so much in the CoD universe. i mostly keep switch guns and the game also keeps many different types of guns for us to use during checkpoints anyways.
    -Semi optional tower defense/rts tactical game. Let me tell you, i am a rts enthusiast and even i was thinking "what is this doing inside CoD"? Besides, the units take too long to respond, new units spawn very slowly and the whole mission takes way too much time.
    -Choice system and multiple endings. While i have no proper with such a system,i wonder why was it suddenly given suddenly in blops2? and since the series is such a linear gameplay experience, i was kinda annoyed.
    A point comes in the game where u have to snipe a masked target. I tried to shoot at the guards holding the target and i got a game over screen. But its out you could've saved the guy by shooting his limbs off! Really? Why doesn't it give me a game over wen i do that
    -Story. Implausible on all levels. The bad guy gets caught and escapes so many times, its laughable.

    So there u go. 4 changes that could have improved the game but end up making it worse. Essentially because they are tacked on to the same old game    … Expand
  21. dynamite298
    May 1, 2013
    0
    I dislike all COD games, they are all basically the same but with just different items. I really hate COD games because of their laggyness, unfair battle processes, and everything else is basically unfair.
  22. SirMauz
    Apr 30, 2013
    6
    Remember BlOps 1? Well... this game has similar feelings attached. Sometimes, the levels are AMAZING, and sometimes, you just want to throw your controller through the screen. The Storymode is pretty ok. That's about it. The multiplayer is pretty whacky, because there are a LOT of camper spammers. Ugh. Zombies is a mixed bag; I really enjoy this mode the most, yet... I wish there was more. Plus it is MUCH harder than BlOps 1, due to finding the dang Box. Ha, that aside, I'd say a solid $20 dollar game. Too bad they want $50 for it.… Expand
  23. Virtro
    Apr 29, 2013
    4
    Black Ops 2 is just another copy/paste/edit game. You search for a terrorist, surprise? Not so much. The gunplay is once again the same as it always has been. Just point and shoot and nothing interesting to mix in between. The multiplayer is just as tedious considering its nothing but more hard work for no rewards besides guns and stuff.

    Lets face it, its a bandwagon that is milking the     gamers dry of good money they could be spending on a brighter game. Call of duty isn't worth it anymore people, so why not play something more fresh?… Expand
  24. danibuttpirate
    Apr 27, 2013
    5
    To be honest, I think CoD Black ops 2 was actually great. It wasn't perfect but it wasn't terrible either; it's average. The game is good and I really liked the story line. the zombie mode has become more fun but the multiplayer however has still not changed and fixed its flaws that people like us have been complaining about since Modern warfare came out. Other than that it is OK.
  25. Simon150999
    Apr 27, 2013
    9
    The multilayer was the same as other CoD games more or less, but the singleplayer is where this game truly shines, the first CoD game to ever have multiple endings.
    Go Treyarch!
  26. NeezyBoy
    Apr 27, 2013
    10
    Treyarch's Call of Duty Black Ops 2 is an excellent game. From its Past to Future storyline Campaign which has points in the story that let you pick what you will do and influence the story later in the game to the Multiplayer gameplay which now includes a mode for competitive gamers like myself. This is by far one of the better Call of Duty's I have played. Also the Zombies side of things returns and if you get tired of playing the campaign and multiplayer and you want to do something different you will enjoy killing herds of zombies while trying to find out what led to the outbreak in the first place.… Expand
  27. BeAwesomeOne
    Apr 26, 2013
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Gosh, I hate this game. Never mind the fact that this is same game as the other games and have same multiplayer like other games from this franchise (only with different HUD), my biggest problem is that this game shouldn't be a sequel! I mean sure, you play as Mason half of the game but the other half is a futuristic FPS. WHAT THIS HAS TO DO WITH FIRST BLACK OPS?! To be fair, future part of this game has some pretty good features such as camouflage, sticky gloves, that let you climb a rock mountain and sky diving section. Sadly this happen only one or two time in this game. Anyway I don't understand a point of playing both Mason's campaign and future campaign, if Black Ops 2 only contains a Mason's campaign then that's will be fine. Only resemblance in future in BO2 is Woods... that's it!

    In other words this game will be better if they focus mostly about Mason storyline rather than on future soldiers one. If Activision wants to make a futuristic FPS in Call Of Duty, that's fine. But please don't put Black Ops name on it. Called it, I don't know, Futuristic War or something.    … Expand
  28. Tomaskovic93
    Apr 25, 2013
    1
    The only thing this game is good for is being a time waster, a very expensive time waster. You pay 60 dollars for the same game you've been getting every year thinking "this one will actually be good!" but no, you get 5-7 hour single-player campaign that i'm guessing no one even plays. Call of duty is all about their multi-player which hasn't made any significant change since CoD 4. Different guns with the same stats as the previous games. Do not buy it. if you want to spend 60 dollars in order to screw yourself, buy a really nice instead.… Expand
  29. FelixGuzman117
    Apr 25, 2013
    8
    This game is a great game some people have there thoughts about it because they have made the game that it takes more bullets to kill an enemy but that is not a negative aspect the reason why is because it opens the window to more completive gaming And I really like the fact that they have added zombie new zombie game modes Because that content is what everybody has been waiting for The graphics are a bit out dated if you compare them to halo 4 because blacktops 2 is using the same engine that blacktops 1 used But all and all it is a great game If you like previous games you well like this one… Expand
  30. defanual
    Apr 25, 2013
    7
    This review is coming from the perspective of a someone who has never played a COD game which is worth bearing in mind because that seems it will be a large denominator factor on reviews found here. The Good: • Gameplay is tight in a semi-realism arcade shooter kinda way • Campaign is a tour de force • You know when your doing good and you know when your doing really good (I had troad trouble gaging this in Halo)
    • Loads of maps out the box and DLC maps are usually always solid at best if you want to go there
    • Loads of weapons to master and the challenges and different feels disciples of the variety of weapons on offer give the multiplayer extended life
    • Connection time is quick in comparison to many others
    • One of the better map voting systems although not perfect
    • Some nice (fair) tactically gaming changing attachments, scorestreaks and equipment
    • Nice to solid visuals
    • Unmatched levels of polish in presentations and menus (matches it premium price reputation at least)
    • Some nice customisations features

    The Bad:
    • Lag compensation connections issues are deadly in a game of this type and pace and I'm finding this to be a problem more regularly lately which makes playing it very frustrating at times
    • Zombies is pretty boring confusing unplayable without a buddy or 3

    Weapons Equipment Classes
    • Sniper quick-scoping seems ridiculous even for a semi-arcade shooter.
    • No sniper-free modes (Personal wish)
    • Combination snipers (more than one sniper coming into your spawn and multi quick-scoping you from various angles)
    • Tac-inserts, my word, what a hideous snipe-friendly, camp inducing, objective breaking invention. Just too easily and all too often massively abused and is trademark of the hate for the COD brand of gaming.

    Community
    • The map selection can get Halo-like some sessions with maps like Hijacked reappearing a little too much for my thirst for variety especially in a map filled game (even prior to DLC)
    • There's no real benefit for staying in a game where your losing or especially where your getting destroyed
    • Random public games are unbalanced one-sided affairs
    • No offense but the community mindset overall seems pretty negative and one dimensional in many respects
    • Domination is always the be all and end all, there's a preference for easy one-sided tactics and play even if it results in the game being very boring.
    • Mic use is random and usually full of nonsense talk and raging
    • Custom design banners are often unimaginative and or overwhelmingly vulgar sexist (women's breasts, men you get the idea)
    • Random invites and messages of people begging you to checkout their 1 million and 5th COD run-of-the-mill-to-poor youtube channel
    • No easy way of forming a band of like-minded similar level public players to soften the blows and make games more challenging
    • Matching public random players against mic using teams clans, not cool.

    Closing, overall, when the connections good (or at least fair), your teams good (or decent) and everything else is good (massively benefit from playing with buddies), this can be a great game unmatched in it's category (far more varied, tactical and rewarding then say halo 4's effort).

    But it's often spoilt by it's lag compensation connection nonsense and in a large part by it's community and it's tactics (in individual and team play) to only dominate at the expense of everything and everyone else.

    Could give it a 6 6.5 but the highs when things are working are better than that to be fair.    … Expand
  31. aus741aus
    Apr 24, 2013
    7
    I came to the Call of Duty party fairly late, some time after Modern Warfare 2 and World at War, and I sincerely mean what I am about to say.

    The single player is the worst I've ever seen in a CoD game. Texture pop in, forgettable story and utterly annoying Strike Force missions. Still enjoyable for what it is but when compared to the previous campaigns it pales in compaison.

    Multipl    ayer is as good as ever. Nuff said

    Zombies is better than ever, easily the best part of the game. The same arcade action Treyarch improved with Black Ops with more features that just make it fun. Not to mention a return of the loveable over the top characters thatalso help characterise the mode, with voices new and old.

    All in all a good game, but at the same time the worst Call of Duty I've played thus far.    … Expand
  32. Auritone
    Apr 22, 2013
    4
    Ah, the Call of Duty franchise… What can be said about it which hasn’t been said so many times by so many people? It’s seems to be a franchise which continues to divide the waters of gamers: You either love it or hate it. There really doesn’t seem to be any middle ground on this one.
    So where do I personally stand?
    My problem with this particular FPS franchise lies very much with the dev     the developer, Treyarch, the overprotecting parents of game developers. Treyarch seems to live in constant fear of relinquishing some of their control of the game to the player, leading to one of the most scripted and linear shooter franchises on the market, at least up to this point. One notable thing about Black Ops 2 is that there are attempts from Treyarch to give more control to the player, but then it seems like they regretted their decision and pulls the players right back where they want them.
    One notable example of this is in Afghanistan where you have to stop a Russian assault with heavy armour, helicopters and infantry while on horseback. This initially seems like opening up for a bigger area with more freedom of movement and ways to take out the tanks and helicopters. However, this turns out just to be show, because in fact the whole stage isn’t as big as it would have you believe, there are really no options as to how to approach taking out the tanks and helicopters, and if you try to stray just a little bit, you are without warning killed off for going off the map.
    It seems like Treyarch tried a more open level design, but then thought better of it, making the player feel like a dog who just got a longer leash. Surprised by this it starts to run to stretch its legs only to get pulled back with a neck breaking jerk.
    Another attempt are a couple of tactical Strike Missions, which try to blend some real-time strategy into the franchise as well as giving the single player campaign a multiplayer “feel”. Now, this would have been a welcomed addition if it had been executed better than it actually is.
    The problem is twofold: First of all the strategy is extremely simplistic, leaving you with only four different squads at your command, and only being able to tell them where they to go using a quite useless overhead tactical map which I never used. You can then jump into any individual squad member and control it, whether a soldier, a gun turret, a rolling gun turret, or a small, slow walking tank. And this leads to the second problem: The AI. You get more out of just going commando on the enemy and try to do the tasks yourself, than rely on the orders given to your squads, as they will be killed off faster than a sloth on the MI5. On several occasions I have also seen squads taking the longest, and most enemy infested route possible to the destination I had set for them, resulting in them getting massacred in seconds.
    These strike missions are fortunately optional, but they are still frustrating to play.
    Other than that there really is nothing new in the single player campaign which, as usual for the franchise, is as short as ever and plays out more like a Michael Bay movie than anything else, though the cutscenes and set-pieces are as spectacular as ever.
    What really gets to me with this franchise is Treyarch’s reluctance to let go of the player’s hand. At one point you are on the side of a cliff, swinging on a line with you buddy using "high-tech gloves of the future" to stick to the side. Now, rather than actually letting the players do it on their own and actually climb around on a cliff surface, the whole thing is done with a tedious quick-time event.
    The following section which sees you gliding over mountains could have been a lot of fun, if it weren’t for the fact that it might as well have been set in a tunnel, as straying even a few meters too far from Treyarch’s very short leash will result in a restart.
    It's the same story with the "stealth". As usual you are left blindly playing "follow the leader", failure to do so results in you being discovered even if in cover.
    And that’s really my whole problem with the franchise and Black Ops 2. There are so many things which could have been so cool if you were just allowed to actually DO it.
    I like just a minimum of freedom and a minimum of control in my games and this franchise gives me neither.
    It treats the player like a little child learning how to cross a street, and never ever at any time does it let go of the player’s hand, squeezing it to a point of stopping blood circulation.
    That said, the multiplayer is still quite solid (if you liked it before) with a new league feature and other additions. The Zombies are back, but this time they are actually the most boring and quite ugly part of the game
    So other than the Strike Missions, Black Ops 2 is very much business as usual.
    If you like the franchise you won’t be disappointed, and if you like me don’t see what all the fuss is about… well, you still won’t.    … Expand
  33. OnAnarchy
    Apr 22, 2013
    3
    I play it frequently, because it's like cocaine in video game form. It numbs your mind, but doesn't do much else. I've come across far too many bad glitches and crashes that it renders the game almost unplayable. In hardcore, you get kicked (and placed on 'probation') if you kill your teammate too many times. Most often it's because they are stupid as hell or they die in unavoidable ways. I've seen weapons fail to spawn in classes (leaving you with no primary weapon), 7 (sometimes 8) players to a team in 6v6 matches, and spawns so bad you die instantaneously on maps way too large for that to happen. I feel like Activision has turned it's back on their fans; it's not about the quality, only the money. Save your time and play some indie games or stuff by less autocratic developers. Support the people who still make good games.… Expand
  34. L3onardoSantana
    Apr 21, 2013
    0
    By far the worst call of duty game I have ever played. MW2 was my first call of duty and that was by far the best one for sure. black ops was good too, i had no problem with that. MW3 was terrible and then Black ops 2. it just shows me this series is dying very quickly. only because call of duty is really siding torwards one side of the audience only. MLG's. which is cool and all but what about the other average audience that doesnt spend hours on call of duty practicing to be pro? whatever happened to just having fun?
    i was hoping quickscoping would disappear since it did in the first black ops which was great, unfortunately it came back and worse than ever before. you're shooting the hell out of a guy and in the meantime he pops off a shot and no scopes you, one shot kill. so stupid. in mw2 i first played very stealthy cuz thats my sort of gameplay style, silencer, cold blooded so no air support can see me, ninja, & claymores cuz i never have good game for grenades. but now as the games move on, they're forcing people to be more run and gun instead of campers. which is stupid because people are going to camp regardless. all the time, everytime. it's never going to end. so just stop and let them do what they want to do. the spawn points are so confusing and frustrating as well which forces the average player to run around like an idiot and spray their gun hoping their connection beats the other persons. that's another thing about this game too, i'd be shooting the hell out of a guy first but he would somehow kill me. this is by far the most frustrating game ever too.
    i literally have lost interest in this game too maybe a month in.
    i definitely dont recommend buying it. i might just have to find a new series thats actually worth playing than pissing me off all the time becuase of its bullcrap in it. i can guarantee you that if infinity ward employees hadnt gotten fired, they fixed one man army/noob toob, took out the ridiculous commando lunge, and still put out new maps.....people would still be playing MW2 to this day    … Expand
  35. HawkeyeWii
    Apr 19, 2013
    0
    Very weak game. If this game isn't showing signs that Call of Duty is misses a step then I don't know what is. It adds absolutely nothing new. This is no exaggeration. I would rather play Pong or E.T for Atari than this garbage!
  36. vintagegamer16
    Apr 19, 2013
    4
    is this a call of duty game? yes. does it play like call of duty yes! is that a bad thing? well.....in my and many others opinion...YES!! they have been using the same formula since modern warfare 1! now yes of course they have added extremly minor new features, yes i get that. the only thing this game is truly good for honestly is its zombies mode.
  37. CrazyCumcumber
    Apr 18, 2013
    6
    I have been playing call of duty for a while and I will have to say, Black ops II is a mixed bag. The campaign is player driven and gives you choices throughout the single player experience that will eventually make a big outcome in the end. I feel that the single player campaign was the best thing about this game.
    As for multiplayer, it is basically a copy-paste of former games, having l    ittle innovation and broken spawn points. I feel that the multiplayer was a big dissapointment, but if you liked previous COD multiplayers before, you will probably like this one too.
    Zombies now and I thought that the zombies mode was similar to mulitplayer, as in little to innovate and having copy-paste mechanics to the gameplay. On grief, I thought of more ways to troll my fellow teamates than just butterflies, but as i said again, if you like previous COD Zombies, then you will probably like this one.
    Overall, Black Ops II is a good addition to the Call of Duty series, with a great, player driven campaign and a hit-and-miss Multiplayer and Zombies. The visuals are great and the gameplay is satisfying. I would suggest getting it if you are going to focus on the campaign more and less on the other game modes.    … Expand
  38. Enforcer122
    Apr 16, 2013
    4
    Man, this was really disappointing. I can see what they were trying to do, and I respect that and understand it. But I just couldn't get in to this game. The campaign was very poor, zombies was an improvement but still not great and the multi player was more of the same. The campaign like I said, was the poorest I've played in COD history. I was just utterly confused throughout and it was a pain to play at times.… Expand
  39. Ordish
    Apr 16, 2013
    9
    After being very disappointed with MW3, I was hesitant to put my money back in the COD franchise. I am glad that I did. Black Ops 2 has been a very solid and enjoyable experience. I love the level of customization for load outs and that above all else, sets this game apart from the rest of the COD titles.
  40. EV3RLiGHT
    Apr 16, 2013
    1
    To summarise the whole game: it is weakest, most repetitive shooter to date. I don't even know why people invest to this franchise, but it is certainly not improving anything. The game contains an awful network of under-aged players, it is lacking visual aesthetics, it's poor story makes me want to puke, there is no destructible environment, too much DLC and the list goes on and on. It is sad when such franchise gets compared to Arma or Battlefield franchises, since it's the most pathetic copy paste game the developers made money on. So stop bloody buying it!… Expand
  41. alex82101
    Apr 15, 2013
    9
    This game is getting bad reviews because of tryhard nerds that don't get their swarm killstreak every game. Or people that get owned and simply can't acknowledge the fact that someone else is better than them. Let me tell you one thing. This game is fun and good time. The campaign was very good too but the multiplayer is what really shines. Its a lot of fun and the graphics are very polished. Don't forget that this game has zombies too! There is a lot of stuff you can do in this game and its just an amazing product! People say this game is repetitive but thats totally ok with this game! Its a classical shooter franchise! What were you people expecting? This game is going to be the same if you like it or not.… Expand
  42. sumguitardude
    Apr 12, 2013
    7
    Love or hate it COD is here to stay, if you are looking for something new then yes they have med some. But most of the game is the same as the other in the series. i am however really impressed by the story as it has to be the best in the series yet. With multiple endings and choices you have that impacts the campaign i love the new direction the story took. By far the best in the series even though it`s the same ol formula… Expand
  43. RedJ
    Apr 12, 2013
    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 black 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.
  44. RedSoxGamer91
    Apr 12, 2013
    7
    After playing multiplayer for a few months, I can honestly say this game is broken. The spawning system is so F'd up it's not even funny, enemies will literally spawn behind you and kill you once re spawned. The only map with legit spawning is hydro(dlc) cause there's literally two spawn points. There are also so many times where I shoot someone first and get killed, and people will literally be aiming at my legs and when I shoot them; their flinch makes their gun jump up for a head shot. WTF cod!? This is a game where pistols are more reliable than AR's, people run around with snipers quickscoping. Man 80% of all my deaths are getting killed from behind, or people that I didn't see. The only good thing is the pick 10 system. It's playable, but definitely over-hyped for what it is.… Expand
  45. AaronOlstead
    Apr 11, 2013
    10
    Although similar to previous CoD games, Black Ops 2 had new and exciting missions and a cliff-hanging campaign, taking the action to the next level. With new weapons, locations, and tactical exploits, I recommend this game to any gamer of the FPS genre. Not only are the graphics ideal, but they are suited for directx11 and all future OS installments. For a great time and addicting multiplayer, pick Black Ops 2!… Expand
  46. NewVegasGod
    Apr 11, 2013
    4
    They need to learn that they can only re-release the same game so many times before people start to take notice.

    There's nothing wrong with the CoD formula (except a rather short and mediocre campaign, but Black Ops 2 did a little better at that aspect) it's just that they keep release game after game, year after year, barely changing anything. And they're releasing another this year. I    t needs to stop. Now.… Expand
  47. OptimusFine
    Apr 11, 2013
    8
    Black Ops 2 was not a phenomenal game, but it did introduce fresh ideas, campaign choices which is new to the franchise. The Multiplayer was the same as any Call of Duty a team working towards a specific objective whether it getting the most kills of planting the most bombs, the multiplayer does add a new more progressive factor to the game, the create a class, in past Call of Duty's you were limited to 3 perks, 2 attachments, and 2 guns a primary and secondary. How ever in Black ops 2 they flipped it on its head, if you want to run around with just knife so be it, if you perhaps feel that a secondary is pointless and a waste of space swap it out for a grenade or maybe a new tact. grenade, or even another attachment. The multiplayer may not be the most refined but its still a great pass time to play with your friends. And Finally the zombies, the new zombies mode Tranzit is a great time with friends or with a random bunch you find online, but its sticks the same formula as Black ops, but it still feels a bit fresher with the new weapons, enemies, and modes, even though it has a lack luster crew consisting of a rag tag band of survivors. Call of Duty Black Ops 2 might not be as ground breaking as Modern Warfare (or 2) but its still a great time of fun and is owns up to its price tag. This has been a Fine Review… Expand
  48. TheKemosabi
    Apr 10, 2013
    0
    If you played a Call of Duty game before, then you've played this game aleady. The creaters seem to have no intrest in taking a few years to invest time and money in order to innovate something that feels fresh. But then again why would they? lol If I knew all I had to do was slap a new skin on an old game in order to make billions upon billions of dollars, I would do the same.
  49. Shadownerd45
    Apr 5, 2013
    0
    I played this game at a friends house. The lag was unbearable, The guns were extremely unbalanced. You feel like you are shooting a water pistol against the BFG 9000 from Doom. The maps are all the same and offer almost no places to use a sniper rifle other than quick-scoping. The killstreaks are bland and seem to be the same, The UAV needs more kills to support your team than a remote control car with C4 on it. The final straw was that Treyarch LIED to you. They offered a pre-order bonus of Nuketown 2025 with it's own exclusive playlist, Then they took it down. If i EVER drop money for a game before it is released then i want to enjoy the bonus i got. My final verdict is that this game is a money grab. BACON camo? REALLY? They charge overpriced DLC for maps that look the same and useless micro-transactions. My ranking is DO NOT EVER BUY THIS GAME. COD HAS FALLEN AND THIS IS WHY.… Expand
  50. captainkane
    Apr 2, 2013
    6
    I’ve played a lot of shooters, but not a COD game until now. I haven’t missed much. The game offers a forgettable campaign that is more interactive movie than shooter. The story is convoluted and sloppy. It's essentially an on rails shooter with equal parts gameplay and cinematics. For us older gamers who appreciated the heydays of ID and Valve, this is a dreadful combination. Is the expeexpeexpectation that shooters involve tons of shooting asking too much? Treyarch added RTS elements called Strikeforce missions to the series. Unfortunately, they’re half-baked additions that detract from the experience. Completing the missions affects the ending, but the ending is chaotic either way. If you want an engaging campaign, look elsewhere. Who am I kidding? COD games are known for their multiplayer experiences. The zombie mode is disappointing. The maps are cramped and dull. The zombies are dull. The gameplay is dull. It’s just plain dull. If you want zombies, pick up Left for Dead 2. The Left for Dead series sets the gold standard for zombie games and has an active online community. After all the hype surrounding the zombie mode, I’m left scratching my head asking myself: Why is this so popular? Perhaps I’m missing something. BO 2’s zombie mode demonstrates why Valve games have such long self-lives.The regular multiplayer is appreciably better. The game performs admirably on Xbox with smooth and swift action. That is the hallmark of COD games: performance. That being said, there is little innovation. The graphics are noticeably dated and almost cartoonish. The “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality of Activision is hard to justify after playing this game. It’s just another twitch finger multiplayer. The customization system is OK, but most upgrades feel useless. Also, footsteps are inaudible. Being stabbed in the back feels cheap because you literally never hear it coming. The multiplayer maps are tiny which negatively impacts gameplay. The result is an overabundance of SMG users. These guns possess absurd short to mid-range stopping power. Hip firing SMG's easily clears out rooms full of baddies. There is also an overabundance of quick scoping. Players running around with sniper rifles getting quick, close-range kills is just ridiculous. The scorestreak system is flawed as it only rewards the top 10-20% of players with the best bonuses. Since scorestreaks can be carried thru multiple rounds they are spammed during tiebreakers. The argument that the COD multiplayer is an unrealistic arcade shooter certainly applies here. You can snipe with SMG’s and get kills on the run with sniper rifles. All that said, once you master the game, it can be fun. Thankfully, combat training allows players to hone their skills without affecting their much revered stats. You can still rank up and unlock attachments for your weapons, but the round bonuses are reduced by half. The online community for COD is massive. Lobbies are always full for all game modes. If you have a fast internet connection, change your settings to only connect with players with an equally fast or faster connection. This can significantly reduce lag and bullet warping. However, the COD community is a bittersweet asset. It’s brimming with sore losers who love nothing more than to pester players for violating the “rules”. Camping and “noob toobing” are apparently grave offenses and merit harassment and name calling against those engaging in such reprehensible behaviors. Using an LMG with a target finder is also deplorable and deserves racist and homophobic taunts. The amount of harassment and name calling I’ve experienced in Black Ops 2 is unrivalled on any Xbox game I’ve play. It's nasty at times. What’s saddening is that children are just as nasty as adults. I blame parents for this. Still, Xbox and Activision do poor jobs enforcing the Code of Conduct that everyone agrees to. The general consensus in a BO 2 lobby: Reporting someone brings zero results. The notion that Xbox’s reporting system is broken fosters this behavior. Considering Xbox Live Gold is a paid service, they should do a better job censuring players. Black Ops 2 does a lot of things, but it doesn’t do anything well. The campaign is awful. The multiplayer unbalanced. And the zombie mode is just plain overhyped. Ghost Recon Future Soldier didn't receive the hype and is a excels as shooter. But Future Soldier is tough because it involves heavy tactics and teamwork which turns most players off. COD games are popular because the games are technically easy to play. This is unfortunate because there are much better games out there which are left cowering in the shadow of a subpar, overhyped behemoth.… Expand
  51. BidoofdaBeavur
    Apr 1, 2013
    6
    The game may seem okay,not everything seemed as it needed to.I felt like if i was playing Black Ops 1 again.Only 3 missions in the campaign were good while the rest were just terrible just like doing the same thhing again and again,The Multiplayer was exactly the same.
    I loved Zombies,though
  52. TheLastHuman
    Mar 30, 2013
    8
    I will say that I purchased this game on launch date, and as a long time COD advocate, this game does not disappoint. Don't even bother reading any of the negative user reviews at all, as the authors have likely joined the religion of Hating On All Things Call Of Duty Because It Sells More Than Their Favorite Game Series. Like it or not, almost every new game is being designed with Call of Duty gameplay in mind, and you're looking at its beautiful roots. To be fair, the campaign is forgettable, as are the characters, and the length of it always makes you want demand your money back. However, what makes CoD so popular is not the campaign, but its addicting and often health-damaging multiplayer. Every new feature in it is a welcome addition, and for the first time since Modern Warfare 2, it did NOT feel like a another re-skinned CoD game. Venturing outside of Multiplayer is the supposed last hope of CoD, zombies. Even most dedicated haters will have trouble scalding this game mode. It's back and better than ever, with only a few annoying changes like having to build the wonder-weapons, and zombies rarely come through windows anymore. You will either love this game because it is Call of Duty, or you will hate this game's guts because it is Call of Duty.… Expand
  53. TheDarkImperial
    Mar 30, 2013
    0
    It's always the same Bad Game.Worst Story Ever. unbalanced Mutliplayer. IT SUCKS with his Dupstep wuuuuuaaaaahh zzzzzzzz booooooooooooommmmmmmmmm
  54. geekofband007
    Mar 29, 2013
    5
    If this was a new IP, this would be a fine game. probably a 7.5/10 or an 8/10. Instead it is plagued by many of the problems of it's predecessors. This is the biggest problem that i find with the CoD series of games. They are broken and then the next one is not fixed. Lets get on to BO2 though. 1st, presentation, the look of the game is fairly fluid. It runs at a smooth 60fps but that still isn't enough to ignore the graphics that look like they are about 3 years behind. It's had to play a game like this after playing something like BF3 or Halo 4. When you actually stop and look at something you can tell the textures are very sub par. This wouldn't be a huge deal if that was the standard, but I know that there can be so much better. Best that I can tell, the developers are hoping you would be moving to quickly to notice such poor graphics. This is true for the most part. Most of the game play moves along very quickly which does help the graphics problem. Story, It's Call of Duty. It's a massive scale war that has Michael Bay as the Commander in Chief. It looks cool, it is adrenaline pumping, but after 6 games of the basically same massive scale war, different day. It gets old. The jumps in time are cool and an interesting way to break up the game. The game also tried to introduce something new called Strike Force mode. It is terrible, you are suppose to be able to control different units from above and jump between them and it just doesn't work. They are not smart enough and it ends up just being annoying. I found myself doing the one required strike force mission then skipping the rest. Gameplay: It's a CoD game, it plays very much like every other CoD game. Multiplayer: I've played a lot of multiplayer and it is fun. It can also be very frustrating. It, like many other CoD games is very unbalanced. The other problem is that they don't fix it. When the lifetime of your game is only 1 year, there isn't much of a motivation to actually release patches to fix issues with the game. So there are many things that ended up being heavily unbalanced and have been left totally unfixed. Also, the map design is the standard 3 lane maps. Zombies: I have not played much of zombies, from what I have played, it does not feel nearly as solid of flushed out as it was in BO or WaW. I feel like they tried to do to much and forgot what zombies was all about.

    This once a year release gets lots of money for activision but it doesn't help make good games. I could probably right the same review for the past 4 CoD's. They all share the same issues and these issues are never fixed. The graphics also need to catch up. They are way behind. Like I said before if this was a new IP, I would give it a 7.5/10 with hopes that where they go from here will improve the problems. But, seeing as how this is the 6th game in the modern CoD series, there are really no excuses at this point. I give it a 5/10    … Expand
  55. scbane
    Mar 28, 2013
    3
    How I felt playing the game? after the excitement of the new car smell of new maps wore off, and after yet anothe blockbuster game releasing dlc that should have come with the game like a week after launch, i found myself looking at the screen wondering which cod I was playing. Cod MW was my favorite game of all time. still prefer it and mw2 over blops and mw3. Waw was my favorite treyarch game ever...ZOMBIES! then blops zombies, which were ok but overdone and too frantic. My complaints? Same game as blops and mw3 with a little polish tossed in. persistent server problems, aged graphics, still fast scoping auto aim, ridiculously accurate weapons, lack of ANY FEEL OF INVENTIVENESS. How many people want to watch the same tv show, just with different characters, every time they watch tv? Same plot, same clothes,etc. I read reviews by others rating 9 or 10. Have to be fanboys defending a dying franchise or paid reviewers. If it werent for the ok zombie play, I already would have taken my copy of Blops II back to gamestop to trade in.… Expand
  56. UndiyingPickle
    Mar 27, 2013
    2
    Generic and repetitive gameplay, awful campaign mode and nonsensical zombie mode make black ops 2 a game that didn't need to be release.
    So let's start by the campaign the whole six hour campaign is playing through different sections of just shooting dumb and suicidal AI that not do anything more than just be annoying then watch a non interesting not necessary cutscene and that pretty muc    h is all that there is.
    For multiplayer you have your basic game modes (tdm, dm, dom etc...) the new game modes are not innovative at all and are just game modes from different games plastered into this game every weapon feels exactly the same aside from the way they fire, (full auto or bust fire or semi automatic) i find myself sleeping after playing for a while.
    At last zombies is just... awful... the new so called zombie campaign is just the same survival mode but with a different name the stages feel exactly the same and is just not fun.
    the only reason why this game is getting a two and not a one or even a 0 is just because the graphics are decent and the campaign even if they are terrible have different endings and choices.
    In conclusion i wouldn't buy this game at all is completely skippable it doesn't innovate in absolutely anything and most of the copy paste ideas are just badly performed, DO NOT BUY THIS GAME.    … Expand
  57. MrAwkward
    Mar 26, 2013
    9
    A revolutionary cod game that is overlooked by flaming fan boys of other fps games. Something you need to buy for the great campaign, and addicting multiplayer. Good job treyarch!
  58. Coletrain128
    Mar 26, 2013
    2
    At one point, I did enjoy the Call of Duty franchise for what it was. It had an exciting campaign, an addictive multiplayer (until little children, hackers, and people who treated the game as if its a goddamn national sport ruined it all), and was an overall great package. But most of the hate has gone beyond this franchise itself and straight to the reputation of its developers as they will constantly force the same product every year in order to produce the same sales results as say MW2. This practice doesn't help evolve the industry, it destroys it. The more you release the same product every year, the more likely it will fade away. Look at Guitar Hero, a game that was published by Activison but failed because of over flooding the market with the same game every year. Because of this, Guitar Hero is not only dead, but so is the music game genre. Now, Call of Duty has not only attracted some of the more dedicated consumers, but the casual market as well. This game is the reason to why the game market is flooded with Shooters every year and there is hardly any diversity in the game market. The fact that these games are pumped out ever year with little to no creative is the reason why the material is dry, monotonous, and unappealing to many. The only positive is that the game isn't broken. This franchise not only reached its peak back way back in 2007, but it has also brought a downfall to games in general.… Expand
  59. LibertyLocked
    Mar 25, 2013
    7
    I was never a COD fan but I have to say that COD is never a bad game. People hate it just because Activision is abusing the same shooter stuff. To be honest, I don't really like this game and I only play zombies. Most people hate it because they spent (and they are going to spend) $60 on a shooter game that looks ALMOST the same as the game the bought last year. But hey, the problem is not about the game itself. Imagine if it's the first time you play this game. The graphics is awesome and the game runs at 60 FPS which is amazing. The multiplayer is intense and fun (in the beginning). The zombie mode is the best and very addictive. I wish Activision could release COD games every 2 or 3 years instead of 1, because people will get bored really fast.… Expand
  60. TheWalrus2000
    Mar 25, 2013
    5
    It's not bad but the Over-popular and overrated Black oops 2 doesn't give the entertainment awesome video games need. Fans(or should I say lunatics) will not be pleased.
  61. LiamBenDavid
    Mar 23, 2013
    9
    A big step up to the Call of Duty Franchise, the setting of the game do not change, but the big change is on the amazing campaign who makes Black Ops 2 the greatest Call of Duty game in the franchise history.
  62. Harryhausen
    Mar 22, 2013
    1
    This game is, by far, the worst call of duty EVER (and i've been playing this franchise since call of duty 2). the graphics are outdated, the story sucks (as always), the graphics are outdated and the story sucks.

    by the way, the graphics are outdated and the story sucks.
  63. azgoodaz
    Mar 18, 2013
    0
    This is a horrible game. This is the same as Black Ops 1, same engine, same guns. Lame DLC, Lame Servers. This was just a money maker for them, a rushed game in which should have been a 3 or 4 year project. Every COD, should take at least 4 years to make NOT 1 every year. COD mainly is for Little Kids ask there Mom's to buy it and in so they can play with their friends and spend money on DLC. Big Companys that host Competitive games with not good MLG players and spend Millions but cant fixed the servers? Smh… Expand
  64. sharksfan98
    Mar 17, 2013
    5
    The game was decent. I was disappointing by the plot with it's obliviously short and easy ending, plus the weapons being way too powerful. Multiplayer has a poor selection of maps and no new, appealing game modes. Zombies, was decent on the other hand. I preferred the original BO in a long shot, but it's the same dog on a hot sidewalk.
  65. XxNightvHawkxX
    Mar 16, 2013
    7
    Its okay........ It isn't bad by any means. It is certainly better than the first Black Ops. Treyarch actually tried this time around. Treyarch actually could have made something great, but unfortunately, Activision demands that a CoD game must come out every year. Had this game been in development for 3 years, it would have been a really good game.

    But yes, I agree, it is the same as     the other CoDs.… Expand
  66. PersonFace
    Mar 16, 2013
    2
    First I'll start off with the campaign, it's alright. Not bad, but not very good either. Mainly boring. Second is the zombies. The maps are very small, the fog is horrendous, and tranzit just has a bunch of small maps together. Multiplayer.... it's very controversial. The guns sound horrible for one. The damage that each gun does is unbalanced. The maps are ok. THE COLORS ARE GREAT THOUGH! The downfall of the call of duty series to me is the quake 3 engine. It's not a good system and they won't get over that. I'd say that this game needs a lot of balancing, and engine improvements.… Expand
  67. TerribleEmu2759
    Mar 15, 2013
    3
    Don't believe what ign and gamespot are saying about these games, they are getting paid by these gaming companies to get good reviews. The game is the same thing as the Black Ops with different guns and different maps. It has a short weak campaign and has the same old maps that are made for camping. Plus the DLC season pass is the same price as the damn game! If you want a good game, go play Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare… Expand
  68. plotlesviolence
    Mar 15, 2013
    6
    This game is fun. Basically every criticism I've heard about it is true (i.e., doesn't innovate, is the same game as CoD4, etc., 100% linear). But it's fun. The linear CoD design has solved my biggest pet peeve from pre-1990s games: not knowing where to go next and feeling like I'm wasting my time. Before, I would just look up a walkthrough, but the objective marker just keeps me immersed in the game. Aside from the sandbox shooters, all the competitors copy CoD because it works. Also, it's a pretty, polished game with lots of spectacle.
    So why not a higher score? Because it doesn't innovate and it is more like an expansion pack to CoD4 than the 5th sequel. The new stuff (a pseudo-rts mode and a cool see-through-walls scope) is pretty minor, and I probably won't be replaying the single-player mode ever again. Also, while I really liked the revenge-driven plot of Modern Warfare 3, the plot of BlOps 2 doesn't really do anything for me. So I'd say slightly above average. Worth playing once if you like the linear FPS genre, but not something I'd stake my reputation recommending to my friends.    … Expand
  69. Natedrake1994
    Mar 15, 2013
    8
    I can see where fans are coming from in that Black Ops 2 is a rehash of other COD games, and I have to agree that the franchise needs some work and improvisation done to it. Nonetheless Black Ops 2 continues to surprise with its action-packed levels and great variety of weapons. The voice-acting is also still great and it's nice to see the continued character story-arc from BO with Woods, Mason, Hudson etc. and now continuing with Mason's son and co. However the story isn't quite up to scratch with the few other COD's I've played and it can be a little confusing when it switches from one level in the past to another in the future and so on, yet it can be forgiven because it ties in with the main villain's life who is definitely one of the best COD has ever seen since he seeks vengeance and you really get understand his motives. Also an addition to the campaign and a change to the series is player-choices in some of the levels which affect the outcome of the game, as well as Strike Force missions which can be slightly annoying and tricky to pull off. The choices however increase the replay value and its nice to see what your actions caused at the end of the campaign. Graphics wise, it's much the same as its always been yet still attractive and gameplay is still simple. For the multiplayer, I have to say I really got stuck into this (although I have hardly played any of the other CODs) and it has great customization for weapons etc, and while I can see zombies is improved I never play it. Overall, a great COD yet with a slightly weaker story, but which it makes up for in its pulse-pounding action and addictive multiplayer.… Expand
  70. ncstatemike
    Mar 12, 2013
    0
    What the actual Am I supposed to take this game seriously? I have to say, it was incredibly entertaining laughing at the ridiculous campaign for six hours. Go play Far Cry.
  71. RageReviews
    Mar 11, 2013
    2
    Total halo rip off multiplayer is boring campaign sucks and the zombies is the biggest dissapointment ever the first one had a good story that kept me hooked on zombies but in this game its just like look thers theres zombies lets kill them. theres no story its just a bunch of hillbillies killing zombies
  72. Shadow123
    Mar 10, 2013
    5
    The game overall is okay, but the campaign really really sucks. The only part which improved was the zombie mode. The zombie mode is probably the best part of the game because it provides a lot of epicness in the game and the levels in the zombie mode are newer and better than the old ones, that game mode is the only mode thats good in this game
  73. coolinb123
    Mar 10, 2013
    5
    finally some improvement to the game. But just not enough all the same with new modes, and the story has been improved a little. They added AI to play against finally so i can just chill out and play the game now and a point to it for almost every area except creativity +3, game-play +2
  74. BoredEasily
    Mar 10, 2013
    4
    By far the worst of the Call of Duty games, Graphics are actually worse than the previous 2. My favourite is Black Ops, so i was hoping this would be great but unfortunately it went on eBay within a week of buying.
    Only thing that was a slight improvement was the Zombies Tranzit mode. But £40 just for a new zombies mode is a bit ridiculous
  75. richmorehave
    Mar 9, 2013
    10
    Don't believe the lame low scores.
    This is the first shooter that REWARDS the guys that play the objectives!
    Now in score it shows the guys that NEVER go for a base or defend it.
    And everybody can see the selfish guys on the team, the guy with 40 kills and who do nothing to help the TEAM win the GAME'S Objective. So that is why the little kids don't like the game.
    It REWARDS the guys     that are contributing to the TEAM
    And in OBJECTIVE multiplayer game, more games should REWARD the TEAM PLAYER who dies helping the team and not the Rambo who could care less whether the TEAM wins or loses.
    Now if you just want to run around and just get kills, play MW3. I wish Battlefield 3 would have done this, REWARD the TEAM PLAYER and not the RAMBO.    … Expand
  76. RagingCanadian
    Mar 8, 2013
    3
    Okay when Modern Warfare 3 came out it ruined the franchise. I mean I'm not a huge fan of Call of Duty I prefer Halo and Gears of War. When I got Black Ops 1 I thought it was pretty good they did a good job, the multiplayer was balanced which is what I look for in multiplayer games. So when Black Ops 2 came out I gave it the benefit of the doubt but when I played it I was more than disappointed. For multiplayer they took Black Ops 1 and combined it with Modern Warfare 3, that combination just doesn't work. Its like putting Fruit Loops on crap. Zombies was good but if you want a good zombie apocalypse game get ArmA II: Combined Operations for PC and download DayZ. I will make a promise to the people that watch this if they make a Black Ops 3 i will dedicate my life to destroying every copy.… Expand
  77. Aeon
    Mar 7, 2013
    3
    Call of Duty is one of the best marketing games. Bringing out the same game every year with barely no changes at all and an awful singeplayer mode. A hype that I can't understand. The only bonus this game has is the multiplayer-mode, which you can play with alot of friends, because most of them don't have any other games than CoD or FIFA. And it's sometimes pretty fun. But all in all the game is a mess.… Expand
  78. MrPotato123
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    the review of the people are so subjective .we can put whatever you want. I say the worst game of the century. What a huge disappointment and a waste of money.
  79. ikenyon1
    Mar 4, 2013
    6
    There is nothing too wrong with this game, but that is also the problem. Treyarch did little to innovate outside the pick 10 system and released a buggy and lag-comp heavy mulitplayer. While the campaign is fine as always, I feel as if they ruined zombies too. They tried to hard to innovate while not preserving very much. I really had high hopes for this game after the travesty that was Modern Warfare 3 but I haven't touched this game in 2 months and it does not look like I will be returning anytime soon.… Expand
  80. blackdeath186
    Mar 3, 2013
    0
    I have a great idea for a video game. You control a character that just runs around and gets killed from other characters behind him. Then you respawn and do it all over again. You just die and die and die some more. Doesn't this sound like fun? Well to the people at Activision this sounds like a great idea. The multiplayer maps are way too small. Because these maps are so small it becomes a game of being in the right place at the right time. Which unfortunately takes the emphasis away from skill. This is a total exercise in frustration. This has to be the worst multiplayer of any video game ever. It's certainly the most frustrating ever. How can anyone think this was a good idea? I am all done with the Call of Getting Killed From Behind series.… Expand
  81. singingpants
    Mar 3, 2013
    8
    While not so different than other Call of Duty games, I really like the way that Treyarch has attempted to add content and variety to all game modes, with multiplayer balances, scorestreaks, customizable campaign loadouts, and many other tiny changes that, overall, make this Call of Duty a lot less frustrating than others in the series. A very good addition to the franchise. If you like Call of Duty in general, you will not be disappointed.… Expand
  82. SammyBoyEmo
    Mar 3, 2013
    8
    The CoD franchise has a huge fanbase, and a huge anti-fanbase full of people who somehow think they are more intellectual because they complain about this game, I am about to give a non-biased review that doesn't have anything to do with the haters or fanbase.

    Campaign- Confusing storyline, and dull strike-force missions, that is where I deduct most of the points for this game. I will g    ive Treyarch credit for trying the alternate endings in the campaign, this game just needs better writing and shorter cutscenes. The gameplay however, has improved tremedously and contains a lot more playabilitiy. With player options, I find myself playing over and over, a trait that previous installments have lacked in the campaign.

    Zombies- Four player co-op survival is back like we have seen in Black ops and World at War. But two game modes are added. The first one, TranZit mode, contains a bus that your player can board. The robot driver drives you to multiple locations, each with a different nessecity for survival. Many easter eggs are present and a hidden storyline. The second new game mode, Grief, gives you the option to fight WITH or AGAINST 7 other players in the fight for survival. Many customization options are added to zombies mode, such as your starting wave and option of hellhounds.

    Multiplayer- A once repetitive yearly update, has dramatically changed since mw3, a new pick ten system is added, which gives you only 10 items in each class. Well balanced guns and many new playlists will have you coming back for more. Though a few glitches are present, the gameplay is overall smooth and runs on high fps with ease. Bots are now capable to play a wider variety of gametypes, and a new competitive playlist is added, which ranks you based on skill.    … Expand
  83. bradtheman123
    Mar 3, 2013
    10
    Treyarch and Activision made a wonderful game Call of Duty Black Ops 1 but also this game was really good. The whole Call of Duty series is good personally MW2 was the best.
  84. BattleKeks_90
    Mar 2, 2013
    2
    I bought that game because I hoped to get something new and fresh, because the setting promised the game to be something new in a certain way, but the be honest, I got the exact oposite, that game is 10 times worse than CoD 4. The campaign feels like a B Movie and its boring.. .boring.. oh did I say it´s boring Ok, screw the campaign, multiplayer is what counts.. I thought !

    Maps are e    extremely boring, very uninspired and there are hackers all the way.
    Guns are lame, sights with aiming helper, do I need to say more ?
    Graphics are way outdated and nothing special.
    Over all, that game feels like the 100st clone of the very bad MW 2, and isn´t worth more than 10 .
    I honestly give you the advice, to keep away from the piece of crap, play CoD 4 instead, the only good Modern Warfare that is around.    … Expand
  85. Shuggiebhoy1969
    Mar 2, 2013
    3
    I used to love black ops 2 on ps3, thought it was the beat cod game in the series, now however there seems to b something wrong, its gon as bad as the others since the new maps came out, its as though its bn hacked the same as the rest of them and them prestege crap hings did they give them out in a fire sale it seems everyone has one now. I allways leave a lobby if it has more than 3 or 4 prestegers cos there is no point in playing ur dead bfore u respawn and snipers get a real gun in the game r u that afraid to face ppl u need to hide and pick ppl off who actualy play also them ppl that use the settings on insane speeds whats the point in playing against that u get 1 kill dead four times and since new maps came out zombies not working the only reason i downloaded the pass at £41 was to play zombies and i cant play new maps y whats the point fix the game mk it fair get rid of snipers n prestege game was brill till they tampered with it i got to 55 xp ages ago and have not presteged i think its cheating the new players y not creat a lobby just for prestegers n not allow them access to the lobbys were ppl dont want to play against the experts at the game let them fight it out together and have a room just for snipers u would soon see the sniper rifles not being used if they cant get to just sit n kill passers by get a life snipers

    Hughtrainer@hotmail.com    … Expand
  86. 98jeepxj
    Feb 27, 2013
    1
    I really wanted to like this game, but it feels so half assed. Every game since Call of Duty MW2 have been the exact same thing. Why can`t Treyarch and Sledgehammer realize there is no need to have 20 overpowered kill streaks. Go back to basic COD 4, UAV, Airstrike, and Chopper, they work a lot better. Pistols are hideously over powered and quick scoping runs rampant. Please make the next Call of Duty something original and not just a copy of last years game with an updated campaign that takes 2 hours to finish and a couple new multiplayer maps. This game is basically Call of Duty Black Ops 1.5. It really should have been an paid downloadable update to the first black ops, not a completely new release.… Expand
  87. TheRanter
    Feb 23, 2013
    4
    I give this game a 4. The reasons are simple. The Campaign mode seems great, although I will admit I haven't gotten all the way through it yet. The main reason for my giving this game a 4 is Multiplayer. It's horrible. The hit detection sucks, I can not tell you how many times I've shot someone only to not have it count. Another reason is the damage system seems wholly inconsistent to me. For example: sometimes I can kill a person with 3 shots from a pistol, other times I empty the whole clip only to end up being killed by them whilst reloading. Keep in mind I'm getting hit indicators the whole time. Another reason is I have had many, many people just walk straight past my claymore mines without taking any damage (I watch the killcam). It's just not done well. I'd recommend the Original Doom over this game.… Expand
  88. armstrong2805
    Feb 23, 2013
    1
    POS black ops clone. new character models and "scorestreaks" thats it. Its a copy and pasted piece of garbage. Another horrible campaign, which is yet another waste of disc space. Latency and Lag compensation is prevalent throughout your entire mulitplayer experience. Including the inconsistency of good lobbies. No dedicated servers yet again. And finally its copy and pasted hit detection. Overall the game is a piss poor excuse a FPS.… Expand
  89. Tate_Laycraft
    Feb 20, 2013
    7
    Well, I told myself I wasn't going to buy it and as always I ended up getting it. However, unlike most people I am actually somewhat impressed. Don't take that the wrong way though. Black ops 2 is definitely not the new innovational COD everyone was hoping for, but it isn't as bad as some people proclaim it to be. As usual, the campaign is short and predictable but you'll still be able to get at least some satisfaction out of it. The multiplayer is actually quite good. For the first time they actually got the gun power right. Not one gun is over powered and used by everyone in the game, but instead each gun seems to be ment for a certain playing style/map. Speaking of the maps, they are by far the least innovational part of the game. I often times find myself thinking of a map from a previous COD while playing the multiplayer. (I swear to god, Hijacked is just Nuketown on a boat.) Then we have zombies. Now, I absolutely loved the zombies in the original Black ops and I must say that I am kind of disappointed with transit. It just feels like a giant cluster to me. Too complicated I guess? Then when you play on one of the four locations by itself it just feels too small. On the other hand though, the DLC's zombie map is much more enjoyable and I hope to see much more like it in the future. In my opinion, the game is definitely worth owning. I give it a 7 out of 10… Expand
  90. samurai177
    Feb 19, 2013
    8
    After my extreme dissapointment of Black Ops 1, I was very skeptical about Black Ops 2, as it seemed to stray VERY far from the content of the origional. But I have to say it, Black Ops 2 isn't as bad as I thought. The story is nice, the multiplayer is solid, and the overall package is pretty impressive. While the campaign does seem very similar to other games in the past, don't tell me that Colosus doesn't remind you of The Ark from Brink, that Admiral Briggs is strangely similar to Admiral Anderson from the Mass Effect series, and that Club Solar doesn't remind you of Max Payne. Also DeFalco has a little bit of Kristoph Gavin from Apollo Justice Ace Attourney in his capacity to be an but that made ultimately ending his life that more sweet. The campaign's class creation function is an excellent addition to the series, as now we get to take the weapons WE want into the campaign. The unlocking system in this function is also very good. The rest of the campaign is very good. Raul Menendez is an excellent villian, one of the best that I have faced. The way that his back story is presented is excellent, and a plot twist that will have you saying, "What!? Really!?" every time. The character dialouge is nothing short of fantastic, and the mini challenges and campaign leaderboards where you compete with your friends makes this a great mode to play. And the dynamic choice system is a welcome addition too. Now to the multiplayer, which is what everyone cares about. It's still the same multiplayer we know and love, or love to hate, but with a couple twists. The new Pick 10 system is pretty daunting at first, and it can get a little confusing. And the weapon balancing is not all there. I found that the SMG's dominate the weapon section. The map selection is great, but a lot of them seem to be ripped from the Strike Force side missions in the campaign. But nonetheless, the multiplayer customization is INSANE with you being able to customize right down to the camo on your knife. COD points are gone, and they are being replaced by Unlock Tokens, which are gained through leveling up. While I think this is a better currency for the multiplayer, it makes some gametypes, like the well known Gun-Game, feel out of place. The gametypes are pretty much the same, just some are tweaked here and there. This is Call of Duty, I mean come on when have they made drastic changes to the multiplayer. But this is a pretty good game, just a couple things are holding it back from a 9 or 10 in my book. Fans of the series will enjoy this new entry and newcomers will find that this is the perfect spot to jump in on.… Expand
  91. Sergeant_MarkIV
    Feb 18, 2013
    3
    The first Black Ops was great, this one doesn't. Predictable campaign, lack of memorable moments, online noobtobing, zombies mode is not as fun as in Black Ops 1, unmemorable soundtrack,... Makes you think that Infinity Ward made this game. The new features such as optional missions and alternative mission incomes are the only things that makes me not rate it a 0/10.
  92. Caged_Sephiroth
    Feb 17, 2013
    4
    Basically the same as every other Call of Duty game, but half of it is set in the future. Too samey for me to give anything more than a 5. But I have to knock a point off for the fact it has been dumbed down to the point where anyone with half a brain can finish Veteran mode. Enjoyable for a few hours, but it's nothing you haven't played before. Developers are milking fans for all they're worth.
  93. Snidzz
    Feb 16, 2013
    5
    Campaign is decent in comparison to other CoDs but still pretty mediocre. Multiplayer maps are also mediocre, and the game has some serious technical problems. The weapon balance is excellent, however, but in typical Treyarch fashion, there is very little variety among the weapons. Generally not enough recoil on them either. Zombies is actually a lot worse than it was in WaW and BO, but still playable. The game is decent overall, but it lacks in innovation and change, as we have come to expect from Call of Duty titles. Overall, very meh.… Expand
  94. pbenvin
    Feb 16, 2013
    5
    Not nearly as bad as most of the negative reviewers would have you believe, but Black Ops II is definitely suffering from a strong case of Beenthereitis. The "Pick 10" system is a nice little addition, and I also liked how you could customize your load-out before campaign missions. Nice touches indeed.

    But back to the so-called "reviewers." Most of the douche bags giving this game a 1/1    0 and so on are simply window lickers looking to bash CoD for the sake of bashing CoD. Plain and simple. I'd even go so far as to say that most of the aforementioned dickheads haven't even played the game. Sad when you think about it.… Expand
  95. xiaoxiao282
    Feb 16, 2013
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. After playing Modern Warfare 3, and hating it to the extent that I almost gave up on Call of Duty altogether,
    I was reluctant to play Black Ops II. I then waited until January to rent it.
    I started with the campaign, it features the protagonist of the first game, Alex Mason in a 1980's campaign, and his son, David, in a 2025 campaign.
    I didn't mind the story, its pretty much a world domination quest, to overthrow the government, but replacing the Russian antagonist with a Nicaraguan Raul Menendez. What I enjoyed most was the multiple endings, like you could chose whether or not to kill the main characters friend, (as an undercover agent) to not blow your cover, or try and kill Menendez, though if you try and kill Menendez, you get shot and die, and your friend survives, as does Menendez, though trying to save your friend would ruin your chances of getting a good ending. Which confused me.
    Then Zombies, it introduces a few new modes, such as Tranzit and Grief, Tranzit involves going around a huge city on a bus, and getting off at regular intervals. Grief is an 8 player mode, in which you are split into teams of 4 and try to be the last team standing. By either sabotaging the others or even help them.
    Then there's multiplayer, which is good enough I suppose. It introduces a new create a class thingy. Though the gameplay is of course, mostly the same.
    The graphics aren't great and they haven't changed since MW3, or MW1 actually! I recommend renting it like I did, then seeing if you should buy it.    … Expand
  96. XKid232
    Feb 15, 2013
    6
    BO2 isn't one of the best COD out there but it'll do. The really only good thing about BO2 is Zombie mode. It is way more fun than the original but still has a challenge to it. I personally think they shouldn't make the zombies too hard until round 30 though. I perfer the first BO over BO2 because of many reasons also. The campaign is ok and the multiplayer could've been a whole lot better. In mutiplayer there is a very small selection of guns and most of them are overpowered. The perks are ok but a lot of them seem to be part of the same categorey. The camos are very unrealistic. The maps were disappointing. Most of them were just crap they put together and make it seem amazing. There are only 2 maps i liked on this game. The rest are boring and have no point. But other than that this game gets a 6 mainly because of zombie mode.… Expand
  97. DoubleNegativ
    Feb 13, 2013
    5
    I'm not going to complain about the game being the same as last years (it works for sports game and no one says a thing). This game has a bunch of flaws. Ever since COD1 there's been a horrible hit box. You can miss a person completely and kill them or shot a person in the knees and get a head shot. If the hit box was more accurate like the previous games I wouldn't have an issue with this game.
  98. ShowBaggs
    Feb 12, 2013
    9
    Revamped MP and a host of new features makes this the best since COD4. The scorestreaks stops the kill whoring and returns the game to a fair playing field. The only let down is the sniping/quickscoping. It's too easy for any idiot to pick up and 'snipe'. Apart from that, EXCELLENT.
  99. Vyolyn
    Feb 9, 2013
    3
    Activision has road this horse into the ground, hired a necromancer, brought said horse back from the dead, and then put said horse down with a double barreled shotgun. To me, video games is an art form; an art form that the video game community is still trying to perfect. When the constant success of poorly designed games such as the Call of Duty franchise, whom of witch offers no artistic value or educational thought, will continue to reflect badly upon the gaming world as a whole. With poorly thought out story, the same graphic engine since the fourth Call of Duty, and sub-par mechanics I feel as if Call of Duty is a black market on the face of the artistic gaming community that needs to be erased indefinitely.… Expand
  100. Ghost5032
    Feb 7, 2013
    3
    Such a disappointment! The campaign sucks and its short. The multiplayer is boring and the maps is so small you spawn next to your enemies. The zombies was confusing at first but later it just got boring after 10 rounds! Its not like Black Ops at all just a cheap copy of mw3. Waste of money.
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Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
83 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 73 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 67 out of 73
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 73
  3. Negative: 0 out of 73
  1. Xbox World Australia
    Jan 22, 2013
    80
    This is not to say it's a bad game, it's just not different enough from previous Call of Duty titles. The story isn't memorable, the maps and weapons aren't any different to what we've previously experienced, the gameplay is near identical to previous games, and when it's not identical it falls flat and fails to impress.
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  2. X360 Magazine UK
    Jan 19, 2013
    80
    It's fun, and an indication that Treyarch is willing to explore ideas that Infinity Ward has thus far ignored. [Issue#93, p.74]
  3. DailyGame
    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.
    Read full review
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