Microsoft's E3 Press Conference Coverage - Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2

 
     Call of Duty.  The franchise that everybody loves to hate, but also according to sales records, the one that everyone loves to buy.  For the ninth installment in this long running, wildly successful, and now annual series, Treyarch will be releasing Call of Duty: Black Ops 2.  While the title is not much of a surprise, some gamers may or may not be surprised to find out that the setting is in the not so distant future with mechanized war machines a la Metal Gear.  Earlier footage of the game even showed off men riding on horseback into battle.  While many have been clamoring for a change to the tried and true, yet aging, COD formula, few can honestly say they expected this.

    
In this E3 demo, we were given a glimpse of some gameplay from the campaign of Black Ops 2.  To be honest, despite what seems to be a big shift in the setting of the game, the gameplay seems to be largely unchanged.  Still presented in the ever popular first person view, Black Ops still packs the realistic weapons with extreme detail down to the brand of holographic optics and slots of the picatinny rails.  Another thing we've gotten used to is the modern, and sometimes seemingly futuristic, support weapons and gear that we're able to play around with.  This demo was not short on those either.  We saw the player take control or aircraft, and order small arms fire from small drones on the fly just to name a few.  While many players may have been turned off by the news of the new setting at first, I think they can rest assured that the COD they know and love is still intact.

    
However, I think that some may argue that the series still hasn't evolved enough.  The gameplay is still largely an adrenaline packed, blockbuster film worthy sprint from set-piece to set-piece with some shooting and story delivered to you on the fly via radio chatter.  The campaign of these games seem to be more focused on presenting itself as a feature film more so than the realistic combat shooter that it appears to be with so much attention to detail.  But then again, who plays COD for the campaign right?

     Well, I'll be quick to admit that I do.  I'm the guy that everyone yells at for sucking on team deathmatch.  I enjoy the short lived thrills that the campaign delivers, even if they are a bit cheesy and fantastic at times.  Also, with Treyarch at the helm, it's been confirmed that the popular Zombies mode will be making it's return on the newest release.  With what seems like something for everyone, it's hard to find fault with Treyarch's approach.  Even if the gameplay is still inching closer to its expiration date, it's promising to see that Treyarch is at least trying to do something to keep this franchise firing on all cylinders.