May 1, 2012 by Vinnie Leduc
This year’s annual iteration of Activision’s records-setting juggernaut franchise Call of Duty was revealed today to be Black Ops II, a sequel to the World at War sequel from a couple of years ago. The ninth game of the series will take viewers back to the future, but unlike Infinity Ward’s Modern Warfare 3 last year, which was set in the near future, Treyarch’s Black Ops II will take place a bit beyond that.
The first-person shooter’s vision of a new Cold War circa 2025 includes the return of Frank Woods (somehow still alive?), lotsa Skynet-sorta sh!t (unmanned aircraft and robots), and the destruction of Los Angeles. In typical Call of Duty fashion, the trailer also gives you vehicles rolling all over the place like a Michael Bay freeway chase, plenty of explosions, and unfortunately…. seemingly the same graphics. And that’s why I’m a bit disappointed with the trailer, despite being a self-admitted CoD fanboy who puts the original Black Ops‘ single-player story above the rest of the series’. On top of that, Black Ops II‘s trailer doesn’t seem as awesome as the previous games’ trailers. It’s lacking scope and the jaw-dropping wow factor that normally accompanies these announcements.
Activision promised a few months ago that the next Call of Duty would feature “meaningful innovation”; I just really hope they weren’t talking about horseback riding. Whatever, I’m still buying it, and so will like 20 million others.
Call of Duty: Black Ops II is set for release on November 13, 2012.
