NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather forecasts

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Budget 2025
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Technology

Game review: Call of Duty: Black Ops 2

NZ Herald
21 Nov, 2012 04:30 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Call of Duty: Black Ops II. Photo / Supplied
Call of Duty: Black Ops II. Photo / Supplied

Call of Duty: Black Ops II. Photo / Supplied

Call of Duty has become so horribly mainstream that some core gamers see it as a sort of corporate killing series only the most unimaginative would be caught playing - and then they play it.

No matter how many hundreds of millions each title makes, CoD is still really the benchmark of shooters. It's the king of online multiplayer, and though campaign modes have been shrinking in recent years, it still offers a solid single player experience that far exceeds expectations.

It follows two timelines in typically convoluted style - one through the Cold War in the 1970s and another in a new stoush between the US and China in 2025. It jumps between characters - in the early years there's Alex Mason and Frank Woods, in the latter, Alex Mason's son David trying to find out how his father was killed - and focuses on a common enemy, Menendez.

He's perfect for a game like this, admittedly pretty evil, but the product of a tragic past that makes his nastiness, at times, almost forgivable. These intertwining narratives mean a nicely varied main mode, leaping across locations and seeing players wielding rattly old weapons in the Afghani sands and in Nicaragua and super-tech hardware, toys and wingsuits in the future.

Instead of waves of soldiers, you could be fighting murderous rolling robots or quadcopter drones as well - if you imagine it'll be part of future warfare, chances are it'll be trying to kill you. A cutscene where a situation is being explained might fade out to put players in the thick of that incident, adding huge weight to these video breakaways.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Consequences - not usually something FPS players are hugely concerned about - are a big part of Black Ops 2, and every level's success or failure can leave players in terrible positions moving on to the next - a failure to find a small piece of intelligence, a bad decision that leaves a teammate disfigured, can all radically alter the way your single-player experience goes down.

And there's a new style of challenge thrown into the pot - Strike Force missions, which allow players to strategically control lumbering great machines of death, remote gun outposts and limited numbers of footsoldiers as they carry out important tasks that radically alter the global political climate, and the game itself.

The results of these sorties - and the degree of success - mean Black Ops 2 is quite playable for a second or third time through without losing much impact or appeal. This is a nice change in the era of the afterthought campaign mode - especially considering the prices commanded by blockbuster games like this.

Treyarch has exceeded what I expected from Black Ops 2, providing a single player mode that is incredibly engaging and gets away from the shooter-on-rails approach that sucks the replayability out of titles. A must-have.

Stars: 5/5
Platform: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Rated: R16

Discover more

Technology

<i>Medal of Honor:</i> Right here, right now

29 Jun 04:00 AM
Technology

Medal of Honor: In the shadows

29 Oct 02:00 AM
Entertainment

Master Chief passes the test

02 Nov 03:40 AM
Technology

It's shooting season in the gaming world

07 Nov 04:30 PM
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Technology

Premium
Technology

Tech boss's withering take on the Budget

22 May 07:46 PM
Premium
Technology

Budget 2025: $212m in cuts to existing business, science and innovation programmes

22 May 04:20 AM
Premium
Technology

Google NZ sends $1b offshore as it increases profit, threat of digital sales tax melts away

21 May 10:46 PM

Deposit scheme reduces risk, boosts trust – General Finance

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Recommended for you
Hurricanes v Reds: 'Canes eye top four
Super Rugby

Hurricanes v Reds: 'Canes eye top four

23 May 09:25 AM
How two rugby stars are reshaping the women's game
Rugby

How two rugby stars are reshaping the women's game

23 May 08:37 AM
'Can't stop our motion': Run It Straight CEO on cancelled events
New Zealand

'Can't stop our motion': Run It Straight CEO on cancelled events

23 May 08:25 AM
'No other persons sought': Homicide probe continues over 77yo man's death
New Zealand

'No other persons sought': Homicide probe continues over 77yo man's death

23 May 08:00 AM
'Unforgettable': Popular Akl restaurant to close after 'sensational' run
Entertainment

'Unforgettable': Popular Akl restaurant to close after 'sensational' run

23 May 08:00 AM

Latest from Technology

Premium
Tech boss's withering take on the Budget

Tech boss's withering take on the Budget

22 May 07:46 PM

Net reduction of $45m for the innovation sector.

Premium
Budget 2025: $212m in cuts to existing business, science and innovation programmes

Budget 2025: $212m in cuts to existing business, science and innovation programmes

22 May 04:20 AM
Premium
Google NZ sends $1b offshore as it increases profit, threat of digital sales tax melts away

Google NZ sends $1b offshore as it increases profit, threat of digital sales tax melts away

21 May 10:46 PM
Premium
Tech Insider: The Kiwis most likely to support an U16 social media ban; lawyer's AI horror story

Tech Insider: The Kiwis most likely to support an U16 social media ban; lawyer's AI horror story

21 May 05:00 AM
Gold demand soars amid global turmoil
sponsored

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP
search by queryly Advanced Search