gun-toting quad rotor helicopter
drones. You’re able to give your
squads orders via a very basic
real-time strategy-like interface,
either while controlling one of these
units directly, or from a floating
perspective above the battlefield.
You’ve only got a limited number of
Strike Force teams at your disposal
throughout the campaign, and when
you fail a mission, you lose one.
While it’s a great idea on paper,
unfortunately it hits a snag when the
action begins. Call of Duty’s ally and
enemy AI has long been a commonly
heard complaint, with common
occurrences of stuff like friends
and foes simply standing right next
to each other but not firing at one
another, or there’s the familiar sight
of AI-controlled soldiers simply
standing out in the open waiting to
die. This trend continues in Strike
Force missions, which means that,
while they’re just as idiotic as your
allies, because your enemies often
boast overwhelming numbers,
they simply steamroll through your
mentally-challenged chums, quickly
making your task an infuriating one,
especially on the higher difficulties.
It means that what could’ve been a
unique, linearity-lessening novelty
devolves into a truly frustrating
grind. Successes or failure to
complete Strike Force missions,
along with a number of other factors
within regular missions, decides
the course of the game’s branching
storyline and eventual conclusion.
The branching narrative is a
welcome addition, and the design
of the game’s environments, levels
and the incidental details within
often shows excellent imagination
and creativity. Otherwise, Black Ops
II’s campaign is exactly what you’d
expect from a COD game.
The multiplayer front is similarly
familiar, with a number of
refinements and enhancements
made to class customisation and
“The multiplayer front is similarly familiar, with a
number of refinements and enhancements made
to class customisation and other features.”
42 The OverClocker Issue 22 | 2012