Call of Duty Black Ops II Created by Treyarch Reviewed by Duke Yao

The countdown starts on the black-and-white screen.  Your teammates appear around you and stand ready.  As the countdown nears its last seconds, the screen fades into color.  You hold your breath as the announcer says: “Guns up, let’s do this.”  A grenade is thrown, then another.  The glorious sounds of battle have begun.  Call of Duty: Black Ops II is a first-person shooter game that will blow your mind.
As most Call of Duty games go, Black Ops II has a campaign mode.  This mode follows two storylines: one during the Cold War and the other in 2025, the near future.  During the Cold War, Alex Mason, the protagonist of Call of Duty: Black Ops, clashes with the Soviets, the Mujahideen, and Nicaraguan narco-terrorist Raul Menendez.  In the 2025 section of the story, Alex’s son, David, struggles against Menendez, who reemerges as the head of Cordis Die, a powerful populist movement.  The terrorist stops at nothing to destroy Western civilization. The characters include Jason Hudson, Alex’s link to the CIA, and Mike Harper, David Mason’s fellow soldier. This campaign mode offers a fast-paced and exciting experience for thrill seekers. 
The game is generally played on consoles such as PlayStation and Xbox, but it also has a PC version.  There are three main modes in the game: campaign, multiplayer, and zombies.  As said, campaign follows two storylines.  However, there are also branching storylines, called Strike Force missions.  These missions, whether or not completed, can affect the outcome of the story.  In multiplayer, you have a choice of playing online or offline.  Online, there are more game modes and more people.    Offline, you can play with or against three other players, split screen style.  Lastly, there is zombie mode.  The object of this is to survive for as long as possible against endless waves of the undead.  Many maps are available for play.  DLC (Downloadable Content) can also be bought and uploaded to receive an extra group of maps, multiplayer game modes, and camos (camouflages for weapons).  
Players have the ability to create classes of weapons.  They can take a total of ten items (including weapons, attachments, grenades, equipment, perks, and wildcards) and put them into one class.  Usually, a class would include a primary weapon, a secondary weapon, tactical grenades, lethal grenades, and perks.  All players, regardless of class, have a knife.  If a player does not equip a primary or secondary weapon, a combat knife (a faster version of the regular knife) is equipped.  A player may customize up to five classes, but can earn more as they prestige, or level up every fifty-five levels.  There are five weapon classes: assault rifles, submachine guns, light machine guns, shotguns, and sniper rifles.  The game is rated M for mature.
Black Ops II features the following actors and voice actors: Sam Worthington as Alex Mason, Michael Rooker as Mike Harper, Michael Keaton as Jason Hudson, Kamar de los Reyes as Raul Menendez, and Rich McDonald as David Mason.  The graphics are amazing, as seen from the detailed facial expressions, weather effects, and the weapons and gear.  Also, no matter what is on the screen, the game does not slow down (excluding server changes).  It runs on the frame rate that most COD games have been known for.  Players can access the options menu to adjust the lighting to their liking and have a choice to whether or not enable blood and gore.  Treyarch, the creator of the game, did a phenomenal job on the sound.  The sound effects of the guns and the explosions are very realistic.  Even the radio chatter makes me feel as if I’m in the scene.  Hearing the game is just as important as seeing it.  Overall, the balance between the graphics and the sound has really made my experience in the game better.  With these two great aspects hand-in-hand, I get the in-game feel that many players are looking for.
Overall, Call of Duty: Black Ops II is a great game that incorporates realistic details with exhilarating gameplay.  Although the game may be too violent for kids under 13, it is still a perfect way to witness futuristic warfare at its finest. I highly recommend that you buy the game. So Marine, what are you waiting for?  “Time to clock in, mission is a go.”