Call of Duty

Without Music Or Gunfire, Black Ops II Becomes A Surreal Symphony Of Screams

Call of Duty games have a distinctive aural imprint. The whizzing bullets, grunting allies, ringing impacts and of course, the screams of the many men you kill. But what if the game were stripped down to only that last—what if the only things you heard in Call of Duty: Black Ops II were the combatants’…

727 People Are Playing Black Ops II Online On Wii U Now (And 35 Are Playing Madden)

659 people are playing standard multiplayer and 68 people are playing Zombies mode on Wii U. More than last week For comparison, there are 511,529 people playing standard multiplayer and 124,321 people playing Zombies mode in Black Ops II on Xbox 360. Of course, it’s not fair to directly compare a console that launched last…

Black Ops II for Wii U looks nice, but falls short on framerate according to the people at Digital Foundry.

How Square Enix Screwed Up Black Ops II for Japan

For years now, Square Enix has published the Call of Duty games in Japan. Square Enix honcho Yoichi Wada is apparently a big fan of the series—and Western games. His goal is apparently to make Japanese gamers more open to playing foreign titles. That’s admirable. It would be more admirable if the company didn’t keep…

Call of Duty: Black Ops II GPU & CPU Performance

For Call of Duty fans, developer Treyarch just delivered an early Christmas present when they released Black Ops II. As the ninth game in the Call of Duty franchise and the sequel to the 2010 game Black Ops, we are hoping to see something meaningfully new from Black Ops II. We say this because last…

Why We Like To Shoot

A few days after the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops II, the first-person shooter game’s publisher, Activision, released their annual braggadocious press release about the success of their most successful video game series. “Life-to-date sales for the Call of Duty franchise have exceeded worldwide theatrical box office receipts for ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Star…

Fan Outrage Brings the Nuketown 2025 Map Back to Call of Duty: Black Ops II Multiplayer

After suddenly pulling a popular pre-order multiplayer map from Black Ops II online play yesterday, Activision added it back to a new playlist called Chaos Moshpit. Game design director David Vonderhaar from dev studio Treyarch—who delivered the bad news—made it seem possible that the map could come back in a tweet late yesterday: That was…

Crazy Man Plays Call of Duty For 122 Hours Straight*

Okan Kaya, an Australian sales manager from Sydney, has set a new world record for the longest consecutive gaming session, racking up 122 hours playing the recently-released Black Ops II It’s a feat with a disclaimer, though: as Wired reports, he didn’t really play for 122 hours in a row. Because the human body would,…

560 People Are Playing Black Ops II Online on the Wii U Right Now

Call of Duty: Black Ops II is now out on the Wii U. It’s just not being played online that much. Too many people still at work or in school? Console too new? People drawn to other Wii U games? Everyone distracted by the surprisingly terrific Miiverse? It’s early days, so these stats will be…

Activision Suddenly Pulls Nuketown 2025 Map from Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Multiplayer

Earlier this month, Activision announced that it would let people who pre-ordered the publisher’s latest FPS mega-hit play on a re-imagined version of the popular Nuketown multiplayer map. That part of the promotion turned out to be true. But that access to the special battleground appears to have been suddenly revoked. The sudden bad news…

Square Enix, COD‘s Japanese publisher, announced that Call of Duty Elite won’t support Japanese—no plans, either.

Backhanded Box Quotes: When ‘Best Call of Duty Ever!’ Isn’t a Compliment

Welcome back to “Backhanded Box Quotes,” a collection of measured, thoughtful criticism from the user reviews of Metacritic. This week we examine games from two series that frequently are accused of impersonating each other: Call of Duty: Black Ops II, and Halo 4 Call of Duty: Black Ops II Released: Nov. 13. Critic: MasterOfMetroid (Metacritic)…

Black Ops 2 Multiplayer Is Still The Call of Duty You Love…Or Hate

I’ve spent the last week playing Call of Duty: Black Ops II’s multiplayer; arguably the real reason many will purchase the game. While I still have a lot to experience—the number of unlocks is ridiculous, and the competitive metagame is difficult to discern this early—I still think I’ve got a reasonable feel for it all.…

My Favourite Black Ops II Moment Was When a Hollywood Legend Gets His Dues

There are a number of Hollywood stars lending their talents to Black Ops II. Sam Worthington returns as Mason, for example. The only thing Worthington provides, though, is his voice. Others got to be in the game. You might recognise Admiral Briggs as Tony Todd, while Harper bears a resemblance to his voice actor, Michael…

Black Ops II’s Ending Sure Was Terrible (For Me)

Stephen made a great point earlier in the week when he compared Black Ops II to, of all things, Mass Effect. The way the game is punctuated with moments that can re-shape an entire experience with a single decision is an unexpected and welcome move for a series that’s so often criticised for being little…

Black Ops II‘s Zombie Mode: a Bit of Left 4 Dead, a Bit of Adventure Games, and a Whole Lot of Fail

When I had enough of Call of Duty: Black Ops II’s campaign, I decided to spend some time with its more fantastical mode, Zombies. These are my thoughts. There are three game types: the story-based “Tranzit,” the classic “Survival,” and, less excitingly, the maliciously spirited “Grief.” All overtly have the same premise: using teamwork, survive/kill…

The Sounds And Stylings Of Black Ops II‘s Kick-Ass Soundtrack

I haven’t played enough of Black Ops II to render a real verdict on how I feel about as a game, I can say for sure that I really enjoy the soundtrack. It’s a cut up from past games in the series, an exciting, diverse blend of whirling orchestral parts, ethnic instruments and atmospheric electronics.…

At Least Black Ops II Doesn’t Lecture Me Every Time I Die

“The soldier above all others prays for peace, for it is the soldier who must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.” It was General Douglas MacArthur who said that, and his words are as true now as they were in his time. The reason I know MacArthur said that is because…

Of Course There’s a Dubstep Scene in Black Ops II.

How will future historians be sure that Call of Duty: Black Ops II was released in 2012 or thereabouts? Because its campaign had a shootout set to dubstep. It’s short. It’s a little silly. It’s also the perfect time capsule moment.

Rumor: 2013’s Call of Duty is Another Modern Warfare Game

According to a report on Siliconera, next year’s Call of Duty game will take place in the same universe as Infinity Ward’s Modern Warfare titles. The site’s source, related to the game’s voice acting, is the same one who accurately leaked a ton of Sleeping Dogs info over a year before that game’s release, so…