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Call of Duty Black Ops 2: 'What To Expect'

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"The original Black Ops took place during the first Cold War," says Mark Lamia, the Studio Head of Treyarch, "I call it the first Cold War because the new Cold War hasn't happened — yet."

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is a direct sequel which will take place in part during the fictional second Cold War in the year 2025. You will play as David Mason, the son of Alex Mason, the previous game's protagonist.

Alex will return as a playable character in flashbacks to the late 1980s. As a de facto enforcer of the Reagan doctrine, he will be in charge of igniting and arming proxy wars with Russia in locations like Nicaragua and Afghanistan.

Black Ops 2's story spans generations, Lamia tells us. The father and son have a mutual enemy: Raul Menendez. Menendez is a mysterious figure. We know he's somehow tied to the Reagan-era conflict in Nicaragua. I ask Lamia if Menendez might harbor ill-will towards the United States, considering the government was reluctant to provide additional funds to the country's rebels at that period. Lamia won't provide a definitive answer just yet.

The Story

Screenwriter David Goyer (The Dark Knight, Superman: Man of Steel) returned to help Treyarch develop the time-bending tale, and create what both parties believe will be an unforgettable villain in Menendez. Lamia can't help but remind me that Goyer was responsible for Heath Ledger's Joker.

Both Masons will receive help from Frank Woods who somehow did not die in the original Black Ops. In that game's campaign he tackled villainous Victor Kravchenko, who was wearing a belt of live grenades, out a window. Hidden intel in Black Ops hinted at the possibility of Woods being alive at a POW camp in Hanoi.

A very old Woods is still alive in 2025 and a narrator of sorts in Black Ops 2. He explains what happened in the 80s while on assignment with Alex Mason and why it matters in the game's present.

Woods has an ongoing story of his own, and though it's unclear, the Treyarch team hinted at a major third-act reveal imagined by Goyer. Maybe I'm way off, but could Woods have been brainwashed in Hanoi like Alex Mason was in Vorkuta in the original Black Ops?

Anyhow, in the late 1980s, which will be roughly a third of the game, you will see how Menendez becomes a monster of a man, and in 2025, you will see what he's capable of. It's rather unsettling.

What's most important, though, Lamia tells me, is believability. "We gotta be grounded," he repeats time and again, like a holy mantra.

Rare Earth Elements

Lamia tells us future war won't be about oil, but rare earth elements.

Rare earth elements are about as grounded as it gets. The minerals are essential to many of today's most important products, from smartphones to renewable energy devices like wind turbines and hybrid car batteries. Rare earth elements also play an important role in the creation of most modern military technology.

So what's the rub? In the real world, rare earth elements are almost entirely controlled by China's market, which provides 95% of all REEs. By comparison, Iran controls only 10% of the Earth's oil.

Lamia plays a clip of Obama talking about the necessity of China's participation with Western market in trading rare earth elements fairly. He shows an interview with a Japanese businessman discussing the dangers of China's complete control of the commodity.

Then things get apocalyptic.

The Treyarch team volleys between clips from news and military television programs pertaining to war in the not so distant future. They paint a world in which a hacker could bring a superpower to its knees.

Drones, advanced robotics, security systems: Our best weapons may one day be used against us. Oliver North, who is a consultant on the game, says he's not worried about the guy who hijacks the one plane, but about the guy who hijacks all of them.

Which is an apt lead-in to the gameplay.

June 19, 2024: Los Angeles, California

A well-dressed man covered in blood shrieks in agony. David Mason pushes him into a seat and looks around the limousine, spotting the president. She looks like a younger Hillary Clinton. We hear G20 leaders across the world are under attack.

The vehicle is speeding down the highway. Outside, blinking construction signs call for an evacuation of Los Angeles. Above, a swarm of dozens, maybe hundreds of drones are bombarding the skyscrapers and roads. One swoops over the limo, lighting it up.

Mason pulls the president from the wrecked car, dashes across the highway, and hops into a turret atop a military vehicle dangling precariously off the lifted roadway. The weapon locks onto a half dozen or so drones at a time, chasing them with heat seeking rockets. A drone shot out of the air crashed onto the highway and skips like a three-ton stone over Mason, nearly slicing the head from his shoulders.

In action-star fashion, Mason abandons the turret moments before it slides off the freeway in a thunderclap of fire and cement. "On route to prom night with the president," some colleague says.

The president is repelled beneath the freeway by a couple of soldiers, while Mason provides cover with a sniper rifle. It's futurefied with the ability to see enemies through cars and cement barrier. They look like images from the new scattershot x-ray machines at airports -- Lamia later mentions them as an inspiration for the weapon.

When Mason pulls the trigger, it kicks sharply back, letting out a piercing noise, like wood slapping pavement.

Mason finally makes his way down to the lower road, hops in a sports utility vehicle, and drives through the abandoned street, hammering cars and pulverizing enemy soldiers. Up ahead, the vaulted freeway begins to collapse.

A female pilot keeps watch over Mason from a Vertical Take-Off and Landing aircraft, a harrier-like jet (remember, from Saints Row The Third). She provides direction through the dizzying battlefield.

"Most of the city's a full blown war zone," shouts some guy. The Pentagon and Wall Street are in equal or worse shape we hear, before a red semi sideswipes the vehicle.

Honestly im expecting a whole bunch of the same sh*t from black ops 1. Nothing will be better. Call Of Duty is becoming like the Twilight Series they are taking an already horrible game to far. I will prolly buy it and play the shit out of it and hate every moment of it.

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looking forward to this game