Shortly after its release I weighed in with my thoughts on Call of Duty - Black Ops II. Again, I'll note that I am anything but skilled and talented at video games. But I've enjoyed the Call of Duty series since Modern Warfare 2 and found myself really enjoying a few of the features in Black Ops II. That being said, here's an update on my experience as a far less than skilled player.
I'm still loving the freedom and flexibility available in this game. Having virtually unlimited control on how to equip weapons, items and perks has really made it fun for me. I have not purchased any of the expansion maps (or the expansion gun, which was a new feature in Black Ops II). I'm starting to get a bit tired of the basic set of maps. But overall I'm enjoying myself. With just a few gripes.
Highlights:
Using the "points" system to create classes has lead to to experiment a lot. I even tried having a class with no guns at all, though this was scrapped pretty quickly I still managed to have some fun games.
Scorestreaks as opposed to killstreaks. This rewards me for playing objectives, and while the big score items are still out of my reach I can almost always get a couple of the low-level rewards each game.
EMP grenades. So very powerful. I'll come back to this is a sec.
Permanent weapon unlocks. I can't remember if I've prestiged three or four times in this game (for those who don't know, "prestige" means reaching the top level and then starting over again from the bottom. You get special recognitions, but have to grind away to unlock all the weapons/perks again). I think I only prestiged once in each of the other Call of Duty games I played. But being able to permanently unlock a high-level gun and have it immediately available again makes things more manageable For those familiar with the game I chose the Scorpion EVO, partly because it doesn't unlock until a very high level and partly because it seems to suit my natural play style of running in to trouble too quickly and trying to spray myself out of it.
Gripes:
Same old story of skill inequity. I was under the impression that Black Ops II was employing some kind of skill-based matchmaking feature (meaning you'd get put into games with people at your same skill level). At first it seemed like this was happening and I was making some of my best scores ever. But I think that had more to do with the fact that the game was new and everyone was still figuring out the maps/weapons. I think my scores are still slightly better overall, but they definitely back in the 2-ish deaths per kill range. On top of that there's the endless hours I spend on the losing end of round after round of merciless drummings. For example, I recently had a match where I finished 2-26 (that's 2 kills and 26 deaths) and was the second-highest scoring player on my team. That means the rest of my 6-8 person team got 2 or fewer kills and more than 26 deaths. Not fun. And I can tell you how that happens. It's my next gripe.
Mega scorestreaks. In previous Call of Duty games there have been some super killstreaks available. If you got 25 kills without dying you could deploy a tactical nuke that would kill everyone and (in some versions of the game) automatically score a victory for your team. This feature is gone in Black Ops II, but another annoying streak feature still exists. There are certain streaks like the Lodestar, Warthog, Swarm, Dogs that are virtually guaranteed to net you a stout number of kills before they can be stopped (if they can be stopped at all). Nothing is more rage-inducing than being opposite a team that manages to keep a steady stream of these high-level streaks active and beating you into the ground as soon as you respawn. I have two possible solutions for this problem. 1.) Make the EMP scorestreaks easier to attain. The EMP kills all radar and active streaks. Maybe make it easier to attain, but have it run for a shorter duration (10-15 seconds). 2.) Make all scorestreaks above a certain level only available once per round, per team. Once one team member calls in a Lodestar that's it for your team. This would also encourage teams to work together to use a variety of the high-level streaks and make the most of them. Call in Lodestar, Dogs and Warthog all at once? Ok, but if an opponent has an EMP ready to go you've just lost all that potential for the rest of the round.
"Protips"
I've tried to make it abundantly clear that I'm not good at this game. But I have found a few secrets for success. Try these things if you haven't already:
EMP and Engineer Perk: These two are a lethal combo. The Engineer perk allows you to see enemy equipment glowing in red. This includes Bouncing betties, claymores, shock charges and killstreaks like Guardian and Sentry Gun. One blast from an EMP grenade will take out any of these items, netting you points and denying the opposing team deaths. In addition, many players can't stand to venture away from their equipment so Engineer helps give you a pretty good idea of where folks might be hiding out. If you use the Scavenger perk as well you can keep the grenades flying non-stop, as long as you find bodies to reload from.
Love Launchers: If you're not good the enemy is killing you a lot. If they enemy is killing you a lot they'll be calling in scorestreaks. Chances are a lot of them will be in the air. Stay proactive on the launcher and keep the skies clear. Nothing is more annoying to me than having my UAV shot down right away. So I try to annoy the opposing team by shooting down their air support as soon as it deploys. This is especially important if the air support has the ability to shoot at you.
The Road Less Traveled: This is a risk/reward tip. If your entire team is heading one way, consider going a different direction. The enemy is likely to focus on the area where the most people are shooting at them, which means if you come from a place of silence you might be able to catch them unexpected. I think the technical term for this is "flanking," haha. As an added bonus, this really helps your team achieve objectives as well.
Stuck in a rut? Mix it up. Take advantage of the huge variety of weapons, equipment and perks at your disposal. Getting bored/frustrated with the game? Try things you never use/do! This could be a different gametype, different weapons, perks or a general playstyle. Back to the launchers for a minute. When I get frustrated/angry I try to just shoot down all the air support possible. Sometimes I even go as far as killing myself after my two launcher shots are spent so I'm ready to take down the next UAV or chopper. Early on in the game I was having success with sniper rifles. Bow I'm not using them as much, but experimenting has landed a shotgun in one of my main/regular classes and I'm trying to use handguns a lot more.
Bottom line: The game is still fun. Not the best/greatest game ever. Maybe not even the best Call of Duty title ever (I still like Modern Warfare 2 and 3), but fun enough to still be a nice diversion. I don't have any plans to buy the downloadable content (which I've always bought in the past) and may abstain from the next Call of Duty game when it's released, but mashing buttons and shouting at the TV is a fun way to shut off the brain and have some evening fun.
