After weeks of rumors and leaks, the first trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops II finally aired last night.
The main thing to take away from it? All those little pieces of info we've been scrounging for were just the tip of the iceberg.
The near future setting of Black Ops II is set in 2025, where an old Frank Woods warns us of the dangers of creating an automated army.
"We build computers, robots, unmanned armies... But no one asks: What happens when the enemy steals the keys."
As we saw in those leaked screens yesterday, 2025 is filled with automated quadrotor helicopters, four-legged tanks, and wearable computers. The trailer shows what looks like an army of drones invading and destroying Los Angeles.
According to Joystiq, the game isn't simply "Call of Duty: Future Warfare." The game will span from shortly after the original Black Ops until the futuristic invasion. Shots of the player riding on horseback in the desert show one of the game's early settings - 1980s Afghanistan.
In the game's early sections, players will retake the role of Black Ops protagonist Alex Mason for missions set in the 20th century. As time goes by, players will eventually transition to playing as Alex's son, David Mason, as the setting shifts to 2025.
In 2025, a global event forces the US to go to war with China over rare earth materials - materials used to create much of today's advanced technology, including cell phones and microchips for everything from computers to missle guidance systems.
In addition to its generation-spanning story, Black Ops II will look to use narrative as a means of shrugging off some of the series' mechanical cobwebs. Unlike past Call of Duty games, Black Ops 2 will have a branching narrative: Players will eventually have choose to play "Strike Force" missions, which will have a direct impact on the US-China conflict, changing the game's story.
Players will sometimes have access to multiple missions, but will only allowed to choose one. Not only will the game's story be altered by which mission you choose, but by whether or not your mission is successful.
All of this information points to one thing: Treyarch wants to change the way you look at Call of Duty and, from the looks of it, they're on the right track to make fans love the series more than ever before.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 invades your PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 on November 13th.
[Via Joystiq]
