Army of Two, Deus Ex and Mass Effect seem to have inspired Treyarch, the developers of Black Ops 2, into ditching the linear storyline of the Call of Duty series in favour of one that introduces the element of choice.
A plethora of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 details have emerged since the official unveiling of the game and perhaps one of the many significant one is the fact that the storyline of Treyarch’s latest offering will evolve and chance according to the choices
that players make during the course of the single-player campaign.
This is a huge change from the series linear style of storytelling and many may not understand the implications of such a move. According to CVG, “At key points during the game you’ll be presented with multiple options, and the path you choose will dictate
the fate of those around you as well as your own.”
So choices will have a major part to play in the storyline and once again it seems that Treyarch are aiming to add more re-playability to the game’s single player campaign, which is not a bad thing.
These choices are all based on the player’s skill rather than Mass Effect styled choices; players will be required to keep non-playable characters alive, keep others from being captured or free hostages and failure to do so will not result in a screen with
a famous, yet annoying repetitive, quote appearing ever so often.
Instead, the storyline will progress based on how the player was able to make a choice and follow through on it.
Once again it seems that Treyarch is determined to carve out a niche for them and take the Call of Duty series forward and out of its seemingly stagnant rot. That is not to say that the CoD have not improved, far from that, yet the areas where the games
have been lacking are in innovation and freshness.
Many gamers are of the opinion that every year, Activision just make a few minor changes, tack on a set piece filled single-player campaign and re-pack what is essentially the same game as its predecessor. Treyarch seem to be on a mission to change that.
It is a huge risk but one that could pay off big time.
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