Be Excellent To Each Other

The facts

Yesterday morning, Amazon France previously referenced on its website a Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 . A blunder quickly corrected by the dealer, but, at the rate things are going on the Internet, has had time to be relayed on video game news sites, French, and of course Gameblog.

Activision France we immediately contacted by telephone and by email, following the publication of this information, ask us to "remove this news now." Gameblog has obviously declined, as required by our ethics and respect for our readers.

Activision also confirmed that he had joined the other sites have published this information. Some preferred comply immediately removing their article: you will not find such a trace of this news item on Jeuxvideo.com or JVN.com , although Google has obviously kept track (see below, click to enlarge images).
News Google's cache has preserved the beginning of the recalled items. The URL is still visible, but the news has been withdrawn. Google image, the picture yet available that adorned the news. Also on JVN, the google cache has preserved the image of illustration but the article was removed.

It is surprising that an editor can also easily be interference in the editorial of some publications, but it is now a reality.

The consequences

We felt it important to clarify that our intention today, keeping in line this news , is none other than doing our job: to inform.

Unfortunately, this decision brings consequences: Activision chose to cut all ties with Gameblog. Specifically, the publisher asked us not to introduce ourselves to an event Transformers: The fall of Cybertron , which we were invited next week, we can not cover it as planned. We will not receive more, now, Activision games, which will likely cause delays in the publication of their tests. It also meant that Activision would end its purchases of advertising space to our district and cancel campaigns already planned.

In revealing these facts internal, we would first like to inform our readers that it will suffer itself thus the consequences of our choices, and ensure that Gameblog refuses to yield to such pressure to prevent him from exercising his profession in freely.

he next Call of Duty game is apparently returning to the Cold War-era intrigue of 2010's Call of Duty: Black Ops. GameBlog reports that the French site of retail giant Amazon posted (and then pulled) a product page for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2.
Did Black Ops 2's cover just get blown?

Did Black Ops 2's cover just get blown?

Activision had already said it would have another installment in the Call of Duty series on shelves this year, but the publisher has not confirmed its era or setting. Previous Call of Duty games have thrown players into World War II, the Cold War, and current-day antiterrorism efforts around the world.

While Activision didn't confirm the existence of Black Ops 2 directly, GameBlog followed up its story with a report that Activision France contacted the site to demand the news be pulled. GameBlog said it refused to do so, and Activision subsequently disinvited the site from a preview event for Transformers: Fall of Cybertron and canceled advertising campaigns it had planned to run on the site.

The original Black Ops set a bevy of sales records, becoming the best-selling game of all time on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC in the US and Europe and racking up $1 billion in revenues in less than two months on sale. Last year's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has a ways to go to match Black Ops' overall sales, but it came out of the gates considerably more quickly, hitting the $1 billion mark in just 16 days.

As of press time, an Activision representative had not responded to GameSpot's request for comment.

Black Ops 2 Reportedly Outed by Amazon as This Year’s Call of Duty

French game site Gameblog.fr reported earlier today that Amazon's French digital storefront leaked details about the next installment in Activision's blockbuster FPS series.

The site claims that a product page for the sequel to the 2010 Call of Duty title went live on Amazon.fr and that, after they reported this, Activision France requested that the story be killed. When they refused, Gameblog.fr claims that the publisher blacklisted them, disinviting them from a Transformers: Fall of Cybertron preview event and pulling planned advertising from the media outlet.

Gameblog.fr also claims that other sites that covered the story were coerced into pulling their coverage off the internet after similar threats by Activision.

It seems odd that Activision would come down so hard on media outlets for reporting a product listing when the gaffe was on Amazon's part. All of the above should be taken with grains of salt. We've reached out to Amazon France and Activision and will update the story if we hear back.

UPDATE: Joystiq's reporting further evidence that Black Ops 2 may be a possibility, finding the Linkedin profile of an artist employed by a studio that's worked on past Activision projects. Including, surprise, Call of Duty: Black Ops.

Not that fussed.

Supposed list of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 multiplayer details leaked

Even though Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 hasn’t been announced — looks like that’s scheduled for May 1 — that hasn’t stop the Internet from jumping on juicy, leaked information regarding the inevitable sequel’s multiplayer components. Call of Duty rumor site Charlie Intel revealed yesterday evening a rather thorough list of perks and game modes for the first-person shooter. GamesBeat reached out to publisher Activision for confirmation and is awaiting a response.

Perks are unlockable and equipable upgrades players can use as they earn experience in Call of Duty multiplayer. They affect the game passively and allow for further customization of a character’s class and abilities.

Pretend that you’re playing a sniper. One available perk might enhance how often you cause critical damage when you attack. Another might make you invisible to others for a brief period of time.

This supposed Black Ops 2 multiplayer information is pretty unbelievable. Some of the available choices seem very goofy when you think about the actions they describe, like this one regarding knives (grammatical errors are from the source):

9. Bladesman – You have 2 knives in each hand instead of just one in one hand. (This essentially makes knives kill twice as fast.)

b. Pro – You have a chance of dodging the incoming players knife.

c. Elite – If assasin is active – kniving will be completely silent and not show on the killfeed, unless countered by audiophile elite.

By that description, the player has a total of four knives. Such vague and confusing wording definitely wouldn’t come from an official source. Other elements are not as poorly worded but reveal dubious design choices:

2. Escape Artist – When going prone, you feign death (You cannot shoot during)

b. Pro – When approaching death, the enemies crosshairs will turn to white, and your name will dissapear.

c. Elite – if Diver is active – You realistically fall into your feign death instead of diving.

11. Focus – Be able to shoot while sprinting, even at the deduction of accuracy.

b. Pro – Be able to shoot while jumping, even at the deduction of accuracy.

c. Elite – If stalker is active – when jumping, equipment does less damage to you.

These kinds of perks sound like they would be easily manipulated in-game and difficult to defend against. If you can customize your character to shoot when sprinting or jumping, why wouldn’t you use that setup all the time? Millions of players will likely have the exact same idea, and the resulting multiplayer experience would be monotonous.

Three game modes were also detailed in the post, and all of them sound sketchy.

Escort ~ A game mode in which you escort a player across three flags to achieve victory. The enemy team killing the player will result in a win for their side.

Split Spawn ~ A game mode in which you spawn from a hellicopter, and climb down to get to the ground. The player starts with 3 lives. One player can control the chopper to let you climb down in different areas, as well as shoot from the chopper. If the chopper is destroyed, players can no longer spawn. Players compete for a central flag that takes 2x as long to capture than a regular domination flag. Either the death of all opposing players or the capturing of the flag will grant you a win. This game has 2 rounds.

Equalizer ~ A game mode in which players are switched to the enemy team upon death. Players will compete for a flag, which when owned, open up a power plant to allow the player to customize their class in game, get new weapons, and put on a juggernaut suit for their team only.When there are 2 players left on a team, they are granted with the power plant automatically, and pointstreaks up to a 5 point requirement can also be obtained. If either of the two players die, they will remain on their own team. The team with the most converts (kills) at the end will win. If tied, whoever is currently owning the power plant will win.

Are these really details for a new Call of Duty game? We won’t know until Activision confirms the leak or denies the leak and later confirms the details in a press release. Whatever the truth may be, none of these changes sound particularly thrilling or well-balanced.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Reveal, Multiplayer & Weapons - What The New COD Needs To Stay Fresh

Dave Cook

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is being revealed 1st May. We discuss what Treyarch needs to do if it’s going to keep the series fresh.

Published on Apr 25, 2012



Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is set for a worldwide reveal on Tuesday 1st May over at the official Call of Duty website. To be fair, the unveiling of Black Ops 2 this year was always a safe bet, but this predictability is half of the problem Activision’s franchise now faces.

Depending on who you ask, Treyarch is either the best thing to happen to the Call of Duty franchise in recent years, or the worst. Call of Duty: Black Ops split opinion in a big way, based on the studio’s weak efforts Call of Duty 3 and Call of Duty: World at War.

But mistakes can be rectified, and in Call of Duty: Black Ops Treyarch – love them or hate them – created what is possibly the most fairly balanced Call of Duty multiplayer since the first Modern Warfare, while attempting to buck the trend with new features.

This desire to stay fresh is exactly what the Call of Duty series needs to stay on top. Whopping year on year sales, no matter how much they may be diminishing, show that the bubble hasn’t quite burst yet, but it will one day, just like it did to Tony Hawk and Guitar Hero.

So how does Treyarch avoid this fate in Call of Duty: Black Ops 2? Here are a few suggestions.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 needs more variety

How many times have you rappelled, breached and cleared, called in airstrikes, participated in on rails vehicle sections, or battled in abandoned warehouses and facilities in Call of Duty games? We’ll answer that one for you – too many times.

What Treyarch really needs to show in Black Ops 2 is that Call of Duty can be innovative and refreshing, by distancing itself from what has gone before, but still keeping the spectacle of the series intact.

Call of Duty needs to deliver new things for gamers to do, and if rumours of a near-future setting for Black Ops 2 are on the money, this could give Treyarch a license to really turn the formula on its head.

Given the potential era, we could well see gadgetry similar to that found in the Ghost Recon series, such stealth cloaks, thermal imagining and AI drones. Would this be too far removed from the Call of Duty staples? Yes, probably, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.



Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 needs to be more realistic

Now, we don’t mean realistic as in ‘make Black Ops 2 really, really boring please’. But when Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games rammed so much mayhem and noise into every minute of Modern Warfare 3, it watered down the impact of those big scenes.

It’s entirely possible to deliver tense and exciting small-scale battles without resorting to ear drum-melting levels of aesthetic insanity. Too much crap on the screen numbs the mind, especially when something like the small but epic TV station raid from the first Modern Warfare would suffice.

Treyarch doesn’t need to lay waste to the whole world in Black Ops 2, but it does need to scale things back and give these battles meaning again. Oh and as we said earlier, please don’t shove more abandoned factories and warehouses down our throats.

On top of this, we need a new plot without pantomime bad guys with readily available EMPs, nukes or any tired action genre staples. It would also be great to see Black Ops 2 drawing inspiration from actual historical war scenarios again, but repackaging them in a near-future setting.

The first Black Ops sort of nailed this with its shadow agent sub-plot wrapped around the Vietnam conflict, but quickly fell back into the same old yarn. Black Ops 2 could be a chance to get it right.



Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 multiplayer needs more customisation

Many people complain that Call of Duty multiplayer doesn’t involve teamwork. Not true. If you play online with a team of mates and coordinate as you go, you can potentially decimate the opposition to the point of embarrassment.

But where Call of Duty multiplayer falls down is that it’s difficult to carve out an identity online. Treyarch would do well to increase the avatar customisation options in Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, letting you create an identifiable soldier through unlocked gear.

There is a current rumour that when you level up perks in Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, you can choose between one of two pro variants, similar to a branching RPG skill tree. This would allow for greater skill customisation and help play to your own personal strengths, or compensate for weaknesses.

If Treyarch bring back and expand the custom emblem and callsign options, Black Ops 2 could let you stand out from the multiplayer pack, and create your own identify in the online arena. Although admittedly, Treyarch would need to filter out all of the inevitable boner camo designs.



Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 multiplayer needs to influence teamwork

Although we only just said that Call of Duty does allow for teamwork if you want to go down that route with a squad, the original Black Ops offered little reward for doing so. Modern Warfare 3 went some way to rectifying this through Strike Packages.

Strike Packages are rumoured to return in Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, and if true, would give more importance to being a team player, especially in the Support role, which is also rumoured to offer more killstreak points per assist. If true, this could see Black Ops 2 delivering a new level of cooperation online

Speaking of which, Call of Duty really needs a co-op campaign. Not only would it make more people give a toss about the Black Ops 2 campaign, it would be much more fun with other people.

So much flack gets aimed at Call of Duty campaigns each year that this one small change could turn the tide a little. Better still, make the campaign for up to four players and the plot could be a riot to battle through with mates. We’re amazed Activision hasn’t commissioned this sooner.



Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 multiplayer needs a DLC rethink

Year on year, Call of Duty DLC is the focus of immense hatred from some pockets of gamers. Many people believe that Activision’s approach to Call of Duty: Elite exclusivity does paying PS3 owners a great disservice, and that DLC packs are always priced too high. They’re right.

Shortly before he left Infinity Ward, we interviewed Rob Bowling about his opinion on making customers pay for old content, such as Call of Duty 4 maps in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Bowling didn’t like this approach one bit, and stated that gamers should never have to pay for old content, and that he’d like to see future Call of Duty games giving it away for free.

Part of the problem with releasing a yearly Call of Duty game is that you play it, maybe download all the DLC, then you have to do it all over again 12 months later. Now we’re seeing gamers increasingly sticking with the Call of Duty game they like best, instead of moving on to the next one each year.

So here’s a bright idea, why not offer old Black Ops maps – which were arguably some of the best maps Call of Duty has ever seen – for free each month based on a community vote? People can still play the maps they love without abandoning them each year, and their map collection would keep growing with each new game.

It’s the same approach Harmonix has taken with Rock Band, in that player could import all of their downloaded songs to each game. If Treyarch did this with Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 maps, more people would be likely to play it without feeling ripped off.

It ain't never gonna burst! It's essentially FIFA at this point. Maybe somewhere down the line someone will make a better game and the community will be split a la PES in the good old days. But then CoD will claw its way back and carry on.

See, I'm tempted to pick up MW3 when it's cheap just to finish off the story. I have absolutely no inclination to play Blops 2 at all.

See, I'm tempted to pick up MW3 when it's cheap just to finish off the story. I have absolutely no inclination to play Blops 2 at all.

I actually really liked BLOPS's story, it was endearingly batshit, rather than MW2's bollocks.

Trailer

This is just getting silly now. In 13 years we're going to have walking metal rhino things.

This is just getting silly now. In 13 years we're going to have walking metal rhino things.

Halo? Frontlines? Homefront?

Haven't seen the video, but the various things I've read seem interesting. A storyline that branches to different endings, choices and scenes based on your actions. Sections of RTS style fighting as you control various squads and drones and stuff. Near future settings to combine modern equipment with a few cool gadgets. Flashback missions with the 80s setting that worked before.

Colour me interested.

Beat the shit out of what - setting it in the future? I can't think of many modern future combat FPS apart from Syndicate and Ghost Recon Future Solider.

This might be the creative boost they need to let their imaginations run wild.

Beat the shit out of what - setting it in the future? I can't think of many modern future combat FPS apart from Syndicate and Ghost Recon Future Solider.

Crysis and sequels, Half-Life and sequels, STALKER and sequels, Metro 2033, Blacklight: Retribution, Resistance: Fall of Man and sequels, (sort of, even though it's in the past), Killzone and sequels.

I make that about 20 sci-fi future-set shooters right there. They're of varying degrees of relevance to the quote "modern future combat FPS" but I'd argue none of them are entirely irrelevant. They all feature mostly modern-day technology spiced up with some futuristic elements e.g. rayguns or giant walking tanks.

Just to confirm, I was referring to the modern (current day) warfare thing being over done because I'd read (apparently incorrectly) that the game will take place mainly in 2005 with various flashbacks and future bits.

However, good job proving that the future warfare thing is over done as well!

People don't play CoD because they are particularly fond of a particular setting. They play it because they like the CoD setup. The game types, the equipment unlocks, the pace of play etc. So a future CoD provides new, different stuff with the CoD flavour - it can't really fail to be successful.

Also, pretty much everything you've listed is solely or primarily a single-player game. CoD is a massively popular multiplayer game that also happens to have a tacked-on campaign.

Good point! Except for Crysis, Killzone, Resistance, and STALKER (and their sequels), you are entirely correct that those games lack substantial multiplayer elements! I, for one, never played Half-Life Deathmatch, certainly not for hundreds of hours!

Gaywood, aren't most/some/all of those based pretty far from current reality? As in, far future or near future but with friggin' aliens and shit?

This CoD seems more to be modern day but with a few speculative weapons and potential technologies, rather than any particularly big leap. I'm not aware of too many of those.

If you compare the SPvsMP usage of each of those games against that of CoD, I'd be utterly astonished if the ratios were even close.

We're responding to Mr Fairies quoting that there 'only a handful' of future warfare FPS games, which is demonstrably piffle.

Besides, there's still no "evidence" that the market is saturated with future war FPS unlike the WW2 market which, at a point, had one a week or summats.

Besides, there's still no "evidence" that the market is saturated with future war FPS unlike the WW2 market which, at a point, had one a week or summats.

I was actually responding to WTB's post on the last page that the setting was boring.

11. The zombies

Rather than doing an elaborate will-we-won't-we dance around the subject, like it did with Black Ops, Treyarch has come straight out to confirm that yes Zombies will be in Black Ops 2. It's made the leap to the multiplayer engine this time and has a brand new fiction driving it along. Benefits of the switch to the net-ready version of the game are greater numbers of zombies, twice the number of co-operative players and larger maps. There were also clanging hints dropped about competitive modes, which suggests four-versus-four-versus-zombies might be the new time gobbling mode.

The recently announced Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 will feature the now-famous zombies mode, a staple in all Treyarch-developed Call of Duty titles.

The image below was tweeted by Call of Duty’s official twitter account, and depicts a female soldier holding a shotgun in one hand and a severed zombie head in the other. Take a look

‘Call of Duty: Black Ops 2’ Zombies To Be ‘Biggest, Most Ambitious’ Yet As Artwork Is Revealed

The upcoming sequel to Treyarch's "Call of Duty: Black Ops" has just been officially revealed on May 1st, confirming details about the game's title, location, and other gameplay details. But for any fan of the first-person shooter franchise, one of the most anticipated features will be the new zombie mode.

New artwork teasing the undead shootout was recently launched, enticing fans to gear up for the next "Black Ops" release. The image itself doesn't reveal too much about gameplay, but illustrates a woman holding a gun behind her head. A red backdrop gives the picture a blood-thirsty feel, with the triumphant female shooter standing atop a pile of debris.

The developer also confirmed that the fan favorite mode will run on an improved multiplayer engine, which will allow double the amount of players and of course, double the zombies.

"Treyarch have given their zombie team free reign to do pretty much whatever they want with the mode regardless of the direction the campaign is heading in," Computerandvideogames.com wrote in their "Black Ops 2" preview.

The revamped second installment of "Black Ops" is set to bring new material and revitalize gameplay, with a war-torn Los Angeles serving as the futuristic Cold War battleground.

"The campaign's pretty big and ambitious," Treyarch head Mark Lamia told VentureBeat. "The multiplayer is pretty big and ambitious. And they really are creating another game with the Zombies there."

He also added that a staff of more than 300 people are currently working on the new game, most of which are located at Treyarch. This is different than the last title of the franchise, "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3," which was developed by three different studios.

The zombie co-op mode usually features waves of the undead flooding in waves, which players must fend off in order to stay alive. Players receive money for each zombie kill, and are able to purchase more advanced weapons and upgrades. Different maps throughout the zombie campaign offer different offbeat features, such as the ability to play as JFK and Fidel Castro among other historical personas.

With the fresh theme featured in the upcoming "Black Ops," it'll be interesting to see what kind of twists Treyarch ties into the game's undead version.

"If you like zombies, you're going to be really happy with what we're doing with 'Black Ops 2.' It's our biggest, most ambitious zombies yet," Lamia said in the latest episode of Roll Call on Call of Duty Elite TV.

During the Activision world reveal on May 1st, the company promised that "Black Ops 2" would take the "Call of Duty" series to the next level.

"Pushing the boundaries of what fans have come to expect from the record-setting entertainment franchise, 'Call of Duty: Black Ops 2' propels players into a near future, 21st Century Cold War, where technology and weapons have converged to create a new generation of warfare," the site's pre-order page says.

With a Nov. 13 release date, the game is sure to be a hot item on holiday wish lists, competing with other heavy titles such as "Assassin's Creed 3" and "Halo 4."