5. The Storyline
Of course, with great characters
should come a great story for them to run around achieving objectives in. Thankfully, Black Ops II has that in spades, and in no small part thanks to David S. Goyer's steady pen. The man who helped shepherd both Blade and Christopher Nolan's Batman to the big screen crafted the intricate story of personal vengeance meets a meditation on the Military Industrial Complex. In other words, there are as many drone hijackings as there are daddy issues, and both are masterfully brought to life through a story that splits itself between two generations and a gap of 40+ years. In the greater scheme of things, Goyer's story not only takes a forward look into mil-spec technology we don't have, or have in earlier development/iterations at this time, but it take the long view of movements such as the Occupy protests and reflecting the harm it could actually do were someone like the main villain in charge of the organisation. For a franchise that started its life basically recreating great battles of past history, Call of Duty has evolved thanks to the storytellers behind it shifting their focus to conflicts both more recent and speculative. Not to mention, the Black Ops series itself has tackled the light and dark aspect of one of the most elusive subjects in any military era...the clandestine services. While being a fun fictional adventure with real life personalities scattered throughout, Call of Duty: Black Ops II makes you think before you pull the trigger.