6. David S Goyer
Even the not so eagle-eyed of you will have noticed that David S Goyer was also featured in that Trent Reznor video, and his inclusion in the project represents a significant boost to the presentation of Black Ops 2. We could have expected impressive visuals and engaging enough gameplay from the Black Ops team, but it was always going to be extremely important to balance the gameplay with a strong storyline worthy of the kind of money the game is going to take on release. And thinking back, in the context of its genre, Black Ops was a triumph of writing, jumping around chronologically in a cinematic fashion that framed the gameplay action without interfering too much, so Treyarch needed to at least match that quality second time out to keep fans happy. Not only that, the developers had to ensure a story that will over-shadow the last Modern Warfare outing as well as the first Black Ops, and in David S Goyer, they have at least made sure that the game will have every chance to succeed. This, remember, is the same Goyer who created Nolan's iteration of the Joker - writing that incredibly good material that could easily have been lost in the wake of an unforgettable performance by Heath Ledger, but which still shone through. He might have had some less than brilliant credits on his CV so far, including Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, but one thing Goyer definitely knows is creating iconic villains, and dark dystopian-type worlds on the edge of being over-run by evil, and if he is good enough for the daunting task of relaunching Superman, then his inclusion here has got to be something to be excited about. Yes he was involved with Black Ops, but that was more in a consultancy capacity, and it seems he is taking a more central role with the sequel. The worry of course is that Treyarch will want to take as much advantage of Goyer's abilities as possible, and devote too much of the game-time to cut-scenes to show off their star player, as it were.