4. The Music
You've probably already heard about Trent Reznor doing the main theme for the game, but did you know the soundtrack is being composed by Jack Wall? If you have never heard of him, he did the soundtrack for Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2, Jade Empire and Splinter Cell: Pandora tomorrow. His music is iconic for fans of the games he composed for and he has won several awards for his work. Here's what he brought to Mass Effect 2: http://youtu.be/VTsD2FjmLsw Brilliant work, and if he can reach those heights again with Black Ops 2, fans can expect an outstanding score. So, that's the good points out of the way, now, let's deal with the reasons Treyarch's upcoming shooter won't be the world-beater some are suggesting... The Not So Good
1. The Sound
Call of Duty 4 and World at War, and to some extent, Modern Warfare 2 sounded pretty good. Modern Warfare 3's gunshots sounded like keys jiggling and Black Ops had very cartoony and fake weapon effects. Unfortunately, Black Ops 2 seems to be following suit. A game's effects need to fit the game - Mortal Kombat 2011 is great example of this: as an over the top fighting game, the punches are loud and full of bass and Kitana's fans whizzing sound pitch perfect. The explosions of COD games are weak. Yes, you're going to hate me for this, but Battlefield 3 set the bar last year for sound design. Fortunately, however, sound design is becoming better in gaming in general. Uncharted 3 sounded much more realistic and cinematic than Uncharted 2's effects (remember the 92FS-9mm, anyone?) The upcoming Medal of Honor: Warfighter sounds very aggressive, and the Assassin's Creed series sounds consistently great.
Call of Duty 4 and World at War, and to some extent, Modern Warfare 2 sounded pretty good. Modern Warfare 3's gunshots sounded like keys jiggling and Black Ops had very cartoony and fake weapon effects. Unfortunately, Black Ops 2 seems to be following suit. A game's effects need to fit the game - Mortal Kombat 2011 is great example of this: as an over the top fighting game, the punches are loud and full of bass and Kitana's fans whizzing sound pitch perfect. The explosions of COD games are weak. Yes, you're going to hate me for this, but Battlefield 3 set the bar last year for sound design. Fortunately, however, sound design is becoming better in gaming in general. Uncharted 3 sounded much more realistic and cinematic than Uncharted 2's effects (remember the 92FS-9mm, anyone?) The upcoming Medal of Honor: Warfighter sounds very aggressive, and the Assassin's Creed series sounds consistently great.