6. Strike Force Missions
The single biggest innovation for Black Ops 2 in terms of gameplay is the addition of the Strike Force missions - non-linear side missions in sandbox-style levels which can be completed alongside the main solo campaign. In the words of Treyarch studio head Mark Lamia, these are proxy wars in the larger global conflict that will reflect that the war extends beyond the immediate fire-fights that the player is involved in during the campaign. Even though they can be tackled in non-linear fashion, these missions are still a major part of the campaign, but whilethe game can not be completed until they are, they have been included to be played more casually, like the side-missions of games like Arkham City and GTA titles. Quite wonderfully, dying in the missions won't give you the chance of an automatic redo - due to the missions' wider consequences to the campaign, your failure will have an impact on the overall war and key events will unfold differently to how they would if you had succeeded. That immediately feels like Treyarch have decided to add more weight to the player's control over what happens in the game rather than feeling like you're playing an on-rails shooter with brief fire-fight interludes. http://youtu.be/9qnUFzNZABk