8. Single-Player Is Less Linear
The single-player offering of the CoD games has been frequently criticised for being too linear and straight-forward, literally instructing you to "follow" another player along a set track, until you have to shoot some guys, get to the next interactive cut-scene, and rinse and repeat for the next few hours. Black Ops 2, however, finally takes the heavy criticism of the single-player on board, gifting us with special Strike Force missions mid-game, which allow the player to, in the style of an RTS, move about the map at key moments, dropping into play as whoever they like, even commanding vehicles from afar and orchestrating the carnage like a futuristic war general. What's really impressive, though, is that the consequences of these missions matter; if you fail, you're going to have a harder time later on, and if you succeed, you'll be rewarded for it too. Given how exciting interactivity and choice is in video games, it's great to see a series so often labelled as "generic" decide to step into a more challenging dimension, and one which will hopefully pay off dividends.