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5 games to look for at E3 2012

4. Call of Duty: Black Ops II

Screenshot/Activision
Call of Duty: Black Ops II features America fighting a cold war against China in the year 2025.

  • By Megan Riesz

In 24 hours, Call of Duty: Black Ops made more money than any book, movie, or album in entertainment history – some $360 million, the Monitor reported. So Black Ops II, set for a Nov. 13 release, has a lot to live up to. In addition to revisiting the Cold War, Black Ops II appears to be looking toward the future, specifically America in 2025. 

But developer Treyarch wants to ensure that gamers will still get wrapped up in the story of the newest installment. “We try to look at the future in the same way we look at the past,” studio head Mark Lamia told AusGamers. “The past has to be as authentic and plausible enough to be able to set you into our fiction, and we look at that when we’re doing ou[r] future.” So far, reports say this first-person shooter will be played through the son of the first Black Ops protagonist, Alex Mason, while multiplayer will be entirely set in 2025.

“At E3 you can bet they’ll likely show off another chunk of the story (perhaps taking place in the 80s, and featuring fan-favorite characters from the first Black Ops), as well as give more details on multiplayer,” IGN speculates. “It’s probably too early for them to let people play it, but who knows, Activision may surprise us.”

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

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