Call of Duty: Black Ops II is a 2012
first-person shooter video game developed by
Treyarch and published by
Activision. It was released for
PlayStation 3, and
Xbox 360 on
November 12, 2012. Black Ops II is the first Call of Duty video game to
feature branching storylines, in which the player's choice affects both
the current mission and in turn, the overall course of the story. Known
as "Strike Force missions", these branching storylines appear during
the 2025 storyline and feature permanent death. The success or failure
of these missions can have ramifications for the wider campaign
storyline. Choosing one of the missions locks out the others unless the
player begins a fresh campaign.Strike Force missions allow the player to
control a number of different war assets, such as unmanned aerial
vehicles, jet fighters and robots. If the player dies in a Strike Force
mission, the campaign continues recording that loss, as opposed to
letting the player load a previously saved checkpoint. The player's
progress in the Strike Force missions may go on to change even the plans
of the story's antagonist, Raul Menendez. By the end of the game, the
player may have changed the results of the new Cold War.