Call of Duty 9
The stars are aligning, and rumors are bubbling up that an official Call of Duty reveal is coming in the eminent future and its looking more and more likely that the sequel will, indeed, be Black Ops 2. What Cold War debauchery should we look forward to? Weve got together a list of all of the things that wed like to see from the inevitable FPS sequel.
More political intrigue in the story
Black Ops was at its best when it was filling in blurry areas of Americas political history. Meeting with JFK was an absolutely wonderful touch that really helped show what the Black Ops series was capable of. The ending, too, did a good job of bringing it all selling the Cold War espionage vibe, mixing in some nice Manchurian Candidate political storytelling into video games in a way that few other franchises have ever attempted. We want more of this explain other weird, fuzzy spots in US history with awesome, action-based missions thatll have gamers talking for months.
Bring it to the 80s
We were initially upset when we heard that Black Ops would be returning, solely because we wanted to see the series expand its horizons and visit more eras. Then we realized that keeping Black Ops in the title actually did just that. There are always shadowy operations going on, and we think the 1980s would be a good era for the game to really dig its feet in. Here, we have weird operations all over the world that did their best not to make the front-page, as well as secret military initiatives that we dont even know about. It was the beginning of the end of the Cold War, and were sure theres some cool 80s action movie tropes that would make for awesome gameplay.
Or the future
On the same note as there always were Black Ops, we figure there always will be Black Ops. Lets finally take the series to the future, and start shooting up enemy soldiers on space stations. It would be the easiest way to make a Call of Duty that feels nothing like the past games and it totally has to happen sooner or later so why not this year?
Start to connect the stories
While were on the subject of story, wed like to see some lines connected. Weve heard that Black Ops and Modern Warfare are connected, and we feel like its time to start seeing the dotted lines. Did the protagonists of Black Ops meet a young Vladimir Makarov at some point during their missions? Are they somehow responsible for his anger? There are plenty of opportunities to jump around and to bring the series together, and while we dont want to be slapped in the face with references to other games we think that it would be nice fan service to unite the series.
Give us cool gadgets
Whatever era the game takes place, we feel like we should be getting some cool gadgets to play with. Were placing as super secret undercover agents, right? Its time that showed! Give us watches that shoot lasers and gum that turns into bombs. RC cars strapped with C4 should be the tamest tool we have at our disposal.
Its time for a cover system
Call of Duty, for better or for worse, has shaped this generations first-person shooters. The pacing, the feeling it has had rippling effects on every FPS. Because of this popularity, however, little has changed in terms of gameplay. Instead, new elements are piled on, and the core experience has been almost untouched. Its time to change that with the addition of cover. We dont need it to completely reinvent everything, but a cover system similar to the one found in Killzone 2 would definitely make the game feel more well modern.
Complete overhaul of perks and killstreaks
Multiplayer, obviously, is going to return in a big way with Black Ops 2, and with it will come dozens of different perks and killstreak rewards. While were happy to see them return, we feel as though the developer might want to think about toning them down a little bit. Over the past few games theyve continually gotten more powerful to the point where they essentially supersede much of the skill in the gameplay. Wed like to see this addressed and balanced to make sure that actual raw skill takes precedent over being able to get the perfect combination of killstreak rewards that makes for an utterly broken experience.
Spec Ops and Zombies together
Since its an off-year, a zombie mode will undoubtedly be added to Call of Duty. Instead of speculating as to which political figures might be involved, or where it might be set, wed like to see the idea taken in a different direction. Lets have mini-missions involving Zombies, similar to the Spec Ops mode in Modern Warfare. Instead of hiding in one spot we want to travel around killing them throughout a larger, more open level it would be a nice departure from the survival mode, and add some life into the undead-stomping adventures.
