Call of Duty: Black Ops II

Description

Call of Duty: Black Ops II brought Treyarch’s blockbuster series to Nintendo’s new HD console at launch. Set across the late Cold War and the year 2025, its campaign follows the Mason family’s conflict with Raul Menendez, using branching story decisions and selectable equipment to push the series toward a more cinematic, choice-driven structure than earlier entries.

What makes the Wii U version distinctive is not a radically different game, but the way it reworks the standard Black Ops II package around the GamePad. Players can use the controller for off-TV play, second-screen maps, touchscreen scorestreak selection, loadout management, and a dual-screen local multiplayer setup that lets one player use the television while the other plays on the GamePad display. Treyarch also supported a broad range of control options for the port, including the Wii U Pro Controller, GamePad, and Wii Remote + Nunchuk, helping the game feel more fully adapted to Nintendo hardware than many earlier series appearances on Wii.

Beyond the campaign, the Wii U edition includes the same three-part core structure that defined Black Ops II more broadly: competitive multiplayer built around futuristic weapons and the Pick-10 Create-a-Class system, cooperative and solo Zombies modes including Tranzit, and full online support for ranked play on Nintendo’s hardware. Reviews generally regarded the Wii U port as a strong conversion, praising its robust content and effective GamePad features even while noting that its online population and certain service features were weaker than on rival platforms. Overall it was one of the more technically ambitious and substantial shooters on the system.