Lately a lot of information has been flooding in about Black Ops 2’s multiplayer mode, and one of the most interesting developments regards the Score Streak system. This is going to be the replacement for the old killstreak system. As the name of the old system implied, you had to score a series of kills in order to win access to useful items including weapons, deployable robots, attack dogs and so forth. Now you’ll receive points for much more than just kills. Treyarch describes the system as a rewards system for “positive gameplay.” That means you can now receive points for more than just killing other players. You can trade in your points for rewards which enhance your power in the game.

If you do shoot another player, you might score 100 points for a kill. You could also score 100 points for a capture, however, or you might score 25 points for kills by team members if you have a UAV in the air, since the UAV is contributing to the team’s success as a whole, and therefore to each player’s success. As another example, if you’re playing capture the flag and you manage to capture it and take it back to base successfully and kill one person along the way, you’d score 100 points for each accomplishment. You could then spend those 300 points to summon a UAV drone. So you can see how team play will be rewarded more than it has been in the past. Along with UAVs, other Score Streak rewards include care packages (as in the past), mini helicopter attack drones and more.

By rewarding team play and encouraging players to focus on actions that help the team as a whole and not just boost their own scores, the new Score Streak system should alleviate the woes of players who are used to acting in a support role and watching their comrades win all the glory. This may also compel players who are used to acting in their own self interests to consider actions which benefit the team as a whole, improving tactical game play all around. What do you think of the new Score Streak system? Share your thoughts with other gamers in the comments below.