Call of Duty games are perhaps somewhat notorious for their repetitious nature. On one hand, gamers flock to the franchise because they know what they’re getting, but on the other, many gamers (including COD fans) have accused the franchise of growing stale. To all indications, however, Black Ops 2 is going to be a different game in many ways. James C. Burns, the voice actor for Sgt. Frank Woods in Black Ops 2, has stated that he also believes that Black Ops 2 is “going to be a very original experience.”
According to Burns, one of the main reasons the game will be so distinctive is that it will no longer be completely linear. “Treyarch has gone to the edge of the universe,” says Burns. “This is going to be one of the first interactive experiences where you get to make decisions that affect the outcome. So you could very well be playing at home, and you go and meet a friend of yours, and you are going to have two different outcomes to the game. Everything has been upgraded, from the narrative to playability of the game itself.”
While branching storylines have been used in Mass Effect and other games for quite some time, this is still a brand new feature to Call of Duty, one which should help the franchise to catch up a bit to some of the other franchises out there which allow for more variation in game play. This should help to boost the significance of the single-player campaign mode, which some gamers have stated is becoming defunct. In any case, it’s great getting a little more insight from another person who has worked on the game. Branching storylines are just one of the many things we’re looking forward to with Black Ops 2!