During a recent interview, director David Anthony discussed the branching storylines feature of the single-player campaign mode of Black Ops 2, the next Call of Duty game. While it’s been alluded to a number of times already, this is by far the most clear discussion we’ve seen regarding how it’s actually going to play out. As a specific example, Anthony talked about a Strike Force mission in which the player wasn’t doing well and China came out on top. At first this might seem like an obvious negative. He pointed out that later in the game if the Cold War started to resolve, then China might actually assist the player with another mission. Since China’s forces might be more intact from the previous campaign, they might actually be more useful later on.

In other words, things will be more complex than might initially be obvious. “We’re trying to make (decisions and consequences) meaningful. It’s not just a story box that needs to be checked – you know, if you do that then China win and that’s it. We’re actually trying to feed the way you play back into the game, so that the way you play becomes significant.”

This will probably be one of the most complex Call of Duty games to date, and the sides involved won’t be black and white or cut and dry. Instead, decisions which players make may have ramifications they would never imagine later on in the fight once they start to see things from a different angle. This is partly the result of the other complex storylines that are woven into the game, many of which are the result of the actions of the principle villain, Raul Menendez. Excited about the new branching storylines and the immersive game experience they’ll provide? You can pre-order Black Ops 2 now; the game is due out for release on November 13.