Treyarch's 2010 release Call of Duty: Black Ops set an impressive record, selling 27.8 million units to date.
It gave impetus to the CoD franchise, which will expand with Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, which will be released Nov. 13.
John Rafacz, director of communications, Treyarch was quoted by the Examiner, saying that soon after the first installment came out, Black Ops 2 was given the go-ahead signal. The team knew how they wanted to go about with the story and what context to provide.
"There's this shift to a new time period. There's an abundance of new weapons and gameplay," Rafacz said. "Within the game there's the ability to tell a story like never before. You get to understand where the characters have come from, which gives you a better sense of where things are during 2025."
One of the characters in the story will be David Mason, who is the son of the first game's main character Alex Mason, the Examiner reports.
"Consumer anticipation for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is tremendous. We are seeing the highest pre-orders in history," said Tony Bartel, president of GameStop. He predicts another astounding sales record by the new game.
"When you work on a game like Call of Duty, our time is completely focused on the development of it. We are focused on what fans say," Rafacz said. "What happens beyond that passes by in the rear-view mirror. The team draws their motivation from the game's community and their feedback."
Rafacz spoke about the new addition to the game Strike Force levels that will give gameplay an innovative approach.
"The guys are excited about Strike Force levels. It really mixes up the gameplay experience. Those are an example of what the team has done to bring something new and fresh that people have never experienced before," he said. "They pop-up several times throughout the campaign where the head of Special Ops command will ask you to be a part of a team that needs to achieve certain objectives.
"You can assume control of any drones, soldiers and no matter how you play, you can do almost anything to ensure the objectives are achieved."
Rafacz said the objectives in a game that one player completes and the other player does not will not affect the outcome of the game. But the choices a player makes might affect which characters die and which don't.
The Zombie mode, which is addictive, is also a feature in Black Ops 2 and, according to Rafacz, it will have different modes within a Zombie world. There will also be new characters and new weapons for this mode. Players who can get their hands on the grieving tool will have chances of winning in this round.
"Once we have the chance to get this game out," he said about a possible Black Ops 2. "That's when we look at where things may be able to go next."
