Activision Blizzard continues to set the stage for the upcoming shooter Call of Duty: Black Ops II.
“I would argue that the story is better than most movies that are being made.” That’s what David S. Goyer, Black Ops II’s writer, said in a new video released by the title’s publisher today.
Most of the trailer’s time is spent talking up the game’s Hollywood collaborators. Goyer is well known for helping write the recent Batman movies. Trent Reznor, who’s doing the music for Black Ops II, won an Academy Award for his score from the 2010 film The Social Network.
Activision Blizzard is putting a lot of effort into building up the Black Ops sequel as a giant media event, similar to how movie studios hype up summer blockbusters. The video mentions several times that games have overtaken movies as the superior entertainment medium. Whether that’s true or not, the promotional clip seems set on convincing its audience that movies now look to Call of Duty for direction.
Like its predecessor, Black Ops II features a complex storyline. The game is set in the near future with new kinds of weaponry, including a fleet of drones. A terrorist mastermind hijacks the fleet and sends it to attack both the U.S. and China, triggering a wider conflict.
It’s bizarre to see a trailer that brags about having established artists from Hollywood working on the Call of Duty franchise while simultaneously putting films down as inferior, especially for a series that is far better known for its story-less multiplayer action than its plot-driven solo campaigns.
Call of Duty: Black Ops II comes out on November 13 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. See the video below.