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Last week Activision unveiled the first trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 and it became a big surprise for many gamers. Rather than to continue with the Cold War theme of its predecessor, Black Ops 2 will be set on the battlefield of the future. For obvious reasons; this new change has been generating a lot of buzz among fans
As a long time fan of the series, one has to ask will Black Ops 2 be the game that finally jumped the shark. Gamers were obviously expecting a continuation of the Cold War-theme but instead we have been given a take on the series that offers uncertainty.
I'll admit the notion of a Call of Duty game set in the future dose sound like a really good idea, so long as it was set with in its own series. Unfortunately Black Ops was established as a game set during the Cold War and that was what gamers were expecting from the sequel.
Online message boards have been buzzing with dissatisfaction regarding the new setting along with predictions that Black Ops 2 will fail. Just check this online forum or this one and this one if you want to read what others have to say.
For the moment Black Ops 2 faces the challenge of escaping the shadows of Modern Warfare 3 financial success. Modern Warfare 3 surprised the entertainment industry when it grossed over $1 billion in 16 days, beating the 17 day record of James Cameron's Avatar.
Meanwhile its predecessor, Call of Duty: Black Ops, earned $360 million on its release date, double of what Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt.1 on its opening weekend. However one analyst has predicted that the game will fail to gain the same success as Black Ops or Modern Warfare 3.
Yet the biggest challenge that Black Ops 2 will need to overcome is the history of games that have failed at transitioning to a futuristic setting. Games series that have tried to transition from the original setting to the distant future have failed miserably due to what is often been cited as a poor connection of the source martial.
Dino Crisis 3 and Battlefield 2142 are good examples of how the transition to a future setting has failed.
To make matters worse; Black Ops 2 will be competing with Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, another war-game set on the battlefield of the future. Because Future Soldier has been in development longer, it holds the advantage of having detailed graphics and cutting edge gameplay.
Unfortunately Black Ops or Modern Warfare 3 were not well known for their detailed graphics or cutting edge gameplay. Already gamers can expect Black Ops 2 to be the same game only with slightly improved graphics and content.
But this is all nothing more than speculation and gamers might be surprised by the end results.
Gamers and critics will have to wait until November 13 to see if Call of Duty: Black Ops 2will gain the same success as its predecessors or will "commandos riding horses" be the video game equivalence of "jumping the shark".
