First 'Black Ops II' Screenshots

It’s the near future. America’s enemies have “stolen the keys” to our defense grid. And someone is needed to save the day by doing “what others can’t.” Call of Duty: Black Ops is back… to the future.

The trailer showed us an elderly, retired Sgt. Frank Woods warning an off-camera Black Ops agent about the dire situation described above. Inter-cut with scenes of frantic urban action in Los Angeles (and probably some other places, too), Woods gives his unseen, younger counterpart a dire pep talk, reminding him that innocent lives are about to be lost unless the Black Ops soldiers get in there and do what they do best.

The premise sounds promising, but am I the only one sensing a disconnect with this? The future seems like the natural next step for the Call of Duty franchise. They’ve already covered pretty much every major war of the 20th Century, after all. The notion of a futurized Call of Duty is a strong enough idea on its own. Why did they need to tie it in with the Black Ops brand and characters? It’s almost like they thought a second Black Ops or a Future Warfare installment weren’t enticing enough notions on their own, so they mashed ‘em up to maximize player interest.

It’s a long wait until November. In the meantime, pore over these screenshots for every last detail there is to be gleaned from them. Click on an image to make it bigger.