Call of Duty: Black Ops II

Intense overall intensity
Highest flag: Language — strong
Modern/RealisticSci-fiShooter

What's in it

Language strong
High

The scripted dialogue includes strong profanity, including repeated use of 'fuck'.

Violence realistic
Moderate

Realistic first-person gunfire, knife takedowns and explosives against human enemy soldiers, with blood spatter and bodies that remain; no dismemberment or gore.

Dark themes intense
Moderate

The story turns on war, betrayal, a childhood trauma that drives the antagonist, and named allied characters who can be killed depending on player choices.

Torture depicted
Moderate

The campaign depicts interrogation and torture of captured characters on screen.

Substances referenced
Low

Cigarettes, cigars and alcohol appear with characters in the campaign's settings; not a player mechanic.

Horror & psychological spooky
Low

The co-op Zombies mode sets players against waves of the undead in dark, unsettling environments.

Crime & lawlessness crime depicted
Low

The antagonist orchestrates terrorism and mass violence within the plot; these acts are witnessed rather than carried out by the player.

Who can reach your kid

Voice chatChat with strangersStranger friend requests

What it is

Call of Duty: Black Ops II is a first-person military shooter split between 1980s Cold War flashbacks and a near-future 2025 conflict driven by drones and cyberwarfare. Players fight through scripted campaign missions and competitive online multiplayer, using realistic firearms, knives and explosives against human enemy combatants; combat shows blood and lingering bodies but no dismemberment. The story deals with terrorism, revenge and a large-scale attack on a city, and includes a depicted interrogation scene, strong profanity, and characters shown smoking and drinking. A separate Zombies mode pits players against waves of the undead in dark, unsettling settings. Online play connects strangers with voice and text chat.

How it's framed

The campaign frames its violence through a soldier's-eye military-thriller lens, casting the player's characters as covert operatives opposing a terrorist antagonist whose motivations are given a sympathetic backstory of personal loss, so the story presents its brutality as the cost of conflict rather than celebrating it. Player choices affect which characters live or die and how the story ends.

Details

Developer
Treyarch
Publisher
Activision
Released
Nov 12, 2012
Metacritic 74critic score (third-party) · out of 100

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