Call of Duty: Black Ops II multiplayer trailer analysis

Treyarch and Activision last night released a new trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops II, showing off the game’s multiplayer mode. We can clearly see a massive emphasis on futuristic gadgets and items, but here are some of the details you might not have noticed thanks to all the quick cuts and booming sounds.

Spot anything we missed? Let us know in the comments and we’ll add it to the list.

• We spotted three different maps in the trailer. The first map, with a destroyed plane sprawled out across a desert environment, clearly recalls Modern Warfare 2‘s popular Afghan map. The second map seems to be set in a loading dock, and a third map takes place in a war-torn American city.
• The maps shown in the trailer are bright and colourful, which is clearly an attempt by Treyarch to address criticism that their maps have always been far too visually dull.
• The loadout system seems to have been tweaked slightly, with an overall emphasis on providing the player with more of everything. Primary weapons seem to be able to take three attachments, and secondary weapons two attachments. There also appears to be room in the loadout screen for six perks, and up to four pieces of equipment.
• Dolphin diving, last seen in the first Black Ops, is back. It was removed in Modern Warfare 3.
• The futuristic weapons on display were the M8A1 and AN-94 assault rifles, OSR-50 sniper rifle, PDW-57 and Chicom CQB submachine guns, LSAT light machine gun, Ballista and M1216 shotguns, Raging Judge magnum, combat knife, Tomahawk, and FHJ 18 anti-air rocket.
• Riot shields return, and are now able to be placed on the ground.
• Other equipment shown includes C4, a deployable sonic weapon and a throwing knife that deploys an electric shock over a small area shortly after it hits a surface.
• The LSAT shown in the trailer is also packing a Hybrid scope, an attachment which made its debut in Modern Warfare 3.
• Awards take a far more prominent role in Black Ops II, displaying icons when achieved in a fashion similar to Battlefield 3. Awards seen in the demo include Revenge, Bloodthirsty, Crackdown, Flyswatter (for taking down a Quadrotor with arms fire) and Red Baron (for killing enemy players with a Quadrotor).
• The game’s pilotable Quadrotors (as seen in the game’s Strike Force missions) can be used in multiplayer. The walking A.G.R tank also makes an appearance.
• A new x-ray-like scope attachment lets you see other players through certain walls and smoke. In the trailer an enemy is shown through a shipping container.
• Another new attachment highlights enemies, similar to in Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon, but seems to restrict your vision when being used.
• A moment near the end of the trailer shows the sky absolutely full of drones, with one flying into a player and exploding.
• Multi-Team Deathmatch appears to be a new mode, showing three different teams competing.
• The end of the trailer shows a new dedicated spectator mode, complete with commentary and a scoreboard being displayed on the HUD.

Call of Duty: Black Ops II will be released on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC on November 13.