FPS General

This weekend is Double XP in Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, giving players a chance to rack up two-times the normal amount of experience towards their next rank or prestige level.

Doubtless many of you will be grinding all weekend, but there's a science to maximizing your earning and we're here to share some tips on how you can get the most bang for your buck this weekend, taking advantage of the Double XP promotion.

Keep reading for three foolproof methods to maximizing your XP earning in Black Ops 2.

Bringing some color to your username in Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is incredibly simple, but not a lot of people know how to do it. It's with this in mind that we bring you a quick tutorial on how to change the color of your username in Black Ops 2. Bear in mind that this is a PC-only feature, and requires nothing more than Steam.

Chances are you've noticed the guy in your lobby with the pink username, doubtless bragging about how 1337 he is for changing the default color. Colored usernames stand out and they're just a lot of fun, even if they don't' bring you any in-game advantage to speak of. Doing this in your game is incredibly easy and all it takes is the addition of a few simple characters to your Steam display name.

Fire up Steam and navigate to 'Friends --> Change Profile Name...' in the menu. This will open up a new dialog box in which you can change your display name to whatever you fancy. What most people don't know, however, is that you can also add a few characters to that line that will cause your username to display a different color in Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (as well as previous Call of Duty games). The characters you are going to add are '^^XX' where XX is replaced by a number of your choosing, that corresponds to a particular color.

The number chart is pretty straightforward...

So, what you'll end up with, if you want to change your username to Grey, for example, is something that looks like this:

After that, just click 'OK' and fire up Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 and make sure that you chose the right code for the color you desired. Whenever you want to change the color, simply go back to 'Change Profile Name...' and adjust it wherever you want.

Wherever you input '^^XX' will cause everything after that point to recolor, so if you want to split your coloring in half, you can add another color code halfway through your username. Something like, '^^1FPSG^^2Nate' would cause two separate colors to display.

Play around with it a bit and make use of the in-game Steam interface to make the process even quicker, without having to launch and close the game a dozen times.

Black Ops 2 is far from a rehash of the old Call of Duty experience. With a handful of new multiplayer game modes, an awesome singleplayer campaign and the ever-addicting Zombies experience, this is a full-featured addition to the Call of Duty franchise.

Now, on the competitive multiplayer side of things, you might be curious about what changes Treyarch has made? In addition to things like the Pick 10 Create-a-Class and totally revamped scorestreak system, Black Ops 2 also features a number of brand new multiplayer game modes. Don't worry, though, Call of Duty veterans will still enjoy their favorite classic game modes like Search and Destroy, Domination, Team Deathmatch and Capture the Flag. All of these game modes are there, but this time around, they are being supplemented with some fun new options, as well.

The new game modes in Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 include:

• Hardpoint

• Multi-Team Games

• Party Games

• Combat Training

We're going to be going in depth with all of these game modes, but first a quick note on Combat Training. If you played Black Ops the first, you'll undoubtedly be aware that Combat Training is not, in fact, a new game mode. Treyarch has made so many changes to Combat Training, however, that we're going to revisit it and all of the new features therein.

Previously, the bots were very barebones and not very intuitive. This time around, they are capable of playing objective game modes and the options to play with other friends online have been greatly expanded.

More on that later in this guide, however, stay tuned! 

So, you picked up Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 on launch night and by now, you've probably invested dozens of hours into competitive multiplayer. Chances are you blasted your way through the campaign and maybe you're looking for a fresh experience in the game.

Grab a group of friends and look no further than the cooperative Zombies mode. With more game modes and options than ever before, this is the absolute Zombies experience. In today's video, we're focusing on Survival mode and bringing you a few tips & tricks that will help you survive the experience for as long as possible.

The most important thing you can do is get yourself off to a good start and make sure you earn as many points as possible. This makes it easier to purchase new weapons and perks in future rounds, when the going really gets difficult. Zombies can only take so much damage in the early rounds before they are killed and you can use this to your advantage.

As James illustrates in the above video, putting about four rounds into a zombie before knifing them for the kill will maximize the amount of points you can earn in the early stages. Remember; the zombies are slow at first, so take your time and put your rounds into the upper body/torso area. It's also not a bad idea to let the zombies get through a few barricades to earn some bonus points in boarding them back up.

In addition to that, you're going to want to make sure that before you reach round 15 or so, you...

• Acquire a better weapon in the early rounds, we've had good luck with the MP5.
• Purchase Double Tap, Juggernog and Speed Cola.
• Stay by the mystery box until you are able to draw a light machine gun. This is a must as you move into later rounds.
• Pack-a-Punch your primary weapon as soon as you can!

At the heart of this game mode, Zombies is all about teamwork and cooperating with each other. Stick by your friends as often as possible, so that when someone eventually goes down, the squad is nearby to revive him and keep the fight alive.

Check out the video above and make sure you subscribe to our channel on YouTube for more Black Ops 2 content, including guides, walkthroughs, tutorials and more!

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is officially launched and available for play worldwide. By now, early adopters will probably have a good idea where they stand, skill wise, in the game. 

Are you struggling to put together a strong match for your team? If that's the case, we've got a full complement of guides for you to browse, which you can do at http://www.fpsgeneral.com/guides/black-ops-2. In the video above, Small Kiwi expounds on the topic of kick starting your Black Ops 2 career, with his list of Top 5 Beginner Tips & Tricks.

For those of you who like to consume your lessons by reading, rather than watching, Small Kiwi's Top 5 Tips & Tricks for Beginniners in Black Ops 2 are:

1. Check the Minimap 

Located in the upper, left-hand side of your HUD (Heads Up Display), the minimap has all sorts of useful tidbits. Keeping an eye on the minimap can literally tell you where your enemies are, which direction they are facing, where you have allies and where the hotspots of the current fight are situated. Now, some of this information requires certain scorestreak rewards to be active or other variables to fall into place, but the point is, your minimap contains a lot of useful information and can give you the edge if you just keep an eye on it.

2. Sprint Less, Walk More 

When moving around the map, the tendency is there to run as fast you possibly can. Call of Duty is a very fast moving game, with Black Ops 2 featuring some of the fastest action yet. Your instincts are going to tell you to sprint, but don't listen to your instincts, listen to FPS General.

When you draw your weapon to fire just after sprinting, you are going to take a longer time to get your weapon out and ready to fire. This can be countered with perks and attachments, but without those modifiers, sprinting makes you an easier target in a firefight. Let's face it, in most of your engagements in Black Ops 2, the winner is going to be whoever gets their gun ready and starts firing first. Walking more often will make sure that the first one to fire is you.

3. Use Custom Games & Bots to Learn

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 ships with all of the tools you need to master your game and increase your skills, if only you'll fire them up and make use of them. Two of these tools are custom games and AI bots. With custom games and the addition of bots, you can set up a game on any map, in any game mode.

Set the difficulty of the bots to whatever you are comfortable with, although we do recommend giving yourself a challenge. Easy bots can be fun to put a whooping on, but you aren't really getting better at the game in doing that.

Give the maps a spin with the bots and learn the various choke points, hot spots and layout before you get online with a group of actual players.

4. Build Classes That Suit Your Playstyle

Everyone has their particular style of play, regardless of the game you are playing. Whether you prefer to go loud with a submachine gun and speedy perks or stay quiet with a silenced rifle and stealth perks, we all know what we enjoy doing and should cater our custom classes with that in mind.

Most of the maps in Black Ops 2 support a wealth of playstyles, so don't worry about that when you're creating your custom classes. Simply spend some time getting to know the weapons (Sharpshooter in Party Games is great for this), and decide which weapon type you tend to excel with.

Take that weapon type and build your class around it, keeping in mind your tendencies when it comes to how you actually play the game. Do you like to rush or go stealthy? It's up to you, but know your strengths and, more importantly, your weaknesses.

5. Camp, Camp, Camp

Before you rip us a new one, just hear us out! Camping is a poor tactic and, generally speaking, we despise anything and everything surrounding it. But when you're starting out in a new game and you can hardly wield a rifle for more than 30 seconds without getting mowed down by someone who hit level 50 before they quit playing for the first night, the game can be incredibly frustrating.

As Kiwi mentions in the video above, throw down a claymore mine or bouncing betty and prepare yourself for the long haul (and hate mail).

Make sure that when you are ultimately brought down that you switch locations on your next spawn. Camping in the same location over and over is not going to help you get the hang of using the weapons and will just guarantee grenade spam and rockets in your direction.

We hope that this guide will help get you off the ground in Call of Duty: Black Ops 2! If you have any extra tips & tricks, make sure you leave us a not in the comments below for future generations of Black Ops 2 players.

Good luck and see you on the battlefield!

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 shipped with 14 unique multiplayer maps, as well as Nuketown 2025 for folks who pre-ordered the game in advance.

Each of these maps brings something different to the table. Some maps are clearly designed for long-range gameplay, while others are best suited for submachine guns and short-range combat. With a multitude of sight lines and routes to remember, there are often maps that crop up that you just don't perform well on.

Whether it's the environment on that map or a mental block, sometimes you just struggle on the same map over and over. 

To give you the best chance of putting together a winning match, we're going to be going through each and every single map in Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, dissecting the sight lines and flying through and giving you some good general advice. Use the navigation above to get started and make sure you follow FPS General on Facebook and Twitter to learn when more map overviews and flythroughs become available.

See you on the battlefield!

Equipment in Black Ops 2 comes in two forms; Lethal gear and Tactical gear. Players can choose one from each of these categories by default, but with the new Pick 10 system, you can change that up in any way you fancy.

Lethal items are things that you carry in your arsenal that can bring death to your enemies directly. Things like tomahawks or grenades would be considered Lethal gear. Let's take a look at what Black Ops 2 has in terms of lethal items you can have up your sleeve.

Bouncing Betty

The bouncing betty made its first appearance in Call of Duty: World at War, also developed by Treyarch. When Black Ops came around, the studio did not bring the World War II era weapon into the Cold War setting, but (surprisingly) Infinity Ward brought it out of retirement for Modern Warfare 3.

The weapon is pretty straight forward and acts somewhat like a Claymore mine. When placed, the Bouncing Betty will detect enemy movement and spring straight up, deploying its explosive in a set radius. They aren't foolproof, however, as they take longer than Claymore mines do to detonate and can be bypassed by going prone and moving past them.

On the flipside, they are much harder to spot than Claymore mines.

C4

C4 has been a staple in Call of Duty multiplayer for years, never really changing the outside of the appearance. When deployed, players will pull out a remote detonator which they can use at their discretion. 

The hero of campers around the world, C4 lends itself well to sitting in a corner, waiting for your enemy to come into the room where you promptly detonate the C4 package. While this can be humorous the first time you do it, most players would be better served playing the objective or, you know, earning kills.

None the less, C4 is a valuable tool to have in your arsenal.

Claymore Mine

Similar to the Bouncing Betty, the Claymore can be deployed and left to earn you a kill anywhere you choose. Unlike C4, you don't have to detonate these yourself, as they detect enemy movement and detonate accordingly.

The Claymore differs in several key ways from the Bouncing Betty, however. First, and foremost, the Claymore is much more powerful and therefore much easier to spot on the ground. The protruding laser detection system can be spotted from several yards away, if you have a keen eye.

By default, there is no real way to avoid a Claymore once you have triggered it. The best you can hope for is to use a perk like Flak Jacket which will lower the amount of explosive damage you take or Engineer which will delay the detonation of the Claymore.

Frag Grenade

The fragmentation grenade, or frag, has been around in Call of Duty since the beginning. In multiplayer, it has long since been a staple and probably always will be.

Black Ops 2 is no exception to that rule. The frag grenade is as basic as it gets; pull the pin, throw at enemy, take cover. The nimble Call of Duty player will quickly learn to master the art of 'cooking' the grenade, which means holding it in your hand for an extra second or two, thus causing it to explode as it arrives near your target, rather than giving them the chance to throw it back.

Frag grenades are straight forward and effective and there's really not much more to say.

Semtex

Similar to the frag grenade in many ways, the Semtex is actually plastic explosive and, in the world of Call of Duty, sticks to every surface on Earth except the thrower's hands.

Once stuck, you have essentially no chance for survival. We're unsure if using Flak Jacket will protect you from the full force of a Semtex that has attached itself to your body. Semtex can be great if you are typically pretty accurate with your grenade tosses, but if not, you will want to consider Frags isntead.

Semtex cannot be cooked and if you miss your target's area of operations, you are basically out of luck. Frags on the other hand, will actually roll about a little bit and have the added bonus of being able to be cooked.

Note that the image above is from Modern Warfare 3.

Tomahawk

First seen in Call of Duty: Black Ops, the Tomahawk is returning in Black Ops 2. This is a projectile that is an instant kill on any part of the body. To balance that out, the Tomahawk takes some experience before you can successfully hit your targets at any great range.

There is an arc on the Tomahawk, so that when you throw it, the projectile will not simply fly straight for a set amount of time. It arcs in such a way that you will need to master the curve before you can use the Tomahawk at anything other than close ranges.

The Tomahawk can also be retrieved once you have thrown it, assuming you didn't chuck it off the map.

Far too often, the sidearm goes unused in Call of Duty. Unless you're wielding two primary weapons, the secondary typically just sits at the back of your brain until your primary runs out of ammunition. We think this is a shame, because the pistol is a formidable weapon to have in your arsenal, if you're using it properly.

The best advice we can give when it comes to pistols, and it's advice that Call of Duty gives us in every new iteration, is that switching to your sidearm is always faster than reloading your primary. If you're in the middle of a gunfight, don't hit reload and hope that your enemy has to do the same!The second you see your ammunition dwindling, be ready to swap over to your pistol.

It's faster and, if you're accurate, you can get off the last few shots that you need to finish your opponent off.

In Black Ops 2, we have a wide array of pistols to choose from, each of them bringing something unique to the fight. The game features everything from classic revolvers to fully-automatic handguns and even a three-round burst firing sidearm. 

Let's take a closer look at all of the pistols available in Call of Duty: Black Ops 2.

Whether you are using them strategically or recreationally, launchers are a staple in Call of Duty multiplayer and Black Ops 2 is no exception. 

If you find yourself constantly being the target of aerial scorestreak rewards, we can't recommend stashing a launcher as your secondary enough. Having one of these badboys on your side when the enemy deploys their sixth UAV of the match can be a great resource, and your team mates will thank you when you're (once again) shooting down the enemies ability to scout your location.

On the other hand, launchers can be just a great way to blow off some steam. Quick, easy kills are the order of the day but expect to receive a handful of hate mail after a few rounds of non-stop RPG action. Many players would argue that this is a cheap way to get kills, but we'd counter that Call of Duty is all about having fun and if you are having a good time with your launcher, you can always mute the naysayers.

Let's take a closer look at the launchers in Call of Duty: Black Ops 2.