FPS General

The month of June is just around the corner, and with it, we will find ourselves just five months away from getting our hands on Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. If the last couple years are any guide, Black Ops 2 will have a multiplayer reveal sometime around September of this year.

Now, as any avid Call of Duty player will attest, online multiplayer is the bread and butter of the franchise. We love the campaign, we love co-op whether your enemies are living or undead, but at the end of the day, we keep coming back to Call of Duty for the online multiplayer. The thrill of the fight, the invigoration in getting a lengthy killstreak and the pride in a high kill/death ratio.

Without further ado, here are five things that we feel must make a return in Call of Duty: Black Ops 2's multiplayer component.

Wager Matches
 

Now, this doesn't necessarily mean that COD Points must make a return. What we're really hoping for here is the return of the addicting and enjoyable game modes themselves. In Black Ops, players earned an in-game currency called COD Points. They could then take those points and wager them against other players in one of four free for all game modes. These modes were called Gun Game, One in the Chamber, Sticks & Stones and Sharpshooter. 

All of the wager match game modes had a unique twist, and we would love to see that return in Black Ops 2. Not only would are we hoping for a return of the original game modes, we would love to see more post-launch support in that area. If Black Ops 2 has the same deep DLC offering that Modern Warfare 3 is currently boasting, we would like to see a handful of DLC content drops dedicated to new wager match-style game modes.

Interactive Killstreaks

One of our favorite features in the first Black Ops' multiplayer action was Treyarch's decision to get the player more involved in using your killstreaks. Previous Call of Duty titles took a 'set it and forget it' approach, where you called in your chopper by pressing one button and watched as your kills racked up.

In Black Ops, players were able to call in a chopper and act as both pilot and gunner. The RC-XD killstreak reward was a fully drivable remote-controlled car with explosives attached. In Modern Warfare 3, Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer continued this tradition with Remote Sentries and Assault Drones. 

For Black Ops 2, we would love to see Treyarch take this to the next level. The CLAW mech seen in the image above would be a fun, high-end killstreak as well as the Quadrotor drone, but perhaps set at a lower level.

Tanks

Call of Duty: World at War was the last Call of Duty title to have fully functioning tanks in online multiplayer. Infinity Ward had made good progress in getting tanks back into the game by adding one in Spec Ops but there is no good reason that player shouldn't be able to drive and control tanks in Black Ops 2.

In World at War, they were a blast. Fun to drive, easy to use and as unrelenting a force as anything this side of Fus Ro Dah. The balance is key, and Treyarch has proven time and time again that they can balance a game well (see Bolt-Action Rifles below). Tanks or the Black Ops 2 era equivalent must be powerful, enough that one or two accurate rounds from the main cannon can take an enemy out. On the flipside of that, however, they should be slow-moving and able to be destroyed with two well-placed anti-tank rounds.

Perhaps the CLAW mech will be Treyarch's move to re-introduce tanks to online multiplayer? Time will tell for sure, but we can't see any good reason that this can't happen.

Increased Map Interactivity

In the first Black Ops, Treyarch introduced interactivity to multiplayer maps. This added a whole new, dynamic layer to multiplayer. Unfortunately, it felt like Treyarch was afraid to push the boundaries too hard. Obviously, current generation consoles are limited; badly. But we're confident that there are better methods of introducing map interactivity than simply a button to close or open a door.

On various Black Ops maps, players were able to close blast doors or garage doors. In some game modes, the capture flag was directly below/behind the operable door. This meant that a well organized team would be able to close the door before making their move to capture the flag. This guaranteed that you knew were your enemies were going to be coming from as you had eliminated one of the only ways to access that capture point.

On Launch, one of Black Ops' multiplayer maps, there was a massive rocket that would blast off during the match. Standing under this rocket resulted in instant death, courtesy of the large, fiery rocket thrusters. In Black Ops 2, we would really like to see a new level brought to this map interactivity. Even something as simple as dynamic weather or night/day cycles can make all the difference in the world.

Bolt-Action Rifles

Without the scope, thank you very much. In Call of Duty: World at War, all of the sniper rifles were of the bolt-action variety. With the exception of the M1903 Springfield, players had to use the bolt-action rifles for 25 kills before you had access to the enhanced zoom sniper scope. For some players, including your humble author, there was a distinct preference to go without the scope.

Bolt-action rifles were a one-shot kill from just about any area on the map but only when you spent the time to master the weapon. Picking up a bolt-action rifle in World at War, without ever using one extensively, usually meant you would be dead within a few seconds.

However, once you spent some time mastering the weapon, there was no greater firearm in the game. Whether it was the Arisaka, Springfield or the Mosin Nagant; bolt-action rifles were the pinnacle of skill in Call of Duty: World at war and we are keeping our fingers crossed that the weapon will once again make an appearance in Black Ops 2. We understand that in the year 2025, folks are not going to be using World War II era bolt-action rifles with no scope, but hey, it's Black Ops! Those covert fighters did whatever they pleased, so anything can happen.

Well, now that we've shared our most desirable Black Ops 2 multiplayer features, let's hear yours. Share your thoughts below, we're anxious to hear what you think!