‘Call of Duty: Black Ops 2’ Zombies Will Be More Competitive, Treyarch Promises ‘A Lot More Zombies’ And ‘A Lot More Players’

Written by Lisa Eadicicco, International Business Times, June 18, 2012

One of the most critical gameplay features in the "Call of Duty" franchise is the renowned Zombie Mode, a multiplayer game in which players fend off hordes of the undead to make it through multiple rounds. There hasn't been much word on a Zombie Mode for "Black Ops 2" yet, but developer Treyarch recently gave a little more insight into what players can expect.

Treyarch announced that it will be adding competitive zombie modes into the upcoming "Black Ops" sequel, according to Gaming Blend. The usual zombie mode features four players working together to take down zombie forces. But in the new game, there will be a zombie survival mode that involves two teams of four players trying to outlast each other, Treyarch's Daniel Suarez told Bebop Vox. It is unclear whether or not these teams will be able to inflict harm upon each other, but the team to survive the longest is the winner.

This isn't the only competitive zombie challenge that players may find in "Black Ops 2." For example, another type includes two teams that may have to complete objectives while defeating zombies. Or, Treyarch may also include a challenge that requires players to compete against each other to rack up the most zombie kills, as Gaming Blend points out.

A producer for the development team has hinted that the game will take a bold new direction, and shed some light on where the idea for the well-received Zombie Mode came from.

"I don't know if you know the story, but during World at War the very small team was playing around with the concept of a tower defense game within 'Call of Duty' and that evolved into Zombies, and it sort of got this underground movement within the studio," the Treyarch producer said to the Official Xbox Magazine. "It's become a much bigger part of the game that we never anticipated was going to be as big as it is."

The Treyarch rep added to OXM that the programming code used to run the zombie mode will be geared toward multiplayer in "Black Ops 2."

"Typically, zombies would run on what we call the single player, the code base that's more single player centric," the Treyarch team member said. "We've now moved that over to multiplayer. You guys haven't seen what that means. But for us, it's a lot more zombies, it's a lot more players."

Game Director Dave Anthony has also said that the multiplayer mode in "Call of Duty: Black Ops 2" will be more social, according to T3: The Gadget Website. At E3 2012, Anthony told T3 that fans can expect something very different from previous multiplayer modes and that Treyarch will be releasing more details over the coming months.

"We sat down and tried to work out how we could surprise people," he said. "Multiplayer is no different to that. We've made a real emphasis on the social side of this because we know people play this with a lot of friends with the focus on trying to encompass all of that in the experience. I think it's going to blow people away."

"Call of Duty: Black Ops 2" will be released on Nov. 13 and takes place in a futuristic war-torn Los Angeles setting. Be sure to check out the trailer below if you haven't already seen it.