Call of Duty: Black Ops II is a first-person shooter, a direct sequel to Call of Duty: Black Ops that features its protagonists. The story is divided into two time periods. It starts in 1986 with Alex Mason that has to return to work after his retirement to catch Raul Menendez, responsible for multiple crimes. The second storyline takes place in 2025; you play as David, Mason’s son, who also needs to find Menendez who sparks the second Cold War. The game has several endings depending on your actions in both storylines.
The campaign mode in Black Ops II is also selected in two parts. There are story missions, where you can make decisions that will affect the future of the characters. Additionally, Strike Force missions, available in 2025, feature permanent death - if the character is killed, you can’t return to the checkpoint, and have to continue the game without them.
Like two previous games in the series, Black Ops II has the Zombies mode with a completely new story. It starts with nuclear experiments in 2025 Nevada that cause the appearance of zombies.