After much speculation, recently we did, indeed, learn that the next Call of Duty game would be Call of Duty: Black Ops II, which wasn’t a big surprise to some of us.  As the Call of Duty series isn’t known for getting out of a certain time zone, you might have been thinking that Black Ops II would be set during the Cold War again.  Treyarch is actually switching it up, as this time around, you’ll be fighting… in the FUTURE: 2025 to exact.

Just like one would expect, when things are in the future, things never are pleasant.  If there isn’t some evil government that’s taken over the world, possibly thanks in part to some advance technology, then there’s gotta be some robots or advance technology that’s gone screwy. The latter is the one that’s been taken up by Treyarch.

Let’s have Frank Woods explain the situation.

The guys over at Kotaku broke out a long list of things that you likely wouldn’t just get from that trailer.  Perhaps one of the key things of note is that, even though the trailer shows events unfolding in the future, there will be sections of the game that take place in the 80s and each time will have their own character.  Not just any characters either, they’re father and son: Alex Mason will be your player character in the 80s, while his son, David Mason, will be your character of choice in 2025.

The two timelines’ main antagonist is Raul Martinez who has hacked into unmanned drones and robotic devices in China and USA, causing conflict between the two nations in 2025, while in the 80s, Martinez’s plans are starting to be set in place.  One such scene shown in the trailer above involves Martinez hacking drones and causing them to attack LA.

Prior to these attacks, there was already a lot of tension between America and China due to the scarcity of rare Earth elements, which, according to Treyarch, China has 95% of currently: as in the real world.  Now that element is used in fancy tech devices and military weapons in this world.  This scarcity has caused a second Cold War to break out.

Interestingly enough, there’s also mention that there will be a branching story that will feature choices and variable outcomes, which I believe is a first for the series: internets, prove me wrong.  One such branching element, at least in the gameplay, gives you the choice to either pick up a sniper rifle to cover a group of troops or you can repel down with them.

There’s also a new mode type, which is being called Strike Force, which is also being called similar to Mass Effect 3‘s multiplayer but in single-player.  During the main game, you’ll be able to find optional operations to undertake, which puts you in charge of not just a single character, but the actual unit, described as similar to the Tom Clancy Ghost Recon series.  As this is a unit and isn’t your lead character, the death of the unit isn’t game over, though them dying over living is said to impact the narrative.

On the multiplayer front, all of the maps will take place in 2025, so that means no reminiscing about the 80s.  Also, you most defiantly can count on zombies returning.  I mean, it’s like tradition now.

Perhaps the most important element revealed is that there will be some horseback-riding FPS action that takes place in the 80s.  It’s so important, that they actually brought in a horse for motion capture.

There’s sure to be a lot more info revealed between now and it’s release on November 13th.  Also, you can go and pre-order the game if you feel it.