Call of Duty took us to the past in the first three titles of the series, while the Modern Warfare division took us to the somewhat-present day by taking us as far as 2016. Now, developer Treyarch has decided for the first time in their bi-annual cycle to stop going backwards and move ahead for a change. Activision has officially revealed Call of Duty: Black Ops II, and it takes us far beyond the reach of just your typical guns, explosions, and advanced weaponry.

Here, it’s nice to see the continuation of Frank Woods, but the major reliance of technology becomes a bit of an eye sore after awhile. There’s a great chance that this becomes the twist of the upcoming sequel, as we do see the gameplay forcing players to adapt a more past-driven mentality, to the point where they’re riding horses. And honestly, after the cringing effect every single drone gave me, it wouldn’t exactly be a bad thing to take an “over reliance on tech” message in the sequel.

It’ll be interesting how the game further reveals itself and hopefully changes a few minds in the process, but right now reaction is pretty split down the middle. Personally, I would have preferred a direct sequel to the first Black Ops that sees you hunting down Alex Mason after his hinted assassination of JFK. At the best, Activision and Treyarch have my attention, and I’m not exactly sold just yet. But, it’s likely that all of the acclaim for the first two Modern Warfare games may have really forced Treyarch to attempt at the same format, while also altering it into their own way.

This sequel finds the Americans in the heat of a Second Cold War, which means the enemies will most likely be the Russians. More is likely to be revealed in the coming weeks, but it’s expected to really be on display at E3 in just one month’s time.

Call of Duty: Black Ops II will hit shelves on November 13th.

What do you think?