Interview - Mark Lamia on Call of Duty: Black Ops 2

Arabic Gamers catch up with Mark Lamia, studio head of Treyarch, to talk about the upcoming Call of Duty game, Black Ops 2.  In it we discuss the progression of the franchise, how this will be different to Modern Warfare and, of course, ZOMBIIIIIIIEEEEEESSSSS!

We saw a much earlier setting with the previous Black Ops, why did you choose to go further into the near future with this iteration of the game?

After wrapping work on the first Black Ops, the entire studio rallied around the idea of taking the game to a new era with Black Ops 2. The way we’re approaching the development, it opens up a new universe that introduces players to a wide variety of new gameplay and storytelling. Black Ops 2 takes players to an era that they’ve never experienced in Call of Duty – one where we deliver players a variety of plausible near-future weaponry like drones and advanced robotics.

We've seen MW3, and it pretty much wraps up the story, can we assume; what with the futuristic setting and the introduction of a new kind of war, that Modern Warfare is now no more?

ANSWER: I can’t speak for what is happening in the Modern Warfare universe; however, there is an important distinction to make here. Black Ops has it’s own story arc and fiction in the Call of Duty franchise – it’s “the world and history that you think you know,” with the ability to play through the secret missions you never knew about.

How difficult was it moving from the Cold War era to the current, and future, operating theatres?

The game is a time-spanning narrative that is based in the near-future in 2025, but that also takes players back the Cold War in the late 80’s where they will experience first hand how the villain of Black Ops 2 developed. Developing an ambitious narrative like this is a tremendous challenge, but one that team wanted to take on.

In doing our homework on near-future technology and warfare, we recruited the help of Peter Singer, Sr. Fellow at the Brookings Institute. Originally, we went to him to talk about the development of weaponry and the evolution of the battlefield technology. What Singer helped us more clearly understand was just how integrated technology will be woven into the fabric of battlefield technology, as well as much broader geo-political factors that helped us craft our fiction.

The net result is the creation of a Cold War set in 2025, which is rooted in today’s headlines. Black Ops 2 packs in a lot of gameplay into the Campaign and it’s an expansive and incredibly ambitious story – I’m really proud of what the team is creating with Black Ops 2.

How will Black Ops 2 be any different from games such as Ghost Recon: Future Soldier? There is a lot of competition in the first person shooter genre, and some might say that with Battlefield, Medal of Honor, Call of Duty and the like, that first person shooter identities are being lost.  What do you say to that?

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is an new and unique fiction filled with a lot of new and exciting gameplay for the franchise with three distinct modes: the campaign, multiplayer and Zombies...you will not be mistaking the experience we deliver with Black Ops 2 with any other game.

We have to talk about zombies…  What can you tell us about zombies?

Indeed, Zombies are back and fans can expect more than ever before. We’re not getting into too many details quite yet, but I can tell you that Zombies is being developed using the multiplayer engine – and if you think about all the things that we can do in the multiplayer engine, you can imagine how the Zombies team has been inspired to expand the scope of what players can do with the fan-favorite mode. Players will have the ability to go 4v4, so fans will definitely see more gameplay and some new modes. 

Back to Black Ops 2; we saw some horses in there. It didn't look particularly futuristic, can you explain what roles the horses have in the game?

To understand the horses, you need to understand the time-spanning nature of the story. Black Ops 2 takes place in 2025 where you play as David Mason, the son of Alex Mason from the first Black Ops game. Additionally, Woods makes his return and shares a few stories that take players back to the first Cold War – in one case, that’s Afghanistan where horses were on the battlefield.

If you are a black operative, can you tell us more about how and what we'll be fighting?  Are we fighting super-powers, syndicates, corporations, etc?

We really liked the idea of developing a multi-dimensional villain and showing that character evolve over time. Enter Raul Menedez, who has a very distinct character arc that culminates in 2025, but whose past plays in an important role in who he is and how he came to be. You will be on the hunt for him as David Mason in 2025, and as David's father, Alex Mason from the first Black Ops, in the late 80's during the Cold War. Menedez is behind the curtain stoking the fires of the Cold War in 2025 between China and the US. With every element of the battlefield essentially networked together, Menendez is the one that “steals the keys” to the military establishment and turns the US drone force against us, as well as the Chinese in an attempt to lure the two superpowers into a massive conflict. The details behind his motivations and how he plans to execute his vision is a subject for another day.

Now we were very impressed with the SR-71 level in the previous game. Such attention to detail. Will we see other, non-shooting, non-horse riding levels? I suppose we're asking if we'll take to the air again… Will the campaign be co-op?  If not, why not?  If so, will there be classes?

In the Campaign Mode, we’re really excited to introduce players to branching storylines. One way we are doing this is with Strike Force levels. In a first for Call of Duty, Treyarch will give players the opportunity to engage in sandbox-style gameplay within the single-player game. Here’s how Strike Force levels will work –

It’s best to think about Strike Force levels as the levels that are the “proxy wars” in the larger global conflict of 2025. At various points in the game, the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) will present you with a choice between missions and once you make your selection, you’ll be inserted into the action. Once you’re in that action, players will be able to take control of the battle like never before in a Campaign level: play in Overwatch and set waypoints and issue commands to your squad; take control of drones or autonomous ground robots – do whatever you need to do and play however you need to play to win the mission – you can play with all the toys. Or, you could play it like straight-ahead Call of Duty with your gun in hand. Now, if you lose – which is a possibility for the first time in a Call of Duty game – the story will continue on. The outcome of that Strike Force Level will shape the story arc of the Cold War that surrounds you. 

Finally, will multiplayer work on the same principle as previous games?  Will there be any new game modes? Can you expand a little on multiplayer and anything new you're doing there?

Unfortunately, we’re not getting into multiplayer quite yet; however, I can assure you that David Vonderhaar – our Game Design Director – is back at the studio, chomping at the bit to tell you more. What I can tell you is that the team has been inspired by a number of trends that they’ve seen over the last few years, including the eSports scene. Hang tight, we’ll share more soon.