Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 -- Everything We Know About Zombies

After months of speculating, the veil has finally been lifted on Call of Duty: Black Ops 2's Zombie gameplay. While we still haven't gotten a chance to try it, a recent visit to Treyarch resulted in a glut of information about the evolution of the mode, and what fans can expect on November 13th. What started as something simple and silly, a treat for those who beat Call of Duty: World at War, is being developed into the biggest, most fully-featured Zombies game yet.

See the new zombies trailer right here.

The biggest change to Call of Duty: Black Ops 2's Zombie gameplay comes in the form of its campaign mode. Titled Tranzit, this tosses you and up to three of your friends into the biggest world the team at Treyarch has ever created for Zombies. Your goal in Tranzit is simple: kill all the undead that you come across and leave a trail of bodies in your wake. You and your team jump between a number of locales along the way, doing what appears to be defensive stands and clearing them out before moving on to the next place. However, getting from place to place isn't a simple loading screen, but instead requires you to get there by foot or by bus. It's unclear whether or not you'll be able to steer the bus, but the first trailer makes it pretty clear you'll be defending yourself and perhaps even building barricades in order to survive the journey between survival spots.

You'll also have plenty to look out for while you're battling in the zombie-infested wasteland, as Tranzit now includes "buildables," something Treyarch describes as elements you can put together to do things like open up new parts of the world or make weapons. As for how the campaign ends? That's anyone's guess. Treyarch is playing whatever story it's inserting into Tranzit close to its chest, which fits with its strategy of letting the fans parse together the narrative through message boards and other online communities.

If Tranzit doesn't sound like your thing, if you're the type of person that just wants to hop in with friends and defend a single position, you'll be pleased to hear that Survival mode is returning with Black Ops 2. Playable either solo or with three friends, Survival offers the classic survival experience wherein you build defenses and hold out. The nitty-gritty details haven't been discussed, but the environments you play in are apparently custom-made takes on locations from the Tranzit campaign.

Cooperative play isn't for everyone, and while Black Ops 2 will feature a competitive multiplayer mode as well, Treyarch's also developing a new take on competitive play for Zombies called Grief. Internally the team at Treyarch likes to refer to Grief as "4z4," because unlike traditional competitive games both sides have to deal with a third party that wants their brains -- the Zombies. In Grief, your only goal is to have your team outlive the other, but, unlike every other Call of Duty mode you've ever played, you can't shoot other players. Instead you have to "grief" them and get the zombies to do the work for you. Treyarch's being disappointingly mum in regards to how "griefing" actually works, so for now we're left to speculate about how we'll be attempting to kill our friends come November.

If there's a rule or any other part of Zombies' three modes that you don't like, Treyarch wants you to tweak them and create your own using the Custom games feature -- a first for Zombies. You can live out your hardcore zombie fantasy and make it so only headshots kill, turn off magic items and set your starting round.

 

Previously, the Zombie portion of Treyarch's Call of Duty games felt like a distraction, a way to break up the multi-hour sessions with the competitive multiplayer. Black Ops 2 aims to change it into something on par with the multiplayer and campaign. This isn't just a mode, it's a series of modes buried within a game, a testament to Treyarch's dedication to the fans. Without their input and devotion, Zombies wouldn't exist as it does today.

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Snapshot Review

Snapshot has a gameplay hook, and boy does it get a lot of mileage out of it. While it’s otherwise a fairly mundane platformer – you jump gaps, collect “coins,” and move crates around in a sidescrolling, 2D world -- Snapshot interpolates a magical camera of sorts into the mix, allowing you to literally capture objects ( “objects” pretty much always means crates, though) and then “paste” them elsewhere into the environment. It’s really just a fancy way of schlepping stuff around that you can then use to traverse hazards, stack to reach high places, or dump onto switches, but it does have applications that you couldn’t get in other games. For example, you can “grab” a crate that you can see, but can’t reach physically, and store up to three different objects in your camera at a time, for combined or sequential use.

Much of each level consists of a single major puzzle to figure out, or dangerous corridor to traverse, or both. So, you’ll start out on one side of the map, and there will be, say, a pit filled with spikes, to take a very simplistic example. You need to get across, but there’s only one crate available to jump on. There’s another crate on a high ledge, though, out of reach. You position the camera viewfinder over the remote crate and snap a picture. The crate disappears from the game world and pops up in your queue of three storeable pictures. You then position the viewfinder over the spikes, and drop the crate in there. Then you leap across Super Mario style, and voila, you’re at the level’s end.

It’s never really super clear why you’re doing what you’re doing, though. You’re a robot with a magical camera and you’re collecting stars from levels carved into hollow trees. That is all ye know on earth and all ye need to know, I suppose. On the plus side, controls are sharp with the keyboard, and you can use the mouse to easily move and control the camera’s “viewfinder” – a sort of glasslike square of texture that you can move around on the screen independent of your character’s position. You can also control with a gamepad, but, the right stick is far less precise than a mouse for viewfinder control.

In addition to tasking you with collecting stars and taking pictures of a single secret item, each level also has a time-trial aspect to it. While this adds to the replayability in theory, in practice it’s very difficult to complete levels in the scanty time usually allotted. Level design is generally brief and self-contained, to be sure, but levels can be challenging, nevertheless. As the game progresses, you’ll go from puzzles involving single objects to those requiring combinations of objects to be toted around, as well as timing when you need to pick up and drop things on switches. There’s a prodigiousness of spikes and fall-to-your-death stuff, but by and large the levels are enjoyable as quick, self-contained challenges.

Visually, the game has a very flat, 2D feel, no doubt intended to evoke a sense of photography, but the graphics are simplistic to the point of feeling flat, and there’s little in the way of physics or special effects to add meat to the bare-bones feel of the gameplay. Music and sound, as well, are very minimalist, with not much for your ears to chew on – so to speak – until you get a fanfare at the end of each level. It’s not that Snapshot doesn’t have the necessary parts, it’s just that none of them really stands out.

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Bad Piggies Gameplay Details Revealed

Rovio has revealed the first gameplay details for Bad Piggies, the new Angry Birds spinoff coming next week. In Bad Piggies, you’ll be playing as the pigs, and the slingshot mechanic of Angry Birds doesn’t return. Instead, players will use a grid-based building system to create vehicles for the pigs, which can then be moved around the environment. Vehicles range from flying machines to cars, and players will follow the same scoring mechanic as Angry Birds, aiming to earn the highest score to get three stars in each level.

Players will drag and drop vehicle parts in a “blueprint” mode as they create their ride in a mechanic that seems reminiscent of Rare’s Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts.

"As far as the gameplay goes, Bad Piggies and Angry Birds are complete opposites," Rovio executive vice president of games Petri Järvilehto told Yahoo Games. "Angry Birds smash things up, Bad Piggies build stuff. The pigs are all about making plans and building things, even -- and especially -- when they don't work!"

As announced last month, Bad Piggies will be released on September 27th for iOS and Android, with Windows Phone and PC versions to follow. Keep an eye on Bad Piggies’ official site for more details, and check back to IGN later this month for our impressions and review.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

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Assassin's Creed 3 Achievements Leak

The achievement list for Assassin's Creed III has surfaced online, offering insight into both the story and gameplay features of the title.

The full list, which was uncovered by Exophase, reveals information about both the game's past and present day storylines, as well as various sidequests and features.

As you can probably guess, spoilers are about to follow.

First up, there are five achievements that detail Desmond's journey through Assassin's Creed III. Apparently we'll be exploring a present day stadium and skyscraper before facing Abstergo and learning Desmond's ultimate fate.

The new Homestead feature of the game, which will allow you to decorate your manor using the inventions of a certain Benjamin Franklin, also gets its own section of achievements. Apparently we'll be able to invite artisans and other "optional characters" to come and live with us, possibly to unlock discounts on services and other bonuses.

If that's not enough decorating and upgrading for you though, never fear; your ship, the Aquila, can also be decked out to make seafaring sidequests that little bit easier.

Most exciting, though, is the fact that for the first time additional missions will be unlocked following the credits rolling. The full list of achievements is below:

• Rude Awakening - Re-Enter the Animus - (10 Points)
• [SECRET] Daddy Dearest - Complete Present - Stadium - (20 Points)
• [SECRET] Criss Cross - Complete Present - Skyscraper - (20 Points)
• [SECRET] The End is Nigh - Complete Present - Abstergo - (20 Points)
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished - Open the Temple Door and learn Desmond's fate - (20 Points)
• Mystery Guest - Complete Sequence 1 & 2 - (20 Points)
• How D'ya Like Them Apples - Complete Sequence 3 - (20 Points)
• Heroes are Born - Complete Sequence 4 - (20 Points)
• The Day the Templars Cried - Complete Sequence 5 - (20 Points)
• Tea is for Englishmen - Complete Sequence 6 - (20 Points)
• The Whites of Their Eyes - Complete Sequence 7 - (20 Points)
• Caged Wolf - Complete Sequence 8 - (20 Points)
• Two if by Sea - Complete Sequence 9 - (20 Points)
• Grim Expectations - Complete Sequence 10 - (20 Points)
• Difficult End - Complete Sequence 11 - (20 Points)
• The Sum of Truth - Complete Sequence 12 (50 Points)
• Perfectionist - Complete 100% of all main mission constraints - (50 Points)
• An Extraordinary Man - Complete the Encyclopedia of the Common Man - (10 Points)
• Patent Not Pending - Craft one of Franklin's inventions to decorate your Manor - (10 Points)
• House Party - Recruit any of the Artisans and see them settled on the Homestead - (10 Points)
• A Complete Set - See all the optional characters settled at the Homestead - (20 Points)
• Original Gamer - Win a game of Fanorona, Morris and Bowls on the Homestead - (20 Points)
• Bring Down the House - Explore Fort Wolcott - (20 Points)
• Kidd Gloves - Uncover the mystery of Oak Island - (30 Points)
• All Washed Up - Complete all Naval Missions aboard the Aquila - (40 Points)
• Entrepreneur, not Pirate! - Complete all 12 Privateer Contracts - (20 Points)
• Tumblehome - Upgrade the Aquila - (10 Points)
• By Invitation Only - Be invited to join a Club - (20 Points)
• In Good Standing - Complete all challenges for any of the Clubs - (30 Points)
• Man of the People - Liberate all districts in Boston OR New York - (20 Points)
• Monopoly Man - Send a convoy to Boston, New York and the Frontier - (10 Points)
• [SECRET] Head in the Cloud - Find all pivots and sync the Animus to the Cloud - (20 Points)
• Blowing in the Wind - Retrieve every page for one of Ben Franklin's Almanacs - (20 Points)
• Completionist - Complete ALL progress tracker grid entries - (50 Points)
• Multitasking - Complete 50% of the Progress Tracker entries - (20 Points)
• Spit Roast - Perform a double assassination using a musket - (20 Points)
• Circus Act - Kill 15 guards with a single cannon shot - (10 Points)
• Predator - Hang 5 enemies by using rope darts - (10 Points)
• Prince of Thieves - Loot a convoy without killing any of its guards - (10 Points)
• Whit's fur ye'll no go by ye! - Block a firing line 5 times by using a human shield - (10 Points)
• Jager Bomb - After becoming fully Notorious, kill 10 Jagers before losing your notoriety - (20 Points)
• Magna cum Laude - Have a Trainee reach the Assassin Rank - (20 Points)
• Coureur des Bois - Exchange undamaged pelts at all different general stores - (10 Points)
• Eye Witness - Witness a predator killing an enemy - (10 Points)
• Fin - Complete each of the epilogue missions unlocked after the credits roll - (30 Points)
• Abstergo Entertainment - Reach level 20 in the multiplayer mode - (10 Points)
• Hunter/Killer - Reach sequence 10 in a map on Wolfpack multiplayer mode - (20 Points)
• Winning Team - Be on the winning team at the end of a multiplayer game session - (20 Points)
• Personalized - Customize your multiplayer Profile and Character - (10 Points)
• The Truth Will Out - Unlock a hacked version of one of the Abstergo videos in the story quest - (20 Points)

Assassin's Creed III is due out on Xbox 360 and PS3 on October 30 in America and October 31 in Europe. The PC version is due out November 20 in America and November 23 in Europe, while the Wii U version currently doesn't have a release date.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

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