John Smith

It does not appear that there will be a viral campaign. Too bad, really. I really enjoyed the last one. I suppose there is still time to do one but it looks like they have done the reveal and then confirmed that zombies will be in the game. As a story line the game looks pretty straight forward the POV of Black Ops I lent itself to a crazy viral campaign this one doesn't look like it does.

It is my personal belief that the poster is an indication that the Treyarch Zombie team has gone in a whole new direction. I know the following is pretty loose and I am extrapolating from a tiny amount of information and influenced by personal bias, but here we go. First off the story arc. WaW zombies was darn cool but it is my belief that when our group got to Der Reise it was meant to be the end. I mean really, we went to the origin of the zombies. For what it was meant to be the story was done. But it was a really popular game mode so they needed to put it in BOps. So they needed to stretch this thing out. It got really weird and twisted. JMO but when time travel is introduced it is the lazy writers way out of a jam. But I digress. Moon is another end point. I mean really where are we going after that. We went to the moon and launched rockets at the Earth. I believe that is it. Fast forward to BOII. What do we know? Well we know that Lamia has confirmed that zombies will be in the game. And he has used words like "most expansive" and as of yet unconfirmed 8 player co-op as well as different game modes. We also know that the flip side of a gamestop pre-order poster appears to be a direct nod to zombies. This to me is very important. This is the first tangible acknowledgment by Treyarch that zombies is a huge selling point of their games. Up until this point zombies has been an add on, a bonus something that, if it sucks, well they didn't promise anything. Open marketing of zombies has begun and with that is a departure from the old attitude of zombie mode just being an add on. They now have to deliver something. Now for the poster. I think that what is not on it is more important than what is on it. Our wise cracking heroes are not on it. It is a burned out city scape with an unknown female character holding an otherwise evil looking zombie head. This poster tells me that it is a whole new setting. With a whole new player character. This character appears to be a bit more edgy. A little more serious maybe. The zombie head appears to be more evil than the past zombies, if that is possible, lol. Here is my prediction. Given that Treyarch, in my opinion, has tried to end the original story arc twice that if our original heroes do return they will be relegated to second fiddle. Which means to me a wave survival map that has little indication of a continuing story line. There will be a new main story arc, introducing new characters. Less comical and more creepy. It might even have its own campaign, just to set the stage. I will take Lamia at his word and expect an expansive zombie experience with different game modes. Treyarch has made their attitudes towards new games very clear. They like to push and not rest on the past. I guess the point to this wall of text is that I am expecting a complete departure from our past zombie killing experience. A different story, different characters and different game modes.

Thanks for the warm welcome.

I hear rumors of 8 person zombies but is there some confirmation of this?

To me this poster backs up what Lamia has been talking about. I have a feeling that this might be a real big departure from Takeo and the rest of the wise cracking boys. That is definitely not one of the original player characters. And really the art work on her body language screams business! And the burned out city scape is a totally different world than what we are used to. This poster looks to me like this is going to be something new. A little more serious, maybe, if that is possible. Maybe a transition kind of like the way Batman was campy and then they remade the series with a lot more edge to it. I said it before, I think that chick looks like Hilary Swank. Look at her jaw and lips, Hilary Swank.

I am not sure I buy into the time frame on the shotgun. Shotguns are a classic zombie weapon. I am not sure we can call it a specific shotgun. It is a drawing and it basically looks like a shotgun. As for the direct sequel to the moon, maybe. After all the burned out city scape could be a post rocket attack from the moon world. There are a couple of things I did take from the poster. The zombie head looks a little more evil, kind of whatever... and the female character does not resemble buffy. So I think it might be safe to say there is a new female player character. Now if we take what Lamia said about being expansive they may have created whole new world or post apocalyptic world with some different characters. Also that chick looks a little more serious than our wise cracking heroes. Which by the way would be ok I guess considering IMO the zombies have lost a little of the creep factor from game to game. On a side note the girl in the post looks like Hilary Swank to me

Just wanted to say hi. I have been on for a little bit just haven't introduced myself. I don't like my games changing so I am a bit concerned over where boII is going but in the end I know Treyarch puts out top notch stuff so it will be just fine. I know I am a dieing breed but I am a pc player please don't hold that against me, its an elitist thing. I also believe that if given creative control over the zombies I could write a superior story line to the zombies and build a superior product, also an elitist thing. Anyway, hello.

Lamia used adjectives like "Robust" and "expansive" and zombies is really fun when you play with "a lot of people." It may mean nothing but I don't know why you would describe 4 as a lot. And really robust and expansive because at the end of the day it is a wave survival game. It makes me wonder, just a bit, if they have changed the format or objectives or something.

I wouldn't think that they would make a reference to another game. But who knows, Treyarch does some weird stuff.

Treyarch games and marketing are the best.