Black Ops II Progress Report

For the fearless few who care, I'm now through Day 4 of Call of Duty: Black Ops II online play, and it's been the usual bout of obsessive playing, as Emma and Vicki can attest to.  I've logged somewhere around 12 or 13 hours, I think, which really isn't all that much when you consider that 4 days have almost 100 hours in them!

Last weekend was a Double XP Weekend for those of us who bought the Nuketown 2025 map (it just came with my pre-order, but yay!).  That meant I could level up twice as fast as normal, and I did: going from nothing to level 43 (Brigadier General, I believe) over that span.  I started off well, then tanked as is more usual for me on new maps.  My kill-to-death (KTD) dropped briefly below 1.0 on Friday, and then bounced back up after I unlocked and started using the Target Finder attachment for the default assault rifle (MTAR).  That addition improved my skill considerably, and I started kicking some serious butt.  The Target Finder helps you spot enemies more clearly - always a problem for me, as the allies and enemies never seem to look any different to me - and gives you better feedback as to whether or not you're aiming at your target or not. 

My real goal for the weekend, though, was to get to level 40, as that's where the SCAR-H assault rifle is unlocked.  For the past several Call of Duty games, the SCAR-H has been my go-to gun, and I eagerly awaited trying it out in this version.  I got there last night, and was rewarded with a familiar feeling piece of weaponry.  However, I had to then unlock its attachments, just as I'd done with the MTAR earlier, and so it was only this afternoon that I got the Target Finder for it.  Since then, I've been on a big roll, pushing my KTD from around 1.20 to nearly 1.30, which is a higher standard than I've achieved with any consistency before.  I'm also learning the maps now, which allows me to run around them more confidently and pick better locations to reload or call in UAVs, for example.  I was planning to add the Extended Clip attachment, as I'm always running out of ammo, but just a few minutes ago I unlocked the Scavenger perk (which picks up ammo from dead bodies) and started using it.  I promptly went through a match only dying 3 times, and only had to worry about ammo once (after I'd stayed in the same high point for too long, with no dead bodies nearby).  It's a lot of fun figuring out the loadout in this game, as they've placed serious limitations on it, and it really is a zero sum game: after getting the essentials, you always have to give up something to get something new.

My next milestone will be level 53, at which point the Claymore finally becomes available to me.  I can barely wait, although I've been getting good use out of the Bouncing Betty that's kind of similar.

Loving the game so far, and haven't even tried the campaign or zombies mode yet.  That'll come later, when I burn out on the online play, as I'm sure I soon will.