Black Ops II Wii U Details Unleashed
As expected, Nintendo confirmed today that Call of Duty: Black Ops II will be coming to Wii U. Gameplay obviously won't be too much different from its Xbox 360, PS3, and PC counterparts, but there are some features exclusive to the Wii U that helps this particular version standout from the crowd. Activision's Eric Hirshberg ran through these features during Nintendo's event today, with one of the most notable being that the game can be played on the Wii U GamePad's screen.
That's true for both local co-op and solo play. If you're playing with a buddy, one of you can play on the TV and the other can play on the GamePad, whereas if you're playing solo, you can play on the GamePad while the other people in your home do something entirely different with the TV. There will be an online multiplayer mode that lets players team up against AI enemies, but at the moment, we don't know if that mode will feature alongside regular competitive multiplayer or if it will replace it entirely. Activision and Treyarch aren't ready to talk about multiplayer in much depth yet, so expect more details on that soon.
According to VG247, Black Ops II on Wii U will feature "the most advanced textures, lighting and shadowing systems in series history," in full force, and it will also give players a number of controller options. Those with the Wii U version will be able to play with the Wii U GamePad, the Wii remote, the Classic Controller Pro, and the new Wii U Pro Controller (which, according to Michael Pachter, may not exist were it not for the insistence of publishers like Activision). Zombies will also make a return in the Wii U version, but were going to have to wait for more details on that mode, and the Wii U version will also boast an expanded create-a-class feature, League Play, score streaks, and plenty of weapon enhancements, features we're assuming will also be present in the other versions.
Finally, Activision says that the Wii U version is capable of running at 60fps in 1080p, even while playing online. That may not be the case when you're playing on the TV and also streaming to the GamePad, but at least it'll run at 60fps most of the time. All in all, the Wii U version of Black Ops II sounds like it will be able to hold its own, and we're excited to find out more. Will you be picking up Black Ops II on Wii U, or do you need to find out more before you make that decision?
[NOTE: screenshot was not taken from the Wii U version of Black Ops II]