If you’re interested in trying Black Ops 2, then it’s your lucky… weekend! The multiplayer modes of the game will be free this weekend, and there will be double XP for anybody who plays.

To celebrate giving things away for free, Activision are putting the game up for cheap — it’s now 33% off, down to $60 on Steam.

Of course if you really want to save money, it’s only around $45 at most CD key retailers because, hey, the Australia Tax. Anyway, get in!

Toby doesn’t know anybody, and nobody he knows does either. So who is playing this game that sells by the billions? Where are they?

It’s really hard to feel calm and collected with regards to the Great Platform Wars when exclusives rear their heads, but the wait is almost over. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2′s Uprising DLC pack finally hits PC on May 16 – probably more likely to be May 17 for those of us living here in the future (Australia and New Zealand).

Uprising adds a whole new game mode, the zombie-heavy Mob of the Dead, and four new maps – Magma, Encore, Vertigo, and Studio. We don’t have local pricing yet, internationally they’ll be paying USD$14.99. It’s been out on Xbox 360 since mid-April.

If you don’t have a season pass and are wavering, check out this trailer for the Alkatraz map in mob of the Dead – or of that sort of thing aways you, a live-action advertisement showing “Replacers” covering your shift while you put time into the new content.

Activision’s upcoming Mob of the Dead scenario for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2‘s zombie mode is turning into kind of a big deal. With Chazz Palminteri, Joe Pantoliano, Michael Madsen, and Ray Liotta popping in to star as four mobsters who find themselves trapped in Alcatraz after a zombie breakout, there’s some impressive star power behind it as well.

Check out the trailer below — Mob of the Dead comes in the Uprising pack, which is coming to Xbox on April 16 but has no PC date just yet.

Activision have just sent through the below trailer, showing off their next map pack for Black Ops 2. Going by the name of Uprising, this pack includes four new multiplayer maps by the name of Magma, Encore, Vertigo, and Studio. There’s also a new Zombies adventure, Mob of the Dead, set in an Alcatraz. Delightful! Or horrific. Or both? In any case, the below video demonstrates these maps in action, as well as The Replacers, who will take your place so you can go play them without having to worry about your regular life.

The map pack is due on April 16 on XBox LIVE, and will follow on to PC after the exclusivity period ends (date TBA).

Source: Press Release

The Activision-blog One of Swords has revealed that the personalisation packs, currently only available to Xbox 360 owners, will be coming to PC and PS3 on April 12.

Soon you, too, will be able to cover your gun in decals such as graffiti, kawaii, dia de meurtos, and of course — because this is the internet, after all — bacon.

Also revealed is the fact that the Nuketown 2025 map will be a free download for everyone — so if you missed out on grabbing it free with the launch of the game, it’ll be yours next month. It’s set to be added into the standard multiplayer map rotation “eventually”.

It’s just a small thing, but when you see a ping bar for a server instead of just a flat-out ping number, doesn’t it make you narrow your eyes a little, maybe clench your teeth? No? Just me then. Anyway, that and many other issues are now addressed in the latest PC patch for Black Ops 2, delivered late on Friday evening.

A further patch was also released on Wednesday, which resolves dozens and dozens of issues with multiplayer bugs, challenge tracking, and players and care packages flying unusually high into the air for no reason.

Check out the full patch notes for both below.

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Three months after the launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Activision and Treyarch have finally revealed when PC users can expect to see the first wave of paid DLC. Dubbed Revolution, the new content will be available to purchase from Thursday 28th February, about a month after it landed on Xbox 360.

The download will feature four fresh multiplayer maps and (in a first for the series) a new weapon. According to the developer, the Peacekeeper blends “the mobility of a SMG with the range of an Assault Rifle”. The pack will also include a new zombie map, as well as a mode in which the player takes on the role of a shambling ghoul.

Revolution is the first of four planned DLC instalments.

Source: Call of Duty

The next DLC pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 has just been formally announced, after being leaked last week. It’s definitely called ‘Revolution’ and it’s set to bring in some sweet new stuff, including four new multiplayer maps, a co-op zombies map, a new weapon and a brand new game mode for Zombies, in which you can finally be a zombie.

The four new multiplayer maps include all new challenges, such as the Hydro map, which will occasionally flood certain areas with water and conveniently wash your corpse clean off the killing floor, and Grind, which is set in a skatepark in California and is comprised entirely of skate ramps and half-pipes, meaning all the surfaces are curved. Exciting.

All this information and more, including details on the new weapon, the Peacekeeper, is available in the trailer below. Check it out and tell us what you think. Revolution is coming exclusively to XBox 360 to begin with, on January 29, and then to other platforms later.

A keen-eyed Redditor has spotted a poster for Black Ops II DLC by the name of ‘Revolution’. Apparently slated for January 29th — at least on XBox 360, there’s no word about other platforms — the DLC will include the stock-standard bunch-of-maps, as well as a gun.

Included in ‘Revolution’ will be four new multiplayer maps: Hydro, Grind, Downhill (what looks to be a snow map) and Mirage (apparently desert-themed). Also included is a new zombie map by the name of Die Rise, as well as a new Peacekeeper SMG.

If the 29th is the official release date, we should hear something from Activision soon — we’ll keep you informed.

Source: Reddit via PC Gamer

A patch has gone live for the PC version of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, and it’s a big one. Improvements include load-time decreases for users on AMD hardware, issues with 16:10 displays, and issues with TXAA.

Multiplayer changes include collision and clipping fixes on all maps, exploit fixes in Meltdown, as well as general matchmaking improvements. There’s also a huge list of balance changes, with the UAV and Lightning Strike scorestreaks slightly nerfed. SMGs have increased hip recoil across the board, as well as increased fire spread and reduced bullet penetration, which might hopefully act to stem complaints of SMGs dominating engagements.

Check out the huge list in full below.

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Activision have announced the release of the Nuketown map for use in the Zombies mode of the annual triggerfest that is this year’s Call of Duty. The map sees you visiting beautiful Nuketown which is — stop me if you’ve heard this one before — overrun by the undead. Anyway, take a look at the trailer! Which is here.

Nuketown is only available to holders of the Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Season Pass, which costs a hefty $70 (and that’s at $10 off). The Season Pass grants access to Nuketown as well as “four epic DLC map packs”.

What’s zombie mode all about? Take a look in our review.