Activision confirms Season Pass, free Elite for Black Ops II

Earlier this week, information about a Season Pass for Activision’s upcoming first person shooter (FPS) Call of Duty: Black Ops II had been leaked. According to Eurogamer, Activision has now confirmed the Season Pass, along with the fact that the stat-tracking service Call of Duty Elite will be turning free for Black Ops II. The map packs that are usually included in the subscription for Call of Duty Elite will be sold separately.

According to Activision, the Season Pass that includes the map packs will be "coming to the Xbox Live network first". The Season Pass is set to include four map packs – including for multiplayer and Zombies – for $50 (around Rs 2,640). It is also possible to buy the map packs separately for 1,200 Microsoft Points which translates to around Rs 792. "Season Pass and DLC Map Packs may not be available on all gaming platforms," Activision stipulated. "Pricing and release dates may vary by platform". Activision's Eric Hirshberg has confirmed that this refers to the PC and Wii U versions of Black Ops II.

Activision has confirmed the Season Pass for the 360 and the PS3

The previous game in the Call of Duty series was Modern Warfare 3, which was released last year. While gameplay stayed very much the same as previous iterations, the stakes had been raised significantly, as the game’s protagonists had to deal with the looming threat of World War III. If you have played previous CoD games, specifically the Modern Warfare series, Modern Warfare 3 will be familiar territory with non-stop balls-to-the-wall action and cinematic set-pieces.

The Call of Duty series originally dealt with events during World War II. After the unsuccessful Call of Duty 3, developers Infinity Ward shook things up by making Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. This game saw a large amount of success and sealed the fate of World War II based shooters.

After Modern Warfare, developers Treyarch made Call of Duty 5: World At War, which took the series back to its World War II roots. The game went for a more violent and gruesome depiction of World War II and added new weapons such as the flamethrower. The game also added a new game mode featuring zombie Nazi soldiers.

After World At War, Infinity Ward took back the reins of the franchise to create Modern Warfare 2. The game was released amid many controversies, like the No Russian level, which had the player take on the role of an undercover CIA agent infiltrating a Russian terrorist cell. The level consisted of the player and the characters walking through a Russian airport and gunning down innocent civilians and police officers. Another reason the game became infamous was for the PC version of the game not having many of the options gamers on the PC need or want, such as a developer console, a slider to increase the field of vision and the lack of dedicated servers for the game.

Call of Duty: Black Ops II is set to release on 12 November 2012 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. The game will also be available for the Wii U.