Black Ops 2 Strike Force missions allow for branching story

A mysterious reference to non-linear sections in Call of Duty: Black Ops 2's single-player campaign has been explained.

At certain points in the campaign, players will be given the option to choose one from a number of "Strike Force" missions, Joystiq reports. Choosing one locks the player out of the others.

The battles take place in hotspots around the globe and grant the opportunity to take on different roles around the battlefield. Instead of being shepherded from set piece to set piece as a single character, players can use attack drones, tanks, and a number of squad members, allowing for multiple paths and approaches to the mission. You can even retreat to an eye-in-the-sky view and issues commands to the AI rather than do the fighting yourself. Previews mention a battle in Singapore in which players must clear turrets to allow a gunship to reach its goal.

Interestingly, performance in strike force battles may affect vanilla missions in positive and negative ways, and even change which the actions of antagonist Raoul Menendez, allowing for a slightly different overall story on each playthrough.

It's quite a departure for the series. Black Ops 2 was revealed overnight and is due on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in November.