Black Ops 2 vs. Halo 4: Which FPS Should You Get?
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is scheduled for release on November 13th, 2012. It will undoubtedly be one of the biggest game releases of the year but will have some serious competition on its hands, at least on the Xbox 360, as Halo 4 is set to release a week before on November 6th. It will be the first time in franchise history that Halo and Call of Duty have been released during the same month.
CoD and Halo have two very different and very dedicated fan bases that both vehemently defend their franchise as the best first-person shooter on consoles so it is unlikely that die-hard Halo fans will choose CoD Black Ops 2 instead of Halo 4 and vice versa. But there are also many gamers who like both franchises and who may end up being forced into making a decision of which game to get due to financial or time constraints.
So which game is for you? One thing to keep in mind is that Halo 4 is going to be the first Halo game made by 343 Industries instead of Bungie. This is a big task to take on and there may be some growing pains along the way. There are sure to be some “experimental” features in Halo 4 as 343 Industries tries some new things in order to put their own flavor on the franchise. Although seeing the series go in an entirely new direction could be amazing, there is the potential of it backfiring. Halo 4 could be a risky venture.
Black Ops 2 is the sequel to one of the most popular games in the Call of Duty franchise. The original Black Ops sold over 13 million copies worldwide just on Xbox 360 according to statistics on VGChartz. It had a compelling campaign storyline, an improved Black Ops 2 Zombies game mode, and an online multiplayer that still has tens of thousands of players on it everyday. Black Ops 2 will likely build on everything that the first did right.
If the recently leaked “Forerunner Vision” ability is any indication, Halo 4 seems to be focusing on expanding the armor abilities system introduced in Halo: Reach. In contrast, Black Ops 2 seems to be focusing more on vehicles and technology based on the initial reveal trailer. Vehicles have been a staple of the Halo multiplayer for many years but never really caught on in CoD. If Treyarch puts them into the Black Ops 2 multiplayer, and implements them properly, it could add a whole new dimension to the gameplay.
Although both games are sure to be awesome, Black Ops 2 is not a game that should be passed up for anything.
So what do you think? Leave your comments below.
70 Responses to “Black Ops 2 vs. Halo 4: Which FPS Should You Get?”
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i’d get Halo 4 being a fan since I was a kid and for what game is going to sell more it’s most likely CoD Bo2 because of the variaty of little kids screaming their heads off on mics
Never been a Halo fan. Played it a few times with my son, but it always seemed too futuristic. Not sure if Black Ops 2 will fit the same bill or not. If I had a choice it’d be Black Ops 2.
I think Halo 4 will be the better game. I would definitely buy Halo 4, for the excellent story, improved Forge, and advanced and chaotic Multiplayer.
I will probably get both but if for some reason can’t it would be halo 4 halo is the reason I get x box1 in the first place and have had every game in the series
Halo 4, without a second thought.
I think we’re comparing the wrong games here. I know the release dates are close together but surely we should be asking the question…
Black Ops2 or Medal of Honor2 ?
In which case COD: Black Ops2 is going to be the better game. EA won’t be getting my money.
Going to buy both Halo4 and Black Ops2. There’s enough gameplay there to last you several months. Halo4 is looking Epic! Halo:Reach was a solid entry with some great multi-player innovations, but I think that 343 Studios are hitting the nail on the head. I get this feeling that they understand Halo better than Bungie!!! Which is a crazy thing to say, but watching the videos and reading interviews, you just get this absolute drive to produce the best Halo game by far.
Halo4… GAME OF THE YEAR
No they are comparing the right games man. They are nothing a like but they are no doubt the biggest games out there. Medal of honor would be a better match to compare cod to but medal of honor isnt even in cods league. Cod sells way more then any other game and blows every other gmae off the map, except for halo, i play both and i honeslty dont know witch one i liike the most. Most likely i will be getting both when they come out but if i cant i will probablyy be getting Cod simply because I like to play my ps3 better then my x box. And i am literally addicted to zombies haha. But yeah halo is the right game because it is the only game that can compete with COD. Cod sells more but it doesnt Blow halo away like all the other games. And honeslty i think halo would have a better chance at sellinh more then cod if it was for both ps3 and x box. i have tons of friends who only have ps3 and they come to my house like 24//7 to play halo on my x box. And cod doesnt have that problem because it is out for both.
Both, but if I couldn’t, it would only be Halo 4, no doubt about it.
Halo 4, call me when CoD has Universe as expansive and engrossing as the Halo Universe along with a stage editor, an expansive game maker, and photo realistic graphics.
Both, I’m getting both games and BioShock Infinite to toss another shooter in.
Don’t forget Borderlands 2!
hahaha noone has said that yet
So basically you’re saying get BO2 because Halo has innovated and CoD has not.
From what I’ve seen written on Neogaf and other websites Halo 4 is shaping up well, I’ve played both games since Halo 3 and Cod 4 and to me Cod is getting stale, I’m not buying it unless it actually changes.
Although Zombies is a big reason to at least play it but I’ll be getting Halo over BO’s
Will get them both must continue to keep my gaming industry going .
i wont even buy BO2, the gameplay is crap, the multiplayer is crap and the story above all is crap.
i grew up as a halo fan, played every game since combat evolved. halo has just the right story and setting, wich black ops lacks.
Halo 4. But if you like campers and screaming 13-year-olds, then BO2 is for you.
I would bet Medal of Honor Warfighter before these 2.
2 things. one i understand that this a COD centric site but y is it ONLY being compared to Halo? wat bout MOH or some other PS VITA FPS’s (these are just a few i can think of at the top of my head) there are ton new ones coming out this year and more to be announced sure,…. Halo is probs one of the few that has a chance at even remotely comparing in sales, but still.
Yeah halo is really the only game that could compete with cod. They are nothing alike but why compare a game the sells 5x more copies then the other? Cod and Halo are back and forth every year. Halo is the only game that even has a chance at selling more then Cod. Althought the last time it sold more copies was in 2007 Halo Comes close every year and even thoguh it rarely succedes it is still competition.
since im on PS3…black ops plus ZOMBIES
You say halo has “photo-realistic graphics”? lol maybe this time they will be good since bungie maxed out in that department. Halo 3 and the subsequent games all look cartoony and remind me of WoW or something. Anyway I would get both, but I’m especially excited for BO2 because the first one pulled off campaign and zombies well and it’s the first futuristic CoD. Little obnoxious kids are just as common on Halo you freaks (more common from my experiences), but I generally hate everyone because they’re all lispy nerds with some kind of innate hatred for everything. Both will be good, but I could go for a good RPG. Just beat Earthbound today…that’s a real game right there. More FPS fans should diversify (and that doesn’t mean play a TPS lol).
oh yeah, watch halo 4 first look and then say that it reminded you of wow.
do you want another COD4 rehash that will be boring in 3 days or do you want the futuristic shooter that will be boring in 2 weeks.
Why settle? Just get both.
you are right
I think halo will be better only because im a halo fan more than cod, killstreaks are one thing but’ forge custom games are real fun and the black ops 2 trailer looks similar 2 halo 4
am getting halo 4 becuase halo is wayy better than CoD it takes more skills than CoD and it has a epic storyline and halo takes time to be developed and kids only play CoD
I think both will be solid games, but I will get Halo 4 before Black Ops 2. Halo 4 looks indeed promising as it looks like 343i is making “what reach should have been”. Black Ops however was the most competitive CoD since CoD 4.
Halo 4 will simply be a better game because:
-Halo has always been more balanced than CoD, better game mechanics, more skill taken
-Halo is a teamwork based game, more skill taken to play
-Halo has graphics that can compete with the Frostbite 2 Engine (BF3 graphics) that CoD has never had
-Halo will now have CUSTOM loadouts, now catering to more types of FPS players as well as core halo fans
-Great singleplayer/storymode
-Multiplayer Side Story (spartan ops)
-Above all, HALO IS FULLY CUSTOMIZABLE, you create the experience you want
Halo is a mature gamers game, it takes true gunskill (5 shots to head rather than 2 for the kill), and real teamwork between players. Also, people in Halo actually care to win. Halo reminds me much of Counter Strike.
IMO Call of Duty has stopped getting better after CoD 4, there has just been a repackaged game every time. To me, CoD has just been a leach that just sucks the innovation out of other games (ex. escort, a new BO2 game mode is based off CSS’s Escort game mode).
Halo in my opinion has a better campaign than all cod games, but as far as multiplayer I could go for either game!! I’ve always been a fan of halo and cod. I just hope both of these games aren’t a bust especially halo 4 considering its been years since halo 3 was released, yeah sure reach was a good game, ODST and Halo Wars were shit, but halo 3 in my opinion was the best halo game I played. I was excited to hear that they are directly picking up on halo 4 were halo 3 ended. The halo franchise is due for a new face of its series and I’m crossing my fingers that 343 will make it happen for the good. As far as cod it’s the same thing every year. I will more than likely buy BO2 for zombies but other than that I might not play it as much as I can see myself playing halo 4. I’ll buy Halo 4 for my Xbox and BO2 for my PS3(:
COD is far better than any part of Halo.Playing black ops from Dec 2010 not just get bored yet.Going for black ops 2
previous series of halo was good if you see story wise or campaign you will find big diffrence in it.Because cod always make good story. So i will go for bo 2
It has to be Black Ops 2. I’ve been playing Call of Duty since I was 7 years old. That means since the first game came out of CoD.
That’s funny… last I heard, only seven year olds play Call of Duty. Thank you for confirming my suspicion. COD is a friggin kids game. Mommy! Mommy! Can you preorder BO2 for me? I’ll wipe my butt by myself for a whole week! I promise!
So far it seems as though Halo is winning. Can it be? Has humanity finally started thinking again?
Halo 4. Sorry, but I hope this year is cod’s last.
Halo 4,
Since Black Ops 1 sucked why care to make another Black Ops
(And because Black Ops 2 might get cancelled :3)
I’m a very strong fan of the Halo series as well. Halo reach sucked….majorly. At least until the Title Update. But BO was the only big success in the CoD series (at least to me) it actually focused on skill, which is something CoD hasn’t really ever done, and they haven’t done it since. H3 was above all the best halo game, and I enjoy playing black ops almost as much as halo 3.
Killzone 4 and fallout 4 will be better but thats not in a long time, I’m getting halo 4 since I do love the halo series.
I will surely get both. But my choice would definitely be Halo 4.
Compairing Halo and COD as francises, Halo is better. To prove my point, I’m going to compare some key areas. 1. Story: COD storylines have been, up until MW2, o.k. They have gone to hell during the last few installments. Halo, on the other hand has a very large and compelling story, complete with novels, comics, books, anime, and a new live action series (this has yet to be released). Winner: Halo. 2. Gameplay: the core gameplay unique to each franchise has stayed relatively the same throughout each game. This is good, as in there being no significant changes rendering the gameplay unrecognizable. Halo has made it’s fair share of innovations over the years and is, in my opinion, the the first “modern” fps franchise. Good changes, like dual wielding in Halo 2, combat gear in Halo 3, firefight in Halo 3 ODST, and armor abilities in Halo Reach, were all great additions to the game’s feel. COD does this, only to a lesser extent. Adding some new perks and fifty new guns just doesn’t do it for me. Winner: Halo. 3. Campaign: We should all know the answer to this. COD’s linear levels, and repetitive gamplay can’t and probably won’t ever amount to Halo’s open and strategy based levels. COD is good if you like that sort of thing, but I prefer freedom of approach. Winner: Halo. 4. Multiplayer: Once again, I think Halo takes the prize. COD DOES, I repeat, DOES present a very addictive multiplayer experience, but I find it too simple and brainless. Anybody can pick up a controller and start killing in COD but in Halo, you have to work a bit and become a better player before you can start winning (that is, if you’re a noob). Winner: Halo. 5. Fanbase: What? How could a fanbase say anything about a game? It’s simple. The halo fanbase is much more controlled and mature. I’ve gone to countless forums (Google: Halo vs. COD, click on first result) where people who are on Halo’s side have reasons to like it while all the the COD fans do is cuss and repeatedly post “Halo SUCKS!”. This tells me that COD fans are people who will relentlessly defend what they think just because they don’t want to soil their fandom. See? I’m a bit more sophisticated than COD stinks. Winner: Halo. 6. Hype: Call of Duty has been riding the hype train for a while now but it is sure to derail with BOps 2. COD could make millions off of anything with the words Call of Duty on it. If they came out with a game called COD Rainbow Space Donkeys, how many of your friends would buy it? Be honest. People are always pumped up for a new Halo game to come out, but not to the point of screaming profanities into thier microphones until they’re blue in the face. Winner: Halo 7. Realism: Many COD fans can go on and on about how COD is so realistic. Look, if you want realism (minus Randezook, Youtube it), play Battlefield 3. Halo does have some technology that’s a bit insane, but who can say we won’t be there in 500 years, and who’s to say there isn’t an alien species somewhere in the cosmos bent on human eradication. OK, fine COD gets this one… winner: Battlefield 3 (so COD is more realistic than Halo, but BF3 is more realistic than COD). 7. COD just gets old: So maybe Halo can’t even be a part of this one, I get it. Still, you have to admit, COD gets old fast. One way some people think of COD is like this… a new year a new game. That’s it. The best way I’ve heard someone say this is that every year they simply come out with a new skin for the the game. Same game, just different cosmetics. When I first saw the BO2 trailer and heard the line, “But what happens when the enemy takes the key?” I couldn’t help but think, “This game sadly!” And by now you should at least understand WHY I like Halo more than COD. So I’m proud to announce the winner: ME! For writing all of this in the first place. Seriously though, Halo is better.
i will take halo 4 i like the story and i like the spartan armours
but i would like team fortress 3 for xbox 360
My 1st FPS experience was getting smashed by friends on system link Halo 2; and when Halo 3 was released…well that game, H3, was a GIFT from GOD. I logged 66K MP kills on that baby! Excessive, sure, but the maps Guardian, the pit, construct, valhalla…..were so very well designed, and above all it was ‘the game play’ that kept drawing me back in for ‘just one more’ game. It truly is a thinking mans game, that takes true skill and the use of strategy to be good at it. If you get caught off guard, you can still fight your way out of a tight spot. Thats what makes it exciting. I do believe the pros and pro teams are destroying the Halo series for the casual gamer. I totally understand why a new player to the series may walk away from the series, when the skill level of existing players is so high. The mates I played H2 system link, and H3 multilpayer with did not adapt to the increased skill level required to be competitive, and thus have switched to the COD series, where the gameplay is more surprise/ reflex killing, and/or camping waiting for the runners to come by. For any game series to survive there has to be encouragement for players to support the weaker members of the team, to give those new or poorer players a sense of worth. Who wants to be flogged relentlessly game after game? Integrate a system where skilled players are required to support weaker players. Anyways, Kudos to Treyarch & Black Ops 1 for making a great multiplayer game, I have logged 20,000 mp kills on BO1 and it is the best COD game for mine, as i prefer clean maps and gameplay over realism. The Halo multiplayer experience (aside from armour lockers) is the clear standout amongst FPS. I will be buying both BO2 and HALO4. I will never buy another COD MW game.
RE: skilled players supporting new or weaker players idea
Anyone think maybe a killstreak system, where winning players ‘gift’ to new/ poorer players, maybe things like air support roles like chopper gunner etc or maybe ability boosting options like body armour/ overshield/ invisibility type items or maybe a power weapon drop like sniper, shottie or rockets?
At the end of the day it should be about fun, encouraing more players to get involved, and trying to improve, and being given a chance to improve whilst having fun. Supporting your fellow competitor is what team games should be about.
Team games should NOT BE ALL about pros studying the maps back to front and mic’ing to each other which way the noob is running!!
PS if microsoft want to send me a 1 million USD cheque for this concept, contact me through my gamertag lol!
I agree with you on this, I like to think of myself as a halo master but even I get slaughtered by these pros and I can see why newer players would be drove off.
When me and 3 of my friends played reach, I assassinated one, shot another and boarded the one in the banshee that was zooming straight for me. I felt amazing. I felt awesome and all my friends were quiet for a while, before one simply commented ‘How the F***). Yep, I felt awesome. which is something I don’t get when I play cod. Sure it’s sweet to knife someone, shoot one running on the other end of the battle field and disarm a bomb in the closing seconds of the match but Halo is it for me.
Halo has always been better in my book. I’m not saying cod is bad, in fact, I love cod as well, but Halo is always that little better.
The argument that COD is more realistic is rubbish. In 500 years, we COULD have this technology, so you can’t really compare in realism… and cod isn’t exactly realistic, if I shoot someone in the head with a revolver they survive on cod… hows that realistic? Oh and, banana leaves stop bullets according to MW2
BLACK OPS 2 beacause halo is to dum and plus there is going to be zombies based on multi player engine and ok campain might be stupid but look at the killstreaks in black ops 2 watch trailer those tanks will not be in there yes and i know. multi player is way better
I honestly don’t think it matters. haters gonna hate on both games so why don’t we just play the game. Back to the main question, everyone is gonna either like one or the other, overplay it, then get the other game. Just get both to save the time. Actually all three since Medal of Honor is coming out as well.
I’m a Cod fan. Only bought Halo 3 and it was alright but I stick to only certain franchises including Cod, Dead Space, and Bioshock.
And the same thing is going to happen all over the world. Everyone says they wont get BO2 and then they end up buying it anyway. I’ve seen it on the past several Cods.
And btw, I have been playing CoD BO and MW3, I’ve heard probably only 20 under 14 year olds in MW3 and only hear little kids in an occasional Zombies match in BO. Don’t really know what you’re talking about. I’m on Xbox and Ive heard PS3 has a lot of little kids, but I hear none on xbox
That is true. Only problem is, I haven’t run into a single kid while playing halo. It might be that my matchmaking ranks me with better players though. This just goes to show however, that you have to have some fps miles on you before you can become good at the game. Unlike CoD that nomatter what rank I was at the time, I still was able to find a kid that had a higher rank just because the little bugger played BO more than me. Besides all most CoD players do is cuss at virtually everybody because they’re faceless. At least the Halo community reports these people.
Bo2. No doubt i will agree, the grafics were THE suckiest, but vlack ops had a great storyline, epic multiplayer, and a killer zombie mode. Black ops two said in the trailer (zombie) that they were going to creat 8 multiplayer games, new maps, bigger maps for Ombies, and 4v4 zombie modes. They also said that they were going to epicly creat better guns and focus more on every thing, campain, zobies, multiplayer. They also said there was something esle they were going to add, but im not for sure.
CoD is too busy trying to convince people that it has potential. They pretty much revealed every part of the gameplay at E3. Futureistic guns this, overly complicated overview system that. CoD has strayed too far from it’s fundamentals. WaW was, and I think we can all agree on this this, the best CoD to date. It was full of cool new features and was still fairly simple. Now I have to save credits for EVERYTHING, monitor my rank on guns, streaks, attachments, loadouts, perks, and pretty much everything else under the sun. Now I’ll have to deal with BO2′s awkward “sandbox” level design and (wtf is this) OVERWATCH mode. Triark is desperately trying to make the game a nonlinear experience, They are straying much too far from CoD’s iconic shooting gallery one-pathedness that I have grown to hate.
Well, i like both. I grew up with halo but i absolutly LOVE cod… Hmmm…
Im going to have to say cod bo2.
Halo all the way. A fan ever since the first one and nothing can change that. I played iw with many friends and all of them agree, we’re heading back to war once again. Time to pick up your Assault Rifles again boys. Hop in my hog and let’s get this show goin’.
Im going for Halo 4 cuz ok first I’m hardcore halo fan 2nd played black ops only thing good about it is zombies I might get BO 2 but only for zombies might try out campaign and multiplayer if it’s good but most likely not
Call of Duty… One small fail for games, one GIANT FAIL for nameless seven year old campers.
And about the release dates… I hate to tell you guys… We have exactly one week to play Halo for before the CoDpocalipse begins. SCREAMING CHILDREN RUNNING DOWN THE STREETS! COUNTLESS FANBOYS SWARMING THE GAMESTOP PARKING LOTS! The day Halo 4 is released, the stores will start preparing… They will line there walls with changing tables due to all the toddlers who will come to buy Black Ops 2… However, when all is but lost, Master Chief will rocket down from the sky and murder all who oppose his BADASSITUDE! Let us hope that Chuck Norris doesn’t play CoD…
Uhhh… I just was watching G4′s Top 100 Games of All Time… MW3 comes after Halo 3… GODDAMMIT!!! (it was a countdown) Well at least more than one Halo title made the list! What does CoD have to say about THAT! *underbreath cursing*
I say good for CoD, it does not matter how much quantity it have on a count it matter what position it is. I bet CoD have a higher position than most of the halo games in the title
One small step for kids, one gigantic leap for the camping kind
I appreciate that everyone likes supporting a dying franchise. Unlike cod, Halo can keep it going due to the fictional story. Therefore, the cod franchise will die and Halo will end it when it WANTS to not when it HAS to. Also Halo has an exciting game play due to map control and where everything is placed. Cod has spots where you wait for the other player to come by. Halo also takes more skill because you have to aim in the right spot and fire unlike cod has where you aim in a corner and wait for someone to walk by. How is that fun? So out of me wasting my time talking about this because of the fact we all know who will be the oblivious winner (Halo 4), I wanted to explain to all of the boosters, campers, and tri-hards in cod why you will never be able to play Halo. So yes Cod might and I said might have more sell outs because there is only a number of skilled game players out in this world. Plus cod continues to repeat the same thing over and over with very little tweaks while Halo has introduced something new every game like: Halo had the start of the franchise, Halo 2 had updated graphics and new weapons and vehicles with a new perspective to multiplayer, Halo 3 introduced forge and custom games with theater, Halo 3 ODST introduced firefight, Halo Reach introduced armor abilities, and Halo 4 will introduce spartan ops. I know spartan ops is like special ops some what (except there will always be new content), but it is new to the Halo franchise. My point made. Message me on xbox live for any comments.
call of duty is the best seris ever i never really understood halo
The only really cod games i ever played and enjoyed is waw and bo1, i never liked that fact that there was a NEW cod every SINGLE year -__- it gets repetitive and stupid..mw3 was complete shit and when i saw the trailer of bo2 i immediatly thought of mw3…now halo, i rememeber playing the pillar of autum late at night with my older brother for the first time..i still have all the sequences embeded in my mind from my childhood, and since then iv bought every single halo to come out, iv enjoyed all of them, some more then others of course but just that immersive universe of halo is enough to bring you in, now halo 4, is going to be the next best halo game to date, since halo 3. Some people dont like the changes 343 has made but i think they are good innovations to the franchise, otherwise it really will be “another” cod game like people say just because it will get repetitive. My choice is with out doubt halo.
I’ll buy Black Ops II before halo, simply because..I have tried and tried to play Halo..and I simply cant get into it.COD is a different story,Sure,Year in,Year out,Its basically the same game…But Us COD fans have been saying that every year and since MW2 we have said we won’t buy another one…But once that November release date comes..We all have our copy.I believe Halo 4 will have bigger and better Opening day launch sells then Black Ops II,but I think By January,Black Ops II edges it out, mainly because no matter how pissed off COD makes you..Your always gonna play it because all your friends and some other 500k people are doing it…Unless its MW3..I sold that game about 2 weeks after Christmas(Thats when the little kids got it) lol..All I play now is Black Ops and MW2
I been a Halo Fan all my gamer life, i love both games, so i going to get both but i am more anticipated for Black Ops 2
i would rather get halo 4 because bo2 is always the same, i think bo2 will sell more because it has a catchy name, halo 4 will be an awesome game! the new things they will add for bo2 will probably be new weapons and a few vehicles (for my experience with all cod games)
Halo is a great, everlasting franchise that will not fail for decades to come. Halo does have photo-realistic graphics and even use motion capture with real actors while cock of doody has so much overlay and 2d details not to forget the appauling story line that never gets better but progressively worse. plus cod sales are only up because kids think that war is really about camping and screaming at the enemy……..In the words of Stan Lee: Nuff said
Halo is to eazy i get tired of pwning noobs hopefully i can get a competition from black ops 2 cuz mw3 was too easy come on 3.95 kd and 2.68 in black ops plz fix sitrep because i am tired of soundwhres and i love Search And Destroy
Oh wait did they say that this was the first time me halo and call of duty were released in the same month 2009 halo 3 dost /mw2, 2010 black ops and halo reach, 2011 halo ce anniversary MW3, 2012 halo 4 black ops 2 and all released in November the some months and don’t make me give the dates
( unprofessional ) why even bother
I would buy black ops 2. I have tried to like halo but i didn’t like it. And also when i opened this page i just knew haters were going to spam the comments, and they did.
And stop using the argument about Cod kiddie’s and campers, i played both series for a long time and they are in both games.
halo 4