Black Ops 2 Campaign
Call of Duty: Black Ops II runs two interlocking wars through a single branching story. The 1980s Cold War missions put you in control of CIA operative Alex Mason and his partner Frank Woods, chasing the arms dealer whose vendetta will shape everything to come. The 2025 near-future missions hand you David "Section" Mason, Alex's son, leading a JSOC task force against the terrorist Raul Menendez and his Cordis Die movement. It was the first Call of Duty campaign to branch: your choices, and the outcomes of the optional permadeath Strike Force missions, decide who lives, who dies, and which of the multiple endings you reach.
The campaign missions
// 11 missions · 1986 / 2025The story alternates between Alex Mason's 1980s operations and David "Section" Mason's 2025 hunt for Menendez. Open any mission for its setting, playable character and full summary.
| # | Mission | Era | Setting |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pyrrhic Victory | 1980s | Angola (Cuando/Cubango River) |
| 2 | Celerium | 2025 | Myanmar (jungle Cordis Die compound) |
| 3 | Old Wounds | 1980s | Afghanistan (Mujahideen territory vs. Soviet forces) |
| 4 | Time and Fate | 1980s | Nicaragua (Menendez's cartel compound) |
| 5 | Fallen Angel | 2025 | Pakistan (flooded Lahore) |
| 6 | Karma | 2025 | Cayman Islands (Colossus floating city) |
| 7 | Suffer With Me | 1980s | Panama (1986 flashback and 1989 US invasion) |
| 8 | Achilles' Veil | 2025 | Yemen (Socotra) |
| 9 | Odysseus | 2025 | USS Barack Obama (aircraft carrier, Pacific) |
| 10 | Cordis Die | 2025 | Los Angeles (G20 summit) |
| 11 | Judgment Day | 2025 | Haiti (Cordis Die headquarters) |
Strike Force missions
// permadeath · 2025Strike Force operations are optional 2025 missions with permadeath — soldiers you lose stay dead, and failing one changes the story rather than restarting it. Their outcomes feed directly into the campaign's endings.
FOB Spectre
India (forward operating base on India's northern border)
Defend the FOB (protect three power points feeding the shield doors) against an SDC assault for ~10 minutes to stop an SDC invasion of India. Player commands a CLAW, sentry turrets and SEAL teams.
First Strike Force mission; unlocks after the mission 'Old Wounds' and is effectively required to progress.
Shipwreck
Singapore (Keppel Terminal docks / freighter)
Stop SDC missiles (bound for Iran) being loaded from a docked freighter onto SDC destroyers.
Available in the 2025 window alongside the other core Strike Force operations (before 'Suffer With Me').
I.E.D.
Afghanistan (barren mountain valley)
Escort a four-vehicle convoy of Afghan and Russian VIPs / high-value cargo to the extraction point, clearing IED minelines and enemies (horseback fighters, RPGs, helicopters, tanks) using a Quadrotor.
Available in the 2025 window with FOB Spectre and Shipwreck (before 'Suffer With Me').
Second Chance
Yemen (Socotra island town)
Rescue Chloe 'Karma' Lynch — search five safe houses to locate her, then escort her to the insertion/extraction point.
Conditional: only appears if the player FAILED to save Chloe during mission 'Karma' (she was captured by DeFalco); must be done before 'Suffer With Me'. Succeeding here keeps Karma alive.
Dispatch
Ambush of Tian Zhao's downed VTOL / convoy
Assassinate SDC leader Tian Zhao before the SDC can invade Russia — SEALs down Zhao's VTOL, push to the crash site and plant an EMP module to eliminate him.
Conditional/final Strike Force op; unlocks after completing the earlier Strike Force missions (FOB Spectre, Shipwreck, I.E.D.). Killing Zhao is the trigger for the US-China alliance ending.