Also, a version of the song " Try It Out" by Skrillex and Alvin Risk is used in the game, but it is not present in the soundtrack album.

Air raid sirens are heard and the two children retreat to the basement with Maxis, with Samantha noting her father has a plan to make the heroes of their games real. The 2025 section of the game features Alex Mason's son David (codenamed Section) (Rich MacDonald) as the protagonist, in which Menendez is plotting against the United States and China, with one of his ultimate goals being to see the United States locked in a new Cold War with China, in revenge for his many misfortunes.It includes the new zombies map Mob of the Dead as well as new multiplayer maps Magma, Vertigo, Encore, and a re-imagining of fan-favorite from previous installment Black Ops Firing Range, known as Studio.

During the American invasion of Panama in December 1989, Menendez kidnaps David and uses him to coerce Hudson, his mole in the CIA, into luring Mason and Woods into a trap. The events of the player's ending are determined on the fates of Menendez, Lynch, and Alex Mason, and whether the Strike Force missions were completed. Black Ops II is also the first game in the series to allow the player to customize their loadout before beginning a mission, creating freedom in choosing how to approach a mission. In September 1986, the trio travel to Afghanistan and meet with Chinese intelligence operative Tian Zhao to ally with the Afghan mujahideen against the Soviets.

The band chose to use Woods as the drummer in the game due to the loss of their original drummer The Rev, who died of a drug overdose on December 28, 2009. Following the canonical ending, Maxis then plucks Samantha's soul from Richtofen's body on the Moon and forces her to join him in Agartha. Mason becomes afflicted by his brainwashing once again, struggling to resist the urge to kill Kravchenko. Several weeks after their ordeal in Afghanistan, Mason, Woods, Hudson, and Panamanian Defense Forces, led by General Manuel Noriega, raid Menendez's compound in Nicaragua. After maxing out a weapon's level, the player can choose to "prestige" the gun, similar to how they can prestige the player level, and reset their attachment progress.

In Nevada, a team of CIA and CDC operatives investigate a nuclear testing site known as "Nuketown", where they are attacked by zombies.

It was announced on January 8, 2013, and released for Xbox 360 on January 29 and PC and PS3 on February 28 [56] The pack contained four new multiplayer maps: Downhill, Hydro, Mirage and Grind; and two new Zombies modes: Turned and Die Rise. Burns) and Jason Hudson ( Michael Keaton), former Soviet Army Colonel Lev Kravchenko ( Andrew Divoff), and disgraced Red Army Captain Viktor Reznov ( Gary Oldman). The precise consequences of Salazar's betrayal are determined by the preceding fates of Lynch, Farid, and DeFalco.