The last time I played a Call of Duty game was Modern Warfare 2, a title I begrudgingly picked up on 360; I played Modern Warfare extensively on PC. So, could Black Ops II gain my interest?

Somehow, it did.  And it wasn’t with the game’s campaign, which handles a little smoother than other CoD titles, though the demo behind closed doors was still loud, noisy, and packed with explosions. But it was the Strike Force mode that really had me interested. More on that later, let’s talk about the campaign for a second.

We saw a longer portion of the demo we first saw back at Microsoft’s press conference. I’m still wondering why exactly the President is being brought into war zone, other than for “dramatic” reasons, but nonetheless, we progressed. The level opens in typical Call of Duty fashion: loud explosions, typical firefights, kill the enemies, move on. Pacing is still an issue, as Treyarch is catering to the ADD/high octane crowd.

On the plus, however, the game handled a little better and there’s a little more reliance on skill. The sniper, for example, required a little bit of a recharge to have more power, meaning we couldn’t quick scope our enemies down and instead had to wait to pull off the perfect shot. From there we ventured further into the level, ultimately piloting a jet, but the sequence seemed to overstay it’s welcome.

Once the demo was completed, we were then shown the Strike Force mode, a separate single player mode that combines shooting and tactical sequences. This was quite impressive from the get go, with the level, based in Singapore, looking far better than a war torn Los Angeles. Things started out in typical fashion: running towards cover and engaging in a firefight.

Then something interesting happened: we were given an overhead view of the map. See, in Strike Force, you’re able to set various markers for your troops to move in on, call in air strikes, and set up your routes accordingly. Oh, an then you can man a mech or an air drone.

So, while the campaign offers more of the same, Strike Force is a really intriguing feature that could be a reason to pick Black Ops II up if you’re not caught in the Call of Duty craze like myself. Treyarch promised that Strike Force would affect the outcome of the campaign, a feature they didn’t elaborate on, so count us interested to learn more before the game’s holiday launch.