During an interrogation, Menendez escapes with the aid of Nicaraguan-American DEVGRU operator Javier Salazar, revealed to be his mole inside JSOC.

The map "Mob of the Dead" features a new crew of characters: Albert "The Weasel" Arlington ( Joe Pantoliano), Billy Handsome ( Ray Liotta), Michael "Finn" O'Leary ( Michael Madsen), and Salvatore "Sal" DeLuca ( Chazz Palminteri). Aiming to stop Germany, Japan, Russia and the United States of America send Takeo, Nikolai and Dempsey to capture Richtofen, the mastermind behind the advanced technology. The publisher, Activision, was also sued in a French court by family members of Jonas Savimbi, who thought his portrayal in the game was inaccurate, saying he was portrayed as a "barbarian". 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. Treyarch also confirmed that Zombies would run on the game's multiplayer engine, allowing for a deeper community experience, along with new features.Strike Force missions allow the player to control a number of different war assets, such as unmanned aerial vehicles, jet fighters and robots. Mason becomes afflicted by his brainwashing once again, struggling to resist the urge to kill Kravchenko. If all of the Strike Force missions were completed, China and the United States will ally, ending the Second Cold War.

In the 1980s, the player switches control between Alex Mason and Frank Woods, two of the protagonists from Black Ops, while in 2025, the player assumes control of Mason's son, David ( codenamed "Section"). The fact is that everyone loves playing military shooters, but we're also realising that we don't want to glorify aimless killings. On July 19, 2012, a second trailer was released by Treyarch, offering insight into the game's narrative. By this time, Group 935's operatives have been wiped out, and Maxis himself was lobotomized when he began to turn into a zombie. 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.Locations featured in the game include Angola, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Nicaragua, Pakistan, the Cayman Islands, Panama, Yemen, the United States, and Haiti.

IGN editor Anthony Gallegos describes the game as "a good example of how to evolve an annualized franchise". The mujahideen then betray the Americans and Zhao, leaving them to die in the desert until they are rescued by two civilians; Mason hallucinates that one of them is Reznov.

When an earthquake caused his family to become destitute, Menendez and his father began running drugs, causing the CIA to assassinate the latter. Ten years later following the events on the Moon, Earth has been reduced to a crumbling, hellish wasteland overrun by zombies. David and his team infiltrate an exotic floating city known as Colossus, where they either rescue Lynch and kill Menendez’s lieutenant, DeFalco; or fail and allow her to be kidnapped.