Black Ops 2 Matchmaking to Be Based on Ping and Latency, First Glimpse at Nuketown 2025

Treyarch has given us our first glimpse at Black Ops 2's Nuketown 2025 multiplayer map. Just in case the name wasn't a dead giveaway enough, Nuketown 2025 is a re-imagining of Black Ops' most loved/most hated map — depending on your preference.

Here's our first — albeit, very short — look on Nuketown 2025.

Okay, I admit, that wasn't much. There's the sign, the familiar 50's car and the mannequin…and that's pretty much it. Of course, given that this is an updated look, I'd expect the basic layout to be the same. There's the cluster of vehicles in the center, the two houses from either side and a whole clusterfuck of action — which, depending on the player — either they can't get enough of, or one of the maps they loathe the most. Personally, I kind of like it, but not to the extent that it's my favorite map.

Nuketown 2025 is a free map for pre-ordering Black Ops 2.

Now that's out of the way, Black Ops 2 Game Director David Vonderhaar has confirmed on Twitter that Black Ops 2's matchmaking will be based on the player's latency and ping, not the region you're in.

Call of Duty fans might remember that the last Call of Duty game — Modern Warfare 3 — managed its matchmaking system based on the player's region. 

Here's the full Twitter conversation (via CharlieIntel):

I don't know about you, but this is a big improvement for those always looking for "four-bar" games. I can't even express how annoying it is being matched against players across the world and they're the hosts! Needless to say, "laggy" bullets will almost always mean that you get killed first in head-on firefights. This might be the best alternative from the game having dedicated servers. Let's just hope Treyarch pulls it off.

Black Ops 2 is set for a November 13 release for the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3; while the Wii U version is expected to hit on November 18.