If the player dies in a Strike Force mission, the campaign continues recording that loss, as opposed to letting the player load a previously saved checkpoint.

Oliver North, who was involved in the Iran–Contra affair was a consultant on the 1980s portion and helped promote the game. During an interrogation, Menendez escapes with the aid of Nicaraguan-American DEVGRU operator Javier Salazar, revealed to be his mole inside JSOC. New characters include: Section's DEVGRU teammates Mike Harper ( Michael Rooker) and Javier Salazar (Celestino Cornielle), their commanding officer Admiral Tommy Briggs ( Tony Todd), the CIA double agent Farid ( Omid Abtahi), US President Marion Bosworth (Cira Larkin), Strategic Defense Coalition leader General Tian Zhao ( Byron Mann), Tacitus Corporation ex-employee Chloe Lynch (codenamed Karma) ( Erin Cahill).

On October 28, the Los Angeles court dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that Noriega's inclusion was protected under free speech laws. However, the Earth begins shaking, and Maxis explains to the four that he is beginning the process of the destruction of the Earth and humanity to reach Agartha, where he believes Samantha is; in the non-canon ending, the group aids Richtofen, letting him gain unlimited power over the Aether and the Earth, allowing him to kill Maxis and condemn Samantha's soul to eternal damnation. The player can customize the slot allocation, to either have more attachments for a gun, or more perks.

By this time, Group 935's operatives have been wiped out, and Maxis himself was lobotomized when he began to turn into a zombie. In 2014, a militant populist movement known as Cordis Die is founded, led by a mysterious but charismatic leader known as “Odysseus” who is actually Menendez. Marty Sliva of 1UP gave the game a B+ while praising it's freedom of choice in game modes and gameplay variety: "I was surprised with the risks that Treyarch took in the name of delivering a unique and creative experience. Activision had hinted that the game may eventually become available for Nintendo's own consoles, although had no official announcements for the time being. If Section reapprehends Menendez and Lynch was killed or not rescued, Menendez's cyberattack will succeed, and he will break out of prison.Locations featured in the game include Angola, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Nicaragua, Pakistan, the Cayman Islands, Panama, Yemen, the United States, and Haiti.

The game's soundtrack was composed by Jack Wall, [49] with the main theme composed by Nine Inch Nails frontman and film score composer Trent Reznor. The "Strike Force" mission "Second Chance" must be completed to rescue Lynch if the latter occurs, but can also be failed.As with the previous installments, each Zombies map contains "Easter eggs" side quests, which is used to progress the story. In Nevada, a team of CIA and CDC operatives investigate a nuclear testing site known as "Nuketown", where they are attacked by zombies.