Whether you've encountered the specific ".21" revision file, or simply need to change audio/text from another language to English, this guide covers everything you need to know.
Black Ops II is fundamentally a game about competing hegemonies: the 1980s Cold War and a 2025 second Cold War with China. The English Language Pack serves to solidify the player’s perspective as inherently Western. When protagonist Alex Mason or his son David Mason speaks English, the player is placed squarely within an Anglo-American military-industrial framework. The enemies—Nicaraguan Contras, Russian Spetsnaz, or Menendez’s cartel—are rendered as the "other" primarily through their accented or non-English dialogue.
Right-click (Multiplayer, Zombies, or Campaign). Select Properties > Language . Choose English from the dropdown.
Steam would then download the necessary language-specific files. For major languages, this included English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish (for text and sometimes audio). Call Of Duty Black Ops 2 English Language Pack.21
Look for the language files in: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Call of Duty Black Ops II\sound\english
The .21 soundbanks are present, but the game is still pointing to the old sound/russian folder. Fix: Delete or rename the non-English sound folder entirely. Then, duplicate the sound/english folder and rename the duplicate to your original region (e.g., sound/russian ), tricking the engine.
If you don't have a replacement file, open the existing one in Notepad and change the first line from your current language (e.g., Rename Sound Files (If Needed) folder in your game directory Search for files with the current language tag (e.g., .russian.sabs .polish.sabs Rename these files by replacing the language tag with (for example, change cmn_root.polish.sabs cmn_root.english.sabs Verify via Steam (Official Version Only) Right-click the game in your Steam Library and select Properties tab and ensure is selected Whether you've encountered the specific "
Go to the main executable folder and completely delete localization , localization_mp , and localization_zm .
Changing the user interface to English makes weapon attachments, perks, and settings easier to navigate. Understanding the ".21" File Extension
If you are using a repack and need the English language pack, look for a folder named _Language Switcher in your game directory. You will often find language files there, and you can switch to English by copying the relevant files from the English subfolder into the main game directory. When protagonist Alex Mason or his son David
In the main installation folder, locate three specific text files: localization.txt , localization_mp.txt (Multiplayer), and localization_zm.txt (Zombies). Step 2: Open each file using Notepad .
If your version doesn't have English files at all, you may need a manual pack. These packs generally include: English sound files: Placed in the Localized zone files: Placed in the \zone\english New localization files: Replacing the existing files in the root directory. 4. Cracked/Repack Versions
: This folder contains localized data scripts. The English files are prefixed with all_ or stored in an english subfolder.