Thanks to Doritos, and some people who solved the ARG probably, we know the next game in Activision’s culture-dominating shooter series is Treyarch’s Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. The Black Ops series has been one of the stranger parts of the overall Call of Duty canon (oof), in that it started as one of the more powerful stories in the series, then proceeded to struggle in its sequels. But after the success of Black Ops 4, which didn’t have an actual campaign, you may be wondering where Cold War fits in, if at all. Spoiler warning, if knowing about marketing material ahead of its official release can be considered a spoiler.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Storyline Details Leaked
The original Call of Duty: Black Ops was a very character-driven story, using historical events as a framing for ahistorical fiction made of conspiracies and covert operations. The story followed Alex Mason and Frank Woods over the course of several years of CIA black ops and manipulation that resulted in Mason being effectively brainwashed. Black Ops II followed, but adopted multiple endings leading to a sort of dead end for the canon. Black Ops III then shot well ahead into the future, and was more about the game’s world than the player character.
Related: Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Confirmed With Teaser Trailer
The first Black Ops starts in the early 1960s, going through Vietnam and the thick of the Cold War era. Black Ops II is partially set in the 1980s, and then skips into a fictional future. There’s a gap, which just happens to fit with Cold War’s ARG teasing of the early to late 1970s. And sure enough, thanks to some datamining efforts from the Call of Duty community, we know that’s exactly what’s happening.
Black Ops Cold War’s full reveal is set for August 26, which is tomorrow at the time of this writing. But yesterday’s Modern Warfare update, Season 5: Reloaded, contained data on Cold War’s campaign scenario. The flavor text literally states the game is a “direct sequel” to the first Black Ops, and also notes that the story is actually set in the early 1980s. Here’s an excerpt from the material that mentions returning characters:
“As elite operatives, you will follow the trail of a shadowy figure named Perseus who is on a mission to destabilize the global balance of power and change the course of history. Descend into the dark center of this global conspiracy alongside iconic characters Woods, Mason and Hudson and a new cast of operatives attempting to stop a plot decades in the making”
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There it is! Fans of the original Black Ops’ intriguing storyline have something to look forward to here. Does that include you, reader? Are you excited for a sequel to an established Call of Duty campaign storyline, after a few years of reboots and one-offs? Let us know what you think of this development over at the Prima Games Facebook and Twitter channels!
