Finally, after a long drought of silence from Activision and Treyarch, 2020’s Call of Duty has reared its head with a teaser. Around three or four months after the next game is usually teased, 2020’s Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War arises with its titular setting, presumably pitting players in the pseudo-war between the Russians and Americans from the 1950s to the 1990s. While the game will receive its full-blown unveiling next week, it seems the teaser is already hinting at something very different.
Judging on the provocative artwork/box art teased by Treyarch, it seems to be inferring that the game may be giving perspective into both sides of the war. In the past Call of Duty has experimented with playing alongside the “villains” of the story, but never in a way that didn’t paint them in an inherently negative light. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War‘s more historical approach could be hinting at a more objective, multi-perspective approach to Cold War history, an approach that doesn’t necessarily paint the US as unerring heroes.
If true, that would be a unique and unprecedented approach to storytelling for a Call of Duty game. As mentioned previously, the franchise’s story campaigns have only flirted with the idea of playing as the “enemy,” or at least the perceived enemy. Every World War 2 game in the franchise has traditionally put players in the shoes of allied nations like the United States or the United Kingdom, but never in the shoes of Nazis or the Japanese army. Russians have traditionally been the enemy in the Modern Warfare series as well, albeit technically contextualized with one specific terrorist cell that happens to be run by lead by a Russian.
Overall, the Call of Duty franchise has never actually placed players in the shoes of the villains for the main campaign. The only instance where this was the case was during the controversial “No Russian” mission in Modern Warfare 2, where players were working undercover to take down Makarov. This was only one mission in Modern Warfare 2, which only ended up killing PFC Allen’s character anyway, so it doesn’t really count in the way Cold War may employ the “villain’s” perspective of the geopolitical conflict between US and Russia. In other words, it suggests it may not be so cut and dry.
Already it seems Cold War is pushing a different agenda compared to other Call of Duty titles. Rather than being a historical dramatization or fictional extravagance of armed conflict, 2020’s Call of Duty seems to be heavily grounded in history. Black Ops Cold War‘s teaser alone showcases pivotal moments in the psuedo-war between US and Russia, and seems to be teasing the infamous story of the almost-mythical USSR spy (or spy network) known as “Perseus.” It’s unclear how involved the Perseus storyline will be, but the teaser does reference the name.
It would be interesting to see Black Ops Cold War‘s campaign be centered on dueling perspectives; one as the USSR fighting to institute “Perseus” in America’s intelligence infrastructure, and the other being the US fighting against that. Like Call of Duty: Black Ops before it, many of the secret operations that will likely take place within the narrative will likely be inspired by real events. There’s also a bevy of de-classified documents that continue to leak out to this day. Black Ops tackled the highly documented “Bay of Pigs” failure by the US, but it’d be interesting to see some creative freedoms taken from some of the more recent declassified Cold War dossiers from the CIA as well.
Black Ops Cold War seems to be a reflection of a new direction for the franchise, piggy-backing off Modern Warfare‘s comparatively more mature storytelling. What’s interesting about a showcasing two perspectives of the Cold War is that Black Ops Cold War could be telling a more objective, morally grey story. Ideally the campaign would tell a fictional tale all about how neither the US or Russia is innocent in this pseudo-war conflict, and emphasize the whole “history is written by the victor” moral fallacy that Modern Warfare 2 threw around.
Additionally this gives Treyarch a chance to address the complaints of historical inaccuracy that Modern Warfare received. Practically every Call of Duty has employed favoritism to the Allied Nations, without mentioning the fact that the US, UK, and other allied countries have done some pretty bad things throughout modern history also. Black Ops Cold War has the opportunity to show that neither side of the Cold War is morally untouchable, and has the chance to tell an objectively more interesting war story compared to previous titles.
The Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War worldwide reveal premieres August 26.
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