Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold Waris now confirmed to be a direct sequel to the originalBlack Opsgame, and with that comes the return of its most popular characters. While much of the focus has been placed on Frank Woods in theBlack Ops Cold Warmarketing thus far, Treyarch is now starting to focus on the original protagonist of theBlack Opsseries.
Within a blog post on its official website (which is cleverly designed to look like old CIA documents), Alex Mason’s full story is shared withCall of Dutyfans. Much of this is already known, such as Mason’s childhood years in Alaska and recruitment into the CIA. This is the same character players took control of in the originalBlack Opsgame, after all, and few differences can be seen when themodern Mason is compared to the original.
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There is one difference, however, and that is the character’s voice actor. Sam Worthington will not be returning to voice Mason this time around, though it is unlikely he will beas annoyed as the original Woods voice actoris about the replacement. Still, it is perplexing as to why the old cast is not coming back for this next game.
Regardless, the post goes on to discuss Alex Mason’s role in theBlack Opsstory, detailing his brainwashing at the hands of Reznov and the events that followed. The final shot of theBlack Opscampaign is not mentioned in this post though, which is interesting. In that sequence, Alex Mason is seen in the crowd prior to the assassination of JFK, hinting that the brainwashing worked, and Mason did indeed kill the president. With that moment unmentioned inBlack Ops 2or this post, though, it seems unlikely that the team covers it. Raven Software,the team makingBlack Ops Cold War’scampaign, seems eager to tell aBlack Opsstory that is completely its own.
Also unmentioned in the post is Woods’ death fake-out in the original game, so it will be interesting to see if Raven pays enough attention to the game’s lore to acknowledge the moment. After all, Mason should be surprised to see Woods alive. Perhaps that reaction will come withinBlack Ops Cold War, as the post ends by detailing Mason’s role in the new game. The post states that on January 8th, 1981, “Mason receives an unexpected call from Hudson” to rendezvous with Woods in Amsterdam for “a covert mission to end the Iran Hostage Crisis.” It is here where the greater threat, which is likely to beBlack Ops Cold War’svillain Perseus, will be revealed.
The post does a solid job of building excitement for the game, though it will be interesting to see how Raven makes players feel like there are real stakes in the campaign due to Mason, Hudson, and Woods all being inBlack Ops 2and being guaranteed to survive because of that. Perhaps they will useBlack Ops Cold War’splayer-created charactersto make gamers feel like there is someone to lose if things go awry. Regardless, it is nice to know that Alex Mason will have time to shine inBlack Ops Cold War.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold Waris available November 13th on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X versions will also be released.
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