The Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War gameplay trailer was recently revealed in Warzone and has many of us excited for the fall. The new Black Ops entry is shaping up to be a return to form for Treyarch and Raven Software as details confirmed and leaked paint the picture of a game that will deliver on many fan requests.
Cold War will be a direct sequel to Black Ops, meaning the familiar faces we see in the trailer are the same characters we grew to love all those years ago. Here is a breakdown of the new settings and characters revealed in the trailer.
Glimpses Into The World Of Black Ops Cold War
The trailer opens with a series of images speeding past the viewer, with one that is surprising to see included. We can see a document labeled Fracture Jaw, with a strip of film showing a mushroom cloud in one frame. Fracture Jaw was a top-secret U.S military plan drafted during the Vietnam War under the guidance of General William C. Westmoreland. The idea was the U.S would ensure nuclear arms were stationed in South Vietnam as a contingency in the event the United States needed to use the weapons against incoming North Vietnamese troops.
Thankfully, Fracture Jaw was abandoned when Admiral Grant Sharp ordered a stop to the project. The precedent set by this action is horrifying, and quickly sets the tone for trailer and makes the opening narration stating “this war was a lie” hit hard. There is also a Russian document, but at the time of writing, we don’t what it says because we don’t speak Russian. Hopefully, some fans can help us out with a translation.
There are glimpses of a red room where photos are being developed, propaganda, what appears to be a soviet general, but two images stick out the most. The first being a red door at the end of the hallway, where the camera zooms out as if we cannot know what’s inside. More on the red door later, but this could be key to the story as the Cold War was titled Red Door internally according to early leaks. The red phone is likely the infamous Moscow–Washington hotline. Fingers crossed that the game explores multiple perspectives of the Cold War, not just a western perspective.
Black Ops Cold War: Familiar Faces
The trailer has a montage of clips showing us that our Cold War story will take place in 1981. Whether or not this game will retcon plot points in Call of Duty Black Ops II or III is yet to be seen, but it can fit within the series canon because Black Ops II begins in July of 1986. However, Call of Duty Cold War can easily be a soft reboot similar to Modern Warfare. Hopefully, the new title retcons past plot points, as Black Ops II and III got goofy. We can see Frank Woods and Alex Mason above as they talk with the new character Russell Adler.
When the gameplay starts, the player perspective shows one mission where players are not in control of Frank Woods. Players could be controlling Mason or Adler, but it is more than likely the new player character we can create for the single-player campaign. This customization more than likely will pop up in the multiplayer, and we’re excited.
Frank Woods’ Truck, The Return Of Hudson, And New Character Adler
Later in the trailer, we see glimpses of Frank Woods driving his truck Banner-Rocks, which will be prevalent throughout the game. Who knows if this means more open level-design that allows players to move around similar to Warzone. We also see the RC-XD return, which means it will wreak havoc in multiplayer again.
We see the return of Hudson as he talks to U.S president Ronald Reagan. One concern with having fan favorites return to the forefront in a direct sequel is having any tension sucked out of the scene because we know Woods, Hudson, and Mason’s fates. Black Ops II showed us the bitter end for Hudson at the hands of Raul Menendez, with Mason and Woods either living or dying depending on player choices.
As mentioned above, Adler will be the only character we can be surprised by if he lives or dies since we don’t know much about him. We already know Hudson, Woods, and Mason won’t die in this entry unless Treyarch makes Cold War a soft reboot to retell the story of Black Ops. It would be exciting if Treyarch ends up making one of the old fan-favorite characters the infamous double agent Perseus, and make us question who we can trust.
Red Door Hallucinations
The intriguing tease is the return of hallucinations in Black Ops. We see a glimpse of the player falling through a hallway floor, but only to continue falling through the same hallway and trapped in a loop.
Another hallucination involves a red door falling out of the sky. The door lands in front of players, who seem to be running through a jungle. We know at some point players will go through flashbacks to the Vietnam War, and these hallucinations seem to be a part of them. The hallucinations can open the door - sorry- to some interesting ways to showcase the Cold War paranoia. Maybe like the opening narration hints at, these hallucinations will help players see the lies their country fed them. Fingers crossed that Call of Duty Cold War is not another one-dimensional red scare story.
NEXT: Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Will Feature Cross-Platform And Cross-Generation Multiplayer
