Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold Warbrings with it a campaign that tells a complex Cold War narrative full of talk regarding Nuclear War and mind control. The campaign is surprisingly story-focused, with less of an emphasis on action and more of a push toward solving the many mysteries ofBlack Ops Cold War’s narrative. While this does work, and the campaign of the game introduces memorablenew characters like Adler and Park, it feels fairly disconnected from the originalCall of Duty: Black Ops.
Despite being a direct sequel to the firstCall of Duty: Black Opsgame, returning characters take a back seat inCall of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. While this allows Raven Software to focus on the new additions and tell a story of its own, it makes the addition of Frank Woods and Alex Mason feel forced. Players only fill the shoes of original protagonist Alex Mason in a handful of the game’s missions, two of which are optional. This immediately presents a major problem, however, as Alex Mason’s small role prevents Raven from answering the biggest lingering question of theBlack Opsfranchise: did Alex Mason assassinate JFK?
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The Impact Of Mason’s Small Black Ops Cold War Role
Despite Activision releasinga short Alex Mason biographyahead ofCall of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s release, little is done with the character during the events of the game’s story. The main reason behind Mason’s minor role is due to the player-created character of Bell, who is the core focus of the game’s mind-bending narrative. While this is all well and good, it leaves the incredibly complex and tortured Mason as a side character. As such, any chance for the JFK plot thread to be explored further is immediately eliminated.
WithBlack Ops Cold Warset in the 1980s, JFK’s assassination a decade prior is mostly ignored by the game altogether. Only a few torn newspaper clippings can be found around the game’s safe house hub area, all of which are used for a gate puzzle that allows players access to a series of mini-games. None of the newspaper clippings say anything meaningful regarding the assassination, with the writing mirroring that of the real world and no evidence incriminating or absolving Alex Mason. No characters discuss the assassination plot, either, leaving JFK’s death completely irrelevant to theBlack Ops Cold Warnarrative.
Considering that early teasers and theories made it seem likely thatJFK’s assassination would be the focusofCall of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, it is odd that the historical figure is borderline nonexistent in the actual game. With the mystery around JFK’s death in real life still being discussed to this day and a huge portion of the originalBlack Opsending being dedicated to the topic, seeing Raven skip over the assassination entirely is incredibly odd. However, there could be a few big reasons (apart from creative freedom) as to why Raven jumped to the 80s and ignored the topic in the latestBlack Opsgame.
Why Did Raven Not Pull The Trigger On The JFK Assassination?
For many, the photo reveal from the end of the originalBlack Opsgame is an iconic moment in theCall of Dutyseries. Seeing Mason in the crowd during JFK’s assassination, alongside dark music from theBlack Opssoundtrack, was a damning piece of evidence that hints at the character succumbing to his brainwashing and killing his own president. Despite this, the topic has never been explored inthe numerousBlack Opssequels, andBlack Ops Cold Warcampaign developer Raven has continued that unfortunate trend.
One of the possible explanations for this is the use of a different voice actor for Alex Mason inCall of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. Much like with theactor replacement for Frank Woods, Alex Mason is no longer played by Sam Worthington, his original actor. Instead played by Chris Payne Gilbert, Mason sounds quite different this time around. While it is unclear if Sam Worthington did not want to play Mason again, or simply was not asked back for the role, perhaps Raven wanted to avoid giving the character a larger role to play due to this major voice change. Fans would likely be more bothered by the voice change if Mason was the focus, calling out the developers and connecting less with the “new” Mason.
The other, far likelier possibility is that some people could take serious offense to players filling the role of a presidential assassin in a video game, and the mainstream nature of theCall of Dutyfranchise having such a level could lead to issues for Activision. After all, a story centered around players controlling Alex Mason as he kills JFK is hardly “appropriate.” It is interesting, however, and it is a story that should be told.
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Raven Can (And Should) Still Explore JFK’s Death
In one of the fewCall of Duty: Black Ops Cold Warmissionswhere players take control of Alex Mason, there is a brief moment where the Numbers appear. The iconic sign of Mason’s mind control taking effect, the appearance of the Numbers is a brief reminder that not all is well in the character’s mind. Just like inCall of Duty: Black Ops 2, the brainwashing still lingers, much like a form of PTSD for the tortured Mason. As shown by this brief flash of numbers, Raven clearly knows itsBlack Opshistory.
While a JFL campaign could be offensive to some and would be a bit of a risk for Activision, it is a story that should be told. With an unanswered cliffhanger from a decade prior, and a lengthy in-universe time gap that can still be filled, Raven can finally provide fans with the closure that Treyarch never did. Not only would tracking down a rogue Mason make for an exciting game, but it could alsoallow players to play as Frank Woodsonce again. WithBlack Ops Cold Wartouching on the bond between Woods and Mason, a game focused on the former hunting down the latter could be extremely intense and emotional.
Better yet, by incorporating numerous choices anddifferent endings likeBlack Ops Cold War, unique story branches could be created. Perhaps one version of the story sees Mason in the crowd attempting to stop JFK’s assassination, while another sees him giving into his mind control and carrying out the dastardly deed. Non-canon endings, like Perseus’ victory inBlack Ops Cold War, can also occur. Perhaps Woods is forced to kill Mason in one “what if?” scenario, where another sees JFK survive the assassination attempt. While this is all just fun speculation, the topic is ripe for exploration and perfect for the espionage style of aCall of Duty: Black Opsgame.
While a game centered on Alex Mason killing (or trying to save) JFK would be predictable, as Mason ultimately needs to survive the events of the story and be rehabilitated, the journey players go on could be thrilling. Sure, there’s things like justifying his assassination then and his role inCold Warto consider, not to mention propelling the story forward and not backward, but that’s not really a game-stopper.
Playing off real-life conspiracy theories and building off of the relationship between Woods and Mason, the story could go in numerous directions and make use of all the new systems Raven introduced inBlack Ops Cold War. While it is not a topic for the faint of heart, an originalCall of Dutystory focused on the infamous event needs to happen. IftheBlack Opsstorylineis going to continue, fans deserve closure regarding this 10-year-old cliffhanger.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold Waris available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
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