Kyle’s here to refresh our memory about Call of Duty: Black Ops and get us back to speed with the story of Black Ops 6!
That’s right, everybody. The truth lies. You know who doesn’t? Us here at VRSUS, and we’re back with another Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 read for you today! While it’s been a few years since the last COD: Black Ops game and quite a bit longer since COD: Black Ops 2, we’ve decided to help everyone and refresh your memory of the story. People are just getting into Call of Duty and are excited for Black Ops 6. Stick around to be brought up to speed as well! We’re only going to cover the general details today, so if you want more in-depth coverage, you can read “The Story so Far” on the blog of the folks behind this amazing game right here!
COD: Black Ops
Everything begins in the first Call of Duty: Black Ops game (duh). It kicks off with Sgt. Frank Woods, Alex Mason, and Joseph Bowman were roped into an off-the-books mission known as “Operation 40” in 1961. The goal was simple: Assassinate Fidel Castro in his own home during the confusion of the “Bay of Pigs” invasion. They think the mission is a success, but in actuality, they assassinate a body double, and Alex Mason is captured during their escape attempt.
A captured Mason is handed over by the real Castro to the Russians and is promptly subjected to brainwashing. The goal was to turn Mason into a Russian sleeper agent part of the “Numbers Program” who would activate and assassinate President John F. Kennedy when given a code. In the gulag, Mason meets Viktor Reznov, a captain who holds a personal grudge against the other officers in charge and brainwashes Mason to also kill General Nikita Dragovich, Lev Kravchenko, as well as the scientist who initially did the brainwashing, Friederich Steiner.
Mason and Reznov stage a coup and rally the other prisoners to escape. In the chaos, Mason is separated from Reznov. When Mason returned to the United States, President Kennedy authorized a mission to take out Dragovich and Kravchenko in order to stop the weaponization of a chemical agent known as Nova 6.
Following the authorization, Woods, Mason, and Bowman follow their target to Vietnam but are unfortunately ambushed and captured. The three are brought to a POW camp, and Bowman is regrettably killed. Mason and Woods eventually escape and find Kravchenko. Woods stabs Kravchenko and is recaptured after being separated from Mason after the fight. Mason goes off and suffers from hallucinations and eventually ends up assassinating Steiner as well. Once reclaimed by the CIA, Mason is interrogated about the Numbers Program.
The final mission of the game has Mason traveling to a Russian ship, Rusalka, and is tasked with stopping a transmission that will awaken the sleeper agents in the Numbers Program. Mason succeeds and drowns Dragovich.
COD: Black Ops Cold War
It was set thirteen years after the events of the first game and at the height of the Cold War in the 1980s. Mason, Woods, and Jason Hudson are back and have teamed up with new operatives to stop a global conspiracy decades in the making.
The team discovers that Perseus has taken control of one of the Neutron bombs planted all across Europe (a failsafe known as Operation Greenlight) and is threatening to detonate the rest. Adler and his team infiltrate the KGB headquarters to gather intel on the Russian sleeper agents and discover Perseus’ base. On a raid on the base in Cuba, Perseus manages to get away with the detonation codes and plans to raze Europe with the bombs and pin them on the U.S.
In 1981, CIA officer Russell Adler was sent on a mission with Woods and Mason to take down an Iranian terrorist leader responsible for the Iranian Hostage Crisis. During the mission, the existence of “Perseus” and a secret organization hellbent on dismantling Western powers is discovered. In light of this discovery, Adler assembles a team with the approval of President Ronald Reagan to take down Perseus.
In order to locate Perseus, Adler reveals that one of his operatives, Codename: Bell, was, in fact, a survivor of the first mission and is connected to Perseus. Their memories were fabricated in order to get Bell to trust Adler and are now being used to track Perseus down.
Using Bell’s original memories, a team is sent to raid Perseus’ HQ and successfully stops the detonation of the bombs with the destruction of the transmitter. Perseus unfortunately escapes
COD: Black Ops 2
In 1986, a now-retired Alex Mason was brought out of retirement by Jason Hudson to rescue Frank Woods after he was captured during an investigation in Central Africa. They eventually locate Woods in a shipping container on the Cubango River and discover he was captured by Raul Menendez, the leader of the Menendez Cartel.
After a brief recovery period, Woods deploys to Afghanistan to assist the military in a fight against the Soviets in exchange for intel on Menendez’s whereabouts. While there, he finds Kravchenko still alive. Woods discovers Menendez has moles in the CIA after dispatching Kravchenko.
On a raid in Nicaragua, the team attempts to capture Menendez, but an enraged Woods lobs a grenade, accidentally killing Menendez’s sister, Josefina, in the blast. In the aftermath, Josefina and Menendez are declared dead by the CIA, but our characters doubt this.
In 1989, Mason and Woods pursued a target known as Nexus One in Panama. Woods sees an individual with a bag over his head and is being escorted by two thugs. Woods is led to believe that this is Nexus One by Hudson, who is currently being held hostage by Menendez, unbeknownst to Woods. Woods takes the shot and finds out Raul tricked him into killing Alex Mason. Raul then appears and shoots Woods, permanently disabling his legs and leaving him wheelchair-bound. With Woods disabled and Hudson and Mason dead, the story now continues in Black Ops 6!
Excited for COD: Black Ops 6? Check out our trailer breakdown as well!
