Call of Duty has no shortage of fan-favorite characters. The Modern Warfare series has Captain Price, Soap, and Ghost as its mascots, while Black Ops has Alex Mason, Frank Woods, and the more recent addition of Russell Adler. But the newly announced Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 isn’t relying on any of those tried-and-tested franchise mascots.
Unveiled during Xbox’s June Showcase, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is acting as a direct follow-up to 2012’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. Set a decade after Black Ops 2‘s campaign, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 will once again put David Mason center stage, right alongside Raul Menendez. While these names will be familiar to long-time Call of Duty fans, some newer players might not recognize them, and that’s a risky move for the next mainline CoD to make.
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Call of Duty Black Ops 7 Might Be Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Although Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 will likely be big, there are a couple things stacked up against this shooter that may hold it back from greatness.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Is Risking a Lot with its Choice of Characters
David Mason and Raul Menendez Haven’t Been Seen Since 2012
David Mason and Raul Menendez were first introduced in Call of Duty: Black Ops 2‘s campaign all the way back in 2012. The former is the son of Black Ops mascot Alex Mason, who followed his father’s footsteps and joined an elite section of the US military, while the latter is a former Nicaraguan drug lord who led a terrorist organization in an attempt to get revenge on the CIA for the murder of his family.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2‘s campaign follows the rise of Raul Menendez through the decades via the lens of both Alex and David Mason, culminating in a final battle in the year 2025. Due to Black Ops 2‘s campaign including player-made choices, it’s unclear which parts of its story are considered canon, including its dramatic finale that potentially sees Menendez either spared or killed at the hands of David Mason.
The fates of Mason and Menendez weren’t really explored in any of the series’ subsequent entries either. Menendez gets a few throwaway mentions in Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, but that game’s campaign is set decades after Black Ops 2 and is relatively disconnected. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Black Ops 6 avoid these characters entirely, as both take place between Black Ops 1 and 2. This means that Call of Duty fans haven’t seen David Mason or Raul Menendez in well over a decade.
Raul Menendez and David Mason did appear as skins in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4‘s Blackout mode, and Menendez appeared more recently in Vanguard and Warzone. But none of these appearances shed light on the characters’ fates after the events of Black Ops 2.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Needs to Tread Carefully with its Characters
On the one hand, it’s incredibly exciting that Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is finally giving fans a direct follow-up to Black Ops 2‘s campaign, and there’s a lot of potential behind exploring these old characters. But on the other hand, it’s a little risky to base an entire campaign around characters who were only seen in one entry 13 years ago. Call of Duty has gained a lot of new fans since 2012, and even long-time fans might have forgotten the intricacies of Mason and Menendez’s shared history.
That said, there shouldn’t really be a problem as long as Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 does a good job of catching players up on the story so far, and cementing the campaign’s stakes right out of the gate. For instance, Black Ops 7 could open with some flashbacks to the events of Black Ops 2, introducing Menendez and Mason to new players and confirming which of the game’s endings are canon for long-time fans. Black Ops 7 is also set in the year 2035, a decade after Black Ops 2‘s 2025 setting, so it’d be great to get at least one mission that explores the events that took place during that period.