Call of Dutyhas no shortage of fan-favorite characters. TheModern Warfareserieshas Captain Price, Soap, and Ghost as its mascots, whileBlack Opshas Alex Mason, Frank Woods, and the more recent addition of Russell Adler. But the newly announcedCall of Duty: Black Ops 7isn’t relying on any of those tried-and-tested franchise mascots.
Unveiled during Xbox’s June Showcase,Call of Duty: Black Ops 7is acting as a direct follow-up to 2012’sCall of Duty: Black Ops 2. Set a decade afterBlack Ops 2’s campaign,Call of Duty: Black Ops 7will once again put David Mason center stage, right alongside Raul Menendez. While these names will be familiar to long-timeCall of Dutyfans, some newer players might not recognize them, and that’s a risky move for the next mainlineCoDto make.
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 inCall of Duty: Black Ops 2’s campaignall the way back in 2012. The former is the son ofBlack Opsmascot 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 bothAlex and David Mason, culminating in a final battle in the year 2025. Due toBlack 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 inCall of Duty: Black Ops 3, but that game’s campaign is set decades afterBlack Ops 2and is relatively disconnected.Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold WarandBlack Ops 6avoid these characters entirely, as both take place betweenBlack Ops 1and2. This means thatCall of Dutyfans haven’t seen David Mason or Raul Menendez in well over a decade.
Raul Menendez and David Mason did appear as skins inCall of Duty: Black Ops 4’s Blackout mode, and Menendez appeared more recently inVanguardandWarzone. But none of these appearances shed light on the characters' fates after the events ofBlack Ops 2.
On the one hand, it’s incredibly exciting thatCall of Duty: Black Ops 7is finally giving fans a direct follow-up toBlack 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 Dutyhas 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 asCall of Duty: Black Ops 7does 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 7could open with some flashbacks to the events ofBlack 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 7is also set in the year 2035, a decade afterBlack 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.
