The plot lives in the kind of conspiracy and paranoia that usually accompanies Tom Clancy-inspired fiction, which feels unseemly to toy with in light of real conspiratorial beliefs. — Photos: Activision
Unlike the contemporary context of Call of Duty’s Modern Warfare series, its Black Ops titles are usually set during Cold War conflicts. The first game has you attempting to assassinate Fidel Castro. You join forces with Jonas Savimbi’s Angolan rebellion in the sequel. And Russia dutifully rears its head as a perennial boogeyman throughout. In Black Ops Cold War, you even get to infiltrate the KGB’s headquarters and glad-hand with Mikhail Gorbachev.
October’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 takes place in the early 1990s, immediately following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. Its main conflict is the 1991 Gulf War, a US-led bombing campaign and ground invasion of Iraq after Saddam Hussein decided to invade Kuwait over oil-drilling rights and contested debts.
