The whole “Reznov is Mason’s Tyler Durden” revelation was one of the first plot twists in a piece of storytelling (let alone a video game) I remember genuinely blowing me away the first time I experienced it. It’s always stuck out in my mind because of that.
Definitely! I think it was one of the first times I saw a big twist like that in a game as well. It left an impression on me for sure. Thanks for sharing
Thanks for watching my supercut of the Black Ops Retrospectives! It was a lot of fun to replay these games and look back on the legacy each one has left.
The problem with Black Ops: Cold War, is that the Campaign/Perseus plot is finished throughout the multiplayer Season cutscenes / Warzone which take place after the story. It’s a thing that started with MW2019, and continued with Black Ops Cold War
1:32:29 the cannon ending to Black Ops 2 is Mason getting shot in the legs with Menendez Getting shot by David because Black Ops 3's Data Vault says David killed Menendez and thats what causes the world to be in the state its in, in Blaxk Ops 3 and Mason is alive in the Black Ops 6 cutscene leaks
@@calvinfishermedia no worries most people wouldn't know that's the cannon ending but also you made great points about Menendez wanting David to shoot him
1:29:24 you could also say if you didn’t kill him, he could use his contacts to somehow escape and be right back at it again. He’s shown himself to be able to outsmart the best militaries and leaders in the world and has a loyal following of around 1/4-1/5 (depending on the global population in the game) million people. He’s too dangerous to be left alive. Sure a martyr is dangerous.. but arguably he would be more dangerous out calling shots again.
14:56 A crazy detail I learned at this point was you can shoot Reznov, but the bullets go through him, almost as if he is a ghost or isn’t there (which he isn’t). this doesn’t extend to other npcs without either your gun not shooting or the npc dying. just another foreshadowing detail i wanted to share
3:27:05 not sure if anyone mentioned this but gorbachev's quote here is also almost exactly the beginning of what kennedy says to you while playing as mason when they meet at the pentagon in bo1: "we are in grave danger from the communists. our freedom, our very way of life is at risk. dragOvitch. i'm told that you are the very best that we have. anywhere. you will need to be. mister mason, take care of it." cold as fuck 🧊
i think something important to note about killing/sparing menendez also ties into the themes of revenge and suffering. menendez suffered by capitalism and it’s consequences, seeking revenge against the US woods suffered at the hand of menendez, and sought revenge, killing his sister. menendez suffered by woods killing his sister, so he tortured both woods and section section can continue this suffering/revenge cycle, killing menendez, causing the suffering of members of cordis die, and the inevitable revenge they then went for. or, he can end it, break the cycle and free himself, woods, everyone. its why i love bo2 so much, a good theme plus that really dynamic storyline is such a great thing.
I definitely get that! Although WAW is in the same continuity, it doesn’t quite have the Black Ops identity that I explore in this video, so it didn’t quite fit in. Thanks for watching!
One of the wildest hidden seeds planted in bo1 is something not a lot of players know, hell I didn't know this till I seen the gaming wins video in which one of his wins covered it I then played through the campaign again my self and sure enough its real. At the beginning of every mission similar to the mw games a small amount of text shows up that gives info about the mission including the date and time, location, operative and a small description of the mission. Most the text gets redacted however it waits a few seconds before doing this. At the beginning of every one of these starts with the word designate as well as a letter in the military alphabet (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta etc) this is where the game quite literally spoils the twist to you the whole game. Starting with the mission "Vorkuta" the text reads designate: Romeo or R and every mason related mission after that spells out Reznov is Dead using X-ray as spaces or Romeo, Echo, Zulu, November, Oscar, Victor, X-ray, India, Sierra, X-ray, Delta, Echo,Alpha, Delta, and redemption ends with X-ray. It's a crazy Easter egg that I encourage you to pay attention to it the next playthrough to see if you can catch it.
I hated this game upon launch but when i played through Waw i was like ill just play the story then i was so blown away by the story. The energy on multiplayer with ice cube yelling at you lol was unmatched
Black ops 1 had such an amazingly bizarre and creepy yet somehow believable and realistic story. I think only Call of duty 4 story stands close to it. I stopped playing these games when they became fairly tales.
Thank you for this beautiful video Act Man. One of the biggest regrets I've had in life was not going to a midnight release. Maybe one day they'll come back and I can finally experience the magic you all did.
amazing video man this is the first i’ve seen from you i’m definitely subbing and gonna be watching ur content from now on i LOVE long form content so this vid was perfect for me and growing up with these games as a teenager definitely brings back memories seeing you talk about them and being up some of the best moments keep making great vids like this brother 🤝🤙😊
Regarding Mason persisting with the missions after rescuing woods (other than not having a game to play) could be because as we see in the beginning like a lot of post war veterans you never quite fit back in and your outlook can be so far degraded you treat the ones closest and dearest to you like absolute shit without realizing it. To want to escape is pretty human but the desire to throw one’s self into the chaos of war to get away from it all is truly fucked showing how far gone a lot of us are as a result of doing what we felt was “right”. Black ops always says so much without ever speaking as you said leading to its credit as a phenomenal piece of art
My fault for taking so long to sub didn’t realize how deep your bag was 🙏🏾 (I like to listen to long form videos while working and I’ve been a frequent watcher of your channel without realizing it was the same channel)
Nice video. Something worth mentioning I came across Back in the day when I first played this game. I could be wrong… but… EVERYBODY IN THIS GAME IS THE BAD GUYS. Everybody names is in Red with subtitles.
Bo3 had the potential to be one if the best games in the franchise especially with the fun MP and arguably best zombies mode in the franchise i firmly belive its the best futuristic cod out of the three (AW BO3 and IW) which is what makes the campaign even more frustrating as the story could have been the best yet if it was executed properly instead its convoluted and didn't make sense to me till both this video and Gingis video about the bo series story as a whole both videos came out in 2024 and by then ive already forgotten bo3s campaign and played much better ones like MW2019, Cold War and now BO6 I really wish bo3 was done better
I used to give spoiler warnings before every video, but I received consistent feedback from viewers that it wasn’t necessary. Given this is a four hour video about the campaigns of the games, it seems safe to assume that it will be the story in its entirety. Still, with that said, I’m sorry if something was spoiled for you. Thanks for watching!
I think it was at one point but it got retconned. Either way, this video is focused on the mainline entries in the series and how its identity has evolved. Thanks for watching!
Thanks for checking out the video! There are a couple of reasons it isn’t here. First, this is a video focused on Black Ops’s identity, and while WAW is in the same continuity, it is not a black ops game. Second, I have another video idea that WAW fits better into, and I didn’t want to cover it twice. Thanks for watching, appreciate it!
I do want to cover Ghosts at some point! I think its near post-apocalyptic setting is really unique and would be fun to cover. I have a handful of videos planned so not sure when I’d get to it. Thanks for watching!
Hey, thanks for watching! World at War might be first chronologically, but it's not a Black Ops game - it doesn't really fit with the series identity that I'm covering in this video. I am planning a different video that includes WAW. I appreciate you checking out the video and sharing your thoughts :)
I think video games should stay off the “consequences of your actions” path. I mean games are fiction, the whole point of them is to be an ESCAPE from real life, right? If i have no choice but to face the consequences in life, why would i wanna come home and play fictional video games… just to have to endure the same thing? To each their own ig, but i find a video game more enjoyable when it stays in fiction.
I think choice and consequence is a really powerful narrative tool when done right. It definitely can feel shoehorned into some games though. And I think there is a strong appeal to a linearly-told story for many reasons too. Thanks for watching!
In reference to BO3, Injust don't think a game needing a lot of brain power to understand its story means it is bad. Just because most people aren't intelligent enough to follow along doesn't mean the narrative isn't good. For those who are smart enough to understand what's going on, it is a very rewarding experience.
I understand what you’re saying. However, I think there is something to be said about presenting a story in a digestible way. Black Ops 3 tells a complicated story, but there are certain storytelling choices it makes that are needlessly complicated. Cutting down on that I think would be the best improvement. Thanks for watching and sharing your opinion!
I think it’s arguable that even intelligent individuals who are capable of keeping up with such a narrative would occasionally want to turn their brain off with something easily understood and digestible, like when they’re playing Call of Duty for example. I agree, though, that this doesn’t speak to the actual quality of the story.
I heard that recently too. It is interesting because they seem to be keeping the past part of BO2 but discarding the future part, which feels a bit strange when the past parts of BO2 lead into the future parts…
@@calvinfishermedia yeah apparently next year's game is going to be a remake of Black Ops 2 which will explain everything I don't understand why they can't separate the two and also have Warzone exist in its own universe too
turn to Jesus Christ he loves all of us more than anything and he literally died for us. He took in the punishment for our sins thru on the cross. It wasn’t cuz we deserved it, but cuz he loved us. 1 John 4:10 “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” it was thru his love that he died for us and we can be forgiven
I know I also left a comment on your CW video, but you’re extremely underrated and these videos are amazing!
Thanks, this made my day!! I really appreciate it.
@@calvinfishermedia 😅
The whole “Reznov is Mason’s Tyler Durden” revelation was one of the first plot twists in a piece of storytelling (let alone a video game) I remember genuinely blowing me away the first time I experienced it. It’s always stuck out in my mind because of that.
Definitely! I think it was one of the first times I saw a big twist like that in a game as well. It left an impression on me for sure. Thanks for sharing
Brother you made my 8 hour shift feel like a breeze
I’m happy to hear! That’s in large part what I make these videos for :)
Thanks for watching my supercut of the Black Ops Retrospectives! It was a lot of fun to replay these games and look back on the legacy each one has left.
I swear If I had a PC I'd make a 5 hour long video on why I love the bo2 campaign
The problem with Black Ops: Cold War, is that the Campaign/Perseus plot is finished throughout the multiplayer Season cutscenes / Warzone which take place after the story. It’s a thing that started with MW2019, and continued with Black Ops Cold War
Definitely not a fan of this! The campaign’s story should be concluded in the campaign itself. Thanks for watching and sharing.
I have never had a big interest in the CoD stories, but this vid showed me that there is more than meets the eye with them. Great video and thanks
Awesome, I’m glad you enjoyed it!
4:11 “I’m a goddamn onion Mason, you should know this” - Woods 🤣🤣🤣
Woods has some great lines lol!
@@calvinfishermediathat is NOT one of them 😭😭😭
1:32:29 the cannon ending to Black Ops 2 is Mason getting shot in the legs with Menendez Getting shot by David because Black Ops 3's Data Vault says David killed Menendez and thats what causes the world to be in the state its in, in Blaxk Ops 3 and Mason is alive in the Black Ops 6 cutscene leaks
That makes sense! Thanks for sharing.
@@calvinfishermedia no worries most people wouldn't know that's the cannon ending but also you made great points about Menendez wanting David to shoot him
Those leaks must've been wrong, mason never shows up in BO6
@@nataliecameron yeah I mistook Caine Jackson for Mason
@@ITZCHELSEA2244 well now you look like an idiot, that isnt mason at the end
1:29:24 you could also say if you didn’t kill him, he could use his contacts to somehow escape and be right back at it again. He’s shown himself to be able to outsmart the best militaries and leaders in the world and has a loyal following of around 1/4-1/5 (depending on the global population in the game) million people. He’s too dangerous to be left alive. Sure a martyr is dangerous.. but arguably he would be more dangerous out calling shots again.
That is definitely a fair analysis too! Thanks for sharing your insight
14:56 A crazy detail I learned at this point was you can shoot Reznov, but the bullets go through him, almost as if he is a ghost or isn’t there (which he isn’t). this doesn’t extend to other npcs without either your gun not shooting or the npc dying. just another foreshadowing detail i wanted to share
That’s an interesting detail! Thanks for sharing.
3:27:05 not sure if anyone mentioned this but gorbachev's quote here is also almost exactly the beginning of what kennedy says to you while playing as mason when they meet at the pentagon in bo1:
"we are in grave danger from the communists. our freedom, our very way of life is at risk. dragOvitch. i'm told that you are the very best that we have. anywhere. you will need to be. mister mason, take care of it."
cold as fuck 🧊
I think someone did mention it in another comment but this is a really interesting detail! Thanks for sharing.
i think something important to note about killing/sparing menendez also ties into the themes of revenge and suffering.
menendez suffered by capitalism and it’s consequences, seeking revenge against the US
woods suffered at the hand of menendez, and sought revenge, killing his sister.
menendez suffered by woods killing his sister, so he tortured both woods and section
section can continue this suffering/revenge cycle, killing menendez, causing the suffering of members of cordis die, and the inevitable revenge they then went for.
or, he can end it, break the cycle and free himself, woods, everyone.
its why i love bo2 so much, a good theme plus that really dynamic storyline is such a great thing.
This is a good analysis of the choice at the end! Thanks for sharing.
Oh god bless my algorithm for suggesting this to me so early 🙏
Haha I'm glad it made it into your feed! Thank you for checking out the video, I hope you enjoy :)
Woke up today just to open my phone and see that I watched this 4 hour video
Nice, hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching.
@ tbh kinda a banger ngl
@ still really confused on how I clicked on it but still goo vid
I'm disappointed you left World at War out of this.
I definitely get that! Although WAW is in the same continuity, it doesn’t quite have the Black Ops identity that I explore in this video, so it didn’t quite fit in. Thanks for watching!
WaW can happen in any continuity. Not really necessary
The only reason WaW should be considered is because of Reznov and Dimitri@@realtalkrealthingsent.8024
@@realtalkrealthingsent.8024reznov is why he said that and Cold War also puts modern warfare in black ops continuity
It's not called black ops world at war and this is a video of the black ops series
I thoroughly enjoyed this whole video from start to finish man, definitely watching any video of yours I see from now on
Thanks man, I really appreciate that! I’m happy you enjoyed the video
Fantastic definitive Black Ops Franchise as a whole Lore Video. Loved it 🔥
Thanks for the kind feedback, I appreciate it!
This was the first call of duty I really started to play and get into, something about treyarchs world building and stories are always top tier
Treyarch definitely has a distinct style to their worldbuilding and storytelling! There isn’t anything else quite like it.
Nice another video to put in the background while I work
Thanks for checking out the video!
Im 14 minutes in and already subscribed, you deserve so many more subs that you have the depth you go into made me realize how much i missed
Thanks that means a lot! Appreciate the kind feedback :)
This is an awesome video dude keep it up
Thanks, I appreciate it! Glad you enjoyed the video.
I loved BO3's campaign. Especially the co-op feature i wish they'd bring back.
Co op in this game and WAW are underrated!
Great video!
Thanks for watching!
10/10 man been waiting for this one
Awesome!! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Love the vid my guy
Thanks I really appreciate it!!
Great retrospective on BO1!
Thanks for watching! I am glad you enjoyed it
This is a very nice video. Keep it up, bro
Thanks, I appreciate it!
Subscribed love this man
Thanks man! I really appreciate that.
It's even better when you realize that the plan that the prisoners are saying is actually how you complete the orgins easter egg! it's very clever
Oh, that’s a really cool detail! I didn’t know that. Thanks for sharing!
also, "you must ascend from darkness" is written on the wall in the first zombies map nacht der untoten
One of the wildest hidden seeds planted in bo1 is something not a lot of players know, hell I didn't know this till I seen the gaming wins video in which one of his wins covered it I then played through the campaign again my self and sure enough its real. At the beginning of every mission similar to the mw games a small amount of text shows up that gives info about the mission including the date and time, location, operative and a small description of the mission. Most the text gets redacted however it waits a few seconds before doing this. At the beginning of every one of these starts with the word designate as well as a letter in the military alphabet (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta etc) this is where the game quite literally spoils the twist to you the whole game. Starting with the mission "Vorkuta" the text reads designate: Romeo or R and every mason related mission after that spells out Reznov is Dead using X-ray as spaces or Romeo, Echo, Zulu, November, Oscar, Victor, X-ray, India, Sierra, X-ray, Delta, Echo,Alpha, Delta, and redemption ends with X-ray. It's a crazy Easter egg that I encourage you to pay attention to it the next playthrough to see if you can catch it.
That’s a super interesting detail! Thanks for sharing, I appreciate it!
I hated this game upon launch but when i played through Waw i was like ill just play the story then i was so blown away by the story. The energy on multiplayer with ice cube yelling at you lol was unmatched
The multiplayer of the black ops games, especially BO1, holds a special place in my heart! So many classic moments haha. Thanks for sharing
Black ops 1 had such an amazingly bizarre and creepy yet somehow believable and realistic story. I think only Call of duty 4 story stands close to it. I stopped playing these games when they became fairly tales.
Black Ops and MW definitely captured that gritty realistic feel that later games didn’t quite do. They are both special games to me!
Yeh they both were like really good movies
Thank you for this beautiful video Act Man. One of the biggest regrets I've had in life was not going to a midnight release. Maybe one day they'll come back and I can finally experience the magic you all did.
Thanks for watching! Hope you get to experience a midnight release someday :)
@@calvinfishermedia LMAO, HOW DID THIS END UP HERE?!?
@@SuperMetalWorld i was wondering since I’m not the act man 😂. Weird!
amazing video man this is the first i’ve seen from you i’m definitely subbing and gonna be watching ur content from now on i LOVE long form content so this vid was perfect for me and growing
up with these games as a teenager definitely brings back memories seeing you talk about them and being up some of the best moments keep making great vids like this brother 🤝🤙😊
Thanks man I really appreciate the positive feedback!
BO6 campaign download is nearly twice the size of Cold War hopefully it’s just as good as well
Fingers crossed it turns out good!
Regarding Mason persisting with the missions after rescuing woods (other than not having a game to play) could be because as we see in the beginning like a lot of post war veterans you never quite fit back in and your outlook can be so far degraded you treat the ones closest and dearest to you like absolute shit without realizing it. To want to escape is pretty human but the desire to throw one’s self into the chaos of war to get away from it all is truly fucked showing how far gone a lot of us are as a result of doing what we felt was “right”. Black ops always says so much without ever speaking as you said leading to its credit as a phenomenal piece of art
I think your analysis makes a ton of sense! Thanks for sharing.
Really enjoy this while playing BO6 ❤
Awesome! Thanks for checking out the video. How are you liking BO6? I’m really enjoying the campaign so far
My fault for taking so long to sub didn’t realize how deep your bag was 🙏🏾
(I like to listen to long form videos while working and I’ve been a frequent watcher of your channel without realizing it was the same channel)
All good, thank you for the sub! :)
just in time for a snack while it rains
Nice!! Enjoy the video!
another plot twist inside of the terminal you can find enough proof that implies reznov is still alive but no under the alias john trent
Ah interesting, I didn’t know that! Thanks for sharing.
@calvinfishermedia np surprised me as well. To bad they didn't tie up that loose end in bo6 maybe next time
@@N0vA.117reznov would be in his late 80s in BO6 if he was alive
Nice video. Something worth mentioning I came across Back in the day when I first played this game. I could be wrong… but… EVERYBODY IN THIS GAME IS THE BAD GUYS. Everybody names is in Red with subtitles.
Oh, that’s really interesting! I noticed it in Cold War but not the original
This a good ass video
Thanks I appreciate it :)!
Bo3 had the potential to be one if the best games in the franchise especially with the fun MP and arguably best zombies mode in the franchise i firmly belive its the best futuristic cod out of the three (AW BO3 and IW) which is what makes the campaign even more frustrating as the story could have been the best yet if it was executed properly instead its convoluted and didn't make sense to me till both this video and Gingis video about the bo series story as a whole both videos came out in 2024 and by then ive already forgotten bo3s campaign and played much better ones like MW2019, Cold War and now BO6 I really wish bo3 was done better
Definitely get where you’re coming from! The potential of BO3 makes its shortcomings even more of a bummer.
🤤the story. I miss it
Such a good series! I feel like there aren’t any other stories in gaming that hit the same espionage MK ultra vibe that black ops does
@ the mysteries and conspiracy behind it all. Amazing
Reznof is a legend
He definitely is!! Thanks for watching
14:31 Just completely ruining the twist in the first game. I get it but damn.
I used to give spoiler warnings before every video, but I received consistent feedback from viewers that it wasn’t necessary. Given this is a four hour video about the campaigns of the games, it seems safe to assume that it will be the story in its entirety. Still, with that said, I’m sorry if something was spoiled for you. Thanks for watching!
What about declassified or is it not canon
I think it was at one point but it got retconned. Either way, this video is focused on the mainline entries in the series and how its identity has evolved. Thanks for watching!
22 minutes in and I’ve heard “revelations” like 80 times
just clicked it calvin, lets see if ur cookin🤔
Thanks, I hope you enjoy it!
wheres world at war?
Thanks for checking out the video! There are a couple of reasons it isn’t here. First, this is a video focused on Black Ops’s identity, and while WAW is in the same continuity, it is not a black ops game. Second, I have another video idea that WAW fits better into, and I didn’t want to cover it twice. Thanks for watching, appreciate it!
My good sir, I need you to do COD Ghosts. Multiplayer was okay. But the campaign was AMAZING
The war in ghosts is dumb
I do want to cover Ghosts at some point! I think its near post-apocalyptic setting is really unique and would be fun to cover. I have a handful of videos planned so not sure when I’d get to it. Thanks for watching!
Just now realizing Resnovs escape plan is the origins Easter egg
Ah, I didn’t know that! Interesting. Thanks for sharing
@@calvinfishermedia that’s really the only Easter egg Ik by heart but I wonder if there any other missions that directly relate to zombies
Wait i thought it was complete, but world at war IS the first
Hey, thanks for watching! World at War might be first chronologically, but it's not a Black Ops game - it doesn't really fit with the series identity that I'm covering in this video. I am planning a different video that includes WAW. I appreciate you checking out the video and sharing your thoughts :)
He said in some other comment since it doesn’t have black ops in the title he didn’t wanna add it
I think video games should stay off the “consequences of your actions” path. I mean games are fiction, the whole point of them is to be an ESCAPE from real life, right? If i have no choice but to face the consequences in life, why would i wanna come home and play fictional video games… just to have to endure the same thing? To each their own ig, but i find a video game more enjoyable when it stays in fiction.
I think choice and consequence is a really powerful narrative tool when done right. It definitely can feel shoehorned into some games though. And I think there is a strong appeal to a linearly-told story for many reasons too. Thanks for watching!
All things considered, black ops 3s story was pretty ambitious, the execution was pretty bad though
That’s a great way to describe it in a nutshell! Ambitious but flawed execution. Thanks for sharing
In reference to BO3, Injust don't think a game needing a lot of brain power to understand its story means it is bad.
Just because most people aren't intelligent enough to follow along doesn't mean the narrative isn't good.
For those who are smart enough to understand what's going on, it is a very rewarding experience.
I understand what you’re saying. However, I think there is something to be said about presenting a story in a digestible way. Black Ops 3 tells a complicated story, but there are certain storytelling choices it makes that are needlessly complicated. Cutting down on that I think would be the best improvement. Thanks for watching and sharing your opinion!
I think it’s arguable that even intelligent individuals who are capable of keeping up with such a narrative would occasionally want to turn their brain off with something easily understood and digestible, like when they’re playing Call of Duty for example. I agree, though, that this doesn’t speak to the actual quality of the story.
New drinking game. Take a shot every time he says black ops
BLOPS!!!! (Black ops)
The Black Ops and MW universe are the same just the 2025 part of Black Ops 2 isnt cannon or is beibg retconned in some way
I heard that recently too. It is interesting because they seem to be keeping the past part of BO2 but discarding the future part, which feels a bit strange when the past parts of BO2 lead into the future parts…
@@calvinfishermedia yeah apparently next year's game is going to be a remake of Black Ops 2 which will explain everything I don't understand why they can't separate the two and also have Warzone exist in its own universe too
I watched this whole thing on accident while sleeping
Yes, I am in the same boat as you. I was going to sleep, but this popped up, and now I am invested.
Nice haha! Thanks for watching, I appreciate it.
turn to Jesus Christ he loves all of us more than anything and he literally died for us. He took in the punishment for our sins thru on the cross. It wasn’t cuz we deserved it, but cuz he loved us. 1 John 4:10 “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” it was thru his love that he died for us and we can be forgiven
That’s what I’m talking about brother let’s go
Yeah but why on this video
Brain rot
I agree with you but if you’re just trying to bait why use a Black Ops retrospective
what?
Garbage game !
Sorry you didn’t enjoy the black ops games!