Guide to CoD Black Ops 6 Campaign: Essential Tips and Insights Before You Start Playing

The campaign of Call of Duty Black Ops 6 delivers an exhilarating and complex narrative that unfolds in the 1990s. With its ties to various entries in the Black Ops franchise, players can expect to meet a mix of familiar and fresh characters in this new installment. To truly grasp the nuances of the Bo6 campaign, it’s beneficial to familiarize yourself with the previous Black Ops narratives, as they provide crucial context. As you progress through the game, the storyline will become increasingly clear.

This article will cover essential details about the CoD Bo6 campaign that players should be aware of prior to starting their adventure.

CoD Black Ops 6 Campaign: Key Black Ops Storylines to Review

Call of Duty Black Ops

Operation 40

Beginning in 1961, Operation 40 marks the initial mission of the Black Ops series, set in Santa Maria, where Alex Mason, Woods, and Bowman attempt to eliminate Fidel Castro, a notable character within the saga. However, they soon discover their target was merely a double.

In a twist of fate, Mason finds himself captured while trying to escape, leading him into the custody of Soviet General Nikita Dragovich and Colonel Lev Kravchenko – key figures in the story. They imprisoned Mason in the Vorkuta gulag, where he meets Viktor Reznov, another pivotal character in the series.

The Numbers Program (Project Ascension)

The Numbers Program from Original Black Ops (Image via Activision)

While incarcerated, Mason is subjected to a brainwashing experiment by German scientist Friedrich Steiner under Dragovich’s orders. This Numbers Program aims to turn Mason into a sleeper agent programmed to assassinate President John F. Kennedy upon receiving a specific code.

However, Reznov, driven by vengeance against Dragovich, Kravchenko, and Steiner, uses the brainwashing to manipulate Mason, instructing him instead to kill the trio.

Prison Break

During the Prison Break mission, Mason and Reznov orchestrate their escape from Vorkuta. After their successful breakout, the duo goes separate ways. Once back in the field, Mason receives orders from President Kennedy to eliminate Dragovich, as he plans to unleash a chemical warfare agent called Nova 6 against the U.S.

Deployment to Vietnam

Following Kennedy’s directive, Mason, Woods, and Bowman venture into Vietnam to track down Dragovich and Kravchenko. Unfortunately, they are captured and relegated to a POW camp. Nevertheless, Mason and Woods manage to escape and eliminate Kravchenko in a dramatic scene where Woods stabs him and makes a daring jump out of a window with Mason just as Kravchenko activates a grenade.

This chaotic situation leads to Woods being recaptured and transferred to a POW facility in Da Nang.

End Transmission: Eliminating Dragovich

The concluding mission, Redemption, takes place aboard the Rusalka, a Russian vessel located in the Gulf of Mexico. Mason successfully thwarts the Numbers Program, which would have triggered other sleeper agents in the U.S. He ultimately confronts and drowns Dragovich.

Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War

Three main protagonists in Cold War (Image via Activision)

Set against the backdrop of the intense Cold War in the early 1980s, Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War picks up 13 years after the original Black Ops events.

This installment sees the return of familiar faces like Alex Mason, Frank Woods, and Jason Hudson as they band together to dismantle a worldwide terrorism conspiracy. A new character named “Bell” is also introduced, who had been part of Russell Adler’s operations during the Vietnam War.

Uncovering Perseus

The 1981 mission commences with CIA Special Officer Russell Adler, alongside Woods and Mason, tasked with locating the head of an Iranian terrorist network.

Upon learning of Perseus, a Soviet spy leading the organization, President Ronald Reagan greenlights a mission to eliminate him. Adler gathers a team composed of Helen Park, Lawrence Sims, and Lazar Azoulay to execute this directive.

Detonation

The team discovers that Perseus possesses crucial intel regarding the CIA’s operations that facilitate the planting of bombs in major European cities. Furthermore, Perseus is close to unlocking the detonation code for these explosives.

Meanwhile, Adler and Bell infiltrate KGB headquarters in search of the identities of Russian sleeper agents. After acquiring vital information, they venture to Cuba to storm Perseus’ lair, but he escapes with the crucial activation codes.

Russell, Bell, and False Memories

To uncover Perseus’ location, Adler resorts to administering drugs to Bell to trigger buried memories of their time together in Vietnam. During this intense interrogation, Bell reveals he never served alongside Adler, exposing the manipulative nature of their past experiences together, which were designed to gain Bell’s trust.

It becomes clear that Bell is actually the sole survivor of the previous mission, prompting the need for Adler to extract Bell’s real memories to locate the terrorist leader.

Raiding Perseus HQ

Eventually, Bell guides the team to Perseus’ stronghold and successfully eliminates the detonation codes, thereby averting a major disaster in Europe. Yet, once again, Perseus escapes their grasp.

The Post-Launch Story Continues – Perseus, Man, or Mantle?

In Black Ops Cold War’s post-launch missions, covert operations led by Vikhor ‘Stitch’ Kuzmin emerge. Stitch inheriting the mantle of Perseus collaborates with Steiner to manufacture Nova 6.

During this time, Stitch manages to capture Adler, attempting to brainwash him into switching sides. Fortunately, Mason and Hudson intervene to thwart Stitch’s malevolent plan.

Call of Duty Black Ops II

Saving Woods

Raul Menendez the main antagonist of Bo2 (Image via Activision)

The narrative of CoD Bo2 kicks off in 1986 when Hudson informs Mason about Woods’ capture while investigating a smuggling operation in central Africa. This revelation prompts Mason to abandon his son David to rescue his comrade. His search leads him to discover Woods, who had been left for dead inside a shipping container on the Cubango River in Angola.

After staging a daring rescue, Mason learns that Woods was taken captive by the notorious Raul Menendez, leader of the Menendez Cartel. With Woods back in action, he seeks vengeance against Menendez, which pushes him into Afghanistan to assist in the fight against Soviet forces.

During this time, Woods confronts Lev Kravchenko, one of the original Black Ops antagonists, and, in a moment of retribution, kills Kravchenko while uncovering that Menendez has infiltrated the CIA.

The Death of Josefina

In the Death of Josefina storyline, the CIA embarks on a mission to apprehend Menendez at his residence. In a fit of rage, Woods throws a grenade that accidentally kills Menendez’s sister, Josefina. Although the CIA announced the deaths of both Menendez and his sister, Mason and Woods harbor doubts about this report.

Nexus One – Menendez Gets Revenge

Menendez Gets Revenge in Bo2 (Image via Activision)

The scene shifts to 1989, where Woods and Mason are in Panama tracking a target known as Nexus One. Through a sniper’s lens, Woods identifies the target, only to be told by Hudson, who is being forced to yield false information by Menendez, that Nexus One is actually Raul Menendez. Following this command, Woods mistakenly executes Alex Mason, his own friend, instead of the intended target.

In an ensuing confrontation, Menendez shoots Woods in the knee, leaving him wheelchair-bound in the timeline of Black Ops 6. Devastated, Woods must contend with the pain of having exacted a tragic revenge for Menendez’s sister’s demise. As events unfold, David, Mason’s son, prepares for his father’s fate by joining Woods in this tumultuous journey.

Black Ops 6 Campaign Storyline

Bo6 Campaign storyline (Image via Activision)

The narrative of the Bo6 campaign unfolds in the early 1990s, spotlighting connections to CoD Bo2, including Woods’ wheelchair predicament caused by Menendez. Additionally, it reveals allegations that Russell Adler was mistakenly identified as one of Menendez’s CIA operatives.

The plot centers around a conspiracy where a clandestine organization, Pantheon, coerces a high-ranking agency. The Bo6 campaign’s missions have been carefully crafted to unravel this conspiracy and reveal the identities behind it.

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