When it comes to first-person shooter games, most players tend to get into the action immediately. We can all admit that the Call of Duty series does not offer that much when it comes to storyline. However, that is about to change, starting with Call of Duty Warzone.
The game fully streamlines the storyline of the entire franchise and weaves in all of the protagonists' stories from all the games that have been released.
Find out how Call of Duty Warzone has strung together all of the threads into a singular storyline that can rival many other games in and out of the genre.
- Tying Things Together
- Back In The 60s
- The Tale Of Vodianoy
- A Story Involving The Players
- An Agent Activated
Tying Things Together
As one of the millions of players and fans of the Call of Duty franchise, I've always been quite ambivalent with the entire storyline. There were some times while playing the games that I felt like the story doesn't really matter anymore, and the mission is what counts.
Other times, I'm blown away by the twists and turns of the plot revolving around our heroes in their fight against death and destruction.
Almost all of the Call of Duty games have their own separate storylines, but it wasn't until a few years ago that the series finally tried to streamline the story of the series.
This started in the first season of the Black Ops Cold War. Beforehand, it was a convoluted mess filled with nothing but missions left and right, but now, things have finally begun to feel more cohesive.
Where It All Started
With Infinity Ward and Raven Software at the helm, the storyline has finally been retooled to make it more engaging. This all started during the Modern Warfare era, where the story centered mostly around Captain John Price, leader of Task Force 141.
During this time, Price is tasked to bring down a group that plans to launch a nuclear missile attack in Verdansk, which is by far one of, if not the most popular maps in the game.
The game's main antagonists Victor Zakhaev and Khaled Al-Asad, were eventually tracked down and brought to justice. However, this was an isolated storyline during that time, and players wanted more out of the characters and the storytelling possibilities of this version.
Back In The 60s
In order to streamline and solidify the ongoing stories of the present, the developers went back in time to fully justify what is going on in the present.
We head back to the 1960s, where the game introduces us to one of the most popular villains known as Vikhor "Stitch" Kuzmin, a KGB weapons expert.
Stitch is known to be a ruthless leader of the shadow terrorist organization called Perseus - more on that later. Stitch sets up a base of operation at Rebirth Island, where he develops a chemical agent called Nova-6 for the Russians to bring the advantage over to their side during the Cold War.
A Plan In Motion
To stop this threat, the CIA has sent its operative Russel Adler to deal with Stitch only to bear a personal grudge against the operative after losing his eye. Stitch would go into hiding for a couple of decades and would soon re-emerge as the leader of Perseus in the 80s.
This time, Stitch has expanded on his plans for domination by now including both the US and the USSR. Adler is called once more to stop Stitch as he is seen to be developing Nova-6 once again, but this time, with a deadlier effect.
However, Adler is captured and divulges his plan to use the Numbers program that will activate all the sleeper agents across the world through a signal. It was later on revealed that Adler is also part of this project, and the broadcast would also activate him as an agent.
The Tale Of Vodianoy
Now, this is where things get very complicated but ultimately fixed the storyline by merging both storylines together with a little help of science fiction.
During this time, Stitch had already developed the more dangerous Nova-6 gas and has prepared to distribute it across the world through a cargo ship called Vodianoy.
However, the cargo ship suddenly disappeared off the sea when it departed Rebirth Island. It was sighted 37 years later on the shores of Verdansk, where it has unleashed a horde of zombies into the nearby area.
The zombie infection would soon spread over to the city of Verdansk.
Resetting The Clock, Resetting The Storyline
The zombie outbreak has forced the government to launch a nuclear missile in the area to destroy all the undead and prevent it from spreading across the world.
The destruction caused a calamity that reset the entire timeline back to 1984, where he is once again brought back to the time where Stitch is about to begin his plan for world domination.
This ultimately streamlined the stories in which we now have a single timeline of all the things related to Call of Duty Warzone. This was the time that I felt Call of Duty Warzone truly stood out on its own and became a powerhouse in the franchise.
A Story Involving The Players
In Season 4, the devs have allowed players to fully immerse themselves with the experience as the storyline continues to move forward with the hunt for Adler in 1984 Verdansk.
Players could now enjoy playing the game while also tying their overall experience to the storyline through an event. In this event, players must complete different challenges that will lead to the location where Adler is currently held and rescue him from the clutches of Stitch.
Players were able to track him down in Laos only to find out it was a trap; however, we also learn that Adler is being held hostage in Verdansk.
A few days later, two Perseus agents were able to infiltrate a secret base in Mount Yamantau, where they were able to get hold of data for Project Nova or the Numbers project.
Taking Down The Satellites
Meanwhile, the CIA has set a team of operatives led by Frank Woods, Adler's comrade, to rescue Adler in Verdansk. Adler is taken to safety after experiencing the horrors of getting tortured by Sitch.
Perseus agents are then ordered to reach out to their allies in South Africa to take out CIA satellites that interfered with the plans to broadcast the numbers. The Perseus agents successfully took over the Jumpseat Satellite Ground Station, where they left one operator alive to follow a set of instructions from Stitch.
The plan is to bring down the satellites in specific locations through which Stitch provides the coordinates to both Algeria and Verdansk. Both satellites then crash into Algeria and Verdansk, respectively, and the satellite operator is killed.
An Agent Activated
After his recovery, Adler is then sent to Algeria to investigate and recover a data recorder from the satellite crash. While on the mission, he charges into battle and finds the data recorder from the debris before his team arrives.
He then comes out from the wreckage and tells the rest of the team that there was nothing there.
After the events in South Africa, one of the Perseus agents who infiltrated the Yamatau base was able to reach out to another Perseus operative to let them know that the mission in South Africa had been a success.
They are then told to pick up a package at a certain location while also preparing for another mission, this time to Teufelsburg.
What's In The Future For Call Of Duty Warzone?
Has Adler been turned, or is he playing a double agent role against Perseus? What's in the data recorder? Why did Stitch want the satellites to crash in such specific locations? What's going on in Verdansk with the satellite debris? Only time will tell.
In a recent interview, the developers have revealed that they wanted the game to have bits and pieces of information revealed to the players to avoid confusion and convoluted storylines like in the past.
They wanted it to play like a television series where players connect with the characters and the story through an episodic approach. The multiplayer story arc has been one of their most popular storylines with players of the game and promises to continue doing so.
Conclusion
For now, this has been the story of Call of Duty Warzone Season 4 so far, and it has been one of the most gripping storylines I've ever played in many first-person shooter games.
Call of Duty has genuinely stepped up to the plate and has solidified its storytelling prowess and interweaving it with the gameplay. This has been one of the most ambitious storytelling experiences that Call of Duty has pulled off so far, and there's more to come.
