Nothing is for certain in the video game industry, and that's especially true in the current climate, where studios are being shutdown and games are being canceled on a near-constant basis. But one thing is almost guaranteed; there's going to be a new Call of Duty entry this year, just as there has been every year since 2005.
Nothing's been officially confirmed about Call of Duty's 2025 entry just yet, but there have been plenty of rumors and leaks surrounding the game. One of the most prevalent leaks is that Call of Duty 2025 is going to be a sort of direct sequel to 2012's Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, with its campaign allegedly following David Mason on a new adventure. It might feel a bit odd to return to that narrative and setting all these years later, but there's a lot of potential there, and there's one particularly promising aspect of Black Ops 2 that the new entry should embrace fully.
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Call of Duty 2025 Should Fully Embrace Its Semi-Futuristic Setting
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Dipped Its Toes into The Realm of Sci-Fi
Before Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare introduced exoskeletons, and long before Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare took players to space, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 dipped its toes into the world of Science-Fiction. While one half of Black Ops 2's campaign followed fan-favorite characters Alex Mason and Frank Woods during the 1980s, the other half took place in the year 2025, where tech has advanced quite a bit.
Not set in the distant future, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 managed to keep its tone grounded while still bringing forward a few common Sci-Fi themes and features. Robotic drones, for instance, played a prominent role in the game's marketing, and appear throughout the game's campaign and its multiplayer mode.
This semi-futuristic setting allowed Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 to feature a wealth of unique weapons and Scorestreaks that were unlike anything the franchise had seen before. From the Dragonfire drone that players could pilot, to the Autonomous Ground Robot mini tank, to the VTOL Warship, most of Black Ops 2's Scorestreaks had a Sci-Fi flair, and that's something that the franchise may want to return to.
Call of Duty 2025 Should Revisit Sci-Fi
While Call of Duty 2025 shouldn't lean all the way into Sci-Fi like Advanced Warfare and Infinite Warfare did, a return to Black Ops 2's semi-futuristic setting might be exactly what the series needs this year. Not only would this setting pave the way for some creative and unique weapon designs and Scorestreaks, it would also allow its campaign to explore plot points and themes that the rest of the franchise rarely tackles, thus offering a refreshing experience.
It's also particularly important for this year's Call of Duty entry to distinguish itself in some major way. The two CoD entries before last year's Black Ops 6 both featured a present-day setting, and Black Ops 6's 1990s setting doesn't feel all that different outside of the campaign. If Call of Duty 2025 doesn't embrace its potential Sci-Fi setting, then it could easily end up feeling too repetitive.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 83 /100 Critics Rec: 91%
- Released
- October 25, 2024
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Suggestive Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs
- Developer(s)
- Treyarch, Raven Software
- Publisher(s)
- Activision
- Engine
- IW 9.0
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op
- Cross-Platform Play
- Yes - PlayStation, Xbox, PC
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- FPS
