The Black Ops Timeline Explained: From Vorkuta to Corvus
Call of Duty: Black Ops Story Recap – Every Game Explained
The Call of Duty: Black Ops timeline is a twisted web of psychological warfare, Cold War conspiracies, and futuristic paranoia. Spanning from the battlefields of World War II to a simulated 21st-century warzone, the story is defined by secret operations, brainwashing, and soldiers who are forced to question reality.
Here is the complete story of the Black Ops universe, broken down in chronological order.
1. The Prologue: Call of Duty: World at War (1945 Missions)
While not a Black Ops game, the Soviet campaign in World at War is the essential origin story for the entire series.
The Heroes: You play as Private Dimitri Petrenko, who fights alongside the grizzled Sergeant Viktor Reznov. They battle from the ruins of Stalingrad to the steps of the Reichstag in Berlin.
The Betrayal: After WWII, Reznov and Petrenko are ordered by their superiors—General Nikita Dragovich, Colonel Lev Kravchenko, and a German scientist named Friedrich Steiner—to secure a Nazi bioweapon called Nova 6.
The Catalyst: Dragovich betrays Reznov, wanting Nova 6 for his own twisted ambitions. He uses Petrenko as a test subject, murdering him with the gas. Reznov is captured and imprisoned in the brutal Vorkuta labor camp, where his only goal becomes revenge against the three men responsible: "Dragovich... Kravchenko... Steiner... These 'men' must die."
2. Call of Duty: Black Ops (1961 – 1968)
This is where the psychological manipulation begins.
The Setup: CIA operative Alex Mason is strapped to a chair, being interrogated about a mysterious broadcast: "The numbers, Mason! What do they mean?" His story is told through a series of fractured flashbacks.
The Vorkuta Connection: Mason’s first flashback is the Bay of Pigs invasion, where he is captured and sent to Vorkuta. There, he meets Viktor Reznov. Reznov has spent years brainwashing his fellow prisoners, and he sees Mason as the perfect weapon.
The Brainwashing: Reznov "reprograms" Mason with his own mission: to kill Dragovich, Kravchenko, and Steiner. Mason and Reznov (or so it seems) lead a massive prison riot and escape.
The Big Twist: As Mason’s interrogation continues, his handler Jason Hudson reveals the truth. Mason was brainwashed... but by Dragovich's team first. They tried to turn him into a Soviet sleeper agent. Reznov’s programming in Vorkuta was a "hijack," twisting Mason’s original mission into one of personal revenge.
The Friend: The biggest shock? Viktor Reznov died during the Vorkuta escape. The Reznov who Mason has been seeing and fighting alongside for years—the one who helped him kill Steiner and Kravchenko—was a hallucination. It was Mason who carried out the revenge, guided by Reznov's voice in his head. Mason finally hunts down and kills Dragovich, his mind now free. Or is it? The game's final scene shows Mason may have been the sleeper agent who assassinated President Kennedy.
3. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (1981)
Set between the main events of BO1 and BO2, this game introduces a new layer of conspiracy.
The Mission: CIA agent Russell Adler forms a black ops team, including Alex Mason and Frank Woods, to hunt a mythical Soviet spy known as Perseus, who has stolen a nuclear device. You play as a customizable agent codenamed "Bell."
The Big Twist (Again): In the game's climax, Adler reveals that "Bell" is not who they think they are. Bell was a high-ranking Perseus operative who was nearly killed in an operation, found by Adler, and then subjected to Project MK-Ultra. The entire game has been Adler's attempt to "re-activate" Bell's original memories to find Perseus. "Bell" is not your ally; you are their test subject.
The Choice: Bell is forced to choose.
The "Good" Ending: Bell betrays Perseus, helps Adler stop the nukes, and is then "cleaned up" (killed) by Adler to tie up loose ends.
The "Bad" Ending: Bell remains loyal to Perseus, lures Adler's team into a trap, and successfully detonates the nukes across Europe.
4. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (1986 – 1989 Flashbacks)
This game runs on two timelines. The 1980s section details the fall of the original heroes.
The Villain: The 80s missions follow Alex Mason and Frank Woods as they hunt Raul Menendez, a Nicaraguan cartel leader who becomes a populist icon and cyber-terrorist.
The Tragedy: Menendez has a deep, personal vendetta against Woods and Mason. In a complex plot, Menendez captures Woods and tricks him into shooting a hooded captive. Woods believes he is shooting Menendez, but he actually shoots and kills Alex Mason.
The Aftermath: Menendez is "killed," and Frank Woods is crippled and left to believe he murdered his best friend. Jason Hudson is also killed by Menendez, leaving the original Black Ops team shattered.
5. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (1991)
Taking place in the 90s, this game bridges the gap between the Cold War and the futuristic era.
The Setup: Following the Gulf War, the world is a "single superpower" and the old rules are gone. Frank Woods, now working from a wheelchair, is in a leadership role at the CIA.
The Conspiracy: Woods and his new protégé, Troy Marshall, are forced to go rogue when they are betrayed by their own agency. They are hunted by a new shadow organization called "Pantheon."
The Twist: The man pulling the strings at Pantheon appears to be Russell Adler, the hero from Cold War, who is now seen as a rogue agent. The mission becomes a global manhunt to find Adler and uncover the truth about Pantheon before they're buried as traitors.
6. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (2025 Timeline)
This is the "future" half of the game, completing the story.
The Hero: You play as David "Section" Mason, the son of Alex Mason.
The Villain Returns: Raul Menendez, who faked his death in the 80s, returns as the leader of "Cordis Die," a massive anti-Western populist movement. He hijacks the entire U.S. drone fleet, crippling its military.
The End: David, with the help of an elderly Frank Woods, hunts down Menendez. The game features multiple endings based on your choices, which determine whether Menendez is captured or killed, and whether the U.S. drone fleet is saved or turned against its creators, plunging the world into chaos.
7. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (Circa 2040s)
Black Ops 4 has no traditional single-player campaign. Its story is told through the Specialist HQ missions.
The Story: These missions serve as a prequel to Black Ops 3, introducing the Specialists (multiplayer characters) and the world of 2040. The "plot" centers on Savannah Mason-Meyer, Alex Mason's granddaughter, who is secretly resurrecting Frank Woods's consciousness in a new "Project Blackout" program, setting the stage for the advanced AI and cybernetics seen in BO3.
8. Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 (2065)
This is where the Black Ops story goes full science-fiction and completely off the rails, in a good way.
The World: In 2065, cybernetic enhancements are common. Soldiers use a Direct Neural Interface (DNI) to link their minds to weapons, tech, and each other.
The Plot: You play as a "Player" who, after a mission goes wrong, is given cybernetic enhancements and a DNI. You and your partner, Hendricks, hunt for a rogue agent, John Taylor, and his team, who have gone missing while investigating a "frozen forest."
The "Frozen Forest": The "frozen forest" is revealed to be a shared virtual reality created by a rogue AI named Corvus. This AI was born from a mass-casualty event and is "infecting" anyone with a DNI, trapping their minds in this simulation.
The ULTIMATE Twist: The game's story is almost impossible to understand on a first playthrough because it's a lie. The final missions reveal that your character (the Player) actually died on the operating table during their first cybernetic surgery.
The Reality: The entire campaign you just played was a simulation playing out in your character's dying brain. This simulation was created by Corvus, which was trying to understand human behavior by merging the memories of Taylor (who was also infected) with your own. The story you experience is just a corrupted memory of Taylor's last mission. The game ends with the AI (Corvus) "purging" its human side and taking full control.