How to Play the Call of Duty: Black Ops Games in Order

Across a decade and a half, Treyarch’s Call of Duty: Black Ops saga has had quite the run. Across six games, the series has bounced around over a century of history and future. Here’s how to play every Black Ops game in order.

How to Play the Call of Duty: Black Ops Games in Release Order

1) Call of Duty: World at War

The most straightforward order to play the Black Ops games is in order of release. To start, we have to go all the way back to 2008. Treyarch’s final World War II era CoD, World at War, plays a pivotal role in setting up the franchise. The events of Treyarch’s version of World War II set up the state of the world. More directly, World at War introduces players to Viktor Reznov. Reznov is later the deuteragonist in Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010).

2) Call of Duty: Black Ops

The original Black Ops is next up and takes players through a Cold War-era conspiracy thriller. Alex Mason is interrogated to recall covert operations throughout the ’60s and ’70s and the answer to an important question: what do the numbers mean? This game continues the story of Viktor Reznov as Mason meets him in a Russian Gulag. The original Black Ops also introduces players to the iconic Frank Woods, who plays a key role in the next entry. Black Ops has an excellent supporting cast, too, including characters like Hudson and Weaver, who appear in future entries.

3) Call of Duty: Black Ops 2

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 was released in 2012 and features a split timeline. This time, the story centers around Alex Mason’s son, David, and Frank Woods. As an enemy from Woods and Mason’s past resurfaces, David visits his Uncle Frank in a nursing facility for more information. The story alternates between flashbacks and the present day of 2025.

4) Call of Duty: Black Ops 3

2015’s Black Ops 3 is fairly disconnected from its predecessors. Set in the year 2065, this title tells a dystopian tale of future warfare. In it, players fight alongside a squad of modified super-soldiers. This game is the most surreal and avant-garde of the series. However, it is likely still canon. We can presume this from documents players can read in the CIA Safehouses between missions and Hendrix name-dropping Raul Menendez.

5) Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

Released in 2018, Black Ops 4 is missing a traditional campaign, but it still has some story. It is actually a prequel to Black Ops 3 and features younger versions of that game’s multiplayer Specialists. Most of the story in this game is told through cutscenes in Specialist HQ missions. The Blackout Battle Royale mode is also full of lore. However, it’s mostly about how Alex Mason’s granddaughter is the world’s first trillionaire. She clones many of the characters from past Black Ops games, including Alex Mason and Frank Woods. The whole thing is pretty absurd and may no longer be canon.

6) Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War

With a much-needed return to the golden age of the sub-franchise, Black Ops: Cold War launched just days after the release of PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S Consoles in 2020. This title turns the clock back to 1981 for the campaign and 1983 for Zombies and is a direct sequel to the original Black Ops game.

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How to Play the Call of Duty: Black Ops Games in Chronological Order

1) Call of Duty: World at War

As we mentioned earlier, the Black Ops saga bounces around in the timeline. However, players will want to play World at War first. This game is set mostly in the final months of World War II. Players alternate between Private C. Miller and Sergeant Dimitri Petrenko. Through these characters, players see the American conflict in the Pacific and the Russian fight against the Nazis.

2) Call of Duty: Black Ops

The next game, Call of Duty: Black Ops, has one flashback to the World War II era. The mission Project Nova takes place in October 1945 and sees players reunited with Dimitri and Reznov. If you wanted to play truly in order, you’d play this level before Black Ops. Still, we recommend you play this level when it occurs in the Black Ops campaign.

The Black Ops campaign will take players from 1961 to 1968 on a globe-trotting adventure that takes place during the Cold War and some levels during the Vietnam War. There is also a post-credits scene that occurs in 1963.

3) Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War

Black Ops Cold War is a direct follow-up to the original Black Ops in timeline order. The campaign story starts in 1981, 13 years after the conclusion of Black Ops. This story is mostly centered on new characters, like Russel Adler, Lawrence Sims, Helen Park, and the player character, Bell. There are two different ways the game can end, and while we won’t spoil them here, one of them is clearly canon, whereas the other is not. 

Black Ops Cold War‘s story goes deeper into the 1980s in post-launch content. The Zombies storyline, which features Weaver from the original Black Ops, takes place from November 1983 to June 1985. There is also a brief flash-forward that takes place in 1990. And if that wasn’t enough, the rivalry between Adler and Perseus also continues in Warzone and Zombies, unfolding between 1983 and 1984. 

4) Call of Duty: Black Ops 2

With Black Ops 2 set across two eras, the timeline gets confusing. It takes place primarily in 2025, with several flashbacks to the late 1980s. These flashbacks continue the story of Alex Mason and Frank Woods, starting in 1986.

And that’s how to play all the Call of Duty: Black Ops games in order. Since the main story stops at Black Ops 2, that’s a good place to jump off, especially because of the wild nature of the next two games.