With Call of Duty being among the biggest franchises in the industry, its no shock that it can attract some big-time talent. Two of Hollywood’s biggest names are set to take on roles in Black Ops.
Ed Harris, best known for roles in Apollo 13 and The Rock, will be playing one of the game’s lead heroes, CIA Operative Jason Hudson. Meanwhile, Gary Oldman, best known for his roles as wizards, vampires, and commissioner of Gotham City’s police department, will be reprising his role of Victor Reznov, last seen in Treyarch’s last Call of Duty title, World at War.
Meanwhile, the script will be taken on by another Batman alum, David S. Goyer who will be a consultant on the project. Is all this emphasis on the storyline a good thing?
Although Modern Warfare 2’s narrative borderlined on the short and silly, taking obvious inspiration from the Michael Bay School of Making Stuff Blow Up Real Good. However, World at War actually had a long, extremely strong narrative, bringing players to the horrors of World War II like never before and actually making the trodden trails seem fresh and inviting. Sure, other FPSes have had better stories, but coming from the Tier-2 developer on the franchise, it was pretty surprising.
This, but without Sean Penn.
Having identifiable actors, much less critically-acclaimed ones like Harris and Oldman only helps the game’s case. Sure, some would say that having these actors devalues the game itself, but it certainly shows that the Call of Duty franchise has grown to enormous levels, and will provide more good press for one of the year’s biggest games.
Good press that Activision needs, given what has happened this year to the franchise.
