The New ‘Call of Duty’ Game Features A Hyperrealistic Ronald Reagan, So Now He’s Become A Meme
You'll also be able to play as a gender-neutral character.
The Call of Duty franchise is some 17 years old, and over that time, it has developed a set of key characteristics — an emphasis on online play, enjoyably dude-broey plots, and a multitude of more guns than you can poke a stick at.
But that’s not to say there has been no experimentation along the way, for better and for worse. Every few titles, the head honchos at CoD shake things up, by sending players off to space, or by, uh, letting them commit war crimes.
That said, the series’ new left turn might be the strangest of them all. The trailer for the forthcoming Call Of Duty: Black Ops — Cold War features none other than an eerie, photorealistic Ronald Reagan, bossing you about and sending you off to war. Wilder still, the trailer treats Reagan’s entrance as a kind of surprise, as though he’s Darth Vader popping up in Rogue One.
Anyway, understandably, video game Ronald Reagan has caused all kinds of noise online, mostly in the form of memes.
They could’ve made a hyperrealistic model of any famous person from the 80s, so it’s fucked up that they chose Reagan and not Rodney Dangerfield https://t.co/8kMAVuiNIZ
— pixelatedboat aka “mr tweets” (@pixelatedboat) August 27, 2020
Will the new call of duty let me tell Reagan to go fuck himself
— Jacob (@galacticJD) August 26, 2020
Call of Duty Reagan should be included in all national polling going forward.
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) August 27, 2020
cant believe they dragged ronald reagan out of hell for the new call of duty game
— Hayden (@TrapTastic__) August 26, 2020
i will rip the reagan model from the new call of duty and import him into garrys mod so i can launch him into space in a bathtub rocket
— heatsie ⭐️ (@pochowek) August 27, 2020
Activision Ronald Reagan vs Ubisoft Karl Marx, place your bets pic.twitter.com/hWPOmvwmNj
— Ash (@AshBCoffin) August 27, 2020
Tbe chatter online seems to be divided into two camps — those who feel like Reagan’s involvement proves that the Call of Duty games has long been right-wing propaganda, and those who are expectantly waiting for the release of the game, so they get to shoot the one-time American President into space.
Of course, it’s worth waiting for the game’s actual release to draw opinions. CoD has long made a lot of play out of conspiracy theories and the evil machine of the military, so it’s entirely Reagan won’t be the hero that the trailer makes him out to be.
That’s not the only surprise in the trailer, either. According to early reports, Call of Duty — Black Ops: Cold War will also allow players to select a gender-neutral character, and be referred to using they/them pronouns by other characters.
To be honest, can’t think of much that better sums up the franchise than the new entry featuring both an infamously homophobic and destructive President, and the option to play as a gender-neutral character.
The game releases on November 13.