Miles Leslie from Treyarch and Natalie Pohorski from Raven Software take us through bringing back David Mason in Black Ops 7 after thirteen years and more!

With the full reveal of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 happening during gamescom’s Opening Night Live a few days ago, it’s full speed ahead for Treyarch and Raven Software. Last week at a private press event, I had the opportunity to chat with two members of the development team, Miles Leslie, the Associate Creative Director at Treyarch, and Natalie Pohorski, Lead Producer at Raven Software. They’ve been in the limelight speaking about the campaign along with the new Endgame mode, so this was a perfect time to find out more regarding bringing the sequel to a thirteen year old game to life. 

To start, my first question dealt with their timelines. We’ve all heard the rumors on how the development of Modern Warfare III worked following Modern Warfare II. How different is the vibe going from four years of development with Black Ops 6 to more or less one with Black Ops 7?

I was glad to hear Miles’ answer, especially with how important this narrative is to the connected timeline. To be clear, they worked on both games at the same time. Not that they necessarily had the exact same amount of years of development – Black Ops 6 was the focus from day one. But, as Black Ops 6’s cycle wound down, the team moved over to Black Ops 7. In the end, it’s not about how much time they had on a game, it’s about having enough time to deliver on what they wanted to, and they feel like Black Ops 7 got that treatment.

Several developers, including Miles, have been around since the Black Ops series began. Considering how long it’s been since Black Ops 2, you’d think they’ve had some discussions on what Black Ops 7 would be before now. I was curious: have these concepts been around since BO2’s development? Are there any fun stories on what beats were chosen to be chased?

Miles has very vivid memories of Black Ops 2. One of the amazing things they did with that game was to never give you a canon ending. Treyarch has discussed a lot where they could go with it over the years, and you’ll see the definitive ending to Black Ops 2 in Black Ops 7. That said, they’ve worked hard to give Black Ops 7 its own identity in the series, while paying homage to Black Ops 2.

While it’s taken multiple entries to get here, they’ve always wanted to go back to David Mason. He’s a messed up character and bad things happened in those branching storylines, so there were threads needing to be resolved. But, it wasn’t always the right time. Now, with BO6 setting up the narrative and Milo Ventimiglia playing the character, the time is right.

Speaking of Milo, David Mason and Raul Menendez aren’t characters you just toss in a campaign and call it a day. They deserve to be crafted with the utmost care and attention. How do you take two iconic and beloved characters like David Mason and Raul Menendez and pay homage to what they were 13 years ago while still keeping things fresh? Especially when one of these characters’ voice actors has sadly passed away (Kamar de los Reyes).

Natalie took this one on. They definitely discussed recasting Menendez in detail, wanting to make sure they paid respect while finding the same flavor and emotion de los Reyes did. With Milo/David, they knew they were going into twisted places mentally, with a personal story revolving around digging into his memories and facing his fears. Making intentional choices in their casting and properly vetting the people they chose to tell the story they’re aiming for in Black Ops 7 was important to the teams.

David’s role is integral to this narrative, so it makes sense to bring on an accomplished actor like Milo Ventimiglia. I know him from Heroes, some know him from This Is Us, and my wife knows him from Gilmore Girls. I was interested in what he specifically brought to the table. Did Milo have any feedback or suggestions to the script as the campaign team worked with him?

Here was one of my favorite answers from our interview session. Milo showed up day one and was completely ready for his role. Natalie has spoken in our Black Ops 7 presentation about him “commanding the room”, and he was literally doing just that on the mocap stage. They told him, “you’re the squad leader”, and he responded with, “I know, I got you”.

Adding to Natalie’s point, Miles felt like Milo brought more of a nuance to David Mason in his performance. He would take a line and say it even better than they’d visualized when they wrote it. He would change something in his voice or adjust something and they knew that, clearly, that’s how David would say something. Both dev teams were very happy with the performances of all the voice cast, who made it their own and injected their personalities into Black Ops 7.

Moving on to gameplay, in our presentation the campaign missions felt more open in the linear stages. While these aren’t like the open missions in Modern Warfare III, it does seem like attention has been paid to making sure a squad of four in co-op won’t be too cramped. Some people might be playing solo though, so how does the campaign co-op feel in solo versus co-op? Are there bot companions to fill the squad?

My bot question may have been misunderstood – no bots as AI companions doesn’t make sense to me if the story features all four of Spectre One, but I could be wrong. That said, Treyarch and Raven Software have gone to lengths to ensure there isn’t a difference in story for playing solo versus four. In all the levels, the intention has been to make sure they don’t feel empty for that solo player, and this is where their experience with Black Ops 3 and even World at War comes in. They asked the question, “How do you make the campaign feel good for one, two, three, and four players?”. The teams feel like they’ve done that, and no matter what number of players are involved, it’ll feel right. It’s not overcrowded, and the right balance is there across all missions. You’ll also have mission control in your ear as Troy Marshall is in the chair supporting and guiding you along the way.

Endgame is Treyarch and Raven Software’s big new feature for this game, a 32 player PVE mode set on the map of Avalon (which I assume will be the next big Warzone map). Even being somewhat of a new and incredible idea, there are vibes from previous modes coming off of it. Is it based on DMZ from Modern Warfare II or Modern Warfare Zombies?

Although he could see my route getting there, Miles brought up Outbreak from Black Ops Cold War as more of a pattern for Endgame, along with MWZ. They definitely took a look at what DMZ offered, but it was more about how they could take the campaign, along with the co-op, and build that shared experience even bigger. This isn’t a full on extraction shooter; there isn’t inventory management or looting items from the world. You could almost call it an “extraction shooter-lite” in how streamlined it is.

It’s almost a graduation of the campaign, learning the intricacies of the gameplay, earning your gear and abilities, and then having a playground to use them in. They want it to be exciting, with the challenge available to engage you. These streets will be familiar, all these different sites of Avalon you’ve discovered as you completed David Mason and Spectre One’s story coming back to oppose you once again. That opposition can be tough, and while we don’t have exacts, you’ll still have to escape Avalon… another extraction element. With how players love Zombies and the survival aspect of it, this is a unique and next step of giving Call of Duty a new experience.

For my last question, I went back to the past. Are there any flashback missions like we saw in Black Ops 2?

Black Ops 7 may not approach its “visits” in the same manner, but you will relive memories that the characters have. They’ll be twisted, torn in different ways than what the characters think they should be. Spectre One’s experience of these moments has shifted, and just like movies like Momento, that’s how we’re experiencing these memories as well. Players that know the backstory of what the campaign team is presenting will get a kick out of it (at least they hope so!), and even if you don’t, they’re working to build an amazing mission that blows your mind.

Thanks again to Miles and Natalie for taking a few moments out of their busy schedules to talk with me! Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 will release on Xbox Series consoles, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and PC on November 14th. Day One on Xbox Game Pass.

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