In 2012, Activision released the first of many futuristic Call of Duty games, Black Ops 2, set in the far-flung future of... 2025. Yes, Black Ops 2 is now a contemporary game. Yes, we're getting old.

For many Call of Duty players, particularly veterans, the setting of 2025 in Black Ops 2 felt like a distant future when the game was released back in 2012. Now, over a decade later, what was once ...