David Petraeus is Secretary of Defense in new ‘Call of Duty’

By Eric Pfeiffer

David Petraeus is the Secretary of Defense in the new Call of Duty video game (Activision)Former CIA Director David Petraeus is still reeling from a recently revealed extramarital affair that may have national security repercussions, but in the video game world things are going much better for the retired four-star general.

In the new "Call of Duty: Black Ops II" game released on Tuesday, Petraeus is the newly appointed Secretary of Defense in the year 2025.


And that's not the only unusual bit of predicted future developments from Call of Duty creators Activision and Treyarch in the game. When we first meet Petraeus, he's aboard the USS Barack Obama.
Several high-profile actors have lent their talents to previous Call of Duty video game installments, but Petraeus does not actually provide the voice for his own character. As Kotaku reports, Petraeus is played by actor Jim Meskimen in the game.
Petraeus also reportedly displays some phoenix worthy resurrection skills within the game itself. Early on, he is aboard Marine One with the fictional "President Bosworth," a dead-ringer for Hillary Clinton, when terrorists shoot down the aircraft. However, both the president and Petraeus survive the attack.
Video game developers are known to retroactively make substantial changes to their characters and plots, even after titles are released to the public. So, it will be interesting to see if Petraeus remains in the game, or is scrubbed via a software update as his real-life personal scandal continues to dominate the news headlines.

Video game analyst Michael Pachter actually argues that the development is good for the game developers, telling the Hollywood Reporter that, "All incremental publicity is good." He predicts that 20 million copies of the game will have been sold before the end of 2012.

Then again, this latest installment of the Call of Duty franchise offers a platform to another former real-life military figure whose stature was diminished in the face of scandal. Former Lt. Col. Oliver North served as an adviser on the game and even makes an appearance in a flashback cinematic sequence, where he does his own voice work.

Oliver North does his own voice work in Call of Duty: Black O