Pyrrhic Victory Mission 1

Pyrrhic Victory is mission 1 in the Call of Duty: Black Ops II campaign, set during the 1980s era in Angola (Cuando/Cubango River). You play as Alex Mason.

Story summary

July 1986. Retired CIA operative Alex Mason is pulled back into service by his old handler Jason Hudson to rescue Frank Woods, who vanished investigating arms smuggling in Angola. Mason and Hudson aid Jonas Savimbi's UNITA rebels and rescue Woods from a barge, the campaign's first brush with Raul Menendez's network.

Where it sits in the campaign

As one of Black Ops II's fixed story missions, Pyrrhic Victory plays in a set order and cannot be skipped the way the optional Strike Force operations can. Its scripted beats drive the main plot, while the choices you make across the campaign — and the outcomes of those Strike Force ops — decide which of the game's several endings you reach.

Black Ops II's campaign branches on your choices and Strike Force results. See the endings guide for which decisions change who lives and dies, the full mission list for play order, or the campaign cast.