‘Call of Duty: Warzone’ builds on explosive LL Cool J song

A hard-hitting trailer for the free game “Call of Duty: Warzone” emphasizes the franchise’s established status, just like its chosen soundtrack — a remix of LL Cool J’s “Mama Said Knock You Out”.

“Don’t call it a comeback, I’ve been here for years” boomed hip-hop icon LL Cool J, pushing back against the rise of Gangsta Rap and asserting his relevance in the early 1990s.

Fittingly, it is the 2017 Undefeated Remix of his 1991 track “Mama Said Knock You Out” that drives the official trailer for “Call of Duty: Warzone”.

“Call of Duty”, the annual, blockbuster first-person shooter video game franchise, has been around since 2003. In the company of “Mario”, “Pokémon” and “Grand Theft Auto”, it is one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time.

Now, in the wake of “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds” (aka “PUBG”), “Fortnite” and “Apex Legends” it is launching its own standalone, free to play Battle Royale contender after months of rumor, speculation, in-game glitches and leaked gameplay takedowns.

Available from March 10 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows PC, “Call of Duty: Warzone” is the franchise’s third contribution to the last-person-standing Battle Royale genre.

The first, contained within 2018’s multiplayer-focused retail game “Call of Duty: Black Ops 4”, is the reason why “Warzone” might be described as a comeback; the second is part of 2019’s iOS and Android download “Call of Duty: Mobile”.

Though this enhanced version of “Mama Said Knock You Out” is in lockstep with the “Warzone” trailer, accentuating the game’s presentation of brutal, decisively violent interactions, it is not so much of a comeback for the track per se.

Film fans might recall its use in the final trailer for 2018’s “Deadpool 2”, for example, and 2019’s monster movie “Godzilla: King of the Monsters”. RGA

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