The surprise cast of Black Ops zombie mode

Early footage of next week’s Call of Duty: Black Ops has revealed that the much heralded zombie mode has taken a surprising new turn, casting players as one of two former US presidents and one overseas leader.

As can be seen in the picture below courtesy of Kotaku, gamers have the option of playing as one of four political figures. The selection includes former presidents John F Kennedy and Richard Nixon as well as former US secretary of defense Robert McNamara.

Also included in Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro.

A video on Kotaku shows the four attempting to fend off a zombie invasion of the Pentagon.

The inclusion of zombie mode was itself kept under wraps until fairly recently. Fellow Call of Duty developer Infinity Ward has previously turned its nose up at the blending of the undead and military history, but the debut of the feature in Call of Duty: world at War was a massive hit for Treyarch.

Call of Duty: Black Ops will be released worldwide on November 9th.