Going into Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War, we knew we’d be in for a bumpy ride. Over the last year, Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War has had a rough development process. Last year it was reported that there was a development conflict between Activision and its developers Raven Software and Sledgehammer Games. When the news broke, it was announced that Treyarch would be taking over the development process of this year’s game. Because of this, Treyarch had less than two years to develop Black Ops Cold War. With a shorter development time, you can see that Cold War was a rush job. Let’s dive into our Call of Duty BlackOps Cold War review.
Instead of us going on and on about Treyarch having to rush Black Ops Cold War, let’s break down the positive and negative aspects of the game. Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War features four game modes; the four games modes are Campaign, Multiplayer, Warzone, and Zombies. Now obviously Warzone is just a portal to the regular Warzone game mode and requires that you have it installed elsewhere. The addition of this hub feels pointless since it just launches C.o.D Warzone externally.
Campaign Gameplay
Five years have passed since the Black Ops franchise has featured an actual campaign; Call of Duty Black Ops IV featured Specialists’ stories but deprived the Black Ops community of the characters they know and love. Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War takes place after the events of Black Ops 1 and reunites us with Woods, Hudson, Mason, and Adler; the story features other new characters but they are rather forgettable. If one of the new characters dies, you have a moment of oh no but within a few minutes, it’s on to the next world-ending conspiracy. This campaign has a centralized hub that features a chalkboard that the player launches each campaign mission with. This chalkboard provides intel about each mission to the player. Two side missions also appear on the board for the player to decipher clues found within the regular campaign missions.
Black Ops Cold War‘s Campaign took about six and a half (6.5) hours to complete on Hardcore including the side missions Operation Chaos and Red Circus. On Recruit you can probably get it done faster. After completing the first mission, the player is shown a dossier where they can design their character’s background. The player can then choose their military background (EX-KGB, MI6, CIA, or Classified). Finally, the player must determine their psychological profile. These two profile categories grant the player bonuses that will impact their skillset throughout the campaign; there are fourteen options to choose from excluding classified. These skills can impact how fast you can reload, how much damage you deal, and if you flinch when hurt. At the end of the game, the choices you choose between to fill the document with will be addressed by Adler at a pivotal point.
Multiplayer Gameplay
Going into Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War, we knew what we had seen during the Cold War Alpha and Beta. Sadly like most good things, it wasn’t meant to last. Prior to the game’s release, popular hacking websites such as I Like Cheats and others were already selling modded versions of the game as well as aimbots. Now a week since launch, you will occasionally still see a player using an aimbot; these aimbots are easy to spot when comparing a PC player’s movements and accuracy. If you are planning to play cross-platform be aware of two things. PC players do have an advantage due to the high refresh rate; PC players who are using a controller also get the benefit of a stronger aim assist.
If you are trying to play with friends, then good luck. At times the game will show you offline, only show you Activision friends, or block you from joining your friend’s lobby. At the end of each match, your party will go back into the game search query. This sadly deprives players of the ability to smack talk in between rounds; yes this gets rid of some of the toxicity but it also gets rid of some of the fun.
Cold War features eight maps plus Nuketown which has recently been added to the game. The game features seven base game modes that you can choose whether or not to search for; some game modes can only be played in Core and not Hardcore. Like the Beta, players can play specifically VIP Escort, Fireteam Dirty Bomb, and Combined Arms Moshpit. You cannot play Fireteam Dirty Bomb in private. Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War does allow for players to play locally against bots or online with split-screen.
Players have a variety of gun options to choose between; there are 5 assault rifles, 5 submachine guns, 4 tactical rifles, 3 LMGs, and 3 sniper rifles. Each weapon has a variety of customizable attachments that must be unlocked by leveling the gun either in multiplayer or zombies.
Zombies Gameplay
When it comes to Treyarch Call of Duty games, their primary selling point is the Zombies game mode. Unlike previous Treyarch Black Ops, Black Ops Cold War does not come with three Zombies maps. Cold War only comes with Die Maschine and Dead Ops Arcade Ver. 3. This is the first Treyarch game since World at War to launch with only one Zombies’ map. Despite only having one main zombies map, Cold War’s Zombies has a lot of new features.
Gun progress in multiplayer carries over to Zombies and vice-versa. Weapon attachments also carry over but have different effects in Zombies. Players can now design their own custom classes which they will start with at the beginning of each game. When a player dies, they will respawn with their custom loadout. In addition to the custom loadout, the player can pick between five field upgrades; the five field grades are Frost Blast, Energy Mine, Aether Shroud, Ring of Fire, and Healing Aura. Field Upgrades must recharge in between uses. Once in the game, players can pick up equipment, armor, and salvage off of the zombies they slay. Salvage can be used to upgrade armor, guns, or to craft equipment or scorestreaks.
Starting at level 10, the player has the option to exfill from the map. The group must vote on whether or not to and only one player needs to survive and clear out all zombies in order to exfill. After a set amount of rounds or by completing challenges, you are rewarded with Aetherium Crystals. Aetherium Crystals can be used to upgrade weapon skills, field upgrades, ammo modes, and even perks. Yes, you heard that right; you can upgrade Juggernaut to be even more effective.
This new version of Zombies does require a lot of grinding, but let’s be honest, you were planning to play mainly Zombies. Welcome to the Family!
Graphics & Audio/SFX
The Graphics / Audio & SFX portion of Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War is where the game suffers quite a bit. Whether you are playing on the Xbox One or the PlayStation 4, you can see that the game was designed for next-gen consoles. The game struggles a bit to load whether you are in Campaign, Multiplayer, or Zombies. No matter what game mode, the game takes a while to load. At various times during the campaign, either the audio would play before the scene would load or the opposite would occur. This causes a bit of a disconnect with the story.
In addition to poor loading times, the game does suffer from a variety of visual glitches. Have you ever been killed by your own legs shooting you? Because I was in COD Cold War. Like other Call of Duties, the game still has issues with hit detection; this is mostly due to lag when playing cross-platform, however, there were times where bullets would magically curve around corners. When you look at the game’s assets, you can tell that a majority of Black Ops 4 assets have been reused. The game’s object permanence also is also an issue where items go through walls when they shouldn’t and some items such as care packages get stuck. There’s nothing like a floating head or gun that’s not attached to anything in the middle of a hallway.
At times, the game’s audio or visuals can be affected by host migration; there is nothing worse than the lag you will have to compete against when the game migrates hosts. Also, be careful being in a menu when loading into a game, it can cause the game’s visuals to be fuzzy or distort the audio. The game’s audio and SFX will often overpower other players’ voices which can make communication difficult.
Controls
Call of Duty Cold War’s controls remains the same as prior Call of Dutys with minor tweaks here and there. Like any other First-person shooter, the triggers and bumpers are used for lethal measures. You will have to tweak your controller’s stick sensitivity but beyond that, not much has changed. For whatever reason, playing on a PlayStation 4 controller seems more responsive than playing on an Xbox One controller. Once you manage to adjust your settings, the controls feel like any other FPS which is satisfying. The button response time seems to be a bit delayed; if you push too many at once, the game will try to execute the last command. Most of the time this is not a problem but can make for some awkward situations.
Replayability
Treyarch has always done a good job of giving the player the opportunity to choose a variety of outcomes for different situations. Black Ops Cold War is no exception to this established rule. The game’s Campaign allows the player to decide who lives and who dies. Don’t like the way that bad guy looks at you? Throw him off the roof! The campaign even features a variety of endings that are determined based on your earlier choices.
Like any other Call of Duty, you must grind to unlock the items you desire. Thankfully, weapon experience and player level carry over between multiplayer and zombies. Cold War rewards you for playing the game. Make sure to watch your level though, because once you have enough experience to prestige, the game will prestige you. Now, this could have changed since the first time we experienced it.
With the Black Ops Cold War Campaign having multiple endings and Zombies / Multiplayer requiring you to grind a lot, you will definitely get your money’s worth. We do recommend that you wait until the game is patched a bit more before you buy it. The game has the potential to be a top Treyarch title but it’s just not there yet. Maybe by the time the first DLC releases, the game will be worth its price.
Platforms
Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War is available on the Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and on PC. If you do have a next-gen console, you can get the cross-generation edition for $69.99 USD. Which version of the game will you get? Do you agree with our Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War review? Let us know.
