Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War is the seventeenth installment in the Call of Duty series and continues the Black Ops Series’s legacy while still trying to get hold of Modern Warfare aspects. The game had a somewhat controversial development period as there was tension between Sledgehammer Games and Raven Software. Likewise, there was also the news that its trailer showing Tiananmen Square Protests was banned in China.
Anyhow, the game has now managed to come forward, and it’s developed by none other than Treyarch and Raven Software. Treyarch has worked on the multiplayer gameplay, while Raven Software’s was handed out the campaign.
Setting & Campaign
Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War is set in the Cold War when tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union were highest. The game’s whole campaign and setting are circled around a Vietnamese and Soviet Backed Agent Perseus. Concurring to the CIA, this particular agent is a threat to the “largest free world.” Therefore, he has to be taken down.
What makes Perseus, an individual that the game describes as Russian Boogeyman so fascinating, is that he is a mystery right from the start. The entire team depicts him as a spy who had a huge role in planning several missions against the United States after World War 2. Moreover, he is discussed a lot about how dangerous he is and how anonymous he has been. All these factors make him sound like a gripping villain, and the persuasion to capture him becomes real.
“Did I ever see his face? No. That Photo on the board is all we have, and it’s more than twenty years old. Handsome man. I hope the years weren’t kind to him.”
-Russel Adler
The CIA asks Russel Alder, who was the closest to ever get to Perceus to step in. He’s a badass agent with incredible allure and confidence. His looks are also intimidating, with scars all over the face and wearing a coat day in and day out. He kind of reminds me of Robert Redford and Russel Crowe from American Gangster.
Once Reagan gives the team the go-ahead, Adler gathers a group that also sees the return of mason and woods from Black Ops 1.
Like I said in the second paragraph, Perseus is a mystery because nobody has ever seen him face to face. The CIA has an image of him, and through that and two or three reports, they are confident he exists. The beginning missions are about little signs and clues that you can assemble from people who help discover Persius. There are also side missions in between the main ones. They don’t have a ton of contribution to the fundamental story though.
The entire campaign felt good, yet it was truly short when compared to previous COD Games. Like all other modern campaign games, Black Ops Cold War also allows you to decide various missions through multiple choices. The majority of them do not affect the story, however, a few choices determine the completion in the later phases of the game. In the start, it’s all about whether you want to throw someone down the building or not.
When starting campaign, you can make your profile, select background, and your prominent feature that will get you unique perks. You can even change your name, although the nickname still stays Bell. Depending on whatever class you choose, the game narrative automatically changes.
The story was well worked, and It shared a lot of vibes from Black Ops 1 and Call of Duty World War 2. My only complaint from the entire campaign would be that it ended excessively fast. I really felt it should have been longer because investigating all those clues and then going on missions to get intel was fun.
Narrative and Cinematics
Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War expands a lot on narrative. When you aren’t doing missions, you can roam around the safehouse investigating clues and talking to your mates. The game permits you to discuss a wide range of subjects with your mates, which intrigued me. The accents on all characters, as well as German and Soviet soldiers, felt real. On most occasions, you will be hearing the typical army narrative, where it’s all strategic communication, pointing to headers across the mission.
Other than narrative, Cinematics were splendid like many other Call of Duty games in the past. The cutscenes were some of the best I’ve seen. It’s worth appreciating how accurately they made Regan’s appearance and his narrative.
There were two things I disliked about the cinematics. Firstly, Alder’s hair is quite weird, they are always moving, and nothing adds up. Secondly, the game has a silent protagonist, so it takes the realism away when you can’t hear Bell talking. Nonetheless, this is a minor subject for a War game, and overall, the Narrative and Cinematics are fabulous.
Gameplay
Treyarch and Raven Software have perfected the gameplay of Black Ops Cold War. You can play between zombies, multiplayer, and campaign. Each of the three modes has good fluidity, and the gameplay is versatile. For example, In campaign, sometimes you will be taking the stealth option and hiding bodies like Hitman. While other times, it’ll Rambo vogue, killing all Vietnamese rebellion from helicopters.
The game likewise permits you to drive a scope of vehicles that incorporate tanks, helicopters, and bicycles. Tanks are still overpowerful, and if the adversary team gets hands on it, say goodbye. Black Ops Cold War also has a new progression system, which I think is the best we’ve seen. The new progression system cultivates all the modes, and anything you do in either zombie or multiplayer would contribute to the main upgrades. On top of that, there are also the new scorestreaks which do not reset, even you die. Once you get a decent amount of score through kills and objectives, you can deploy RC’s, Chopper, and more.
Lastly, I’ve liked the new gunsmith. It’s very reliable and easy to navigate.
Combat And Multiplayer
Combat is a trivial part of any Call of Duty game, and Core Combat of Black Ops Cold War really takes you back to the earlier COD games. It isn’t as fast-paced as you think. The health bars are now longer than usual, and you can benefit from good reflexes instead of relying on who spotted who first. On the off chance that you are coming from Modern Warfare, there is a decent amount of chance; you won’t like combat. The gameplay is quite different, and it takes time to adapt.
Overall, combat is crisp and likable. The game has a range of weapons from the cold war period. I personally loved the silenced pistol in the campaign. The guns have great detailing with extraordinary sounds; there is a bit of inconsistency with balance, though. Some weapons do not ADS properly, and as you would have thought, MP5 and M4 are still overpowerful. It’s still early, and Treyarch has confirmed there will be more updates in the coming weeks to balance the combat.
Multiplayer of Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War has had me hooked up. The gameplay in multiplayer promotes fluidity, and thus you won’t see a lot of campers. This is one of the most brilliant improvements from the previous game because, in Modern Warfare, you will be killed by campers half of the time. Other than that, there are a total of 8 maps, which I think aren’t a lot. Map design is mostly exposed, and there isn’t a lot of coverage; thus, you won’t see players sticking to one position. These couple of key highlights have upgraded the multiplayer, but at the same time, it’s carried an alternate run shooter vibe to it.
The multiplayer lacks content, but so far, all modes are enjoyable. Another thing that I like was that spawns felt balanced. I played around 8 hours so far, and no spawn camper has gotten me yet.
I won’t say it feels an upgrade over Modern Warfare, but it feels different and better.
Graphics and Optimisation
Graphics of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War are as good as you can imagine. Spotting enemies has never been this easy, and If I am honest. In recent years, this is the only FPS game where I’ve not used Nvidia Ansel to colorize graphics.
Graphically maps are very well detailed, with decent atmospheric changes in all of them. If you play Campaign, the graphics are more in-depth, as you will be seeing even the smallest of objects like TV showing some sort of value.
One thing that I wanted from Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War Multiplayer was stealth. Although the campaign relies a lot on stealth, in multiplayer, the graphics do not support stealth. What I mean is that if you are prone in some grass with all the camouflage gears, there is still a 90% chance you are easily visible. Ultimately, this kind of takes the classic’s away, but that’s personnel opinion on how you want it. I’m a passive player, so this was something I didn’t like.
Optimization of Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War is excellent. On PC, it might be one of the sharpest FPS games I’ve seen in recent years. We used Ryzen Six Core 3600x with GeForce GTX 1080 Ti and 16 GIGS of Ram on 1920×1200 Ultra Settings to test frames.
The majority of times, frames were well above 100 in both multiplayer and campaign. They were also consistent, and we didn’t notice any massive drops, even in close fights and team deathmatch. Our VRAM usage was 5.4 GB, and to be honest, we set it to Ultra because of the campaign. FPS players, in general, do not bother playing games on ultra because they focus more on matching framerates with the refresh rate. You can expect decent frames on a mid-range pc utilizing low to medium settings.
Zombie
Zombies in Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War is also different, and you won’t see many similarities from the older Black Ops Games. The gameplay is centered more around multiplayer with its three modes. The initial two are very comparative, with the main contrast being unlimited and limited rounds. It’s called “Die Mashine 20 Round” all you have to do is investigate the Nazi facility while battling your way with Zombies. This can be played both as solo and up to multiplayer with four players. The third mode is the Dead Ops Arcade, in which you will have to defeat the Silverback Clan.
The maps in zombies are big but not that dense or tight. There are zones that you will realize will consistently be loaded up with zombies, while other’s that are open play area to get away and reload. I was amazed when I played my first game and saw the remake of Nacht Der Untoten from World at war. It brought the old vibe with new illustrations, yet one thing that let me down was that zombies in the Cold War aren’t excessively terrifying. This, I feel like it is personnel opinion, but I only found the foundation story energizing and somewhat alarming.
You start with classes that you have just made and select a perk. There isn’t any step-up framework; you can begin with the best firearms as of now.
Other than that, there are likewise ammunition, firearms, and a wide range of things accessible available to you. With each level, zombies get more perilous, and I struggled moving beyond level 7. It definitely felt more competitive as compared to Black Ops 4 or 3.
As I said before, playing zombies also contributes to your main multiplayer. I unlocked dozens of useful items that I was later able to equip during multiplayer. Doing this felt that the game wasn’t encouraging me to grind; instead, have a good time and not stress.
My general contemplations on Zombies is that it’s very polished, and there is a lot of customization available. You can remove Radar, Damage, and even health bars above Zombies. In my opinion, if there were a bit more sounds to zombies, it would have felt scarier. Nonetheless, it’s still fun if you somehow find a match.
Thanks! Do share your feedback with us. ⚡
How can we make this post better? Your help would be appreciated. ✍
Join Our Community
Exputer Verdict
Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War is the best COD game in recent years. If you are coming from Modern Warfare, this game might not be for you. The game feels different, and it focuses more on movement like the older Call of Duty games. Other than that, I also think that despite game prices getting higher this year. Call of Duty Black Ops Cold war deserves that price because you are getting a lot for the money. Not only will you enjoy its cold campaign that’s set in such an exciting period, but you can also laugh and chatter with friends slaying zombies while still staying competitive and enjoy multiplayer. For someone who was not intrigued a great deal by the previous Battlefield and Call of Duty Games, this, as I would see it, is the biggest prospect in a long time.
The Good
The Bad
Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War Rating – 4.5/5