Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (2020)

this game had flaws, but for a 2020 pandemic riddled development, it’s as good as we could ask for.

zombies

zombies with the map “die maschine” introduced exfill, felt so good to actually escape and survive, we had good easter eggs and a good story told throughout the game maps, introduced a lot of new things into the zombies story which really did work out, it’s replay-ability for most maps was really what carried it, we had workbenches, dimensions, exfill, upgradeable guns/armour (yes i’m not a big fan of armour either but still) and load outs, the gun gride alone was so fun, overall one of my more favoured zombies

multiplayer

a lot of fun at the time, good maps, apart from a few guns added on later on, the guns where balanced, the grinds took a long ass time, took an arm and a leg to get gold, which gave a lot of us during covid to have something to do, especially during the second lockdown, probably the most time i’ve spent with friends on a game, the game modes were so good but especially prop hunt, just overall i can’t think of much to fault with this game, apart from health bars in multiplayer maybe, but even still, it was different, which is really what this franchise needed at the time

campaign

man i miss bell, maybe it’s because it was basically you, you made choices for them, which impacted the story, obviously new titles showed which where the cannon choices, but still, couldn’t really fault the story, it flowed well and was very enjoyable from start to finish, there wasn’t a part in the story which i thought was bad, it was very good, the cold war theme really did feel fresh again, we had optional missions and puzzles which impacted the end cutscenes, again a very nice touch, but the main part was the endings, the bad ending was so good, something we haven’t seen since, bell really just killed literally everyone we knew, obviously not cannon but so sick to have, and the “good” ending, very short and straight to the point mission but well executed, bell dies, it had to happen really, couldn’t exactly write bell into the cod franchise, but what a character he was.

i cant say much more, i do miss this era

FPS - Follows C.I.A. Operative Russell Adler as he leads a covert task force to stop a Soviet spy named Perseus from tipping the balance of power during the Cold War.

PROS:

++ Zombies. Easily the highlight of the package. The game features four maps (all free): Die Maschine, Mauer Der Toten, Firebase Z, and Forsaken. All these maps were fun simply because of how great the new gameplay changes are. Cold War Zombies is a beginner-friendly experience. It is much, much easier than past Zombies modes due to changes in the core mechanics: the ability to buy every perk, not needing to start with a pistol, the ability to permanently upgrade perks, field upgrades, and weapons that carries over, the fact that ammo is easily replenished, and even how ammo, grenades, supplies, and armor can be dropped by zombies. On top of all this, the game does a great job of guiding and teaching the player how to turn on the power in the map and how to activate the Pack-A-Punch. To make up for the easier experience, they made the zombies more aggressive, spawn faster, and there were more special zombie types. Another thing I appreciated is the weapons upgrade system. There were multiple tiers of weapons that can each be pack-a-punched three times, and even the ability to modify the ammo type. This made it so that EVERY gun in the game was viable and fun to use. I also really liked the atmosphere and the variety in the four maps, although the maps themselves aren't incredibly memorable compared to past Treyarch maps. All in all, the round based zombies experience is highly enjoyable and will be something I'll continue to play.

++ Secondary zombie modes. There are two secondary zombies modes: Onslaught and Outbreak. First we have Onslaught which is a very barebones zombies experience. It's played on the standard multiplayer maps, and I quite enjoyed it because it's very much a pick up and play experience. You don't have to think much, and you can focus solely on killing zombies. It's a great palate cleanser. The other mode is Outbreak which I didn't even expect to like. It's essentially open-world zombies and I found it incredibly fun. Having to scavenge for guns, and having to adapt to whatever situation you find yourself in, it was a very fun, frantic experience. I can see myself playing both of these modes again and again when I'm craving a more casual zombies experience.

++ Dead Ops Arcade. They put even more attention into DOA and fleshed the experience out even more. New weapons, enemies, stage designs, and features (The Wilds). I found it much more difficult this time around which enhanced my experience. But my favourite new feature is the option to play and continue from the highest round you were able to reach in previous runs. This makes it so that most players can see the end of DOA with enough time and persistence.

++ Gunplay. It deviates from MW 2019's realistic gunplay, and goes back to what Treyarch does best: arcadey gunplay. Fast, frantic, and fluid gunplay is the name of the game. I really liked how the guns handled and fired.

++ Presentation. Graphics look great. Sound design is also fantastic, although a little less powerful than MW 2019.

CONS:

-- Performance issues. Played on PC and encountered my fair share of technical issues. Twice it crashed to desktop. There was a few times the game refused to launch. But the most common issue, and most annoying, is when the game randomly takes a huge framerate hit. And the only way to fix it (from my experience) is to close the game and relaunch it.

-- Campaign. First, some pros: I liked the premise of hunting down the elusive Perseus, I liked the spy tone of it all, I also quite liked the stealth sections that gave the player a couple of options to accomplish the goal (Desperate Measures), and I liked how the two side missions were unlocked through deciphering collected evidence. But outside of these things, I really didn't resonate with the campaign, the narrative, or the characters. I found it frustrating that Woods and Mason were practically just background characters, and the focus was instead on the new characters who aren't interesting at all. There was a section where you had to choose who to save, and I couldn't care less who died out of the two. Overall, it was a really short campaign that ends quite abruptly and it never quite captured my attention. One of my least favorite campaigns in the franchise.

I haven't played a Call of Duty campaign since BO2 so this was enjoyable. As I understand, MW 2019 introduced new gun handling that seems a little more mil-sim. It feels great to shoot and aim.

I always enjoyed Black Ops campaigns because where they lacked in overall polish and fidelity compared to Modern Warfare, they made up in bombastic action and insane set pieces. Especially looking at how uninspired and droning MW3 was, BO1 and 2 were certainly the better titles. Treyarch always tried to have an interesting story as well. Playing as an MK Ultra Manchurian Candidate is certainly not something you see a lot. BO2 was a little silly with 100 year old Mason walking around. Still, as a single player experience it was very good, especially with the RTS sections of the game.

Cold War is much simpler narratively. No big timeline jumps this time, everything is set in 1981, although you go back to Vietnam in a flashback.

You are part of a CIA group hunting a russian terrorist attempting to destroy "ze West" for meddling in other countries' business.

What's new? Plenty. First of all, the collectables you find while playing the missions now matter, since they act as evidence you can use to complete side objectives. These side objectives are relevant for optional missions you are able to complete during the campaign.

The above paragraph may seem confusing if you remember that this is a CoD game. And it actually is confusing and totally unnecessary. Here's the thing: in BO2 the side missions were the RTS ones, they played differently and added variety into the mix. The side missions in CW are just normal missions but shorter. What's the point? If you find all the evidence and tick off every objective, you simply get a short acknowledgement of the fact in the end cutscene. Wow... Ok? The set pieces are less epic, there's no gore, they bring back Mason and Woods AGAIN, even though there's a whole new protagonist and a new team. There's stealth this time but the lack of any sort of stealth mechanics like luring or light/darkness make it seem completely rudimental.

The ending of the game saves it from depressing mediocrity by twisting the BO1 theme a little and adding an alternative ending where you get to do something pretty cool. It somewhat redeems the otherwise passable campaign.

I guess they wanted to mix things up but the core experience was worsened. If instead of making optional missions and stealth sections they upped the overall ante a bit, it would have been pretty good, but it's just OK.

Treyarch are currently busy making the next CoD which is rumored to be open world. Perhaps that's why they were experimenting with all of this side content and stealth. I say keep it simple. Every CoD has been a "beat it and leave it for several years until you remeber it". They shouldn't be trying to "fix" it by adding all of this useless fat, this isn't and shouldn't be Far Cry.

Had Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War not been a free PS Plus game, it probably would’ve been years before I ever tried it out. I did give the new Modern Warfare a try, and still need to write up a review for that one. Luckily, Cold War allows you to install certain parts of the game, like just the campaign. It’s much more convenient than having to install the whole 600 GB Call of Duty “experience” that Modern Warfare required.

The gameplay is solid. Call of Duty’s been around for almost, what, 20 years, I’d hope they’d have nailed down FPS gameplay by now. Shooting feels good and responsive. There’s nothing here that’s new to the FPS genre, just an execution of the standards at a high level. There’s a small selection of 80s guns that all handle well and bad guys aren’t too spongey. The shotguns could use a little more range, but that’s a problem with most FPS games. You start each level with two guns and can switch them out for guns you find in the level. One annoying thing about that is guns found in the wild can have a variety of different attachments. So, one M16 you pick up may have a scope, the other may have a laser sight, while another has a three fire burst mode. As someone who likes his firearms set up a certain way, it’s a little annoying. Having a loadout menu to choose your attachments would’ve been nice. There’s also a few sections of stealth and one level where you do a little espionage as a Russian double agent.

Graphics are the one thing that AAA games still have in aces. There’s no exception with Cold War. You have a crew of SpecOp guys you work with and they are all practically lifelike. The places you visit are all visually stunning, whether it’s a Soviet mountain base or downtown Eastern Berlin. Unfortunately, the world design wasn’t as on point. The game starts out making a big deal that this game is set in the early 80s. The first few levels have you in an Amsterdam bar or the streets of East Berlin and you get a feeling for that 80s time period. After a while, you spend missions assaulting Soviet bases or abandoned Cuban plantation houses. These feel like they could be inserted into any shooter game. Besides a few chunky computers, you’d be forgiven for forgetting this was set in the 80s. They also use a lot of 80s music at the beginning, but then the soundtrack gives away to more modern dramatic techno music. This game is set mostly in 1981, and I do like that you can see that in the clothing and hairstyles of your compatriots. Your main handler, Adler, has that poofy, sculpted 80s hair, but the clothing still has a bit of the 70s still hanging on.

The idea of a game where you play as a secret squirrel type during the Cold War is honestly something I’m on board with. With the new Modern Warfare having levels ripped straight from the headlines, I expected Cold War to pull from real events. There’s enough material there to make a solid game out of. There is a level set during the Vietnam War and a level in Eastern Berlin, but I was hoping to have something based on the Bay of Pigs, or seeing as this was 80s, being imbedded with the Contra in Nicaragua. Having a level centered around the Space Race or Kennedy Assassination. The problem with CoD is while there are moments of the game being a Cold War spy game, it can’t go too long without an over-the-top firefight. Cold War is also one in a long line of CoD: Black Ops games, so maybe those are covered in other games.

I'm a little dubious on a lot of the history in this game. Granted my history knowledge dips off around the 1960s, but the Huey you control during the Vietnam mission is loaded up with rockets and miniguns. Hueys were transport choppers and I've usually only seen them with an M60 on the door. Lots of guns have holographic sights and lasers, which I'm not sure if those widely existed in the 1980s.

Instead, the story of this game is based around your team hunting down a Russian spy that’s been a thorn in America’s side since the 40s. Your player character, Bell, is a cryptographer who is on the team to break through the Russian codes, and shoot Soviets, of course. The story is not very long, CoD campaigns have often been a secondary thought. The best way I can describe this game is Michael Bay presents the Cold War. You have a lot of explosions and unnecessary action. Everything is very hoorah American, President Reagan shows up for a litlte cameo at the begininng. All the dudes are in constant pissing contests of whose the baddest. Your CIA handler, Hudson, looks like a macho, Jason Statham wannabe and is out of place in this 80s setting. If their intent was to make a game that feels like an 80s action flick vs 80s history, it would make sense.

At the end, so spoilers, this game does pull a bit of a twist. First, on a mission to Cuba, you have to save either your team’s weapons guy or the English lady on loan from MI6. I imagine 90% of players saved the MI6 agent. I was no exception, I’m a sucker for an English accent and a pretty face, and you don’t really get much character development from your team, so there’s not a lot of contemplation behind your choice. Then it turns out that you are a guinea pig of the MK Ultra program. You're a Russian agent who has been brainwashed to believe you're old friends with Adler and that you both served in Vietnam together. Up to this reveal you keep hearing about how you are a wildcard by Hudson. Hudson is constantly on the phone with Mr. Black, and I thought perhaps Mr. Black was some shady Illuminati type and Hudson was a turncoat, but no Mr. Black is the CIA director, it’s not very clearly stated.

All in all, this game is competently made. The single player mode isn’t just multiplayer modes reskinned and I wasn’t constantly bombarded with “new seasons” of multiplayer content on the main screen. Everything plays solid, but the game is afraid to have a mission that’s more spy focused that doesn't end in a shootout. Call of Duty: Cold War just made me want a Cold War spy game.

I haven't really played COD since 2010ish when I played the crap out of the multiplayer. While I knew this game was a few years old, I was excited to start this game up and see how a decade had changed these games.

I sat down, booted up the single player, and...it was almost exactly how I remember it. Nonsensical story with so many proper nouns being thrown around confidently that it was confusing to keep names clear, but in the end it doesn't really matter because you are whipped around locations so quickly. Was the campaign fun? Eh, it looked pretty but just wasn't very fresh feeling compared to many other shooters I had played in recent years.

I also booted up multiplayer to see how it had evolved, and guess what? It was also essentially the same. But the sameness in multiplayer didn't bother me as much as the sameness in single-player; I assume because playing against other humans is almost always more engaging than the AI. After finishing a few rounds of MP, I could see myself playing more simply because of the fun factor, but I'm just not at a stage of life where playing competitive MP games is a good time investment.

The only other thing I'll say is the install size- it was over 200GB! Ridiculous to think of this game requiring so much of my PS5 harddrive.

Overall, MP was fun but this game is stale. Don't see playing any other COD again unless there is a major overhaul.

You know the drill, it has campaign, multiplayer and zombies.

Campaign will probably feel a little like Black Ops 1, but I like it. Campaign has side quests, just like Infinite Warfare campaign. 3 potential endings make this seem interesting. I think you'll notice how the beer bug pandemic affected this part.

Multiplayer is multiplayer. However, I'm surprised you can level up in multiplayer and it will also connect to zombies. If you're level 69 in Multiplayer, it will say you're level 69 in Zombies as well, and vice versa. I also like playing against bots.

Zombies is pretty fun and pretty easy, I think. Yeah, the operator stuff sucks, but it's cool to choose your starting and to buy all the perks you want.

Overall, I think this game is fantastic, I haven't seen it this good since Infinite Warfare.

I really enjoy playing the Black Ops games in the Call of Duty series, especially the first two. I have found that the latest release, Cold War, is also very satisfying to play.

At the beginning of the campaign, there are two perks available for selection, along with some limited character customization options. Personally, I'm not a big fan of this approach and prefer the approach taken by some other Call of Duty games, where you switch between predefined characters. However, this is just my preference.

The game takes us back to 1968, during the Vietnam War. I appreciate how the weapon choices are more nuanced in this game. While you are initially given an M16, you can also search the base to find a Stoner 63 and other weapons to use.

I'm not certain that the part where you fly a helicopter was essential to the game.

In any case, it gets show down pretty quickly.

The game now has a fully functional stealth system. In addition, you have the ability to highlight enemies, pick locks, move and conceal dead bodies, and even use enemies as shields. While this game may not be on par with Hitman or Splinter Cell in terms of stealth mechanics, it is still a notable improvement.

Disco-arcade episode inside the Soviet base is brilliant. The moment when you go from Soviet brutalism to that neon and disco vibe:

In terms of the game's storyline, the US government has decided to plant neutron bombs in all the major cities of Europe, as a contingency plan in case of a Soviet invasion. However, one of these bombs has been stolen by a Soviet agent. It's worth noting that the game ties in Zakaev, the primary antagonist from Modern Warfare, which adds an interesting layer to the narrative.

The game does switch between characters. We play a bit as Mason in Yamantau, and get his signature glitches. Then we play as a KGB mole, Belikov, for a while.

The attachment mechanics in Call of Duty have always been a bit wonky. Therefore, it's not surprising to see that some Soviet soldiers have customized their AK-47 rifles so extensively that they essentially become RPK-74s.

Although discovering unique weapons like the Hand Cannon can be enjoyable, it ultimately serves little purpose, as you don't have the option to customize your loadout before beginning a mission.

During the game's Cuban mission, you are faced with a decision to save only one of your teammates. However, I find it perplexing that someone would choose to save a bearded Israeli man over a beautiful British woman.

Although the game is enjoyable up to this point, the true excitement begins on the subsequent mission, which returns you to Vietnam. During this mission, Adler attempts to manipulate your memories, but you have the option to disregard his guidance. As a result, he must quickly improvise new scenarios, leading to an increasingly wild and chaotic experience by the mission's conclusion.

The game's primary plot twist bears similarities to that of Metal Gear Solid 5. It is uncovered that Bell is a fabricated persona constructed as part of the MK Ultra program. In truth, Bell was one of the top-ranking terrorists who sustained severe injuries during the airport ambush. In a subsequent sequence, Adler implants several of his own memories and a specific keyphrase (reminiscent of BioShock) into Bell's mind, forging a link between the two and enabling Adler to manipulate Bell's behavior.

The game is also very short. Even with collecting all the evidence, solving the puzzles and disobeying Adler in Vietnam on every turn, the campaign ends extremely quickly. Which is a shame, since that's one of the Call of Duty games I enjoyed the most.

If I’m comparing this to Modern Warfare 2019, I would say slightly worse campaign, slightly better multiplayer, never really been a huge fan of the zombies so can’t comment on that. Haven’t prestige on a COD game since WWII so goes to show how little this series has been able to hold my interest for, the free updates are at least welcoming and tend to have me coming back for the odd afternoon before disappearing again for weeks. I will say prop hunt deserves to be a mainstay in the series, that mode oozes fun.

Cold War revisits ideas from Black Ops 2 and Infinite Warfare. From Black Ops 2, it brings back the choice and consequence multiple story paths. I played through the campaign twice to get two very different endings. The issue with the return of the multiple story paths is that I didn't get enough time with the characters for the different story paths to make an impact. There are twists I didn't see coming, but I'm not invested enough to care.

From Infinite Warfare, Cold War brings back the base where you can walk around and talk to your team members. This wasn't handled as effectively here. I was able to get closer to my crewmembers in Infinite Warfare which made me feel the loss when one of my team members died in action. The interaction with team members in Cold War is just too shallow, and you don't get much opportunity to get to know them.

The campaign is still fun to play through. There's a good variety of missions, and they've leaned more into stealth this time around. I can perform stealth takedowns when sneaking up behind an enemy. There is a mission where all I had was a knife to take down enemies. There were multiple fun kill animations when I performed stealth takedowns. When sneaking around enemies, there's a helpful new indicators that appear above enemies' heads when they take notice of me. The indicator has a meter that will fill up. When it's full, the enemy will start attacking me, so I will need to hide before that happens. I can also pick up the bodies to people I've taken down to move them away from where other enemies might find them. This all helps to flesh out the stealth mechanics since stealth levels have been a staple of the campaigns for such a long time now.

While at the base, there's an evidence board with all the missions on it. I could review evidence for each mission to know about what I'm going to do. The evidence board also shows optional missions. In order to be successful in those missions, all evidence needs to be found in main story missions. Once I found all the evidence, there is a puzzle I need to solve using the evidence gathered. It's a cool feature, and the puzzle answers changed between my two playthroughs, so I couldn't rely on remembering what the answers were. The optional missions, are shorter missions than the main quest. There are only two optional missions which is disappointing. Overall, this game felt shorter than previous Call of Duty campaigns.

It's a good campaign, but it's not among the strongest in the franchise.

I haven’t played a CoD campaign in the last decade, so I won’t be offering anything on that, but as an on-and-off multiplayer fan since the MW2 days, I thought I would just share my impressions after around 18 hours of play.

I was lukewarm on last year’s game, finding it more frustrating than fun as a solo player. This one seems to be ever so slightly slower paced in a way that has clicked with me a lot more—somewhere between the old games and last year’s. I’m no CoD expert but these maps seem substantially less campy, with so many less windows and corners to get surprise killed from. Satellite is a standout, one of my favorite recent CoD maps thanks to the sand dune area that makes for some tense ducking long-distance firefights. I feel like I can really run around freely and actually react when someone gets the jump on me thanks to a slightly larger health bar.

I have played the game on a launch Xbox One, an Xbox One X, and an Xbox Series X. Mostly they feel the same, but the Series X really brought out the lighting on the outdoor maps in a noticeable way. If you intend on playing splitscreen at all, you probably need the Series X. Even then, it’s buggy, but on the last-gen hardware, especially the launch One, it is practically unplayable.

The hot complaint for the last couple years of CoD has been about the performance-based matchmaking. This causes a bit of a weird effect where you’re not really improving as you swap between matches that are too easy and matches that are way too hard. It’s most noticeable in FFA but overall not as bad for me this year. I’ve been able to consistently improve somewhat, learn the maps, and have a K/D that I’m happy with in TDM.

There is a huge library of attachments to optimize your weapons with in this game. I have enjoyed tweaking my favorite few guns to balance the tradeoffs and make them optimized for my playstyle. As a Halo fan I gravitate toward the precision rifle and the M16 feels really great to play with, as does the Gallo shotgun. I have 4 classes I cycle between with different weapon types and I have no complaints about any of them.

Zombies continues to seem more or less impenetrable to me. I played several hours and without contextual tutorials in-game of any kind and playing with strangers it’s easy enough to figure out most of it but overall still kind of a nightmare. It is cool that they are still supporting that segment of players though and I like that your progression syncs up between the two modes.

Overall I think this is one of the best CoDs in recent years and would be a fine place to jump in for those looking for something to play on next-gen hardware. CoD may not be perfect but it’s a comforting known quantity that these days usually shakes it up just enough to keep things interesting.