Review: Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War

Review | Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War – Two years ago, Activision and Treyarch released Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, the first game in the franchise without a single player. The focus shifted from that segment to a Battle Royale part. This year the developer is back and again with a part in the Black Ops franchise, but now they are harking back to the past: the Cold War to be precise. This time the game has a single player again, since Warzone is the new Battle Royale standard that Treyarch will continue with. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War takes a different approach from the previous part and now is the time to see how it works.

The feeling of a spy

One of the things that stands out about Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War single player is that Treyarch is moving away from the franchise’s fixed formula. The campaign that lasts roughly five hours throws it on espionage and instead of being part of a large army, you now mainly operate under the wings of the CIA. This in an interesting way, because the adventure felt refreshing within Call of Duty terms. This without losing the core of what Call of Duty is and that produces a pretty interesting whole.

We will not elaborate on the story of the single player, but according to Treyarch’s habit, there is more to it than simply being a rollercoaster ride. You make choices of which you see the effects, you have to deal with complex background stories that sooner or later emerge and it is more complicated than it initially seems. This resulted in some special moments and certain familiar faces, of course. The feeling that the single player evokes is that you really feel like a spy and that is partly due to the setting, as well as the gameplay it presents.

Extra motivation

One minute you are under heavy fire in the jungle, the next you are sneaking through an area occupied by the Soviet Union. In between you will have to deal with side missions and the single player also has challenges. These challenges are to some extent similar to what we know from multiplayer. This consists of making an x ​​number of stealth kills, taking all possible routes, collecting all information and more. This is a small extra motivating factor to dive into the single player for an extra hour after completion to complete the challenges or to make / take a different choice / route.

What is also very cool about this single player, apart from the wide variety of locations you visit, is that you return to a safe house after missions. Here you can view all collected intel and this time it is by no means only meant as a collectable to complement the story. Some intel you specifically need to get a goal clearer, after which you can play a mission. You can also play that mission in question without the intel, but then there is a chance that someone will die who is innocent. Things like that come up with some regularity, just like the choices you make while playing.

Speaking of these choices, it is great that it is incorporated and can lead to some interesting situations with both small and big consequences. However, what cuts a bit in the impact of the choices you make is that you are a voiceless agent who only responds via text lines. You never come into the picture yourself, which makes it all feel a bit distant. Subsequently, some choices regarding your team don’t really have an impact because there is simply no connection with them. Something that may be due to the duration of the single player, because it is on the very short side with five hours.

Compact multiplayer

Nevertheless, the single player is worth it. It does something different and feels refreshing, but it is very compact in size. The same also applies to the multiplayer, because it also feels compact, but at the same time also familiar. What we mean by compact here is that the game has a handful of modes and a total of eight maps, which of course is little. In fact, eight maps is actually not enough, but the nuance is that some maps differ in size per mode. Yet we cannot ignore the fact that it is on the low side at launch, which is a downside for now. However, this will resolve itself, as the track with additional content changed last year to free maps, modes and more for all players. Over time, more maps and modes will be added, which eventually fixes this flaw.

When we talk about trust, it applies to the entire interface. Treyarch has, as it were, taken over the concept of Modern Warfare, so you feel at home pretty quickly. The tabs are the same, the information that could be found under the tabs in Modern Warfare, also returns here and the Gunsmith is of course not missing. This works in the same way as in Modern Warfare, so leveling up your weapons will unlock new unlocks to mount on them. Here you also get to see in a practical way where your weapon improvement is and where not.

It’s a well-known story for Modern Warfare players and this approach works well, given that you have a clear overlap to some extent. Still, the gameplay of Black Ops Cold War is a bit different and that is due to the features that apply to your loadout. For example, the game has a few different perks here and there, while some are old acquaintances. Furthermore, this game works with Scorestreaks and also there we see some new options as well as old familiar ones compared to Killstreaks, and that also applies to Field Upgrades. Finally, you have the Wildcard to provide yourself with an extra advantage. These can be extra perks, but also extra customize slots for your weapons and more.

Large scale and small battles

Clearly, Activision is betting on a more universal experience, which is what they started with Modern Warfare last year. However, this does not limit Treyarch in the design of their game, because as already discussed the single player is of a different set-up, entirely in line with how Treyarch more often brings a single player. In multiplayer we also see that to a certain extent, because although the menus and the composition of your loudout and especially your weapons are the same, the gameplay is a bit different. So you have the traditional fights of small teams against each other, this in a 6v6 setup, but you also have the bigger fights in Combined Arms.

If you take part in the bigger battles, you will have to deal with larger maps that are also available for the 6v6 matches in small versions. Treyarch does this in a handy way and each folder feels full on its own, while a small folder might as well be a fragment of a larger folder. The maps are also very varied, which does the multiplayer well. But as mentioned, the number is a bit on the low side, so the rotation is automatically also very limited. So we are already looking forward to the first content drop, so that we get even more variety.

We have little to say about the maps themselves, except that they are well set up so far and they also offer enough variation in terms of structure. The maps somewhat adhere to the three-lanes concept, but by playing with height differences, among other things, it does not always feel that way and in some maps it provides more spaciousness that you like: Cartel and Miami for example. With the current offer, where some maps are very traditional again, the multiplayer now offers something for everyone. But in the end everything stands or falls with the gameplay and it feels a bit different and even a bit faster, which suits Treyarch.

The gunplay in the game is excellent and what’s really cool is the punch you feel with every impact of your bullets. That is something that has gotten better and better in recent years and Treyarch is setting a new standard in it. In addition, the weapons really feel varied from each other and finding the right balance in your set-up via the Gunsmith will again provide hours of gameplay, because there is enough to level and tweak. Long story short, the game plays a bit faster than before, the gunplay is good, but as an overall conclusion, the general impression is that it is a bit more arcade.

Fiddling with nuclear material

The Fireteam: Dirty Bomb mode is completely new to Call of Duty and this is a mode that can become very popular. The goal is to collect nuclear material and deposit it in one of five spots on the map, and as the match progresses the spots will decrease, centralizing the fight more and more. It takes over some elements of Warzone in the gameplay, so you also have armor plates here and you can start from the air with a parachute. In terms of playing fun, there is a lot to be gained from this, but it must be said that it feels like a kind of arcade variant of Warzone. Plus, it’s packed with graphical glitches, which is just plain sloppy.

That also brings us to another point and that is the variability in the graphic quality. A map like Miami, for example, is beautiful to look at, because it is full of details. Ditto for the Zombies map in Die Maschine. The Dirty Bomb maps are the exact opposite due to their large scale – which is somewhat understandable – and a map like Garrison (tank garage) is again very simplistic in terms of details. A map like Moscow falls in between, so we don’t really know what to think of the graphic quality. It is certainly not ugly, but most of all it feels inconsistent.

Finally, the weapon sound, the weapons sound nice clattering and different from each other, making them quite easy to distinguish. Yet here it is also not of that sublime level as in Modern Warfare. Nonetheless, it sounds good and the audio in multiplayer seems to be a bit better mixed than in Modern Warfare, allowing for better location of enemies, which is a step forward. And finally we have to mention the soundtrack, which is more than fine. Within this, the music in the menu is also very enjoyable.

The machine

Finally, an honorable mention for Die Maschine, which is the new adventure in Zombies mode. It comes with great gameplay, the necessary puzzles and a graphically beautifully designed whole. This time Treyarch has paid less attention to the easter eggs and focused more on the gameplay and the puzzling, without missing the well-known elements, such as upgrades, machines and more. New is that you can choose an exfiltration after ten rounds (and afterwards every five rounds), so that you can finish the match successfully. Not quite as satisfying as getting very far or even finishing it at all, but at least it does get you a reward.