Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War finally received its multiplayer reveal today, and with it came new details on how the online play will function. Near the beginning of the presentation, long-time Treyarch multiplayer designer David Vonderhaar detailed the new story focus of the Black Ops Cold War multiplayer maps.
Referred to as Deniable Ops, the maps will attempt to tell a connected story like the Black Ops Cold War campaign. Some maps will be based on real life events while others are original Treyarch creations, with the goal being to explore the global conflicts of the Cold War in a believable way. Vonderhaar describes in the reveal that the goal of Deniable Ops is to create traditional Call of Duty maps with carefully designed visuals that provide a sense of worldbuilding and make players feel like events are unfolding around them.
After explaining the new story focus within multiplayer maps, the Treyarch team began to showcase how Deniable Ops will play out in-game. Introduction sequences like in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare begin the match, with dialogue from specialists accompanying dates and times to give each map its own feel and add to the narrative. The maps shown were incredibly different from one another, with the huge desert map teased in the reveal of the game being given its official name: Satellite. Like other maps in the game, Satellite tells a story, with this map’s narrative focusing on the titular object crashing in Angola.
Armada is next up in the map showcase, taking place in the North Atlantic Ocean and featuring Soviet and American forces battling over a nuclear submarine. Like other maps in Black Ops Cold War, vehicles will feature in Armada, as wave runners and gunboats can be controlled by players. The home of Black Ops Cold War’s villain Perseus is up next, with the map Moscow being set in the center of a destroyed city and featuring a train station. Through the map’s visuals, Treyarch is aiming to give players a feeling like events are unfolding around them and the Russian Spetznaz are overtaking the city as they play.
The neon-filled Miami map, which leaked last week along with a new game mode, stands out among the crowd due to its 1980s visuals. Treyarch placed a major emphasis on lighting with this map based on what each developer had to say, and Miami looks like it could become a fan favorite with the options for stealth and sniping showcased in the reveal. A large winter map called Crossroads, complete with snowmobiles and tanks, brings the multiplayer map showcase to its conclusion.
With an October 8th beta start date officially confirmed, fans will not have to wait long to get their hands on some of the multiplayer maps showcased today. How Call of Duty fans adjust to the story focus and vehicles of the game’s Deniable Ops remains to be seen, but Treyarch is clearly attempting to do something unique with Call of Duty once again through the Black Ops Cold War multiplayer.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War will be available November 13th on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X upgrades will also be available.
