In the last week, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War had its first multiplayer reveal for fans eagerly awaiting 2020's annual release. This year's Call of Duty is shaping up to be in much better shape than rumors/leaks had it set up to be, which is a welcome surprise. Along with all of the alpha gameplay from previewers, several major aspects of Black Ops Cold War's multiplayer mode were revealed. Fans will find a lot to love with the new multiplayer modes coming, as well as the Create-A-Class system taking a simpler and more effective approach.
As with every annual Call of Duty, changes have come to the custom classes and multiplayer balance in Black Ops Cold War. There is a lot of carryover from the innovations in Modern Warfare, but the usual differences in perk customizations and weapon slots are changing things up a bit. The transition between Call of Duty games will be less jarring this year with Black Ops Cold War's traditional approach, but there are several unique features that will make multiplayer more unique this time around.
Modern Warfare's Gunsmith Returns
For starters, a welcome return from Modern Warfare is the Gunsmith weapon customization system. The hyper-customizable weapon system from Modern Warfare was very well received and an intelligent step forward for Call of Duty, so it's good to see the system's return here. Things are a little different compared to the system's first iteration, but most Modern Warfare players will find Gunsmith incredibly familiar in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.
All of the general attachment areas remain the same in Black Ops Cold War: Optics, Muzzle, Barrel, Underbarrel, Body, Stock, Magazine, and Handle. Like before, each of these attachments have different attributes that affect the way the gun performs, ranging from stat boosts to new abilities. One interesting change is the "Weapon Perk" slot, which has been removed entirely. Many of these different perk attributes/abilities have been swapped into different attachments, meaning things like Sleight of Hand and FMJ are connected to specific attachments instead. One big quality-of-life change is the clear distinction, in percentages, of how each attachment affects a certain weapon stat as well.
More Traditional Classes, No More "Pick 10"
Treyarch's iteration of Call of Duty multiplayer is returning to roots in Black Ops Cold War. Instead of the "Pick 10" system that previous Black Ops games utilized, the game is returning to the usual layout of Primaries, Secondaries, Lethal, Tactical, Perks and the re-introduction of the Wildcard boosts. Players will have access to all customizable slots, regardless of the amount of equipment they choose to go into battle with. While this may be disappointing for some, the sheer level of customization in Black Ops Cold War is definitely on par with Modern Warfare's approach to the Create-A-Class system.
As usual there is the primary slot, which will likely slot in the usual suspects like assault rifles, submachine guns, snipers, light machine guns, etc. Then there's the secondary slot, which is generally suited for sidearms like pistols, rocket launchers of any kind, and most notably shotguns have now returned to the secondary slot. Field Upgrades are now selected per class right on the class setup page, compared to Modern Warfare's field upgrades which are separated. Perks are largely the same from past Call of Duty games, and players can pick from three categories, however players can utilize six with a specific Wildcard setup called Perk Greed.
Wildcards and Scorestreaks
Here's where Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War shows off its secret sauce: the re-introduction of both Wildcard perks and Scorestreaks. Wildcards are a completely separate perk that adds more meta advantages to each class. There are several already-confirmed Wildcards from multiplayer alpha gameplay: Danger Close (extra lethal/tactical equipment, max ammo on spawn), Lawbreaker (equip any weapon in primary/secondary slot, equip any three perks), Gunfighter (three additional customization points for primary weapon in Gunsmith), and Perk Greed (equip two perks per tier, total of six perks on one class). These will significantly alter or determine class builds in multiplayer for all players, but change up the gameplay in a very unique manner.
Additionally, Black Ops Cold War marks the return of scorestreaks instead of killstreaks. While killstreaks do rack up bonus upgrades within the controversial scorestreak system, scores persist between deaths in multiplayer. That being said, certain scorestreaks do have cooldowns between uses for all players in a match, so as not to overcrowd the skies with airstrikes or special weapons on the ground. As for what scorestreaks are returning, there's only a few so far that have been confirmed so far. Famous streak bonuses like the RC-XD are returning, as well as traditional fare like Chopper Gunner, Cluster Bomb strikes, as well as some boots-on-the-ground bonuses like grenade launchers are coming.
So far, multiplayer in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War has taken a much more traditional approach to multiplayer. The transition from Modern Warfare to Black Ops Cold War should be a lot more familiar to fans later this year.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War launches November 13, 2020, for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
