Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War has had an interesting life since it released near the end of 2020. While it sold incredibly well and received an impressive amount of post-launch support, with another update for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War being released very recently, it had issues at launch. Not only was the game far buggier than normal, as it lacked the level of polish that Call of Duty titles usually have, but a low multiplayer map count contributed greatly to some lower-than-average review scores.
With Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War no longer being the active game and its support coming to an end, fans have started to look back at the game more fondly. In its finished state, it is a far stronger title and a serviceable entry in the Black Ops series. Further, some interesting comparisons can be made between the latest Black Ops game and its predecessors, with multiplayer, Zombies, and the campaign all being clear evolutions of Treyarch’s popular subseries.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s Campaign Shows Treyarch’s Continued Risk-Taking
Apart from Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, as it lacked a proper singleplayer campaign, each Black Ops title showed Treyarch innovating in some significant ways. The original Black Ops placed more of an emphasis on storytelling and voice acting than any other entry in the series, delivering a twist-filled plot and hiring high-profile actors to voice characters like Reznov and Alex Mason. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 introduced multiple endings, choices, and side quests, setting it apart from other campaigns. Call of Duty: Black Ops 3’s co-op campaign remains incredibly ambitious, as Treyarch told two different stories in one set of missions.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is most comparable to the original Black Ops in the sense that its narrative comes down to one big, Numbers-related twist. While the first Black Ops game saw Alex Mason discovering that he was brainwashed by Reznov, Bell learns that he was a Russian agent mind controlled by Adler and the CIA near the end of Black Ops Cold War. The game features a few endings like Black Ops 2, though only one of these two finales is canon.
Like the other Black Ops games, Black Ops Cold War delivered a truly unique campaign. Dialogue trees were included alongside some interesting puzzles, with one standout mission able to be completed in about a half dozen ways. The infiltration of the KGB was extremely interesting, and should be a lesson to future campaigns that doing something different can be worthwhile. With “Break on Through” being a fun way to visualize Bell’s trauma, too, the campaign has some special moments that prove Raven Software is capable of delivering strong Call of Duty stories.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s Multiplayer Highlights The Modern Approach
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In terms of gameplay, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s multiplayer feels like an old school Call of Duty game, as Treyarch used an older engine as opposed to Modern Warfare’s IW8 engine. While this meant that the visuals were a bit dated and certain mechanics were not present, those that enjoyed old school Call of Duty combat were in luck. While the Combined Arms and Fireteam modes were a unique attempt at large-scale warfare, and Gunfight returned from Modern Warfare, the majority of the community engaged the most with 6v6 content.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s launch was rushed, as Treyarch had to fill in for Sledgehammer Games by taking the 2020 slot and releasing its game a year earlier than expected. This meant that a lot of the post-launch content for the game took the form of remasters, with numerous maps from Black Ops and Black Ops 2 being remastered for Black Ops Cold War. Fortunately, Treyarch’s latest title featuring boots on the ground combat and many traditional systems meant that these maps played very well, so nostalgic players were able to get a lot of enjoyment out of the remastered Black Ops content.
The one area that Black Ops Cold War differed greatly from the other entries in the Black Ops series was through the modern, seasonal approach. Not only were Season Passes dropped in favor of Battle Pass and free maps, but a startling amount of weapons came to the game. The SMG category alone reached twelve total guns, giving players far more options than they had in the older Black Ops games when it came to weapons. With fresh modes constantly being added and Operators being featured, new ways to play and cosmetics to acquire were regularly added. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is a great example of how the modern approach can be beneficial, as the game has improved massively since its launch.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s Zombies Mode Puts Innovation on Display
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Zombies may have featured Nacht Der Untoten in Die Maschine, but beyond that, it was a solid example of just how much Zombies has evolved. Not only did gamers receive all three post-launch Survival maps for free, but they had seasonal challenges to work on and hundreds of lore-filled intel pieces to gather. All the new weapons from multiplayer came to loadouts and the Mystery Box, and Treyarch became much more transparent about what it was working on during each Season.
Call of Duty Zombies has always strived to innovate and try new things with each map and mode, and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War did this in several ways. It established a new storyline through the Dark Aether narrative, connecting to the Black Ops campaigns for the very first time. Perks, ammo mods, and Field Upgrades were all able to be upgraded, adding an RPG-like element to Zombies. The armor system changed the way players think about the damage they take, while the rarity system provided a new way to upgrade guns. Easter eggs were made easier so that more players could access the story, and while it was not a hit with everyone, Outbreak was Treyarch’s first attempt at an open world Zombies mode. Like multiplayer, it grew and improved over time, getting lots of support.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Zombies was not perfect, though. There was only one map on launch day, making for a similar lack of content to what multiplayer suffered from. Only three maps were added after release, which was a step-down from older games’ DLC map counts. Further, the round-based Zombies maps were less popular than classics like Shadows of Evil and Origins, as they reused campaign areas and lacked personality. The mostly silent Operators were criticized too, as fans missed the fully voiced cast that had conversations with one another. Even with these flaws, though, the mode was very solid. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Zombies is a good representation of the game as a whole; while it is not the best iteration, it is a good one, and it got better and better as time went on.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
