Call of Duty is a franchise with many ups and downs, but the first Call of Duty: Black
Ops game was undeniable for its impact and originality. Black Ops Cold War functions
as a pretty close sequel to the first Black Ops even more so than even Black Ops 2 I'd
say, bringing back campaign, multiplayer and zombies with a similar creative moxy and even
bolder choices. You still blast into rooms in slow motion and shoot someone, that's-
that's - they have that locked in, they just have that locked in.
The campaign follows the original characters from Call of Duty: Black Ops along with some
new faces as they try to take down a rogue Russian terror group intending to nuke the
world. Yeah, yeah, it’s one of the nuke the world ones, they wanna nuke the world...
You mainly play as Bell, a protagonist you can customise not only when it comes to gender,
skin tone and nationality, but also selecting two perks that could help adjust to your playstyle
such as higher health or better hipfire accuracy. All new features for Black Ops, and this was
a first step in showing that it’s up for trying new ideas. Having the choice for a
darker skinned protagonist or a non-binary protagonist was a really great step as well,
but you can't see them or hear them, so it doesn't make that much of a difference really.
The tone of Cold War was a head-scratcher, as it follows such a patriotic, over-the-top
American energy as you minigun valleys of Vietnamese villages while someone says “f**k
yeah” every now and then while Spirit In The Sky plays. It seemed almost satirical
to me but it never overstepped that line, which resulted in an equally self-serious
story that just ended up weird and almost ignorant to its own subject. It joins the
ranks of Far Cry 5, that it tries to make a clever political satire but doesn’t want
to be political, so ends up with nothing. Should I hate the CIA for their torturous
experimental horrors? Should I be thinking about the fact that Ronald Reagan’s definitely
a war criminal? Nah, cause we’re trying to stop nukes here! Those- those pesky nukes!
Leave Ron alone! But from a play-by-play perspective, the tone
doesn’t extinguish the fact that these developers really know how to make an brilliant FPS campaign.
Every level feels unique, often tapping into random mechanics and dropping you in something
unexpected while keeping everything entertaining. Missions are very linear, but it builds the
space around you in a way where you can experiment with the geography and try new things, so
it never feels like you’re on rails. It has a lot of choice options and some alternate
endings, though they’re mostly based around punishing you for having a conscience and
letting people live. There are even optional side missions you can gather intel for in
the main missions and solve puzzles to try and launch, and that made me feel more
like an actual intelligence agent instead of just skinny Rambo.
The general craft is brilliant too, with really stunning environments that always made me
slow down and enjoy the rooms and landscapes. They felt rich with detail and character in
a genre that’s often filled with invisible walls and bland interiors. And during high-stakes
chases and shoot-outs I was often regularly amazed by the sound design, I was often physically
ducking left and right as these cars and rockets came whizzing past me.
And if you’re as much of a Black Ops 1 fan as I am you’ll be happy with how this links
to it, not in a ‘hey remember this?’ sort of way, but as a real sequel that earns its
call-backs to the original, instead of using them as currency. The grip of Mason’s trippy
interrogations from the first isn’t felt here until the very end, but when it does
lean into that, it becomes incredibly subversive and unexpected in a way that maybe takes inspiration
from Titanfall 2’s brilliant work. I won’t show or spoil those parts of the game, but
that final act made me really feel like my experience was unique, and that others players
may play it completely differently. It may not know what it’s trying to say, but I
still enjoyed the creative choices made here whether it was new mechanics, more thoughtful
levels or even a little bit of horror. Over on the multiplayer, I also experienced
something weird but compelling. If you’re moving from the latest 2019 Modern Warfare
game, expect a bit of an adjustment period. Cold War’s multiplayer plays almost arcade-like,
with health bars hovering over enemies, campy 80s interfaces and light gunplay that reminded
me a little of Black Ops 2 or 3. Overall this didn’t feel anywhere near as good as what
I was used to with the last Call of Duty, but there’s a possibility I get used to
it, and players may too. But I have no idea how it'll function with Warzone carrying over
to this new engine in such a different type of play. It seems to be more designed around
pushing score over kills in terms of rewards or streaks, which hopefully might invite more
casual players that get crushed in aggressive Modern Warfare or Battlefield lobbies. Not
me though, obviously, I’m - I'm amazing at the game I've never been - never been beaten
in my life! Most regular modes seem close to Modern Warfare
in gameplay, but the new modes such as Fireteam: Dirty Bomb and Combined Arms really have inserted
some creativity into the mix. There are some fumbles like VIP Escort, which I found to
be a complete miss that was boring at best and enraging at worst. However, Combined Arms
uses a more dynamic maps to include land, sea and air vehicles with ziplines to make
domination have more of a chaotic and layered experience that isn’t so small that it’s
overwhelming, nor too big to just become... Battlefield.
Fireteam: Dirty Bomb is the most interesting of all though, as it uses the mechanics of
Warzone, like squad teams, looting, body armour, but it uses it on an objective-based, smaller
scale. Judging by the Fireteam title, it looks like Cold War will be experimenting with the
Warzone template more in future which could invite Warzone players into the Multiplayer
more as I remember there being a divide there for Modern Warfare. This also adapts to modern
times quite well because it's using battle royale mechanics in a traditional FPS campaign,
because people really can’t get enough of that stuff. But considering the other broad
strokes this game makes, the multiplayer felt like a lot of swings that either don’t quite
hit or haven’t hit yet, and result in it being the weakest of what’s on offer.
Alright let's get to what I really wanna talk about. The rest, the rest of the game that's
just a side dish! Just a bunch of spring rolls. Let’s talk zombies. Black Ops 1 Zombies
is not only the best Call of Duty Zombies, but in my opinion the best zombies game ever
made. So I was extremely happy to see a similar level of originality and creativity from Cold
War that seems to learn from mistakes made prior, to something that’s different and
completely new. It still runs on endless rounds as the default
mode with barriers and doors to buy past and random weapon boxes, but the way the game
progresses and how it keeps you playing is really exciting. You can start with your own
loadout first of all, but with guns following a tier system so there’s a clear upgrade
in weapon damage as the zombies get stronger. There are also more clearly marked objectives,
like activating the power, going to terminals, going through dimensions, activating trials
and- it doesn’t feel confusing, or something that I need to look up a YouTube tutorial
for. But don't worry though there are still secrets and easter eggs and puzzles. I- I've
seen a glimpse of one, I don't know how it worked, but it scared me. Everything just
has this tiered upgradable progression that means I didn't just get fully stacked by round
18 and just grind away – you’re constantly challenged to upgrade with the zombies. However
the current map isn’t as easy to navigate as some of the classics though, and it’s
very easy to get turned around and lose where exits are when high stakes zombie chases really
don't need that. However, it is extremely fun. And I have missed it so, so much.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, that's a long name, does struggle with itself in regards to what it’s trying
to say morally or politically, but I don’t think that problem is gonna go away anytime
soon for the series. What I do know is that they’ve made something entertaining, bringing
back an era of Call of Duty that thrived on new ideas and making bold choices that aren’t
just flashy gimmicks. It’s lighter, campier, messy at times, but I’ll never turn down
an FPS that's making some real choices, and upturning expectations.
That is all from me, I’ve been Harry Mitchell. Leave us your thoughts on Cold War and also
go check out our other next-gen launch content at BBC The Social Gaming. Goodbye!