Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War published by Activision and developed by Treyarch is now available on Xbox One, PC, Xbox Series S/X, PlayStation 4 and 5.
Call of Duty Black Ops is back, the story continues from the first game and without spoilers I have to say, they got it right. Step in the shoes of Bell and take on missions that were inspired by real events during the Cold War. What was interesting about the story this time was the level of choice, having to gather evidence and solve little cases to advance in certain missions and if not done in certain ways the missions might spiral off and potentially go wrong if you don’t do it properly. The campaign also has multiple endings on the choices you make. This campaign feels fleshed out for a Call of Duty campaign and I loved seeing it. In college Call of Duty Black Ops 1 was my all-time favourite, I loved the setting, theme and story, I feel it outshined stories before and after it so it was great getting back to the characters that I truly remember and had a great time with in the past.
Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War to me felt a lot like it had taken many inspirations from it’s Modern Warfare reboot which is good, not only that but Warzone makes a return as-well. Other modes consist of Multiplayer and Zombies. Zombies are back and better than ever, I was never a big Call of Duty Zombies fan but this time it feels so much better, really detailed and the combat is really enjoyable, not only that you can now take your multiplayer custom classes into Zombies and level everything up there as-well which feels a lot better and gets rid of some of the grinds. The usual power-ups are back but this time we also have a crafting bench to aid you in the fight and I found it very handy as the rounds went up and I could keep crafting c4… Damn hell hounds. Treyarch has always been the king of the zombies and while I was never glued to it you can tell they put a lot of heart and effort into it and that’s why it has become the staple it has. This one is no different, it’s still as good as it always has been if not better because I got hooked into it this time.
Call Of Duty’s multiplayer staple is of course back and honestly, I rate it just as good as Modern Warfare’s entry, the maps could be slightly better but the gun combat is really fun and weighty just how I like it, this time weapons can have a quite a few modifications at once and it also feels like this is the most mods we’ve ever seen which is great because there are so many different variations which keeps it fresh and lets you experiment to find the perfect weapon. There are new modes that have been added and I tried them out and while some of them are interesting, VIP mode is a bit like Counter-Strike in which one team has to escort the VIP out while another has to kill them, but it’s good old team deathmatch that I kept going back to. There’s something about the formula of Call of Duty that has had me coming back since the first game on the PC, many people don’t like the repetitiveness but I fail to find an online multiplayer FPS with a formula as addictive as this one. Warzone is also back but it is mostly just the Modern Warefare version but with added Black Ops bits to bring this game into it, which is a welcome addition I can’t complain, they’ve found a good thing with Warzone and it would be a shame to just scrap it and do an entirely new version.
Verdict
Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War is a great game, I believe it could have been better with more time, I’ve always thought Call of Duty doesn’t need yearly releases, I think with more time more creativity could come out of it, though with Cold War the campaigns new options, evidence and multiple endings, it feels like the campaign is going in the right direction. Multiplayer still feels the same which is great because I don’t think any improvements need making on that front. Zombies are back and better than ever which had me hooked on what they had delivered. I still believe Call of Duty needs to rather than keep launching every year, just release one every 2 to 3 years and keep updating the game, Modern Warfare was a brilliant title that kept on growing and I loved seeing it, but now Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War has released so close to MW, will MW’s community now die down and not receive much treatment and be forgotten? I hope not.
8/10
Nerdy Bird Games 