We analyzed Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, a direct sequel to Call of Duty: Black Ops, and available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X and S.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Reviews
Call of Duty does not miss its annual delivery. The 2020 CoD is Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, a direct sequel to 2010’s Call of Duty: Black Ops (and whose Reviews you can read here). This title has been developed by an amalgam of studies; the main work is by Treyarch and Raven Software, although High Moon Studios, Beenox, Activision Shanghai and Sledgehammer Games have also collaborated on it. We return to the Cold War. We once again share a trench with iconic characters like Alex Mason and Frank Woods.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War – The Cold War in full swing
Reagan himself appears in the game
The announcement of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War was surprising at the time, since, as we have commented in the previous paragraph, we are facing a direct sequel to CoD: Black Ops. In other words: Black Ops Cold War could perfectly be called “Call of Duty: Black Ops 2” if it weren’t for that title already exists.
The action takes place in the early 1980s, with Ronald Reagan as president of the United States. Broadly speaking, the plot can be summarized in that we must stop Perseus, an extremely elusive and intelligent Soviet agent; the only times it has come to light, its actions were decisive during the course of the Cold War. To do this, Reagan finances Russell Adler’s team from the CIA. Players play Bell, a new character whose psychological profile we can customize – they are basically abilities when it comes to playing such as having more health or more starting ammunition. In addition to Adler and other new characters, in this clandestine CIA unit we will also run into mythical figures from this saga, such as Mason and Woods.
Faces known as Woods and Mason join that of Adler, one of the protagonists of this installment
The Campaign is made up of a total of 18 missions, some of which are secondary, and others only accessible by meeting certain prerequisites. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War has several different endings, depending on our decisions during the development of the plot. Although, sadly, given the interquel status of this video game, only one of the endings (the “good”) is the real one, since it is the only one that fits with the canon.
The development of the story is quite interesting and novel for a saga with so much filming. Basically, this is a game of cat and mouse with Perseus. The CIA safe house in West Berlin serves as the central hub of the game, where we decide what our next mission will be. In it, we can interact with the rest of the members of our clandestine cell to learn more about them, or to learn more about the objective to follow, although we do not expect much depth in the dialogue / decision system, starting with the fact that our character does not speak every time we choose an option when talking. This clashes a lot with the care that has been put to the rest of the aspects of the Campaign, and it takes us out of our role a lot, since it seems that we communicate telepathically with the rest of the characters.
In the CIA safe house we decide which mission we will complete next
As we say, the CIA safe house is where we try to unravel the puzzle of what Perseus’ plan is, and where he will attack next. To do this, we must complete all possible missions – including secondary ones, although there are not many of this type – and collect evidence during them, which are basically collectibles of different types that we can examine once in our possession, and that they provide relevant information about the plot, as well as being possible pieces of a puzzle that allows us to continue pulling the thread.
Completing all these tasks is necessary to obtain the best possible ending to the game. One of the puzzles is, for example, very reminiscent of the Who’s Who board game, in which we must find out the identity of three people in Perseus’s paycheck out of eight possible; the solution is always random, and the only way to be sure of finding the objectives is to obtain all the evidence to help us identify them. These additional tasks, together with the “à la carte” mission selection system make this Call of Duty an unconventional title and somewhat more leisurely than what we are used to in the saga.
This peculiar “who’s who” spy game is one of the most interesting puzzles in the game
Apart from this, the development of the Campaign is rather typical; Most missions follow the usual pattern – start, shootouts, dialogue breaks and plot progress, more shootouts, more breaks, and the ending – although there are some missions that add stealth to the equation, which makes them more interesting . This, added to the fact that we can move and hide the corpses, and even force locks to go as unnoticed as possible when going through alternative routes, reminds us a lot of XIII, a title whose remake was launched, precisely, also in November 2020 .
The plot is fine, just plain. At first it can be difficult to follow the thread of it because, at times, it becomes convoluted, and it also sins that it is difficult to start. However, the final stretch of the game is quite powerful, and it easily enters the top 5 of the saga, precisely due to the fact that it has several different endings. Although, yes, the end result of several of the additional tasks (such as the elimination of Perseus’s lieutenants) leaves a bit to be desired, because it is limited to an addendum at the end of the game (“you have killed / you have not killed so-and-so yet In other words: the system of dialogues and branches of the plot is a good idea, but poorly executed.
In one of the missions we return to Vietnam
The Campaign has lasted us about eight hours playing it in its entirety on Hardened difficulty (they are Recruit, Professional, Tanned, Veteran and Realist), and that we have replayed the odd mission to obtain collectibles necessary to successfully complete the secondary missions, and see all the different endings. In other words, we estimate that, on the game’s standard difficulty (Professional), completing all missions can take about six hours or less. This makes its duration below what we are used to.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Multiplayer Modes
In Black Ops Cold War multiplayer we can choose which operator we want to control from among several different ones
The highlight of the Call of Duty is its multiplayer modes, and Black Ops Cold War is no exception. In this regard, both in game modes and in the arsenals customization system and others, Black Ops Cold War borrows many elements from the previous title, Modern Warfare.
At launch, the supply of maps is very scarce, only ten. The different game modes, meanwhile, are nine. Although there is a trick; Activision intends to continue supporting the game through free content updates for both Multiplayer and Zombies. All of this in the form of different seasons, as in Call of Duty: Warzone. So in this regard we can only say that, out of the box, it is possible to “burn” the multiplayer of Black Ops Cold War soon as there is little variety of options, and we remain expectant about the new content that will be added to this title in the future. .
Assault Teams – Dirty Bomb from Black Ops Cold War is a miniature Warzone
Our favorite mode, and the one we highlight, is Dirty Bomb in Assault Teams; On a huge map with the possibility of driving vehicles, ten squads of four players each must find uranium with which to detonate various dirty bombs. The size of the map, along with the course of the game and the fact of being in a group before other small groups of enemies make it very reminiscent of Warzone, from which Black Ops Cold War takes many elements.
Know that this installment has crossplay between all its versions, so we can play without problems with friends who have the title on a platform other than ours. In addition, we can also play locally, split screen, and play against bots in case we want to face opponents controlled by the machine instead of other players from all over the globe.
We play a game of Dominion on the Checkmate map
Integration with Warzone is also included, although it is not part of Black Ops Cold War as such; It is still its own standalone title, although the title gives us the option of being released from BO Cold War. The consoles also include keyboard and mouse support; With this control scheme we can face PC players face to face. The excuses are over.
Otherwise, the gunplay is pretty solid, which makes it one of the best multiplayer modes in the series in this regard, and the initial customization options in terms of arsenal are convincing. As we discussed before, we are waiting for Activision to include new content in the game in the form of new maps as well as new modes and more weapons.
Zombies are back in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
Zombie mode is back
As it is a Call of Duty by Treyarch, the inclusion of the mythical Zombies mode was a must. And, in this respect, they do not disappoint. We are facing the most revolutionary Zombies mode of Call of Duty, due to the number of new features. First things first: after the end of Tag der Toten, the last Zombies map of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, the plot of Aether, which began in nothing more and nothing less than in Call of Duty: World at War, it was closed. In Black Ops Cold War we see the birth of the Dark Aether plot, for all intents and purposes a reboot of the original World at War zombie story. In fact, the available launch map, Die Maschine (“the machine” in German) is a modified version of Nacht der Untoten (“Night of the Undead”), the first zombie map in the series.
It is intended to give a more filmic and cohesive aspect to the Zombies mode with the Campaign mode; A declaration of intentions. In fact, the characters that we control here are the same operators that we can also handle in Multiplayer. Some of them (like, for example, Russell Adler) are characters that appear in the Campaign.
The protagonists of the Zombies mode of Black Ops Cold War are the operators of the Multiplayer mode
As we discussed above, the novelties of the Zombies mode in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War are numerous. Let’s start with the fact that a weapon rarity system has been implemented in the available arsenal, a la Warzone. The rarity of a weapon not only determines the number of accessories it includes – which makes it more effective – but also increases its base damage. Again, Warzone and Multiplayer have been added, as is, the possibility of adding armor, and we can even use casualty streaks against the zombie horde, such as the helicopter gunner.
Another very interesting novelty is the fact that, every five rounds and, from round 10, we can request an evacuation helicopter to escape the area with the rewards that we have achieved. This comes in handy considering that this Zombies mode uses a cumulative progression system between games; obtaining etheric crystals we can improve our arsenal, make the drink machines that give us advantages on each map more effective, and so on. In other words: it gives a compelling reason to keep playing, since the more we play and the more resources we obtain, the more we can reach higher rounds.
Every round we complete, the zombies get faster and stronger
Dead Ops Arcade also returns. This time, called Dead Ops Arcade 3: The Arrival of the Gorilla Mother. Again, and as in previous installments of this minigame, from an overhead perspective like Smash TV, we must overcome levels full of zombies and other dangers while collecting all kinds of power-ups that make our lives easier. It is still tremendously fun and addictive, and its inclusion is appreciated considering that it is not the star dish of Zombies mode.
Of course, we can play both Dead Ops Arcade and the standard zombie maps both locally on splitscreen and online with up to three other people. And last but not least, know that the progress of unlocking items / weapons and that of the weapons themselves is shared between Multiplayer and Zombies modes. That is, we can raise the level of a weapon by killing a lot with it in Multiplayer or Zombies and unlock accessories for it in these two modes simultaneously, and the level of our user account makes us unlock objects such as new weapons or casualty streaks for everyone the modes.
In Black Ops Cold War Dead Ops Arcade returns
Final thoughts on CoD: Black Ops Cold War
On a technical and performance level, we are facing one of the best titles of the generation, and a very good video game with which to check the differences between machines. On PS5 and Xbox Series X, Black Ops Cold War runs at native 4K and 60 FPS; we also have the option to play at 1080p and up to 120 FPS. Xbox Series S, meanwhile, has a native resolution of 1440p. Finally, PS4 and Xbox One have resolutions of up to 1080p and 60 FPS in the base models, and up to 4K (rescaled) and 60 FPS in the premium models. The game works solid most of the time, although users, including ourselves, report crashes and random crashes of the game, some of them even going so far as to make the console turn off.
Speaking of the graphics level, Black Ops Cold War looks great, especially on next-gen consoles, where raytracing is the icing on the cake. The cinematic scenes are photorealistic, and the game itself in motion is a barbarian spectacle.
Graphically, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is a marvel
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is completely dubbed into Spanish, although it is true that we did not like the dubbing as much as in previous installments. The work done on this is remarkable. Of course, the game has full subtitles and all kinds of accessibility options related to them. The soundtrack, unfortunately, goes quite unnoticed. There are hardly any epic or memorable themes, and, in addition, the music is silenced by the constant sounds of weapons. In this regard we can say that a great job has been done on audio.
In general, it is a title with good intentions and a varied and interesting range of game modes, the main burden of which are several performance and technical problems that can be corrected with future patches. Precisely these errors are what separate it from being among the best titles in the series, although, as we say, they are fortunately rectifiable errors.
Black Ops Cold War is dubbed into Spanish
Author’s note: this Reviews was possible thanks to a game download code provided by Activision.
THE BEST
- Solid on a technical level
- Bring back Campaign mode, absent in previous Treyarch CoD
- Very good job of localization and accessibility options
- One of the best Multiplayer modes in the series, with the possibility of being expanded
- The game will receive free content for both Multiplayer and Zombies
- The Zombies mode is the most elaborate and with the most novelties of the entire saga
- The return of Dead Ops Arcade
- Includes console support for keyboard and mouse
WORST
- The Campaign is short, even for a Call of Duty
- Various errors of all kinds spoil the whole
- It gives performance problems on PS4 and Xbox One, even on their premium models
- The soundtrack goes unnoticed
CONCLUSION
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is an installment of this mythical saga full of good intentions, and with an interesting and convincing range of modes through one of the best multiplayer modes of the saga, the return of the single player campaign (which was absent during the previous installment of Treyarch) and a future in which several free content are proposed to expand the experience. It is a very good game, weighed down by several performance errors that separate it from excellence.