Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War

I have a real soft spot for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. This was one of the launch games I got with my PlayStation 5 so I played the hell out of it. It tells a fantastic Cold War era story and it is packed with all the game modes that you could want. I also feel that this was one of the last “old style” Call of Duty games if that makes sense. Before it all became mostly about warzone and nickel and diming gamers every step of the way. My main gripe with this one actually is that I hate how it does not have 5 in the title!

This War Sure Is Cold!

I love the early 80s Cold War setting that Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War has. I also love Russell Adler, I think that I would have to say that he is my favorite Call of Duty character. There is a big-time terrorist known as Perseus who was thought to be dead, but now has the potential power to level Europe and then put the blame on the USA. Adler and his CIA team (and a few others) are tasked with stopping Perseus and saving the day, by any means necessary.

A Special Kind Of Protagonist

While Russell Adler may be the main character in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, we play as a guy called, Bell. Adler says that Bell served with him in Vietnam. What is neat about Bell is that we get to have a hand in his creation, not just with the way that he looks, but in his personality as well. Let me tell you, the twist here as to who Bell is was something that shocked me and I thought that it was awesome. The campaign here is a lot less linear than in previous campaigns. You are given more freedom of choice and you even have a pretty hard choice to make at the end of the game which was something I did not see coming.

War With Friends

I am in the minority in that I love the campaigns in the COD series, but most people prefer the multiplayer and I spent a lot of time with the multiplayer in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. It has the modes that you would expect, but this game also offered a handful of new game modes as well which were, Fireteam: Dirty Bomb, Combined Arms, and my personal favorite, VIP Escort. My friends and I would play the hell out of VIP Escort! In this mode, the team has one VIP and they need to protect and escort them to a checkpoint, the other team needs to take the VIP out. It sounds like such a simple concept I know, but I loved this game mode. As you would expect from a Call of Duty game, everything here works as it should and even to this day, you can fire this up and get into a game pretty easily.

Grr, Zombies

Look, zombies in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is awesome! This has you and your friends needing to kill wave after wave of zombies to earn money to get guns, and ammo and open up new areas of the map. The various maps are fun, but to this day, no other COD game, including this one has topped the zombies mode in Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. They did change things up here with a few other zombie modes added into the mix. I will be honest, I did not spend a great deal of time with the other modes, but I did think that the Dead Ops Arcade 3 which was a top-down arcade style shooter which I did have some fun with.

Pros:

• I loved the campaign
• Adler is my favorite COD character
• The multiplayer is awesome and I love the new Vip Escort mode
• You can still play this online today!

Cons:

• It is good, but there are better Call of Duty games
• I am not sure why, but Zombies never grabbed me as much this time around

The CoD Gaming Franchise has become one of the most universally recognized series since the beginning of the twenty first century, and there’s a good reason why. Not only is the series considered one of the most entertaining gaming experiences, but the games have pushed the boundaries of the genre with almost every new game they release. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is the eighteenth addition to the series, releasing in 2020, and while at this point there is seemingly little space left for innovation the game has delivered yet another authentic gaming experience for fans.

While from game to game little tends to change now adays, considering that there are nineteen games in the series, the developers have done a great job creating a game that blends traditional fan favourite elements with a new class of maps, weapons, customizable aspects and more. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is a highly exciting game which provides endless amusement for players even though not much has changed, other than the storyline.

Game Features

Most Call of Duty games feature three main aspects: Campaign, Multilayer and Zombies (depending on the developers). From game to game these remain the same on the surface, with each aspect being updated to meet the atmosphere of the game. Where Black Ops Cold War comes in is during the height of the actual Cold War, espionage and spy craft have blended in with traditional warfare. The campaign takes you to some of the most important locations of the Cold War where you must obtain information, track leads and hunt down the enemy, without being caught.

Zombies Revolution

The Zombies aspect is also rooted within the Cold War landscape, of course fiction takes the front seat in this as we see zombies emerge from the ground and chase players around the map. The overall gameplay of the zombies feature is fun but seems to lack any unique experiences in relation to past zombie modes. While the multiplayer feature has always been one of the most played aspects of this game, fans have found a sense of nostalgia in playing due to similarities of past warfare seen in weapons and tech. Overall these three features combine for a well rounded playing experience, however in terms of new features there seems to be a lack of when enjoying this game.

Pros:

• Fast paced game modes with new weapons and gear from that time period.
• Zombies mode is strong although having one fixed place map, with DLC map releases we see more creative areas with interesting avenues for zombie survival.

Cons:

• Lackluster in terms of anything new, this seems like a slightly updated iteration of past games in the series.