Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Review for Campaign, Multiplayer and Esports

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War promises much to many.  

For the juggernaut annual series' 2020 release, developers Treyarch and Raven Software hoped for another stellar Black Ops campaign with branching storylines and new wrinkles. It was expected that there would be the familiar-feeling multiplayer with smart tweaks and the return of zombies, with the battle royale warzone hovering the background, of course. 

All this while the latest game hovers on the border between console generations, offering up cross-gen play and further melding some of one mode's gameplay elements into another. 

With this, alongside the arrival of a new console generation, came grand expectations that only a franchise like Call of Duty could seem to match. 

Graphics and Gameplay

By now, players know the deal with Call of Duty from a presentation standpoint. 

BOCW is a visual treat, especially on PC and next-generation systems as it seems to happily use all of the horsepower available to squeak out as much detail as possible. 

The devil's in the details, should players take a break from the relentless action to observe. All of the varied locales look great in their own right, but the little things really add a wow factor to the experience. Think, the visible heat coming from the exhaust on a helicopter as it flies alongside the player's ride or the stunning architecture detail on the ceiling of a KGB building. 

Advancements for the series really shine in the game's campaign mode, where players settle into a safehouse with friendlies and get to wander about taking in the sights and conversations. The player's allies are stunningly detailed with some of the best-looking NPCs in a game ever. There's the odd lip-sync here and there, but the eye movement, gestures and mannerisms bring the characters to life. 

It certainly helps that everything is superbly voiced, and the game has gone overboard to get in the individual gun sounds and the specifics of ammunition as it punches through different types of surfaces. 

Again, none of this is unexpected at this point for a Call of Duty game. But the visuals, especially in the campaign, are really a treat and a case study for what the next generation has to offer in its early stages. 

There isn't too much of a deviation from the past in terms of gameplay. That's more testament to just how good previous iterations have been than it is a knock, though. 

Gunplay feels great again. The individual sound effects and visuals work in concert with vibrations to pack a punch almost exclusive to the series. Traversal is grounded like it was in last year's Modern Warfare, with vaulting and sliding feeling smooth. 

Whether it's trying to advance the story, splatter some zombie brains or outduel a real opponent on the multiplayer side, Call of Duty has slightly tweaked the comfort zone of the gameplay feel over the last few years to tone down the arcade-feel. 

The result, in tandem with the presentation, is the best-in-series feel with a shakeup in the theme and visuals departments.

Story, Multiplayer and More

Black Ops Cold War embraces the silly as it turns an eye on the '80s yet adds in a dash of flashbacks to weave its narrative. 

From the jump, the brief romp boasts a picture-perfect Ronald Reagan and all the recognizable hard rock tunes of the era to get players into the mood. 

Honestly, a breath of fresh air coming out of last year's Modern Warfare, which at times went overboard on shock value while outright depicting crimes against humanity. Even when the narrative shows a different perspective, it doesn't match the serious tones of prior entries. 

Alongside the vibes are some nuanced, serious storytelling progression for the series via gameplay innovation. Players spend downtime between certain missions at a safehouse they're free to explore. They can strike up conversations with allies and learn more about them as they go about their days telling each other stories and doing things like working out. 

When the player partakes in conversations, they're met with RPG-lite dialogue trees that get some interesting answers out of friendlies. The player is still a silent protagonist but serves as a spotlight for some depth and backstory to characters around them that the games don't usually have. 

That silent protagonist can have any number of variables in the character-creation process, so the silent part makes sense. The role doesn't change up much, as even perks like "paranoid" don't impact the story, just provide a reason for stat or perk bonuses during gameplay.

Besides multiple endings depending on player choice, there are side missions worth exploring. This can lead to discovering evidence that players can put toward making the right decisions on the corkboard before actually playing those side missions. The biggest knock? There are only two. 

The campaign also dives into the stealth genre multiple times, opening up a linear level and tasking the player with navigating a slew of enemies. Each hostile baddie has a detection meter like any other stealth game, and things are as inconsistent as one might expect for a longtime first-person shooter trying to weave in a different genre. 

Discovery means everything comes crashing down on the player. But as a whole, those sequences are a nice change of pace. And for longtime fans of the stealth genre, it sure is nice to see the Splinter Cell way of lockpicking make a return. 

Otherwise, the campaign levels themselves have the on-the-rails feel. At this point, players probably aren't picking up a Call of Duty campaign to have the genre flipped on its head. But enemy A.I. is pretty disappointing on almost all fronts, and it's pretty immersion-breaking to just sprint-flank and drop slow-to-react enemies with zero awareness and bad aim. 

Players shouldn't be picking up BOCW expecting a major re-work to multiplayer, either. It feels much the same as the prior edition in the series, which is a good thing.

Customizing the feel of the game while progressing is again the name of the game. Modern Warfare's Gunsmith triumphantly returns and offers a series-best weapon-tweaking tool. Players can fiddle with all sorts of attachments and sights in a real love letter of sorts to enthusiasts. And indeed, a gun can feel like an entirely different weapon after some tweaks. 

Unlockable perks and parts remain a part of progression, and returning from past Black Ops escapades are Wildcards, which offer additional bonuses on top of the usual stuff. As always, some combo of weapon mods and skill perks will eventually dominate the online scene (the MP5 is going to need a nerf, folks), but it feels more variable than usual at launch and once that meta does materialize, it's up to smart updates to keep things feeling fresh and balanced. 

Similar themes apply to the suite of modes. The traditional 6v6 stuff returns, and even the more arcade-type modes like Hardpoint still have some weight to them like Modern Warfare did. Slower-paced modes such as Search and Destroy feel just as good in their own right again. 

The biggest noteworthy add to the multiplayer ecosystem is the 40-person Fireteam: Dirty Bomb. Ten teams of four tackle objectives at once in pursuit of the 500-point mark. At launch, it's fun, but it's one of those modes where pre-arranged squads are going to run roughshod over all other opposition. And it shouldn't be mistaken for Warzone-lite, as the presence of respawns dashes that particular feel of every encounter being so tense. 

Observers might notice a lack of maps at launch, but eight maps over varying game modes isn't a major black eye on the package, provided the post-launch updates follow the same trajectory as the terrific support Modern Warfare received. Those who prefer three-lane-inspired maps and think the design turn Modern Warfare's maps took encouraged camping, might find themselves again wishing for a return to two-land and three-lane approaches. 

Interestingly, zombies carries over many inspirations from multiplayer like killstreaks. Players suit up as operatives from multiplayer too. The narrative even takes away a bit of the fantasy touch as those operatives infiltrate the bunker and remain in contact with allies on the outside. 

But that's about the biggest leap zombies seems willing to take here. It's more like the multiplayer than it is the campaign when it comes to innovation—drop in with friends with or without and paint the pretty scenery with a splash of zombie guts, crafting items and surviving the horde while exploring big environments. 

It should be interesting to see if the zombies playerbase booms with new arrivals from the multiplayer side given some of the similarities, but if nothing else, it's a fun mode this year with plenty of baddies in need of some sorting out. 

As always, Call of Duty generally runs well from a technical standpoint, and the menus are packed with droves of options, from button re-mapping to HUD elements and more. 

Esports

Last year's Modern Warfare launched alongside the aptly-named Call of Duty League, which eventually crowned the Dallas Empire as champs. 

BOCW figures to have much of the same appeal globally from a competitive standpoint heading into Year 2. With the gameplay again grounded, and team-based tactics the clear-cut deciding factor in the outcome of competitive games, the esports scene should again thrive. 

This year's Call of Duty Challengers offers a path to the pro circuit, and the season itself should again have zero problems holding its own against pro leagues from other games. 

The series will always have a strong esports presence now. Perhaps more interesting is what the creators do with the competitive online scene. A ranked game mode with front-facing stats and a competitive ladder to climb would seemingly be a nice addition to the slate of offerings. 

Either way, it's clear BOCW won't have any issues in the esports area after its direct predecessor navigated the initial season so well. 

Conclusion

Black Ops Cold War plays it safe in many ways, with the multiplayer feeling like it takes the good from Modern Warfare, adds the Black Ops spice and runs with it. It's enough of a variation to encourage diving in again for some of that rewarding gameplay. 

But the real star of the show is the campaign and some of its new elements there. While it has some replayability, it's a shame the experience is so brief. 

It shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that Call of Duty opts for the safe route during a console transition. But safe is comfort—players know what they're getting, whether they seek out a fun campaign, some form of multiplayer from traditional all the way up to battle royale, or the arcade spectacle that is zombies.