Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Reviews
What I’d hoped for was a detailed but fun shooter which makes the most of its setting. What I got is Call Of Duty With The Soviets As The Bad Guys, albeit with about as much realism as an 80s straight-to-VHS action movie but without the self-awareness.
The PlayStation 5 version of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is the best in the bunch. It tells a solid campaign with branching narrative choices, contains some of the best visuals that you’ve seen on a system not called ‘PC’, and it has some good, new faces on the multiplayer scene. Is it all perfect? Not at all, but it’s a good way for Call of Duty to start on the next generation of consoles.
Call of Duty: Black Ops lost its way post-Black Ops III. While Black Ops III and 4 were fun in their own ways, they were also a massive departure from the core Black Ops experience.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War serves up a great campaign, solid multiplayer with fresh spins, and the zany zombie modes that we've come to expect from Treyarch
Treyarch is quick to admin they faced development challenges during the pandemic. To a degree, it shows. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War doesn’t innovate in any big way. It merely gives Call of Duty fans more of what they have been accustomed to playing year after year. At the same time, Cold War is truly an enjoyable experience delivering over 100gigs of content that’ll get ongoing support and free content long after this review is posted. In short, better days ahead. Cold War will once again be considered the must-have shooter this holiday season. Deservedly so. Just don’t expect anything incredibly groundbreaking
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is a return to form for the franchise sub-series. While perhaps not as visually splendid as last year's Modern Warfare, it gets the Black Ops series back to boots on the ground, introducing new characters and elements while lending adequate time and attention to series favorites. Treyarch expertly steps in to continue the recent interconnected Call of Duty franchise shift, exploring and evolving the series while still creating a game that not just retains but oozes that signature Treyarch style. Perhaps more than any Call of Duty game before it, I'm more excited than ever to see where it goes in the future.
Black Ops has absolutely returned with a vengeance. The fast, frantic pace is still there, and the gunplay is still just as great as you remember it. While the campaign may be the weakest part of an overall phenomenal package, it's still very satisfying and the espionage narrative packs a punch. The modes people are going to play the most, multiplayer and Zombies, are the strongest parts of Black Ops Cold War, and offer the best first person shooter gameplay in video games. PS4 and Xbox One players may be missing out on several improvements offered by the next-gen systems and PC, but it's not enough to detract from an amazing experience. My appetite for Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is definitely growing, and like Duran Duran, "I'm hungry like the wolf".
But it’s not the best Call of Duty game I have played, and the specter of returning to Warzone battle royale games looms large over this game. That’s why I rate this game as 4-out-of-5 stars (and yes, I might rate it much closer to 4.5 stars out of 5, as it is a shade better than the Watch Dogs: Legion game I played recently). I don’t think it’s as good as last year’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, which was so disturbing and thoughtful and had an excellent and long single-player campaign.
Treyarch's latest feels like it's only a few quality of life changes away from being the perfect revival of the Black Ops series. It delivers on all three fronts and manages to subtly freshen some of the series' most stale ingredients.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War brings the Black Ops subseries back to its roots, delivering an explosive campaign, fast-paced multiplayer, and a compelling Zombies experience.
Black Ops Cold War delivers one of the best campaigns in the Call of Duty saga, alongside multiplayer, zombies and a perfect integration with Warzone.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
If it didn’t carry the COD name, it could very well have been labeled as an entirely different game marketed as “from the creators of Black Ops”. Raven and Treyarch have tried something new here, and delivered a refreshing Call of Duty single-player experience — just be aware it’s a smaller scale spy thriller, not an epic open warfare game.
Talk about ushering in a next-generation
Cold War's quiet times are more memorable than the loud ones, even if the story's ambition outweighs its execution.
A laudable shake-up of the Call of Duty campaign formula, but Black Ops Cold War misses some targets.
Black Ops Cold War’s multiplayer brings enough new content to the table to offer the user a number of new experiences which quantifies buying the game. Unfortunately, these modes can grow a bit stale after a while. Yes, they are classed as ‘new’ modes but they heavily borrow from modes that have been present in the past. Vehicle warfare does not quite reach the lofty expectations promised. It’s a fun enough experience, but I found myself leaning a lot more towards Zombies rather than the multiplayer mode.
Overall, Zombies mode delivers on all fronts. As I said at the start of the review, the new maps for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Zombies will come, but this current map provides enough entertainment for you to keep coming back and trying again and again to better your score. Currently, I am averaging around 500 zombie kills per match, but I know I could get even higher than that. It’s challenges like that which keep the longevity of this mode going. Whether you are in a squad or going solo, zombies mode is one that you certainly should not overlook.
Overall, the campaign for Black Ops: Cold War is a very enjoyable experience. The story itself has a very well-written narrative with Christopher Nolan’s Inception levels of confusion right up until the final few missions. The length of the campaign and replayability is a big concern for me though. Most gamers will speed through this campaign, never to return to it again upon completion because there is simply nothing worth doing once you are all done. Of course, the Multiplayer and Zombies modes will have an effect on your experience of the game, but you’ll have to wait for a further deepdive of those.
With any Call of Duty, there are pros and cons. Black Ops Cold War has a lot of subtle changes that I really enjoyed in Campaign, Multiplayer, and Zombies. However, it might now be enough to satisfy rabid fans of the franchise. If you are disappointed, just remember that future updates will hopefully change things that you don't agree with. As for me, I found a lot to like in Black Ops Cold War, even though these changes may not be groundbreaking. And even if you don't enjoy the changes, I must say that playing on next-gen consoles is an incredible experience. Fast frame rates, load times, and graphics are massive pluses for this franchise. I can't wait to see what they can pull off with the next iteration on next-gen consoles.
Although the campaign is only a small slice of the larger package in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, it's great that it counters its 'blink and you'll miss it' length with a bit of replay value and some memorable missions you're bound to want to play again. Raven Software's more subtle approach to Cold War espionage feels like viewing Call of Duty through a new, exciting lens.