REVIEW : CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS COLD WAR (XBOX Series X)

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REVIEW : CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS COLD WAR (XBOX Series X)

REVIEW : CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS COLD WAR (XBOX Series X)

Not even a year like 2020 can hold Call of Duty‘s annual release. Developer Treyarch Studios has released Black Ops Cold War on time, despite the pandemic and the fact that it’s only been two years since Black Ops 4. Upon initial boot, I was half expecting proof of rushing to the finish line, but the new Call of Duty for 2020 gives three polished segments. Here’s the review on multiplayer after knocking Prestige, zombies after a dozen long rounds, and also a run-through of the drive.

REVIEW : CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS COLD WAR (XBOX Series X)

Multiplayer for the casual masses

Black Ops Cold War‘s multiplayer is a breath of fresh air in a sea of stressful shooters. Like many FPS fans, I’ve spent the last 2+ years primarily playing battle royale games. That genre has an intensity that sets the heart racing and makes every win a gratifying achievement. On the flip side, losing in battle royale expresses frustration at the wasted minutes spent chasing down loot, only to die and have to do it all over again. As more battle royale games have appeared, more easygoing multiplayer adventure have been left behind, so Cold War falling into the latter camp makes for a refreshing change of pace.

Treyarch’s latest CoD effort tries to stand out in several ways. There’s the Dirty Bomb game mode, which mixes big-battle elements of Warzone with a more focused map and series of objectives. 40 players divided into 10 teams and fight to rack up kills, collect Uranium reserves, and capture dirty bombs. Provided you have a team of like-minded players, this mode runs well. It provides fast response seen in other conventional game types but on a bigger scale.

REVIEW : CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS COLD WAR (XBOX Series X)

Ultimately, Black Ops Cold War‘s multiplayer offers the best casual shooter experience in 2020. It provides a great place to warm up for Warzone, which is getting new content in December and is a safe place for new players to learn the ropes. Veterans will acknowledge the refinements to gameplay and the return to the old three-lane style of maps, as well as the addition of many familiar Black Ops weaponry.

Zombies are the ultimate co-op

Treyarch knows how to make a damn good co-op mode. Black Ops Cold War zombies are the most satisfying rendition yet. It gets the equilibrium between player control and the enemy threat just right, which leads to longer survival times and, hence, more fun.

It’s more comfortable to move around the map and outmanoeuvre zombies, though the challenge remains. Players can get more armour to survive hits, but anyone that gets swarmed without an escape plan quickly sees “Game Over.”

REVIEW : CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS COLD WAR (XBOX Series X)

The one included map, Die Maschine, is great. It’s simple to turn the power on and facilitate the Pack-a-Punch machine, which is always a bonus for newcomers. The fun starts when you begin powering up weapons and devitalizing zombies in crazy ways.

Hardcore zombies fans will be happy to hear that there’s a big Easter egg to discover in Die Maschine.

The joys of single-player

Black Ops Cold War serves as a continuation to Black Ops and a prequel to Black Ops 2. Familiar faces like Alex Mason, Frank Woods, and Jason Hudson return, but players take the role of a blank slate character whose codename is “Bell.” Unlike former Black Ops heroes, Bell isn’t a pre-defined character.

There’s more mission variety this time around as well. There are loads of the conventional run-and-gun levels with bombastic setpieces, but there are a few that are more subdued. In particular, one has players in the shoes of a KGB double agent in the agency’s headquarters that must figure out how to deflect suspicion on themselves while receiving a key card to let the CIA team into the facility. There are several ways to achieve this task, but players have to use their wits rather of force.

The plot of Black Ops Cold War isn’t mind-blowing, but it does capture the spy games vibe perfectly. The mission variety is much admired, and it bodes well for the future of the series. Like all Call of Duty campaigns, it’s a bit on the short side, but there’s very little fluff here, and optional charges and various endings give it more replayability than expected. For a mode that’s often considered secondary to the multiplayer, there’s a lot of production value here, and it shouldn’t be overlooked.

REVIEW : CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS COLD WAR (XBOX Series X)

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review-call-of-duty-black-ops-cold-war-xbox-series-xCall of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is yet another big success for Treyarch Studios. While microtransactions are still found in this paid-for game, they are on-par with Modern Warfare. Skill-based matchmaking will likely be the bigger debate, though I doubt we'll see this change. What's more, the tired A.I. streaks and demand for hard counter Perks will also remain, with "easy fun" prioritized above "competitiveness." Black Ops Cold War is the ultimate casual shooter. Whether that's a great or a bad thing is up to you.

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