Even though Black Ops Cold War is out, Treyarch’s first season for the game doesn’t kick off until next month. Without any tutorials on hand to explain what’s going on, those first few matches can be confusing, so even though they’re more objective-based than Modern Warfare’s 64-player Ground War, I found myself drifting more towards the traditional match playlists in Cold War.

However, Treyarch’s two big new modes – Fireteam’s Dirty Bomb, and Combined Arms – don’t really do it for me. The number of maps is fine and will no doubt expand with free additions just as Modern Warfare did. This less “realistic” strain of boots-on-the-ground action is one that I personally prefer, with a slightly longer time to kill and fewer opportunities for players to camp for entire matches. Players could peak around corners, mount guns on surfaces, and even open/close doors.Ĭold War inherits some of these changes – such as the in-depth Gunsmith weapon customisation – but overall it feels like a simplification. Modern Warfare made some notable changes to how Call of Duty’s traditional running and gunning felt, creating a deeper sense of interactivity with the environments. Next stop is multiplayer, where we’ll also touch on the core gameplay. Modern Warfare didn’t have a flawless narrative, but it kept you charging from one story beat to the next.īlack Ops Cold War vs.

It works to an extent, but the overall story isn’t quite as gripping and the characters far less engaging. Where Modern Warfare was a punchy, incredibly well-placed thrill ride, Black Ops Cold War wants its players to immerse themselves, reading through dossiers, and piecing together leads in your hunt for the big baddie. The skulduggery and mind games are more prevalent than ever here, one level showcasing this perfectly as you finally unravel one of the story’s biggest twists. Most of them amount to next to nothing, though you’re given more agency in Cold War than other Call of Duty campaigns before it, bar the superb Black Ops II. Where this campaign delivers is in the choices it presents. With Cold War promising a return to the more traditional campaign format – dropping us in the 80s with a familiar cast of characters – there was definitely some promise there. Black Ops III and its futuristic bending of reality proved more than a little divisive, thanks in part to Treyarch’s insistence on making it a co-op focused experience, and then Black Ops 4 shelved its campaign entirely. Modern Warfare: Campaignįirstly, there’s the campaign.

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