By Prabhnoor Singh
It’s that time of year again, and with the impending release of a brand-new Call of Duty title, it falls on me to load up on guns, throw on my legwarmers, and dive into the political upheaval of the 1980s.
In the hours I’ve spent with Black Ops Cold War so far, I’ve come to grips with a selection of weapons, modes, and maps. It’s been the best of times, it’s been the worst of times. But what I’ll mostly remember is the laughter.
I’ve had some humble thoughts on this game and I thought it was my responsibility to share it with you all.
Overall, Cold War feels so much “looser” than both Modern Warfare and the battle royale spin-off Warzone. Movement is far more dynamic and forgivable, with an emphasis on run ‘n’ gun, reckless mantling, and sliding. While I’d even go as far as to argue that the gameplay has receded a little from previous releases, I find the overall experience of playing Cold War slicker, faster, and more gratifying than its brethren, despite feeling oddly “sloppier.”
The 1980s setting – mostly showcased in the “Miami” map – offers a refreshing feel to typical Call of Duty warfare. After decades of deserts and bombed-out towns, letting rip in a locale that essentially looks like Vice City makes for an exciting experience. The ’80s aesthetic also applies to the weaponry, and the emphasis on powerful sub-machine guns, on the beach, under neon lighting pulls CoD away from its po-faced “real world” obsession.
New mode VIP Escort is one of the most psychological matches in Call of Duty’s history. One team of five must escort another poorly- armed player to one of several extraction points, while the other team must track down and take out the VIP. This leads to the mind-games of planning and counter-planning – as the assassins either split up to cover all extraction zones or bear down on one single spot and hope that the VIP is doing the same. Conversely, the VIP team can hunker down to protect their charge, or distract the assassins by raising hell elsewhere, where the VIP slips away unnoticed. It’s a sneaky, fast-paced mode, and it works well. I do admit it gets frustrating at times though.
Now, the Field Mic is an all-powerful piece of machinery. Ok, that might be a bit much, but it’s a really good field upgrade. This nifty device creates an increased radius of sound detection on the mini-map, showing up all nearby enemies from just the slightest noise. Planted in a strategic spot, I found I essentially became a one-man fortress, racking up tens of kills with ease, even against the odds, due to my ability to predict every single incoming assault. This particular gadget is dangerous when properly utilized. Perhaps too dangerous.
The “Moscow” map offers a breathless throwdown, featuring a highly detailed but devastated train station and its surrounding streets. With a huge selection of entry and exit points to almost all areas of battle, I found it one of the most relentlessly action-packed stages in Black Ops lineage. In Combined Ops, “Armada” is chaotic in the best sense, offering frantic combat on foot, gunboat, zip-line, and even underwater. The constant rallying from ship-to-ship is ridiculous but thrilling, even if the mode itself can be a little exhausting at times.
Now, I want to talk about something that caught the eyes of all the Call of Duty community– Fireteam: Dirty Bomb and here’s why. Fireteam: Dirty Bomb is a point-based objective game played on large maps, pitting 10 teams of four against each other in a race to detonate several radioactive explosives. Players must fight to stay alive while looting enough uranium drops to deposit into the explosive canisters and activate the detonation. Points are obtained for each squad by earning kills, depositing uranium, and by detonating a dirty bomb. The first squad to reach 500 points wins the match. Unlimited respawns keep you coming back into action, and I can’t recall having any boring or quiet moments.
You can choose how your squad wants to go for the win. You can try to make an early push to a bomb site for a quick deposit and detonation, or you can ambush another squad and take credit for their hard work. Each bombsite tells you how much uranium has been deposited and when a team is detonating. If you play your cards right, your squad can swoop in and clear a bomb site that another team has worked to fill with uranium, and detonate before they can redeploy and retaliate. Once a dirty bomb is detonated, you have to flee the area before the radiation kills you.
“Ruka” and “Alpine” are the two Fireteam maps available for the beta, and interestingly, the maps and mode look designed more for Warzone than Black Ops: Cold War. Fireteam: Dirty Bomb uses the armor plating system from battle royale, and there’s also similar respawning with a redeploy that lets you parachute down to your desired location.
These Fireteam maps also have interactable doors just like the buildings featured in Modern Warfare and Warzone, which are not present on the more traditional maps featured in Cold War’s standard multiplayer. These doors can even be blown off their hinges with enough force, which my teammates and I learned the hard way.
Playing on Alpine, a ski resort location with firefights and explosions happening on the snowy mountainside. On that map, some of the bomb sites are located in small cabins. This can make for a frenzy of close-quarters combat. My squad shut the cabin doors and quickly worked to deposit our uranium, but an enemy tank—because Cold War’s large-scale modes support tank combat—obliterated the doors on both sides of the building. And sadly, an enemy squad overpowered us in the cabin and took over the detonation. These high-level engagements and unpredictable moments are what keeps me coming back to Fireteam: Dirty Bomb, but at the same time makes me want to throw my controller on the ground as hard as I can.
I’ll admit that it can sometimes reach frustrating levels of chaos when multiple tanks are occupied by enemies. There are also plenty of killstreaks that can be obtained by the luck of looting supply caches around the map. It’s best to have someone on your team running a loadout meant to counter all the tanks and air support.
I’d like to see the killstreaks dialed back before launch, as the drop rate for lethal streaks seems far too high. Players use them to call in too many choppers in the first few moments of the match. The powerful, player-controlled chopper gunners might be a little too much for the mode. Otherwise, I love the chaos of Fireteam: Dirty Bomb. This mode could be a good fit for players who want to enjoy large-scale warfare with a squad but get easily bored with simply outlasting opponents in battle royale modes or securing Domination capture points.
Overall, I’ve enjoyed my time with Black Ops Cold War thus far. I find it’s fast, easy-to-pick-up, “Hollywood-style” gameplay more addictive than the more deliberately paced combat to be found in Warzone, or even Modern Warfare. Cold War‘s stripped-down mechanics, engaging new modes, and refreshing ’80s aesthetic offers a shot of neon adrenaline to the series – like Drive meets The Expendables – and I’m hoping that the full game will successfully capitalize further on this bombastic retro vibe.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War launches November 13 on PS4, PS5, PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
