Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Review - That title is a mouthful.

 

By Sam Coles:

The Call of Duty franchise has been going for nearly two decades which makes me feel old, anyway it is a series that certainly has its detractors but if you take it for what it is then you can get a lot of fun with it. This year’s Call of Duty has had a rather rocky development cycle, as the folks at Sledgehammer Games were supposed to be spear heading the project. However things took a turn and sailed into stormy waters, so Treyarch and Raven Software had to take it over to get the project done. Despite the somewhat rushed development, it is still a fun game with some questionable issues I will get into shortly. This is Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (that is a mouthful).

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War takes place during the titular period in the late stages of the war in the neon lit 80’s, 1981 to be more precise. You play as Bell who is a silent protagonist which the last time we saw this was Modern Warfare 2, but honestly it works within this context which I won’t spoil. You are tracking down a Soviet agent codenamed Perseus, who has come out of hiding to shift the balance of the Cold War which could possible turning it into nuclear war. The campaign is rather entertaining and it’s nice to see returning characters such as Hudson, Mason and Woods however this campaign is incredibly short where it is over when things start heating up.

What I like about Cold War’s campaign is that it is not a constant shoot, shoot, bang, bang affair, as it embraces the Black Ops part of the title. The game embraces the espionage side of things, you will be sneaking around in enemy territory snapping photos and hacking computers. It’s a nice change as this campaign has more quiet moments compared to other games in the series, although its tone is more Hollywood in style compared to the more serious Modern Warfare.

Gameplay goes back to the more stripped back and fast paced nature of the series, rather the more slower and tactical movement of Modern Warfare. It feels quick, fluid and tight to control but I feel that a lot of guns lack impact but this is mostly due to the sound design for the weapons sounding as about as intimidating as a wet fart.  However the more traditional gameplay gives me a warm feeling of my teenage years, where it is simplistic but hard to master.

In terms of multiplayer the previous paragraph is applicable in terms of gameplay feel, Treyarch have brought back the pick 10 system when it comes to perks and guns but maintained the excellent gunsmith system from Modern Warfare. Where you can create weapons that are practical, or some rather absurd creations that are not exactly combat proven. Time to kill is higher compared to over COD games, which is fine but it does create some inconsistencies where you can pump five bullets into someone’s head and they still stand as straight as a lamp post.

Visually and here comes the word of the review it is inconsistent, there are moments where the graphics really shine such as the vibrant and lush jungles of Vietnam. However the game can look really washed out and it looks less appealing than Modern Warfare (2019), it’s not a bad looking game but it just looks rushed in certain areas coupled with the more stiff animations.

Now let’s get onto the technical issues, let’s start off with the performance (on Xbox One) it doesn’t run that well. This game has constant stutters throughout the gameplay and in the cutscenes especially the cutscenes, they slow down to a crawl. I have to say the performance issues are rather baffling considering that there does not seem to be reason for these issues, the game is not particularly demanding in the graphics department.

I also ran into some glitches, the major one I ran into was at the start of the campaign where they teach you CQC moves where you can either take a human shield or do a completely over top finisher which saying it’s overkill would be putting it lightly. Anyway digressions aside I decided to take him as a human shield, but my new meat shield wouldn’t die and I could not despatch him with a new grenade friend in hand so I had him for the rest of the level. A baffling glitch where I had to restart the entire mission.

Overall I did enjoy my time with Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, but it just feels like it was put together at the last minute. The technical issues do drag down the experience, which honestly if you are looking for a better and more recent Call of Duty experience I would suggest 2019’s Modern Warfare.