Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, the latest in Activision’s annual first-person shooter series, is a solid effort. Playing through its campaign, multiplayer and zombies modes – Call of Duty’s golden triangle – there is a lot to like. And I do believe Black Ops Cold War is probably the best game it has any right to be under the circumstances – circumstances that were troubled even before the pandemic forced the developers at Raven and Treyarch and the enormous quality assurance effort that goes into a Call of Duty to switch to work from home. Like a Black Ops operation behind enemy lines, Cold War is something of a miraculous rescue job, the result of what I have no doubt was a crushing effort to meet Activision’s launch deadline. That there is a solid game to play at all is a fantastic achievement. But, every now and then, you can really tell Black Ops Cold War wasn’t the smoothest op ever.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold WarDeveloper: Treyarch, Raven SoftwarePublisher: ActivisionPlatform: Played on PC and PS5Availability: Out now on PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox One
Black Ops Cold War is a clunky name for a fun setting. Treyarch’s previous COD, Black Ops 4, suffered from a lack of a campaign, so it’s good there’s one this time around. COD campaigns, apart from offering solo players a handful of hours of explosive entertainment, ground each game, help solidify their aesthetic and hammer home their tone. Black Ops Cold War, a Black Ops 1 sequel set in the early ’80s, certainly does that.
The story kicks off in an ’80s-drenched bar, with all the big hair you’d expect. Your supposed CIA ally – although you’re never really sure of his motivations throughout – is a newcomer called Russell Adler who’s a dead ringer for Robert Redford circa All the President’s Men. Your base of operations is a safehouse in Berlin, the city that defined the ’80s in many respects. Neon lights course through the plot, a globetrotting yarn that fuses traditional linear Call of Duty levels with some genuine genre surprises, including a Hitman-esque infiltration of the KGB headquarters in Moscow, and flashback missions set during the Vietnam War. There’s even some dialogue to pick from when talking to NPCs, a few choices to make that determine your ending, and a smattering of puzzle solving.
So, Black Ops Cold War is not your typical Call of Duty campaign, which is great, really. What missteps there are come from the fact the campaign has to do , aka war crimes such as napalming what feels like half of Vietnam. You get to choose whether to let go, capture or execute a couple of high-profile terrorists. If you choose to execute, Black Ops Cold War doesn’t bat an eyelid, and your actions are consigned to a footnote at the end of the game. I didn’t bat an eyelid, either – Call of Duty has long since lost its shock value.