Review: Call of Duty: Black Ops – Cold War
It’s been a minute since the last time that I have played a Call of Duty. 2014’s Advanced Warfare was the last one that I spent much time with, and, before that, it was 2009’s Modern Warfare 2. By that measurement, it seems like I’m good for one Call of Duty per console cycle. In that case, I’m due. Having obtained an Xbox Series X and wanting to see something run on it that would ease my slight buyer’s remorse, I took a look at Call of Duty: Black Ops – Cold War. (Whew. That name)
My expectations weren’t all that high going in. From what I recall, Call of Duty campaigns are rather linear, about 5-6 hours long, and are usually able to be knocked out in a single sitting. That’s about all that I was looking for, to be honest. For as much as I love the Assassin’s Creed and Witcher’s of the world with their 100+ hours of gameplay and endless side quests, sometimes it’s nice to sit down and immerse yourself in a straightforward experience. But that’s not what I got, though. It appears that the Call of Duty series has evolved a lot while I was away, and that change has been for the better.
First off, there’s one big thing that hasn’t changed about these games and that’s that they look and feel incredible. The detail and the visuals in Call of Duty games have always been S-tier quality, but they can always deliver that crisp 60 FPS experience that has really cemented themselves to be as successful as they are. Everything is just so damn smooth, and the shooting is still the best that there is. With that said, my biggest issues with my playthrough were when that performance would suddenly drop. There were moments where the frame rate would go from that smooth 60 FPS to suddenly struggling. And they weren’t intense moments with lots going on, either. These were quieter moments where I was trying to take photos of some evidence. There were also several times that the game would crash–and it even turned off my Xbox when it did. These are issues that I would assume get patched rather quickly though.
While I realize that the vast majority of CoD players don’t care about the campaign, for those that do, the story in Call of Duty: Black Ops – Cold War is about what you have come to expect from this series. It’s that Fast and Furious-style of storytelling that either gives you a murder boner or that is so ridiculous that you can’t help but to enjoy it. As the overly long name of the game indicates, tensions between Russia and America are at an all-time high. America has lost track of a nuclear warhead, and it has fallen into the hands of an entity known as Perseus. As a member of Black Ops, you’ll track down Perseus in Moscow, Berlin, and Cuba to make sure that warhead never hits U.S. soil. Like I said, a very CoD-like story. But the thing that caught me off guard was the variety of gameplay elements that these missions offered. I haven’t played a Call of Duty in a while so I’m very unused to these games being anything other than an eye-pleasing hallway with explosions and grenade indicators. Narrative options, gathering evidence, stealth-based sequences, undercover missions, when did this come about? At times, it felt less like I was playing Call of Duty and more like I was playing Metro 2033 or Deus Ex. I was super into it. In particular, there’s a mission that involves going undercover in the KGB headquarters that brings all of these elements together and that was an absolute joy to play.
If you’re like me and you’re a new console owner that was starting to have some doubts, this installment of Call of Duty will help alleviate those concerns. With it’s surprisingly fun and tense campaign added to it’s always top-shelf multiplayer, it’s a can’t miss. As someone that hasn’t played this series in five years, I’m blown away by what it’s become. It’s still CoD, but it has layers to it now that make it far more satisfying to play through. If this is what Call of Duty games are now, I’m back on board.
