Is Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War (2020), Worth Playing?
Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War is an M-Rated title, and this review may contain screenshots that some readers may find offensive/disturbing.
Despite its shaky start, Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War has become one of the most beloved titles in the history of the Call of Duty Franchise and enjoys all the benefits of a large and engaged community as it begins its third year.

The Lowdown.

Product Details
Genre: Shooter
Developer: Treyarch
Publisher: Activision
Price: $59.99+
Release Date: 13 November 2020
Supported Modes:

Campaign.

Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War has one of the best narrative campaigns in the franchise’s history and is a welcome “return to form” for the Black Ops series, which had not received a narrative campaign since Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War in 2015.

Branching Narrative.

Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War offers players a branching narrative with multiple endings for the first time since Call of Duty Black Ops II in 2012, something that singleplayer campaign developer Raven Software felt was important to developers and players alike, many of whom have fond memories of the groundbreaking 2012 shooter. 

PlayStation Exclusive Mode.

With Xbox having announced their intention to purchase Activision-Blizzard in early 2022 and both Call of Duty Vanguard and Modern Warfare 2 opting not to include a PlayStation exclusive mode, Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War will likely be the last title to offer PlayStation users an exclusive mode (Zombies Onslaught).

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Covid 19.

Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War was the first Call of Duty game to see substantial development during a worldwide pandemic that saw Activision developers having to work remotely; widely believed to have been in development hell, veteran Call of Duty developer Treyarch was assigned to help bring the product to market late in its development cycle, resulting in one of the buggiest launches in the history of the franchise.

Thankfully the worst of these issues were fixed shortly after launch, but controller disconnects and overheating consoles are not something we have come to expect from a AAA franchise, especially not one that dominated domestic and international charts for the better part of two decades.

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Crossovers.

Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War continues the trend of playable characters from other media being made available for purchase, with Rambo, John McClane (Die Hard), Judge Dredd, Ghostface (Scream), and Frank (Donnie Darko) being made available to players as premium operator skins.

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Won Over the Community:

Despite many fans at launch feeling that Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War did not live up to its predecessor, Call of Duty Modern Warfare (2019), two years later, the vast majority of the fanbase acknowledges that it is actually in a very good place, with some going as far as to say that Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is a much better game than Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 (2022).

While I partially agree with this statement (Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War  is awesome!), Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 is an excellent game in its own right and will;l undoubtedly continue to improve as we finish out 2022 and move into 2023.

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Activity

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War feels as active in 2023 as it did at launch in 2020, and I was able to find matches in a wide variety of modes in under 20 seconds at peak times and 45 seconds at off-peak times.

I was particularly pleased to see that quickplay had a lot more to offer than team deathmatch, and despite playing for several hours, I did not even see the traditional “last mode standing” instead, I was put into lobbies for domination, hardpoint, search and destroy, kill confirmed and more.

Conversely, zombie mode feels a lot less active than it was in 2021, most likely due to Vanguards’ very popular zombie mode, which has seen both old and new formats of Zombies mode thrive side by side.

Is Call Of Duty Black Ops Cold War 2020 Worth Playing

Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War FAQ

Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War is a first person shooter video game developed by Treyarch and published by Activision, it was released on 13 November 2020 and retails for $59.99+.

Platform Availability.

Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War is available on the following platforms: PC, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.

Are The Developers Active?

Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War is no longer in active development, and the developers have moved on to other projects.

How Many People Play Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War?

As of November 2023, around 9,000,000 people play Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War on a fairly regular basis.

How Active Is The Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War Playerbase?

Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War is very active, meaning that very short matchmaking times and even instant matchmaking are possible in populated regions, while less popular regions enjoy stable but less instantaneous matchmaking.

Is Cross-Platform Multiplayer Supported?

Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War supports:

  • Cross-Platform Multiplayer.
  • Cross-Platform Parties.
  • Cross-Generational Multiplayer.
  • Cross-Generational Parties.
  • Cross-Platform Progression.

Is There Group Finding/Matchmaking Support?

Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War offers the following matchmaking options:

  • Skill-Based Matchmaking
  • Region-Based Matchmaking
  • Solo Matchmaking
  • Group Matchmaking

Are There In-Game Microtransactions?

The Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War in-game store sells:

  • Cosmetic Items.
  • Cosmetic Item Bundles.
  • Premium Currency Bundles.
  • Premium Battlepass.
  • Starter Packs.

What Peripherals Are Supported?

The following peripherals are officially supported:

  • Console - Controller.
  • Console - Mouse and Keyboard.
  • PC - Controller.
  • PC - Mouse and Keyboard.

Is There Any Mature Content?

Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War is rated PEGI 18+ and contains the following:

  • Bad Language
  • Discrimination
  • Gore
  • Mature Themes
  • Violence

Final Verdict.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is an excellent game worth playing for any fan of the Call of Duty franchise.

While it does not quite live up to its predecessor (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare), in every area, it is easily one of the best Call of Duty titles released in the last decade and the best Black Ops title since Black Ops II (2012).

Is Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War Worth Playing In 2024?

9
Honest Video Game Reviews has given "Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War" a rating of 9/10, indicating that it is near perfect and suffers only minor flaws, and the average gamer will enjoy it immensely.

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