Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War

 Xbox One
User Score
5.6

Mixed or average reviews- based on 185 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 93 out of 185
  2. Mixed: 18 out of 185
  3. Negative: 74 out of 185
Buy Now
Buy on

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. Xbox_Alive
    Dec 12, 2020
    8
    Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War: In the era of Battle Royale, where games are free and sim to be almost everlasting, the concept of paying retail price for an annual first-person shooter release feels outdated. Regarlesss here comes Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, the sixth title in developer Treyarch’s series of conspiracy filled historical franchise, this time taking us to the dawn ofCall Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War: In the era of Battle Royale, where games are free and sim to be almost everlasting, the concept of paying retail price for an annual first-person shooter release feels outdated. Regarlesss here comes Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, the sixth title in developer Treyarch’s series of conspiracy filled historical franchise, this time taking us to the dawn of the Reagan era and channelling movies such as Apocalypse Now. As ever for Call Of Duty, you’re not getting one game this time but several as an action movie single player experience, a range of multiplayer competitive options, and the co-op horde mode, and my long time favorite mode Zombies. The campaign follows a group of top secret government operatives tracking down a Soviet agent named Perseus who wants to destroy Europe, it’s short, sharp, and a bit perfunctory. There are thrilling sequences such as a raid on the KGB headquarters that’s set up like a Hitman style level, and a few moments where the story branches depending on the player’s choices for a change of pace. There are also some enticing references to previous Black Ops characters and plots, which will be noted by fans. However we don’t get anything truly fresh. Mostly, this is comprised of what I call Call Of Duty campaign staples, for example helicopter crashes, escaping to rooftops, waiting for evacuations, calling in airstrikes, and taking temporary control of an aircraft chain-guns. What’s really disappointing is that the soundtrack and environmental design make little effort to capitalize on the early 1980s setting. The Black Ops titles have always been great at cultural references, matching pop music to its bombastic action in highly enjoyable ways, but apart from some grainy news footage of Reagan speeches and an admittedly wonderful scene set in an amusement arcade, there’s little nostalgic revelry in the era. How can there be a scene set in Berlin in 1981 without high impact music from the era? Clearly multiplayer is the focus, and all the usual modes are here, along with newcomers including VIP Escort, where you have to protect one player until you’re able to airlift them out while the other team attacks, and Fireteam: Dirty Bomb, where teams of four players compete to gather uranium and set off bombs in an Alpine setting. These are acceptable if rather chaotic diversions, but old faves such as Team Deathmatch, Domination, and Search and Destroy remain paramount, offering blisteringly fast, super-intense combat with a range of simulated real-world guns that feel deadly and responsive. Maps such as Checkmate, set in an aircraft hangar, and Moscow, which winds through the grand, rainy streets of the Russian capital, are vintage CoD: tight, with excellent verticality and lots of open chokepoints for those enthralling multi-kill encounters. It’s a shame there aren’t a few more experimental venues, and some less well-known weapons, but it’s a solid offering for fans of the CoD style of virtual gunplay. Zombies is set in an abandoned Nazi science research base in Poland, it’s typically exciting, nerve-shredding stuff as you leg it around the crumbling corridors and wreckage-strewn exteriors, trying to find better weapons while being pursued by plutonium-spewing boss baddies. This time round you can choose to extract your team alive from a level, earning bonuses as you go, it feels unusual, however it’s a good addition, allowing team mates to bask in the thrill of a hard fought final escape vs the all day match for people like myself who have a solid team of zombie training experts. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War does everything it needs to with polish and zeal, and those who plan to spend the next year leveling up through its multiplayer ranks won’t be disappointed Given how disruptive March’s battle-royale Call of Duty game Warzone has been, both as a competitor to Fortnite and Apex Legends and as a new meeting place for Call Of Duty fans, Cold War could definitely have used some additional innovation. The campaign hints at it, and the 1981 setting offered much promise, but, sadly, this is not the subversive 80’s throwback shooter I was waiting for. This is still an excellent entry and I am being tough on the seasoned franchise. I personally am one of the few who hasn’t fallen head over heals in love with the likes of Fortnite and the much better Apex Legends. This is still more than worthy for Xbox console owners to add to their ever growing libraries. The game scene is evolving, the next generation has arrived and it will be interesting to see what direction the Call Of Duty franchise takes in the series’ future offerings.… Expand
  2. KTusk
    Nov 24, 2020
    9
    The multi-player in this game feels like Black Ops 2, but with innovations from recent CoD games. If you liked Black Ops 2 you will probably adore this game. If you only casually play Call of Duty, this game probably won't interest you as it is not trying to make too many major game play alterations or push graphical fidelity. Also, if Modern Warfare 2019 is your idea of a great CoDThe multi-player in this game feels like Black Ops 2, but with innovations from recent CoD games. If you liked Black Ops 2 you will probably adore this game. If you only casually play Call of Duty, this game probably won't interest you as it is not trying to make too many major game play alterations or push graphical fidelity. Also, if Modern Warfare 2019 is your idea of a great CoD multiplayer game, you most likely won't enjoy Cold War. This game is a fast paced arcade style FPS, while Modern Warfare was trying to implement more elements of a slow paced tactical shooter.

    A major drawback has been the amount of menu UI and progression tracking bugs that are very frustrating. Treyarch is somewhat know for this unfortunately. These will be cleared up quite soon however, so I'm not too worried about them. There also seems to be a return of skill based matchmaking which is frustrating. It is difficult for me to maintain a K/D of only 1.5, and my win ratio is just barely over 1.0. But, maybe my FPS skills are just waning in my old age.

    The Zombies mode seems like it has potential. I'm really not a fan of the game holding your hand through the easter egg though. I've been struggling to get motivation to play this mode.

    I would rate the multiplayer a 9.7, but the bugs, SBMM and zombies drop the score a little bit. I would rate it an 8.7 in it's current state.    … Expand
  3. De5tr0yer05
    Dec 21, 2020
    8
    To be honest, I don't understand all the hate towards this game, I personally really enjoy it. Of course it has it's wrongs and I cannot argue with that, but overall it's an amazing game.
    The campaign is one of the best single player FPS experiences I've played in ages. The story is extremely intriguing and full of unexpected twists and turns, also conditioned from the players choice,    To be honest, I don't understand all the hate towards this game, I personally really enjoy it. Of course it has it's wrongs and I cannot argue with that, but overall it's an amazing game.
    The campaign is one of the best single player FPS experiences I've played in ages. The story is extremely intriguing and full of unexpected twists and turns, also conditioned from the players choice, that is an innovation that CoD only benefitted from. I've only had one playthrough of the story so far so I've only managed to see one of the endings, but I'll definitely be going for a second run when I have the time. I may be wrong but it seemed there were many more stealth missions mixed into the classic Call of Duty BOOM experience. I appreciate the the new mixture, it feels very fresh and new. The charcters are likeable and are not bland or without goals, although I was a bit bummed that the original voice actor for Woods wasn't brought back to play him. There are also many many references to Black Ops 1 thoughout the story, highlighting that this is a direct sequel to that game. I did not experience *much* lag or any bugs at all during gameplay or the cutscenes. Graphics may not be as clean and as realistic from Modern Warfare but I didn't mind the change.
    The multiplayer is, I believe, where most people had complaints, particularly on the 'lack of realism' and the infamous skill-based matchmaking. By lack of realism everyone is comparing Cold War once again to Modern Warfare. Cold War was designed to be a more classic arcady-type CoD that we are used to seeing, and is appealing towards the audiences that prefer a more fast-paced, chaotic experience, while Modern Warfare was designed to be slow, tactical and realistic. The weapons are fun and fairly balanced, despite the snipers seeming slower. I feel that all the weapons have a chance, of course there will always be overpowered guns (MP5 and Gallo), but It looks to me as if every weapon has a chance, pistols included. This means that most gunfights are based on skill, which leads me to my next point: Skill-Based Matchmaking. The bain of this game. I also admit I do not like this aspect of the game, and find it unfair that just because I play very well in one game I get my a*s wooped for the six games after that. The killstreak system is... new. I don't hate it, It's new and I actually don't mind it. The killstreaks themselves are extremely fun to use, expected from a CoD game, you have your standard areal support like Spy Planes and Counter Spy Planes, but the lethal streaks are just amazing. Everything from the RC-XD to the Chopper Gunner to the AC-130. Probably the most fun you could possibly have with a killstreak. Also an addition the this roster are lethal handheld weapons like the Combat Bow and War Machine, that used to be specialist abilities as far as I remember. The maps are probably one of the top 3 things in the multiplayer, Satellite and Armada my favourite, without taking in consideration Nuketown '84. All of the maps look amazing but I don't like how some of them play, like Miami: truly beautiful map, not so beautiful gameplay. The class customization is nice, I like most of it. The gunsmith is a little dissappointing (MW flashback), but other things managed to fill the rest of the empty space.
    Final point: Zombies. I'll be very clear: I started playing Call of Duty because of Zombies and am a proud member the Zombies community, I am not a Zombies pro, I just prefer it much more over multiplayer. The Cold War approach on Zombies is probably one of the best since Black Ops 3. The classic perks are back and now you can get all of them, or at least all of them on the current map available. I like the fact that you can spawn with a premade loadout, but i don't love it, altough you can choose to spawn with a bare 1911 if you wanted a more 'classic' experience. Again all the weapons feel usable, also thanks to the rarity and the ability to upgrade said rarity with salvage recovered from dead enemies. Pack-a-Punch is simple and clean and finally you can choose the ammo mod you want without having to Pack over and over and over... The boss Zombie of Die Maschine is a bit annoying, but I don't mind him most of the time. The new Wonder Weapon is extremely fun to use and the various upgrandes are equally enjoyable (Ice and Fire are the best, no discussion) and the Ray Gun is back and has never been more powerful. The field upgrades are a nice addition that can help to get out of some difficult situation or just be a fun way to exterminatus. The map is beautifully designed and just beautiful in general, training areas are many to choose from and almost everything can be vaulted, making it much simpler to train. Exfil is the final aspect and is fantastic: don't want to continue? No more having to quit, now you can exfil. And the fact that you have to complete a challenge is really fun. I love this take on Zombies.
    And this is my opinion on CoD: Black Ops Cold War    … Expand
  4. Firee
    Dec 25, 2020
    8
    As a original black ops player in my eyes BO CW did a fantastic job bringing the Black Ops games back to its former roots after futuristic **** came. I enjoyed the campaign multiplayer and zombies but my main issue of BO CW is the constant freezing and crashes you could tell they rushed this for a November release the first day I got BO CW I had over 5 freezes and crashes
  5. Deathtrooper204
    Jan 13, 2021
    9
    This game by far an improvement from MW 2019 in almost every way possible, better campaign (although too short), graphics (it may look worse at first due to the lighting), multiplayer (although some guns [snipers and shotguns] ruin the balance in cold war more than MW), better hit detection, FOV slider, performance, the one thing MW did better was the third mode (spec ops), this time it'sThis game by far an improvement from MW 2019 in almost every way possible, better campaign (although too short), graphics (it may look worse at first due to the lighting), multiplayer (although some guns [snipers and shotguns] ruin the balance in cold war more than MW), better hit detection, FOV slider, performance, the one thing MW did better was the third mode (spec ops), this time it's zombies and it's by far much better than BO3 and BO4, overall it's an improvement from the previous COD games… Expand
  6. HotHead1
    Feb 22, 2021
    9
    Runs fine on all consoles, if you like the classic cod feel you'll really like this game. I especially like the longer ttk and the more run and gun approach.
  7. fullmetal3000
    Mar 25, 2021
    10
    I mean it's pretty cool game, specially single player part. Multiplayer is also fun.
  8. californiatears
    Mar 25, 2021
    10
    Thank you EA for this wonderful game and game series! I never cared about cod multiplayer, because there's so many of them already. I play only singleplayer and singleplayer is only reason i care about cod and that was great!
  9. Playernr1
    Mar 25, 2021
    10
    One of the best Call of Duty games in long time. It had kind of bad launch, but it's way better now. Can't wait for COD 2021, hopefully WW 2 !!!
  10. codbetterthanbf
    Mar 25, 2021
    10
    About million times better game than Battlefield V and it doesn't have any sjw agenda like Battlefield V does. Fun game.
  11. Alexlolpro
    Nov 20, 2020
    9
    Awesome campaign, classic zombie and good multiplayer. Waiting for more content
  12. AliensExist
    Mar 25, 2021
    10
    It's very true that this game is bad on playstation consoles, because playstation is just weak pathetic console, so no wonder. But this game is solid on masterrace gaming systems like PC and Xbox Series X. Would recommend!
  13. CDizzness
    Jan 12, 2021
    10
    I will start by saying I have the base Xbox One, second gen of it before they began making the Xbox One S...in all honesty I feel like the 1st and 2nd gen Xbox One's have more powerful processors. I say that because my play throughs have been better than I would expect on 7 year old hardware. The game looks phenomenal online, but when you play single player it really shines. Campaign, soloI will start by saying I have the base Xbox One, second gen of it before they began making the Xbox One S...in all honesty I feel like the 1st and 2nd gen Xbox One's have more powerful processors. I say that because my play throughs have been better than I would expect on 7 year old hardware. The game looks phenomenal online, but when you play single player it really shines. Campaign, solo zombies...the game is so gorgeous. 60fps action. Gameplay is fun as always...tbh, people want to hate these games because they are so similar to the last...but at the end of the day, this series only gets better and better. My first new COD purchase since BO 3 and I am so happy with it.… Expand
  14. The_epic_gamer
    Nov 17, 2020
    10
    I love it my review is on PS4 edition it sums it up I love Xbox so yeah. Hope you find it helpful.
  15. FaDoChifros
    Nov 29, 2020
    10
    Amazing, one of the best black ops and call of duty, the campaign, the multiplayer, zombies, everything, just amazing
  16. garretts228
    Nov 23, 2020
    9
    I don't understand what everyone's problem is. The campaign is short but fun, and the multiplayer is also pretty fun. The kill streak system is kinda crap, but minus that it's a awesome game and I have had no issues at all with the game. Also Zombies
  17. TheMessenger
    Mar 25, 2021
    10
    Just cause Playstation 4 / 5 version are bad (because weak loser console), doesn't mean you have to troll PC / Xbox Series X versions that run on ultimately superior hardware.
  18. somwehere
    Mar 25, 2021
    10
    EA is one of my favorite companies. Let me explain why. They aren't lazy losers like CDprojectred, that's why. They actually make working games every single year. Every year.
    Cdprojectred released no games since 2016 and in 2020 they came out with most amateurish game possible. You have to be absolute hypocrite to hate EA. I absolutely don't care how much money they wanna make. They are    EA is one of my favorite companies. Let me explain why. They aren't lazy losers like CDprojectred, that's why. They actually make working games every single year. Every year.
    Cdprojectred released no games since 2016 and in 2020 they came out with most amateurish game possible. You have to be absolute hypocrite to hate EA. I absolutely don't care how much money they wanna make. They are company, that's why companies exist by the way lmao. All i can ask is working games and EA delivers that.    … Expand
  19. EntryLevel
    Mar 25, 2021
    10
    One of the best Call of Duty games in long time. It had kind of bad launch, but it's way better now. Can't wait for COD 2021, hopefully WW 2 !!!
  20. thepainisreal
    Mar 25, 2021
    10
    BEST Call of Duty in year. Oh my my god, why is it so underrated. It's so well made game. Thank you EA.
  21. EhsanKazemi
    Sep 8, 2021
    9
    The only problem is its short ( really short !!!! ) Story , but everythings was completely excellent
  22. Jesus_Saves
    Jan 11, 2022
    8
    Unique campaign that combines a first person shooter and puzzles to make a one of a kind story. Best zombies to date with many maps, an option to exfil, and has a new crafting element to it. Good multiplayer all around. Many people do not like the multiplayer due to skill based match making, but personally I do not experience it much. Some bugs and lag occur, and the music is not thatUnique campaign that combines a first person shooter and puzzles to make a one of a kind story. Best zombies to date with many maps, an option to exfil, and has a new crafting element to it. Good multiplayer all around. Many people do not like the multiplayer due to skill based match making, but personally I do not experience it much. Some bugs and lag occur, and the music is not that great overall, but still a good game. My personal favorite call of duty so far.… Expand
  23. Nhanninh
    Jun 16, 2023
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Super good, The gameplay are good, cutscene are amazing, All the mission are meaning and the graphics is actually incredible, The zombie mode is not too bad,My xbox one s just play it without any lagging or glitch so this game IS FIRE… Expand

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
tbd

No score yet - based on 3 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 3
  3. Negative: 0 out of 3
  1. Generación Xbox
    Nov 27, 2020
    86
    Black Ops Cold War keeps the standard high despite the difficulties of development this year and continues to be one of this year's must-have shooters.
    Read full review
  2. Xbox Achievements
    Nov 18, 2020
    85
    For some reason, I always have a preconceived notion that I won't enjoy this year's Call of Duty. How can a series that releases every single year without fail possibly maintain a consistent quality bar? There are detractors who'd say it doesn't, but let's be honest – it does. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is very good.
    Read full review
  3. Cheat Code Central
    Nov 17, 2020
    96
    A great entry into to Black Ops storyline. It gives an interesting view of the time, has a compelling storyline, and leaves you wanting more.
    Read full review