Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War

 Xbox Series X
User Score
4.4

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 756 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 270 out of 756
  2. Mixed: 71 out of 756
  3. Negative: 415 out of 756
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  1. Therien
    May 30, 2021
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. If you are on PC, stay away. This game so rigged in favour of controller players you will want to kill yourself after 2 hours, and if not because of that, it will because you feel like you are a part of a marketing experiment. **** this game with chainsaw.… Expand
  2. Pringles666
    Mar 27, 2021
    0
    Absolute ****

    Poorly optimized **** servers game has 0 flow Extremely Heavy SBMM

    Cold war is a complete vibe killer NOT EVEN WORTH A TRY

    Zombies is easy plain maps super boring way 2 open

    Multiplayer maps allow people to camp everywhere also the hit detection is worse then most older cods

    Lots of trashy Micro transactions that don't offer any real value
  3. danil333
    Apr 10, 2021
    0
    In my opinion, the worst part of Call of duty. Developers don't know what game optimization is. Online is just 0. It's just a propaganda game
  4. kyrstengus
    May 21, 2021
    2
    This games graphics suck, the lobby's are ALWAYS broken, it's neat impossible to play with 3+ people, all the maps suck (the only good maps they have are from past cod games, which by the way they just made them loom worse) their game modes suck (when they finally make a good one they just take it away) they have no gun fight maps, and this makes me never want to buy another cod again.
  5. Jk456
    Jun 6, 2021
    0
    Never have I ever played a game this bad before cancer would be better then playing this game
  6. LaFlamaBlanca
    Jun 7, 2021
    0
    Complete garbage. I can't even connect to the servers to play it for a bloody review. The developers & publishers should be ashamed for releasing this abomination to the public. Speaking of which, why is it that any solutions to address the problem are found by their customers?! We're not getting paid to fix your broken game Activision!
  7. bex038
    Nov 18, 2020
    1
    The reason why i give this game 1 point is because of the decent zombies mode. Everything else is pretty bad and the multiplayer is not really enjoyable because of the sweaters i have to play against.
  8. whatlurks
    Nov 14, 2020
    3
    This just feels like such a downgrade across the board. Even details as subtle as footsteps just feel years behind MW 2019.

    This is clearly half finished. Disappointed. Downloading MW on my Series X instead.
  9. ThePeoplesPlay
    Nov 15, 2020
    2
    Wow this needs work! Just saying. There was some awful graphics and my Xbox X looks like it can hardly load it!
  10. kapapt
    Nov 16, 2020
    0
    Such a waste of my money, the game is awfully bad! Graphics are bad, game mechanics, visuals and general gameplay is bad, multiplayer is lacking modes and all of it is a downgrade from previous titles, I don't understand how a company lets this be released. Zombie mode? Terrible!
    Even the sound, you can barely understand what footsteps are! Not to mention the amount of cheaters already    Such a waste of my money, the game is awfully bad! Graphics are bad, game mechanics, visuals and general gameplay is bad, multiplayer is lacking modes and all of it is a downgrade from previous titles, I don't understand how a company lets this be released. Zombie mode? Terrible!
    Even the sound, you can barely understand what footsteps are! Not to mention the amount of cheaters already tanking advantage of bad code.
    I don't think this can even be fixed, no software patches can correct this.    … Expand
  11. Chele2552
    Nov 15, 2020
    1
    Multiplayer is absolute trash, warzone is non existent, zombies is a highlight with only one map, pretty sure story the only good thing about the game, is should be a 30$ game at most.
  12. JesterDEWIT
    Nov 14, 2020
    3
    Call of duty: Black ops cold war takes the old and adds new, unlike black ops 4 where that game took the old that worked that people liked and replaced it for the sake of making something brand new, I'm mostly referring to the zombies in that case, but this game takes the old that fans liked about Black Ops series and adds new to that, without removing the old. As it goes for the Cold WarCall of duty: Black ops cold war takes the old and adds new, unlike black ops 4 where that game took the old that worked that people liked and replaced it for the sake of making something brand new, I'm mostly referring to the zombies in that case, but this game takes the old that fans liked about Black Ops series and adds new to that, without removing the old. As it goes for the Cold War theme and the story.
    I really want to sit down and ask few questions to the people who made the story, ask them things like what they were going for and what message, are they trying to put out if any. I get a few hints in mind. And if it's true I think it's really bad for this game series. The multiplayer can be fun while keeping with the games theme and even giving you an introductory cutscene just it starting up to add to the set theme, but particularly in the multiplayer I don't like the animations in this game. I don't know if it's because I've been spoiled with the motion capture from on MW and there feel for realistic looking
    but fast gameplay they went for. But if I go play Black Ops 3 zombies for some reason I like the animations better. I have a theory that it cold war uses the game engine from Black Ops 4, and I didn't like how that game felt, and a lot of people didn't, as I've heard. As I was playing through the campaign i was thinking about this the whole time but didn't want to admit it but I'm going to admit it.... The reason why they called Black ops and why Hudson woods and Mason are in the game.. they pulled a Disney...you know like other new Star wars movie had all the old characters in it but they were not themselves and we're not involved in the main plot? Basically what they did it feels it me... Little throwbacks here and there but they pulled a Disney it feels like..... Maybe that's why they didn't cast the original voice actor for woods, he probably would have been pissed off like mark hamill was with Luke in The last Jedi. Look... nostalgia....is a good powerful, almost like a drug for the brain, and it helps give a happy feeling, a lot of people loved the original characters and there were bits of them in Black Ops 4, but it seemed like there was a trick for using nostalgia in a way to buy the characters, or the game. what I'm saying is like I tried to explain earlier I feel like they made a "Disney clickbait". If the original crew were not teased in the trailers in this game then not called Black Ops. I don't think it wouldn't have been as popular and I don't think much people would have bought it if it wasn't for them being in the game. They're nothing like themselves, of course they may not sound like them, but from what I know they could have got woods his voice actor easily but they didn't, and for some reason they got a guy who sounds like he's trying to sound like the previous voice actor.... why? I understand that their previous title did not go so well (Black Ops 4). But to bring back, beloved characters from the dead, so to speak, just to have the nostalgia feeling kickin so people would buy your game, then for them to be completely different. Why would you do that?I know people would complain to me and say that's what the new modern warfare did but the new modern warfare reimagined the whole Modern Warfare trilogy, but in modern times. This game, tried to put itself between black ops 1 and 2 story.. But they treated their characters like if they reimagined them? they added bits and histologia to keep you going, there's multiple endings and there's one that makes me question what's the point of this games story? Matter of fact, I think they all do that, and the thing with these Call of Duty games. The theme is the story, and the setting, and if the story is good. The rest of the game feels and looks good. If the theme is trash. The rest of it all falls apart (zombies and multiplayer). To be brutally honest, I'm upset that they didn't try to get james C. Burns To play Woods again, as they did before. It makes sense if you were reimagining the story like Modern Warfare but they didn't, I want to know the truth of why they did not try to get him. Imagine how you made James feel, how you made the fans feel. I've seen a bunch of clips on YouTube of him acting, a bunch of interviews, and that's woods right there. you can't put the body of his character in people's views for nostalgia to get them to buy your game. Maybe that's not what they did. I don't know but that's how I feel and I feel horrible... I feel worse Wondering how James feels. Short summary there is fun to be had with this game, especially the zombies.
    But the theme for both multiplayer, and zombies the bad story and it makes the rest of the experience feel bad. Just like it would in any other Call of Duty game. Not trying to be a hater but this this reminds me of black ops 4, sometimes beloved characters should be put to rest instead of brought out of their grave and treated like this. Master Chief is a great example    … Expand
  13. millertime1055
    Nov 18, 2020
    4
    -Zombies=great
    -Campaign= Good usual campaign

    -Multiplayer- No content, barley any maps, Barely any guns (about 5 are actually useful) Time to kill is inconstant, tacticals are inconstant, Camping isn't so bad this time around. Play for an hour? you've seen everything already. Wait for a sale not worth $60 maybe MAYBE $40
    It feels like rainbow six trying to be Call of Duty.
  14. bleizer
    Nov 15, 2020
    4
    I thought that COD MW was the worst COD but this one took the prize, bad maps that force people without ability to camp, multiple connection errors, constant FPS drops, SBMM as always a garbage. Graphics long overdue for a 2020 game and lousy gameplay, this is undoubtedly the worst of the worst
  15. Alfalfa
    Nov 30, 2020
    1
    I gave 1! Horrible game. Couldn’t finish single campaign because game was crushing every 5 minutes, I thought there’s something wrong with my next gen console but it was this game. Overall horrible experience! 70€? Joke. Dont buy.
  16. Aaronbruh209
    Dec 2, 2020
    1
    Most unfinished game I’ve ever played. Split screen doesn’t work, frame rate stutters even on series x, crashes system often and still no patch after almost a month after release. On top of all that, the gameplay movement/aiming just feels sluggish. Best way I can describe it is it feels like I’m playing on a screen with a crazy high response time
  17. Coldwarsuck
    May 18, 2021
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Terrible unrealistic kills also what’s the point of walls and **** to hide behind if y’all gonna let people shoot right threw the **** that was dumb and all the hopping and shooting is the fakest **** I ever seen on a shooting game @callofduty please get it together and make it more realistic on the new one please… Expand
  18. Tsyuko
    Nov 18, 2020
    2
    My whole review is only about MP, I never play anything else in CoD...

    As 6v6 MP only player I considered MW 2019 absolutely the worst CoD ever created. It had terrible maps with too many angles, terrible doors, infinite claymores with restock, no dead silence perk, TTK too fast, camping spots(even remastered maps were ruined with them), strong SBMM in casual playlist, washed out    My whole review is only about MP, I never play anything else in CoD...

    As 6v6 MP only player I considered MW 2019 absolutely the worst CoD ever created. It had terrible maps with too many angles, terrible doors, infinite claymores with restock, no dead silence perk, TTK too fast, camping spots(even remastered maps were ruined with them), strong SBMM in casual playlist, washed out graphics etc. It was the only CoD ever I almost refunded. It was like game itself decided if I kill or die.

    The last thing I ever wanted from CoD series is realism - the only reason I buy CoD is that it's casual fast paced arcady shooter, so I consider Cold War being huge improvement(to me every single CoD is masterpiece compared to last year MW). It's fast paced, maps are better(but not perfect), perks are more balanced, TTK is little bit slower(but still quite fast), there is just 1 land mine with long CD, game actually has some colors, camping is not the only way to play and it can be countered. It's CoD again and not Insurgency clone made for CoD haters and realism seekers. First 10 hours I had flawless experience - it reminded me times of BO1 and BO2 which are my most favorite CoD games. I wanted to go for 8+ rating but then thick skill based matchmaking kicked in and it ruined my experience with game little bit(and little bit more). Hard campers and sweats started to often fill my lobbies again(but at least whole game is not designed only for them). There should be casual playlist with weak or none SBMM and ranked with this kind of SBMM with ranks and extra rewards. Also on some maps there are flashing textures(sand on Satelite, mountains on Cartel). This was not happening on beta. There are also small bugs here and there like unlockable calling cards are not saved when you pick them. Another problem is lack of 6v6 maps on release so for now its like 6.5/10 for me untill everything is fixed. After that and when they add more maps it would be like 7.5/10. If they add also ranked and nerf SBMM in casual playlist I would go even for 8.5/10 easily. No performance problems at all on my side, runs exactly as MW (i7-7700k+1080Ti), 80-100 fps 1440p maxed out(tested MP only)

    EDIT: Changed rating from 7 to 2 just because of SBMM... It's not objective but I just can't do this anymore. I like game itself in general (much more than MW) but I absolutely refuse to sweat each and every single game to my maximum potential just to keep 1,2+ k/d in CASUAL playlist. I am not ranked player in any game - I HATE e-sport and ranked tryhard-meta trend, only reason I was playing COD was because it's casual MP game and it's not anymore. Game offers absolutely no choice in this matter, no ranked vs quick match playlist, there is only ranked without rank. Burn in hell for ruining this casual MP series and otherwise good game with system like this. I hope at least Battlefield will never give up on completly random server list system... I always liked COD more but this is just unbearable. Game itself decide who and when will do well or terrible in each match, not player skill. You had 2 good matches? Bad for you, next 2 you will be annihilated... You suck in 2 matches? Well, here is your candy - you will be rewarded with some easy game next. This is not even multiplayer, it's just singleplayer with adaptive difficulty with players carefully picked instead of bots.    … Expand
  19. Ayaal
    Nov 16, 2020
    0
    очередной конвеер, все как всегда, купленная пресса, злые русские, добрые американцы и тд
  20. Warcrimes
    Nov 18, 2020
    0
    A absolute bottom tier game, spawns are trash, maps are trash, only 2 guns are viable. Phantom forces on roblox had better game balance and spawns than this game made by a multi billion dollar corporation.
  21. Thesquirrel111
    Nov 24, 2020
    1
    Nothing new is added, is basically a redone modern warefare with a smaller budget. Be prepared to have people spawn inside of you and get killed by the MP5 all day every day. I find it surprising that even though I have a positive k/d every game I still find the mutiplayer boring and quite annoying.
  22. Flo_PL
    Nov 22, 2020
    0
    I can't finish campaign, game keeps crashing (five attempts) in mission End of the Line on XsX. I have a lot crashes during the previous missions but in this one I can't go forward. I paid a full price for a low quality product which is broken, after few hours of playing. Shame on you Activision.
  23. Bl4ckbird92
    Jan 5, 2021
    0
    SBMM destroys the game I have no fun playing all the time against players at the same lvl as I am....would be better if you can ditch sbmm on and of so it is you’re choice but this way no fun on the long run
  24. hostile_raider
    Nov 15, 2020
    2
    (CAMPAIGN) very short plus who cares anymore

    (zombies) who cares (MULTIPLAYER) HERE WE GO AGAIN the thing that matters the most and of course is the worst part about the game. SADLY THIS IS NO MW2 BO2 OR BO3 MULTIPLAYER. Its just another WEAKSAUCE cod multiplayer built to protect the people that still have no clue how to play cod mp, Just so they can make more $. If you enjoy going 1    (CAMPAIGN) very short plus who cares anymore

    (zombies) who cares

    (MULTIPLAYER) HERE WE GO AGAIN the thing that matters the most and of course is the worst part about the game. SADLY THIS IS NO MW2 BO2 OR BO3 MULTIPLAYER. Its just another WEAKSAUCE cod multiplayer built to protect the people that still have no clue how to play cod mp, Just so they can make more $. If you enjoy going 1 for 1 almost every game due to strong sbmm, slow clunky mechanics and, WEAKSAUCE boring weapons that all preform almost the same way, even when loaded with attatchments you will enjoy this pile of GARBAGE or at least SWEAT HARD while doing it. Maps are all average at best and pistols and even shotguns are beaten out easily by smgs even in close range situations so why even have them in the game. WEAKSAUCE AF GETTING MY MONEY BACK TOMMOROWS. SO ENJOY SWEATING ALL OVER EACH OTHER LOSERS, PROBABLY JUST FOR A 1.4 KD/WL RATIO HAHA PATHETIC CAUSE I KNOW IN THE END IT WONT BE WORTH IT. :) NOW IM GONNA GO BACK TO 2015 AND PLAY A REAL COD MP CYA........    … Expand
  25. radzman
    Nov 15, 2020
    1
    I can play maybe 1 or two games of multiplayer before getting bored out of my mind. SBMM takes the fun out of every lobby and once again, it's heavily utilized. Gone are the days where i can run around with anything i want and still have fun. I spent upwards of 5 hours trying to unlock akimbo pistols just to find out that there's no way i can make them be viable in game. 28 totalI can play maybe 1 or two games of multiplayer before getting bored out of my mind. SBMM takes the fun out of every lobby and once again, it's heavily utilized. Gone are the days where i can run around with anything i want and still have fun. I spent upwards of 5 hours trying to unlock akimbo pistols just to find out that there's no way i can make them be viable in game. 28 total multiplayer weapons and maybe 3-4 of them are usable. TTK is still incredibly fast and when the connection is as terrible as it is currently, you won't even be able to react before you drop. i've played Multiplayer for about 10 hours in total and i don't think i'll be playing after a few more days. I've been playing CoD since 2007 with CoD 4 and i'm thinking this will be my last CoD for Multiplayer because it's just not fun. I've already been asked what i think of the game by friends and i could not recommend it.

    Campaign is alright. It's extremely short but still fun.

    Zombies is pretty fun. Such a shame that there's only 1 map though. I'd say wait 6 months for them to release new content but that won't fix the fundamental flaws this game has.

    Also annoyed that Halo: Infinite was delayed. i would rather be playing that.    … Expand
  26. WintersFrost
    Nov 18, 2020
    0
    Sonys paytowin Deal!!!!
    Not to be excused in a cross platform game.
    Compared to other CoDs, the fewest MP maps at the start. Just as much camping as in MW but less movement. Cod Black OPs feels as if you had ordered MW on wish.
  27. UnrelentingLoaf
    Nov 19, 2020
    2
    Never been so disappointed with a game purchase. If xbox had not removed the reviews feature I would have known how poorly this game was made. So alas I regret my purchase. Game is a clunky buggy mess that could have been acceptable if made 5 years ago. Does not compare to modern warfare.
  28. Aus348
    Nov 22, 2020
    0
    A step back in every way from the previous title. The game feels like a 2010 shooter.
  29. Heisenberg2020
    Nov 17, 2020
    0
    Bugs, Bugs, Bugs, Series X optimized Version shut down Xbox Series x, everything is worse than modern warfare, gameplay, graphics, maps, animation, sound, mechanics, it's such a bad game you can hardly believe it!
  30. ZvSmithvZ
    Nov 18, 2020
    0
    Too many good review for such a poor game. I would give it a 2 but it doesn't deserve the rating its at. The campaign isn't even playable on xbox. The cutscenes do not load and show missing textures. The zombies is very basic. The multiplayer is worse than mw. How did they do such an awful job with this one.
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Awards & Rankings

13
#13 Best Xbox Series X Game of 2020
2
#2 Most Discussed Xbox Series X Game of 2020

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 21 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 21
  3. Negative: 0 out of 21
  1. WellPlayed
    Feb 11, 2021
    70
    The beating heart of the Call of Duty experience in terms of multiplayer feels like a solid return to the classic formula, but abundant technical issues make this a worrying stumble into a new generation.
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  2. Game Over Online
    Dec 1, 2020
    70
    Overall, despite some performance issues, I rather enjoyed the mercenaries, spies and private eyes campaign that is Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. I’d like to see the development team get a chance to really flesh out a longer campaign in this style, but you know…the call of duty.
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  3. M3
    Nov 30, 2020
    60
    With an entertaining campaign, great online opportunities and panic-stricken zombie slaughter, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is an impressive package. Still, we can not help but feel disappointed. The best parts of the campaign could have been developed much more and the online modes feel well stripped down. Cold War still impresses, but with more development time, it could have been so much more than "this year's Call of Duty game".
    Read full review
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