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. Ibakeritb24
    Dec 14, 2020
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Been playing all 3 types for about 5 hours each, campaign is fine no complaints, Zombies is better but still no complaints, multiplayer is **** they pushed so hard for no camping but this game advocates it, the maps are terrible, SBMM has got to go but sure it won’t… Expand
  2. Nawicki
    Mar 7, 2021
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. очевидно ,что это шаг назад по сравнению с modern warfare. купил за полную цену и теперь жалею. Не стоит оно того… Expand
  3. 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
  4. 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.
  5. Hdkalinowski
    Nov 18, 2020
    4
    Zombies mode is fun, campaign is passable although disappointing to see almost none of the original voice actors reprise there roles from the OG black ops. Multiplayer is more of the same from the past 5 years, not worth much over 30 dollars
  6. UnintentionalMC
    Nov 22, 2020
    4
    I'm going to be honest, I set up an account on here, purely to review this game. I have now experienced the three components of the game in their entirety, completed the campaign on Veteran, completed the Die Maschine Easter Egg and have reached the the first prestige on multiplayer, so I would say that I have a fairly rounded experience across the game.

    Firstly, the campaign. I have    I'm going to be honest, I set up an account on here, purely to review this game. I have now experienced the three components of the game in their entirety, completed the campaign on Veteran, completed the Die Maschine Easter Egg and have reached the the first prestige on multiplayer, so I would say that I have a fairly rounded experience across the game.

    Firstly, the campaign. I have often found the Call of Duty games to be somewhat varied in the campaigns, even the more jaw-dropping ones such as MW2 and BO2 were still essentially A to B and occasionally point C whilst shooting enemies. The campaign of BOCW was quite fun for the most part, an interesting new character in the form of Russell Adler with a different take on letting the player take on the role of protagonist. The twists and turns felt quite typical for a Black Ops campaign with the different endings, optional side missions and hidden extras bringing in a welcome call back to Black Ops 2. The set pieces are quite fun and it was nice spending the campaign with the CIA as I quite liked the covert nature of a lot of the missions. The main downsides to this would be that even though it has a fair few missions, they felt quite short and that despite being in the advertising, Woods and Mason felt extremely absent from the game.

    The zombies mode is a welcome sight, especially since the last instalment in Black Ops 4 was essentially a failure to launch a new story mode and a few remakes of old maps which left the season pass owners (myself) feeling quite cheated. This on the other hand, is a remake done right. Nacht der Untoten was one of the first quality experiences in modern wave based survival and to have a remake done to this scale allows it to take on a new life. The story mission feels easy to a point but is still enjoyable to a casual player and it is nice that it can be accomplished solo rather than previous entries making it nearly impossible. The ammo boxes make it easier to restock, the crafting bench with equipment and killstreaks feels a lot easier than finding parts to items scattered around the map. The new wonder weapon feels like a welcome call back to BO and BO2 and the boss zombies don't feel unfair. Overall a much nicer step in the right direction than BO4 tried. That being said, bringing back the Chaos story line could be quite interesting on the now current generation consoles as they really had some interesting locations to explore.

    This brings us on to the multiplayer which I am sure many people have already vented their frustrations about the game and is certainly where the game falls in terms of quality, especially when compared to its previous generation predecessor. The balancing issues with the weapons essentially mean that in close quarters you need the MP5 and long distance you need either the M16 or AUG rifles. Score streaks feel like they take an age to unlock and when they do, most people are running Cold Blooded and Ghost which takes away their usefulness. The constant frame dropping and sometimes console crash make this multiplayer experience an absolute slog to find the one out of one-hundredth game that is actually enjoyable and feels fair. Playing other games on the Series X doesn't seem to bring about such issues, Gears 5 feels consistently smooth and has a fair matchmaking with constant frames. Granted it has been out a year longer but again, was running on last generation systems.

    The maps look quite stunning on the Series X, when the skybox isn't flickering and the textures load in fully. What I will say for the maps is that they have certainly moved away from the three-lane formula that plagued Black Ops 4, was it in a good way though? That's hard to say as some maps such as Garrison and Checkmate provide a suitably varied setting, with plenty of cover should you need it. Others such as Moscow, Cartel and Armada have very little in the way of cover so if you're sighted first, you're pretty much dead. Lastly, the Skill Based Match Making in this game means that there is no sense of progression in the game, since my first game, I can't think of a single match that hasn't made me feel like a noob using the default classes. Again comparing it to the Gears franchise, a ranked and casual set up would remove this problem with a beginner category exclusive to those between levels one and twenty.

    Call of Duty had an amazing send off on last generation consoles with Modern Warfare and has sadly launched with what could have been another hit. The story was solid, zombies evolved in a natural and fun way but the thing that brings people back has been an undeniable disaster. The frame drops, graphical issues, system crashes, skill based match making and balancing issues have turned what could be a really solid introduction into next generation shooters into a challenging effort stuck in the shadow of its predecessor.    … Expand
  7. Pro_Ponder
    Nov 24, 2020
    4
    So to start things off somewhat positive, this game has potential... I hope it becomes the game it can be but so many things need fixing and adjusting first. Simply it's an fps game with aiming that just doesn't allow the fluid aim a COD usually offers, I can't tell if it's light or heavy but it feels awful. Once this is fixed the game would get maybe a 7 rating from me as all the otherSo to start things off somewhat positive, this game has potential... I hope it becomes the game it can be but so many things need fixing and adjusting first. Simply it's an fps game with aiming that just doesn't allow the fluid aim a COD usually offers, I can't tell if it's light or heavy but it feels awful. Once this is fixed the game would get maybe a 7 rating from me as all the other issues are reasonably small but just aren't up to scratch with MW so hopefully treyarch give this game the attention it needs and fix the issues and it may challenge the top 5 costs but until then there's no chance of it comin… Expand
  8. OverSized
    Dec 2, 2020
    4
    The campaign needed more refining before it came out It feels sloppy in some places overall the best mission that the game added was the KGB mission in my opinion at least The zombies is one of the only saving graces but it does have its problems indeed from recycled content and the worst part of the game is the multiplayer as it's recycled content The graphics in some rare cases are goodThe campaign needed more refining before it came out It feels sloppy in some places overall the best mission that the game added was the KGB mission in my opinion at least The zombies is one of the only saving graces but it does have its problems indeed from recycled content and the worst part of the game is the multiplayer as it's recycled content The graphics in some rare cases are good but other times in all the maps seems like it's the lacking modern warfare was much more refined in design campaign audio graphics It could have been good but it missed the mark by mile What I paid the full 60 no I would wait for a deal so you don't waste your money as well And it's current stance I don't think there's anything that they can do to quiet overhaul the game enough to get it recuperating I give it maybe seven or eight months before I will probably collapse on itself if it doesn't try to change but there's so much inconsistencies there constantly going on that it's hard to say It doesn't help the activation pressure them giving them half of the time that they were allotted to make the game in the first place… Expand
  9. Jmoreno3
    Dec 17, 2020
    4
    Baja calidad de gráficos y la experiencia es muy similar a juegos móviles
  10. Kamil775
    Jan 12, 2021
    4
    Bought on xbox one x, seems to run well. Built my 5950x and 3070 equipped pc a month ago and noticed that this game is on sale - the game runs like trash on my system. WHY? COD Warzone runs maxed out not dipping below 100fps ever. I'm running other games at max fidelity and I haven't experienced such poor performance even with Cyberpunk 2077.
    Overall campaign is good, zombies is decent &    Bought on xbox one x, seems to run well. Built my 5950x and 3070 equipped pc a month ago and noticed that this game is on sale - the game runs like trash on my system. WHY? COD Warzone runs maxed out not dipping below 100fps ever. I'm running other games at max fidelity and I haven't experienced such poor performance even with Cyberpunk 2077.
    Overall campaign is good, zombies is decent & multiplayer just isn't worth the bother.    … Expand
  11. IreviewGamesYay
    Feb 3, 2021
    4
    This game is somewhat enjoyable, The campaign is a thrilling story and its multiple endings make up for its length, The campaign has some very enjoyable missions such as desperate measures. The zombie mode is also very fun but you're going to need more than just one map to keep the thrill going, The map die Maschine is very fun but it only supports run n gun strategies. The multiplayer isThis game is somewhat enjoyable, The campaign is a thrilling story and its multiple endings make up for its length, The campaign has some very enjoyable missions such as desperate measures. The zombie mode is also very fun but you're going to need more than just one map to keep the thrill going, The map die Maschine is very fun but it only supports run n gun strategies. The multiplayer is where my frustration starts, It is very buggy on the first hand and has SBMM which makes it unenjoyable.… Expand
  12. jpowers02
    Apr 10, 2021
    4
    When I first started to play this game when it came out, I was fairly entertained. The graphics were very crisp and clean, and the feeling of it felt good. The campaign itself, in my opinion, is rather short and they could have done more missions in Vietnam rather than some rather boring missions running around. The campaign also feels "recycled" from the original Black Ops sense in thatWhen I first started to play this game when it came out, I was fairly entertained. The graphics were very crisp and clean, and the feeling of it felt good. The campaign itself, in my opinion, is rather short and they could have done more missions in Vietnam rather than some rather boring missions running around. The campaign also feels "recycled" from the original Black Ops sense in that someone is captured, brainwashed, and then used to help find a villain. The zombies mode within the game I have found to be a boatload of fun, it is a challenging and rewarding experience, especially with friends. Although, I think like myself, a lot of people bought this game for the multiplayer. The multiplayer is quite poor in my opinion. the absence of skill-based matchmaking makes it very unenjoyable due to the fact that one game you'll murder a team of much lower skilled players but then for the next ten games, you'll be the one getting murdered by much higher skilled players. The mechanics of it are average from what players have seen in past games but the biggest complaint I have with multiplayer is that it feels half finished. This is very evident and clear when you boot up last years Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. The lack of maps definitely hurts my rating for this game. Overall, this game is not drop dead horrible, but it is not something either I rush home to load up and play.… Expand
  13. SaiseiTunes
    Aug 19, 2021
    4
    Casual gamers will likely have a good time with this. Hell, I even had fun with it at first. Now? Not so much. This game was rushed and dear god does it ever show. Extremely short campaign that almost feels like an afterthought, though it isn't the worst they've ever put out. Multiplayer is just utterly ruined thanks to the special variants of weapons, way too many people sweating in MP,Casual gamers will likely have a good time with this. Hell, I even had fun with it at first. Now? Not so much. This game was rushed and dear god does it ever show. Extremely short campaign that almost feels like an afterthought, though it isn't the worst they've ever put out. Multiplayer is just utterly ruined thanks to the special variants of weapons, way too many people sweating in MP, battle pass completely destroying natural progression if you just shell out some cash, bugs, maps are extremely hit or miss, TTK is still disgustingly low. It's better than MW2019, but only barely, both are still really low on the COD totem pole.

    Zombies was admittedly a ton of fun for me, I enjoyed it quite a bit. The new mechanics felt great for bringing on new players, old perk system returned with a few tweaks that finally found an effective way to deal with crutch perk issues, and the Die Maschine and Firebase Z maps were a ton of fun! Shame that Treyarch has decided to ruin it by focusing on Outbreak rather than Dark Aether's main storyline and maps, the characters have no personality since they're all MP Operators, and Treyarch seems focused on playing to our nostalgia for previous games rather than creating something new (can we get some more new perks like Elemental Pop, please? Instead of old perks reworked or combined?). While it's not entirely without merit, Cold War is a perfect encapsulation of how the Call of Duty series has fallen from its once lofty heights. Buy at your own risk    … Expand
  14. Pun1sher
    Oct 3, 2022
    4
    I didn't think this game would be that bad.
    I can't play one game because they do technical work! The plot in the game is not bad, but I'm waiting to play single player, **** you.
  15. Gildou35
    Jan 5, 2021
    3
    Problème de connexion, 20 ans pour rejoindre ses potes en crossplay, les bug en tout genre, ce jeux pourrait etre bien.. si il fonctionnait
  16. BatmanIsLyfe
    Mar 23, 2021
    3
    First off, there are parts of the game that are absolutely incredible. (1) I don't EVER play campaigns because they bore the s*** out of me, but this one, I was glued to the screen and finished it in 2 sessions. It was incredible, the graphics were stunning, the story actually made my jaw drop at the end, and the Vietnam and KGB missions were a complete blast. (2) the Zombies is actuallyFirst off, there are parts of the game that are absolutely incredible. (1) I don't EVER play campaigns because they bore the s*** out of me, but this one, I was glued to the screen and finished it in 2 sessions. It was incredible, the graphics were stunning, the story actually made my jaw drop at the end, and the Vietnam and KGB missions were a complete blast. (2) the Zombies is actually fun. I hated BO3/BO4 zombies because they got too ambitious. This zombies is very different, but it is in good ways. The changes make it feel like a revised BO2/BO1 zombies, and that's what everyone wants. The story and characters need work though, because at the moment, I am left missing the old school characters and the sarcastic voice lines. (3) Fireteam Dirty Bomb is the most fun new game mode I have played in several years. it's like a combination of Battlefield Conquest, Search and Destroy, and Battle Royale. It's utter chaos, and both maps are excellent. I find myself having fun even when I get last place. I hope more people start playing it because outside of needing some respawn balance, it's a complete blast.

    Now the bad (and the reasons this game is currently rated a 2.9)

    Holy motherf***ing s*** this game has the absolute worst gun balance and lag I have ever experienced in ANY game. EVER. You can avoid most of the horrible gun balance by playing hardcore, but in core, Assault Rifles can range anywhere from 4 headshots to kill to 12 body shots to kill. Yes I typed that correctly: 12 HITS. SMG's are the most balanced guns overall in my opinion, but with a combination of lag and aim assist that is too strong (which I'll get to), they melt you before you can even ADS. Then to top it off, you have the Tactical Rifles (Burst weapons and DMR) that kill you in one 3 round burst. So you can probably guess that almost every person in the game is using them. I can't understand how a Franchise that has been doing the same thing for so many years can still royally f*** up on something as simple as gun balance. I know it will get fixed, but geeeeez. The guns in Dirty Bomb feel a bit more balanced, since you have Armor and it takes a few burst shots to kill at range, but yeah guns need major work.

    The aim assist. Ok now I am a PC player, and I understand that we PC players can get ridiculously sweaty, but I was an Xbox player just a few years ago. I have watched videos breaking down the aim assist and how it will continue to drag your aim in the direction of the player, even if you are pulling the stick the opposite direction. Aim Assist is entirely necessary for joysticks in a shooter, because you don't have nearly as much range of control/motion as you would with a mouse (hence why PC has no aim assist), but it is ridiculous in this game (and in MW). It is to the point that aim assist literally deletes most of the recoil for most guns and console players are getting headshots almost on accident, while PC players have to actually compensate for recoil. Sure it's nice for bad players, but when a console player is actually good, it is almost impossible to kill them unless you catch them by surprise, because aim assist takes care of a good 80% of their recoil. It's extremely frustrating. I have connected an Xbox controller to my PC and tried it out, and I was able to lead the lobby... mind you I haven't played COD on a controller since Black Ops 3. There is also a version of aim assist called "Focused" where if you are missing your target, it will literally pull your reticle to the target for you. It isn't aim assist anymore, it is soft aimbot.

    Last, the graphics in multiplayer are so bad. I don't understand why honestly... Dirty Bomb and the Campaign both look amazing, then you have maps like Cartel where the bushes look like they're made out of paper mache. If I had to guess, I would say that Treyarch spent most of their time on Fireteam, Campaign, and Zombies (all three of which are quite fantastic) and then they had to rush the multiplayer when they were told their game would be pushed up a whole year.

    Overall, for having an entire year chopped off of their development time, this game is really impressive. I actually like it better than Modern Warfare. I've heard a lot of people complain that it's clunky, and I must assume that these people have never played BO1. It really does feel like the OG Black Ops, and the new mode and Campaign are two of the best things I've played in quite some time. I recommend buying the game and playing only Hardcore Multiplayer and Fireteam: Dirty Bomb if you like to be competitive. I cannot however rate it above a 6 because the gun balance is completely embarrassing.

    If they fix the gun balance, improve multiplayer graphics, and lessen aim assist, I really would rate a 10.

    UPDATE: Season 1 laggy as f***, not even playable now.

    UPDATE 2: Tried it again on 3/24 and the lag is even worse now. The game is a lost cause, save your money.    … Expand
  17. phoenixsuple
    Nov 29, 2020
    3
    This is a joke, the game is a step back from modern warfare. campaign short and multiplayer weak, the game engine also backward. Waste of money.
  18. Radiationbum
    Dec 19, 2020
    3
    Worse in every single way when compared to last years Modern Warfare.

    The Graphics are worse looking less real and more arcade with over saturated coulours The Campaign is shorter and ends poorly The Multiplayer has less maps, poor balancing, missing features that were there on day one of Modern Warfare, the attention to detail is gone so Snipers have glare reguardless of what    Worse in every single way when compared to last years Modern Warfare.

    The Graphics are worse looking less real and more arcade with over saturated coulours

    The Campaign is shorter and ends poorly

    The Multiplayer has less maps, poor balancing, missing features that were there on day one of Modern Warfare, the attention to detail is gone so Snipers have glare reguardless of what scope you use, Wild cards break the game, Score streaks over Kill streaks is a bad choice    … Expand
  19. Elitestriker421
    Dec 19, 2020
    3
    Good graphics.... sort of, poor gameplay, lack of content, weird design and so on. It’s really sad since Modern Warfare was so amazing. The audio, the graphics, weapons handling etc were top notch. There are complaints about balance and match making but that’s besides the point. Cold War feels like a real step in the wrong direction. 3 steps forward, 5 steps back. Personally, coming fromGood graphics.... sort of, poor gameplay, lack of content, weird design and so on. It’s really sad since Modern Warfare was so amazing. The audio, the graphics, weapons handling etc were top notch. There are complaints about balance and match making but that’s besides the point. Cold War feels like a real step in the wrong direction. 3 steps forward, 5 steps back. Personally, coming from modern warfare to Cold War is like going back in-time for graphics, playability and story. It’s a COD game. It’ll be fun, everyone will buy it because it’s what we do but dang. Treyarch really missed the mark on this one.… Expand
  20. Nerevarinho
    Sep 16, 2021
    3
    Multiplayer team deathmatch takes forever, and since it makes not really fun, its a pain to finish a match. Aim assist is too invasive. Movement and animations are not fluid. Respawn locations are not balanced/scattered enough. Cant read white text on white helmet background in multiplayer loadout. Singleplayer campaign was good, but multiplayer is bad compared to MW.
  21. 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
  22. 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.
  23. AdvancedCabbage
    Nov 19, 2020
    3
    My first FPS was Call of Duty: Black Ops. I absolutely loved the atmosphere, story, violence, and intensity and immediately had to see more woods and mason action in this game. I lived through no man's sky, played sniper ghost warrior 3, and yet this is the single largest disappointment since my parents divorced.

    My main focus is the story, as the multiplayer and zombies have already    My first FPS was Call of Duty: Black Ops. I absolutely loved the atmosphere, story, violence, and intensity and immediately had to see more woods and mason action in this game. I lived through no man's sky, played sniper ghost warrior 3, and yet this is the single largest disappointment since my parents divorced.

    My main focus is the story, as the multiplayer and zombies have already been beaten to death by far more dedicated fans of the modes and let's face it: I have a LOT to say about just how far this game misses the mark for me as a long time black ops fan.
    Right out of the gate, it's clear the game wants to take itself slightly less seriously than its predecessor. By my standards, that's not the right way to go with the story, as black ops was a very gritty game (narratively speaking). The 1980's aesthetic hits you like a brick wall, and pretty much everyone's character is ground down to a unidimensional one-liner dispensary. If I had to characterize Robert Redford's clone, I'd have no choice but to report him as "cool man with leather jacket and battle scars". I'm immediately insulted that this caricature is intended to inspire or move me in any way. This character was the perfect opportunity to portray that stereotype as a multidimensional and vulnerable person. Giving that character depth while maintaining the calm and macho persona would have been a great subversion of expectations that everyone would have appreciated.
    I mention this supporting cast member before your own playable protagonist because, quite literally, there isn't one. This game subscribes to the voiceless protagonist. In 2020. I could honestly tolerate all of these flaws, if they were merely pieces that complimented already established characters that held up.
    They're not. How do I even begin to express my grief from hearing my childhood favorite protagonists, expertly animated and in clear high resolution, open their mouths only to speak like a group of high school theater kids were given 30 seconds of clips from their characters' previous games and then performed all of the lines in one take. I could understand mason not having the same actor. Sam Worthington sounds like he's mighty busy with avatar 2 and I imagine quite a bit of difficulty persuading him to star in such a measly production. But you mean to tell me this is the BEST replacement they could find for him? Blasphemous.
    I wish I could say mason got the worst of it, but his character remained in tact to a degree. During the few cutscenes he had, he expressed human reactions to the stimuli around him. Woods was absolutely positively character assassinated. There are few things more mortifying than a character once thought multidimensional being stripped bare.
    Woods was always one to make you laugh, and he was always one to curse a lot. That's about all that was carried over from previous games. Where woods used to make crucial decisions, be laser focused, have no time for **** and always, ALWAYS curse when in distress, this new woods is a flatlined infantile shell of his former self. This portrayal had him constantly quipping **** useless, and even borderline annoying one liners that were there solely to seek approval from his squamates, not entertain himself or build bonds as he'd always done before. Woods seemed to have his spine removed in this installment, with the best example being him and bell (your voiceless protagonist) infiltrating a base and, despite their best efforts, ending up being found out and in a firefight. Between gunfights, he's criticized for this mistake. Rather than cursing the radio operator out or defending it as the right choice, he simply turns to you and says "she seems mad. does she sound mad". It's a 180 when his character is to shine the most. Absolutely disruptive and shameful to me as a long time fan. All of this culminates in the absolute brick straw that's going to paralyze this camel for life; all of the voice actors were replaced. I know I already bashed mason's, but wood's voice actor did NOT live up to what James C. Burns did with the character (shoutout to my boy). Hudson sounded like a 14 year old boy trying to make his voice deep in front of his friends.

    Many of the locations in the campaign are straight ripoffs from last year's modern warfare, black ops 1, and even some games from other genre's I've played. The PC performance is mind bogglingly terrible. The bugs everyone is raving about are very present here as well. The voice acting is god awful. Your protagonist is silent and boring. Graphically it holds up worse than modern warfare. The engine is the same old engine every cod ran on before modern warfare. An absolute no go for me, and I would only buy it on sale and ONLY for the zombies, if you're that into bad interpretations of a game mode that rarely lives up to its potential. That's it boys. I know the trailer was gas but the game is a dumpster fire.    … Expand
  24. Skiro86
    Nov 28, 2020
    3
    Game is straight trash. I started it up the first time and it turned my console off. Then when I went to play it the next day it shut it off randomly again. After a restart of the xbox and the game, I got through some interactions with the team in the safe house and started to review evidence when, boom, shuts off again. The other crappy thing is, during the cut scenes, they are jitteryGame is straight trash. I started it up the first time and it turned my console off. Then when I went to play it the next day it shut it off randomly again. After a restart of the xbox and the game, I got through some interactions with the team in the safe house and started to review evidence when, boom, shuts off again. The other crappy thing is, during the cut scenes, they are jittery and laggy. They look like they could be good to look at, but haven't been able to tell. For a AAA game, this is trash.… Expand
  25. StonerJedi17
    Nov 29, 2020
    3
    Please for the love of God do not buy this! I know people exadurate but literal-its the most broken buggiest game in the series. This game makes the bugs in assassins creed unity look like nothing. In a week I've had 2 full console hard resets, party is full errors, my first game of zombies I had to quit cuz I got stuck staring at the ground and couldnt move, sound tearing into static, uiPlease for the love of God do not buy this! I know people exadurate but literal-its the most broken buggiest game in the series. This game makes the bugs in assassins creed unity look like nothing. In a week I've had 2 full console hard resets, party is full errors, my first game of zombies I had to quit cuz I got stuck staring at the ground and couldnt move, sound tearing into static, ui error bugs that crash the game (on xbox), random disconnections from the serve when I verified my internet is fine. Seriously the bugs are soooooooo bad. Please please dont make the same mistake as me. Now zombies is good. Imo one of the best zombies since kino bo1. And positives-the game is still cod. It feels like cod. When it works....zombies tho is why this is a 3 and not a 0. Bugged out worse than any cod game EVER. Avoid like the plague (the black plague-not the Corona one...we see how well people avoiding that one has gone)… Expand
  26. abdullahsabbir
    Nov 30, 2020
    3
    I am not a veteran CoD player. My first CoD where I actively played MP was MW2019. While it was not perfect, the SBMM in that game wasn't as strong as it is in BOCW. I'm a very casual player, I played about 125 Hours of MP in MW2019 and my K/D ratio is 1.01. Here in BOCW, I have to sweat in every single game and my K/D ratio rarely touches 1. Some people will probably tell me to just getI am not a veteran CoD player. My first CoD where I actively played MP was MW2019. While it was not perfect, the SBMM in that game wasn't as strong as it is in BOCW. I'm a very casual player, I played about 125 Hours of MP in MW2019 and my K/D ratio is 1.01. Here in BOCW, I have to sweat in every single game and my K/D ratio rarely touches 1. Some people will probably tell me to just get good, but you know what? I don't want to. I play games to relax at the end of the day and this game is not relaxing or fun. I'm giving this a 3 just because the campaign and the zombie mode are okay.… Expand
  27. Marco2020
    Dec 5, 2020
    3
    Too many boring cinematics in single - not much to play , some levels ok, some very redundant with same old algotyrhms and very linear action. Not Very Bad - but overall mediocre - i played on series X and graphics is so so - flat texture are very common. Console hang out from time to time, the whole system was crashing several times.
  28. Chris0nF1re
    Dec 7, 2020
    3
    Absolutely broken. Terrible animations and awful frame rate. Game makes me feel nauseous when I play it. Tones of glitches. I’d stay away and only buy the game if on sale for £10/15

    Campaign was okay but forgettable.
  29. PROTEVS
    Dec 12, 2020
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I’m a long-time COD fan who has almost always enjoyed the lore for the campaigns and for Zombies, and I’ve enjoyed the multiplayer modes for most of the games. Unfortunately, COD: Black Ops Cold War just doesn’t live up to the hype in my opinion.

    1) Campaign [TL;DR]

    First off, I’m not a huge fan of the campaign. It didn’t really add much to the Black Ops storyline. There were a few callbacks to the original Black Ops storyline, such as the mission in Yamantau with Hudson and Weaver, Kravchenko whose story had already concluded in Black Ops II, with just as much screen time and importance in that game as well, and Raul Menendez who ran a cartel under Noriega’s time in power. However, the callbacks felt like cheap fan service that served virtually no purpose whatsoever.

    Your playable character’s story arc (codename “Bell”) felt meaningless. The brainwashing concept had already been attempted with Alex Mason in the first game, and to some extent it really worked. Discovering that Victor Reznov used Steiner’s attempted brainwashing on Mason to serve his own purpose of eliminating Dragovich, Steiner and Kravchenko was a huge twist, especially when we also figured out that Reznov had died during Mason’s escape from Vorkuta.

    Bell’s brainwashing on the other hand felt too predictable, and the canonized ending felt a little forced. It would’ve seemed more likely for Bell to turn against his CIA colleagues and finish Perseus’s mission, as opposed to continuing the fight against Perseus, given that he had been previously aligned with Perseus. He never really had much incentive to aid Russell Adler or Jason Hudson.

    To top that off, the stakes never really felt high. It always seemed as if the CIA was going to be able to accomplish its mission of obtaining intel on their rivals, and that every setback was a trivial issue. I never really felt on-edge as I’d felt with Mason being brainwashed by Steiner.

    In the original Black Ops, your attempt to neutralize Castro was unsuccessful since Dragovich and Kravchenko had tipped off Castro. They always seemed at least one step ahead of the CIA. You’d lost a couple of allies along the way—Harris and Bowman—and Kravchenko almost killed Weaver as well.

    In Modern Warfare 2, Roach and Ghost secure intel on Makarov, only to be betrayed by General Shepherd. It’s later revealed that Shepherd used the conflict to bolster his reputation as a general and to avenge his fallen men, while pinning the blame on those associated with Task Force 141. As a result, your team goes in hiding and rely on the help of former-Spetsnatz soldiers Nikolai and Yuri to kill Shepherd and Makarov. In the process of chasing after Makarov, Soap dies in the conflict and Yuri must explain his past ties to Makarov to Captain Price so he can trust Yuri to assist him in their epic final showdown.

    At no point did I feel the same level of high stakes in Black Ops Cold War. You barely even see Perseus! He’s in a couple of cutscenes, and you only see him face-to-face in Bell’s alternate ending! I would rate the campaign a 2/10.

    2) Multiplayer

    As of me writing this review (Dec. 2020), I am still disappointed in the multiplayer experience. The maps are either too big or they make you feel claustrophobic. Players have resorted to camping and spamming tacticals/lethals to get kills against enemies. In previous multiplayer experiences the maps were typically more balanced, and you were capable of navigating throughout the map a lot easier without the risk of getting sniped across the map or without being forced to push hard with a few allies in a hard-camped area of the map just to gain an edge.

    The weapon progression system is also frustrating. I do enjoy more options for my weapons, but 55 weapon ranks seems too excessive in my opinion. The only way to rank your weapons up quicker is if you play the multiplayer mode or wait for another 2XP weekend—assuming that isn’t bugging out again.

    This is more of a personal nitpick, and those of you reading may disagree with me, but I really dislike the overall progression system as well. Hitting a prestige rank used to feel meaningful. I would be able to show that I’d put enough time into the game where I could essentially restart my progress for my character and challenge myself to earn back all my perks, weapons and equipment. There’s no challenge, so there doesn’t seem like much of a point to the current progression system. 2/10

    3) Zombies

    I enjoyed Die Maschine. I wasn’t expecting another chapter of the Zombies lore, but this new story seems interesting enough. I’m still not sure how I feel about upgrading your perks, but the weapons customization is a nice touch. 8/10

    4) Conclusion

    I feel like I paid $70 USD for a game I only enjoy one-third of. As of now, I feel like it’s only worth $20 USD. Either wait for that price or don’t buy it at all.    … Expand
  30. Mcfeely08
    Dec 25, 2020
    3
    With a brilliant zombies and a ok campaign, the multiplayer fails this game very very much, with the skilled based matchmaking and the unbalanced guns which makes this game require no skill what so ever, is just a disaster from the get go. They do not seem to care to what the community has to say and are too busy making new skins which nobody cares about rather than fixing there buggyWith a brilliant zombies and a ok campaign, the multiplayer fails this game very very much, with the skilled based matchmaking and the unbalanced guns which makes this game require no skill what so ever, is just a disaster from the get go. They do not seem to care to what the community has to say and are too busy making new skins which nobody cares about rather than fixing there buggy game. This game is just a mess and I would not recommend anyone to buy this game at all, just not fun to play at all.… Expand
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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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