Everything New In COD: Black Ops Cold War Multiplayer
Activision and Treyarch have debuted the multiplayer mode for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. During a livestream event, the companies revealed a trailer and in-depth details about changes players can expect from Black Ops Cold War's take on Call of Duty multiplayer. It looks like the game is going back to the series' roots, much like last year's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, but also bringing new maps and mechanics to help expand the gameplay.
The livestream's first talking points were the unique maps and modes coming to Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. Five brand new maps were showcased: Armada, Miami, Crossroads, Moscow, and Satellite. The new modes mentioned were VIP Escort, Combined Arms, and Fireteam. VIP Escort is a 6v6, objective-based mode. One player on the attacking team spawns as a VIP with only a pistol, smoke grenade, UAV, and the ability to revive teammates, and all other teammates spawn with their usual custom loadouts. The VIP's team must help escort them to a chopper extraction point, fighting back the other team as it tries to prevent successful extraction. Combined Arms is a new 12v12 category of modes, including a larger-scale Domination mode. Combined Arms matches take place on larger maps with a variety of vehicles available, such as tanks, snowmobiles, helicopters, and speedboats. Fireteam is a new 40-player category of objective missions involving 10 teams of four. The first Fireteam mode revealed was Dirty Bomb, where players must collect nuclear materials and quickly escape radiation that leaks across the map.
The next big changes discussed were those to the Create-a-Class and scorestreak systems. Black Ops Cold War features a slot-based Create-a-Class system, meaning every player's loadout contains the same amount of equippable weapons, attachments, and equipment. There is no Pick 10 system, like there has been in other Black Ops games. New to the traditional Create-a-Class system are wildcards, boosts that add slots to the player's loadout. Only one wildcard can be equipped at a time, and they give boosts such as allowing eight attachments on a primary weapon, carrying six perks, and doubling the amount of equipment items held. A surprising and possibly controversial change is the new way scorestreaks work. Score earned toward activating a streak is no longer lost when a player dies. Streaks also require more score to be activated than in previous games, but there is a new score multiplier system to help earn score faster. When a player kills more than one player in a single life, each new kill earns significant bonus score. Additionally, scorestreaks now start a cooldown timer after being used, preventing spam usage of powerful streaks.
The movement system has seen some tweaks, as well. The sliding ability returns in Black Ops Cold War, but sliding now leaves players in a crouching position, which slows mobility after a slide is performed. Jumping has also been altered slightly, as jump height greatly decreases after chaining more than one jump. Sprinting has been altered, too; now, when a player begins a sprint, the first few seconds of the sprint will be noticeably boosted before slowing down to normal speed. The biggest change to the movement system, however, is the reworked footsteps noise. Now, the volume of a players' footsteps is directly determined by how quickly they are moving and what stance their character is in. This could help make attempts at stealth moves more fair and realistic.
The final major change comes via Black Ops Cold War's integration of Warzone and cross-progression. Warzone will be updated to contain Black Ops Cold War elements (like weapons and locations) but will still remain a free-to-play standalone experience. A player's rank, cosmetic items, and updates from Modern Warfare's Warzone will seamlessly function with Black Ops Warzone. Also, the game will continue to be playable via cross-play with other consoles, including crossplay with the upcoming next-gen systems. If a player links their Call of Duty account to their PlayStation, Xbox, or Battle.net accounts, they can retain their saved progression across all possible consoles.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is shaping up to be an interesting new title. The introduction of new modes and many changes to the base mechanics is sure to create some new strategies and fun gameplay. With the integration of Warzone and crossplay, the Call of Duty experience will feel more connected than ever before. Players can get some hands-on time with this new multiplayer when the beta launches starting October 8.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War will be available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC on November 13, 2020.