Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War is the next big game in the series and we’re starting to learn quite a bit more about how it is going to work. The last iteration of the game became one of the most successful ever with an active and fun multiplayer. The next game has a lot to live up to, but it seems promising from everything we know about Black Ops Cold War so far.
With the release date fast approaching, the hype and previews for Cold War are ramping up. This is everything that we know about Black Ops Cold War, like the multiplayer, release date, and the return of Zombies.
Everything We Know About Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is a kind of a mouthful. That’s because it’s a follow up to the Black Ops series, a game series within a game series. These are fan-favorite Call of Duty titles that began in 2010 as a sequel to World at War. This game is a continuation of this series in a lot of ways, even including the same cast of characters.
The Single Player Campaign in Black Ops Cold War
Black Ops Cold War is going to have a big story mode. The single-player campaign is going to be fairly story-driven and set in the 1980s, the tail end of the Cold War. The characters in Black Ops will be returning from the previous Black Ops game including Alex Woods, Frank Mason, and Jason Hudson. Those who played Black Ops will likely remember the story was a little more fleshed out than we’ve seen in a lot of Call of Duty titles. The player character will be a lot more customizable than in those titles though.
You’re going to have access to a character creator to personalize things. The other side of this is that your character is going to be a silent protagonist. This is all quite fresh for the series, even if it’s one of the most well-worn troops in RPGs.
Locales for Single Player and Maps
Previous Black Ops games covered events that allude to the bay of pigs Invasion and scenes set in Vietnam. This title is going to be set in the 1980s, so it’ll be pulling from the last decade of the conflict. The game’s story will follow players hunting down a Soviet Spy known as Perseus. Although it’s likely this premise will pull the game into various 80s inspired Cold War events.
There is a lot of potential material for the game which bodes well for all of its modes. Big events in the 80s Cold War include the Abel Archer 83 False Alarm, Soviet invasion of Afghanistan Invasion, the Contras, and the CIA’s various activities in South America. The game could even push into the Revolutions of 1989 that heralded the end of the Cold War. This means we could have some of the most diverse maps and weaponry seen in a Call of Duty. If story locations are an indicator of the scope of multiplayer maps, Black Ops Cold War might have one of the broadest sets we’ve seen.
Zombies
The ever-popular Call of Duty Zombies is going to be returning in Black Ops Cold War. The mode debuted as Nazi Zombies in World at War and has made occasional appearances in games since. In the original Black Ops games, it was an expansive part of the game. It even included a zombie invasion of the Pentagon, where you played as JFK, Nixon, McNamara, and Castro. We can probably expect something just as creative from Black Ops Cold War.
Multiplayer in Black Ops Cold War
Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War will, of course, have an extensive multiplayer section. The full reveal for this game mode is coming in September, so we won’t have to wait too long to find out more about it. We do know that there will be a Battle Pass for this mode. This is fairly standard for FPSs these days, but this one will tie-in to Call of Duty Warzone.
The game is also going to have cross-platform and cross-generational play for multiplayer. You can play with friends on any device, even if you’re on different ecosystems or a console generation behind.
Black Ops Cold War isn’t throwing out your progression from Modern Warfare. You can keep your blueprints and skins in the new game when you move over. This is a really nice feature if you’ve spent a lot of time in Modern Warfare or Warzone.
When is Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War Releasing?
The release dates and formats for Black Ops Cold War have gotten just a little bit complicated! At the surface, this is it:
- Initial Release Date – November 13th for PC and Current-Gen Consoles.
- Next-Gen – We don’t know the release date for this yet, but you can expect it to be pretty close to the console releases once they are announced.
Sounds simple enough right? If you’re on PC, then yes it is. If you’re on console though you have a few different editions that you will need to decide between. Some will feature an upgrade down the line and others won’t. This is how it is going to work:
Black Ops Cold War’s Console Editions
- There is a ‘next-gen bundle’ of the game which includes the current generation game and an upgrade. This is going to be $70.
- You can get the game for a standard $60 price. It will be backward compatible with the new-gen. However, you’ll be playing the last-gen edition on the new console. So you won’t get the upgrade in load times, frame rate, and everything else.
- The PS4 version can be upgraded to PS5 by purchasing an upgrade on the PS Store. You will need to have a disk copy of the game though. Even though you’ll be running the game from the hard drive, it won’t allow you to play unless you have the disc inserted. So it won’t work at all with the cheaper diskless version of the PS5.
- No upgrades on Xbox, for some reason.
- The Xbox Series X version of the game is a double-disc game, with an Xbox One disc and an Xbox Series X disc.
- The PS5 game will only come with a PS5 version of the game, not the old one like the Xbox does.
- There’s gonna be an Early Access beta to those who pre-order the digital copy, but not for those who go for the physical. So you don’t get an upgrade if you want to play Early Access.
- We don’t know if the next-gen versions will retail at $70 or $60, since there isn’t a standard price point yet. The ‘next-gen bundle’ may end up being the best value for the new consoles.
Nice and simple right? The PC version of the game is definitely going to be easier to navigate and give you access to the Early beta without locking you out of updates.
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