Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Steam

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War for Xbox is the 6th Black Ops game and the 17th in the overall Call of Duty series. By now, you know what you’re getting with CoD games, and the fabulous graphics, well-plotted locations, realistic and engaging character interactions that spell out the compelling storyline will need no real introduction! If you’re a fan you will very satisfied, whereas if you’re a newbie, you have a treat in store. Plus, the large back catalogue to explore!

About the Game

The game is set during the early 80s, (which falls somewhere in between Black Ops and Black Ops II if you like to keep track of the timeline of the series). You play the character of Bell, recruited into an international taskforce whose mission is the hunt for Perseus. Your version of Bell can be customised, choosing the agency you are recruited from, your skin colour, nationality, gender and a series of character traits. You’re recruited by CIA agent, Russell Adler.

You join the team as the US begins to look for an alleged spy, code-named ‘Perseus’ who was based on a real spy who tried to infiltrate the Manhattan Project (which was in place to produce a functional atomic weapon). Perseus’s objective is to infiltrate the US, subvert the Manhattan Project’s aims (amongst other activity) and thus tilt superpower supremacy towards the USSR.

There are eight large and immersive maps to play through. There are plenty of historical touches and nods to the 80s, including the distinctive and eccentric fashions, a number of real life speeches from Ronald Reagan, and nostalgic features like massively weighty televisions as well as smoking indoors being permitted.

While the background to the underlying story is based on historical events, you can literally shape history in this game. There are two endings, meaning that you have an important decision to make.

Ways to Play

Single player is basically story mode, in which you immerse yourself in the storyline and work through your orders as the narrative plays out. In many cases, you have a lot of latitude in how to achieve your aims, so you can work the as a shooter or you can use stealth to achieve your ends – more satisfying and sometimes the best way to get your achievement.

In multiplayer mode there are some new game modes: namely 6v6 and 12v12 modes. One of the latter is called Combined Arms and has two versions: Domination where you fight for control of five specific points on the map and Assault, where you fight for control of just one point, making the game quicker and fiercer as everyone goes all out to get the goal. There is also Fireteam mode which can support 40 players divided into ten teams of four people each.

In Fireteam Dirty-bomb you all battle to gather uranium, and then set off the bombs in a beautiful Alpine mountain setting. These join old favourites like Team Deathmatch, Free-for-All, Domination, Search and Destroy, and VIP Escort where you and your team bodyguard one of your number until they can safely evacuate.

There are new and improved map dynamics and elements and the game also introduces a seasonal content system, so keep checking back to see what is new, even after you have completed the game.

The Zombies are Back

Zombies are back in co-op mode, this time bearing cold war vintage weapons while they try and get to you and your three co-op buddies. In this game, Zombies is set in an old and abandoned Nazi research science base in Poland.

You can play Endless mode which just gets harder and harder, or you can opt for the limited 20-round mode which might be preferrable to those who like a decisive win point. In all modes of Zombie play, keep an eye out for mystery boxes which are always worth grabbing. They could have anything in them from something amusing but useless to life-savingly valuable!

The ‘Onslaught’ game places you and just one buddy in a safe zone (clearly marked, and subject to random changes, leaving you running like heck to regain its safety at random moments in the game) while waves of zombies come at you. The occasional elite enemies that spawn can make your player’s life exciting and sometimes considerably shorter!

Cross Play allows you to challenge buddies using different consoles, which is useful for those who are loyal to other games systems than their friends.

Fabulous Locations

You may think that the Cold War was entirely based in East Germany and the then USSR, but this game uses ingenuity and historical flashbacks (showing how conflicts in entirely different parts of the world can have an impact years later and many miles away).

• Vietnam – dramatic flashbacks to the trauma of the Vietnam War in the 60s, showing earlier CoD missions and linking past events to current alliances and loyalties
• Berlin – a neon-drenched party-scene in which Kraftwerk and Bowie were perfecting their 80s game, but unfortunately neither makes even a cameo appearance in the game. The soundtrack is fantastic though, so you do get the benefit of that!
• Turkey – visit Trabzon Airport in Turkey, which you may recall from the unusual accident that occurred there when a Pegasus Airlines plane overshot the runway on landing and ended up halfway down a cliff, poised above the sea, making dramatic news features in 2018. In the game, you will hopefully not end up in a plane crash, but instead solve a crucial part of your mission
• Moscow – Soviet headquarters of the KGB, the Lubyanka, all grim architecture and busts of Lenin
• Miami – sun-soaked, beautiful beaches and undercover agents everywhere!