We’ve been playing Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, but need a little bit more time before we bring you our thoughts. The review embargo has just lifted and so far, impressions of the game are fairly positive. The reviews primarily talk about the campaign, with a few touching on multiplayer.
IGN gave the campaign a 7/10 and said: Call of Duty’s moment-to-moment gameplay is still primarily a well-dressed shooting gallery, but Black Ops Cold War succeeds in making its quiet time a defining part of its experience rather than just a deep breath between the loud and explode-y sequences. Its story is less successful at leaving a Black Ops 1-level mark, but the importance placed on finding and deciphering evidence as well as the multiple endings give good reason to stick with it beyond its typical six-ish-hour runtime.
PlayStation Lifestyle has given it a 9/10 and said: Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is a return to form for the franchise sub-series. While perhaps not as visually splendid as last year’s Modern Warfare, it gets the Black Ops series back to boots on the ground, introducing new characters and elements while lending adequate time and attention to series favorites.
Gaming Trend gave it a 9/10 and said: Black Ops has absolutely returned with a vengeance. The fast, frantic pace is still there, and the gunplay is still just as great as you remember it. While the campaign may be the weakest part of an overall phenomenal package, it’s still very satisfying and the espionage narrative packs a punch. The modes people are going to play the most, multiplayer and Zombies, are the strongest parts of Black Ops Cold War, and offer the best first person shooter gameplay in video games.
Gamespot has given it an 8/10 and praised the campaign for keeping things fun and fantastical, and giving the player choice in dialogue. They commented on the 40-player multiple mode feeling not quite right and the story not delivering on the questions that it poses.
Venturebeat has given it a 4/5 and said: But it’s not the best Call of Duty game I have played, and the specter of returning to Warzone battle royale games looms large over this game. That’s why I rate this game as 4-out-of-5 stars. I don’t think it’s as good as last year’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, which was so disturbing and thoughtful and had an excellent and long single-player campaign.
Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is out today on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and PC.
