Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Critic Reviews

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. Treyarch expertly steps in to continue the recent interconnected Call of Duty franchise shift, exploring and evolving the series while still creating a game that not just retains but oozes that signature Treyarch style. Perhaps more than any Call of Duty game before it, I’m more excited than ever to see where it goes in the future.

Black Ops Cold War delivers one of the best campaigns in the Call of Duty saga, alongside multiplayer, zombies and a perfect integration with Warzone.

The PlayStation 5 version of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is the best in the bunch. It tells a solid campaign with branching narrative choices, contains some of the best visuals that you’ve seen on a system not called ‘PC’, and it has some good, new faces on the multiplayer scene. Is it all perfect? Not at all, but it’s a good way for Call of Duty to start on the next generation of consoles.

If Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War excels at anything, it’s options. This isn’t uncommon for a Call of Duty title, but with a vast array of game modes for myriad player profiles and a fun campaign that retains a summer-blockbuster feel while getting weird and wild, the ride is a good one.

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.

As a next-gen launch title, the presentation delivers excellent lighting and effects across its campaign, but multiplayer does get hit with a visual downgrade. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is a reliable package that brings the Black Ops franchise back to its roots. This Call of Duty is safe to declassify.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is a solid entry in the blockbuster franchise that looks stunning on next-gen consoles. While its campaign fails to deliver on its potential, it still takes you on a thrilling tale of explosive espionage as you uncover the true identity of Perseus. Combine this with an old-school multiplayer component and expanded Zombies mode and you’ve got a shooter experience I can easily recommend.

Call of Duty needs to lean on three pillars every year. If one staggers, like multiplayer, the taste in the mouth that leaves is not what we demand of an annual product, and that is the case of Black Ops Cold War. Luckily, it shouldn't take much more than the start of the Seasons and the arrival of new content to fix.

The game captures the setting -cold war espionage- in early 80s very well, the tension between the two powerful countries is well displayed. There is more than enough content here to satisfy players too, but the not-so-great story missions disappointed.

Overall, there have been better Call of Duty games in the past, particularly around the single-player campaign. But Black Ops Cold war gets both the multiplayer mode and zombies just right and those are the ones that really count most for fans.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War brings the series back to the start in a much-needed way. Treyarch proves yet again that it is the king of multiplayer, providing exceptional, genre-defining gameplay along with a decent mix of new maps and modes that help with the lack of Zombies content. And Raven Software takes the single player campaign in a different direction that stumbles a bit in execution but lays the foundation for games to come.

Black Ops Cold War is a good game, no question about it, but it's also a warning shot for Activision in regards to the Call of Duty franchise. The story campaign of this game was lackluster way too often and the multiplayer aspect of the game will probably be overshadowed by the more popular Warzone. The next game in the series needs to do something drastically different.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War acts as a return to form for the series as Treyarch takes a safe approach to design and online modes. The campaign’s choice-driven narrative is a huge plus as it helped introduce a level of immersion that the series desperately needed, but it relies a bit too heavily on the big twists than the smaller story beats. With a foundation as good as this laid out, it will be interesting to see how it evolves in future updates.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is full of content that series fans will enjoy and offers a few unexpected surprises along the way. Even if its particular themes aren't for you, it's tough to deny the amount of bang for your buck offered with this game.

Black Ops Cold War is the ultimate casual shooter. Whether that’s a good or a bad thing is up to you.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War takes you back to the past, not only in setting and theme, but in its gameplay style and more. It all feels so classic. Between multiplayer, Zombies, and the return of a proper (and surprisingly less-linear) campaign, there is plenty of value for the soldier in all of us.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is yet another entry for the same formula that still stands after more than a decade now. This game goes back to the origins of the franchise with not many novelties to highlight, but it displays huge production values that help avoid any sort of fatal mistake. In the end, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is your run-of-the-mill Call of Duty experience for those who simply want it to keep on coming.

Black Ops is back and darker than ever. With a rich story and plenty of super-spy moments, this game keeps you gripping down on your controller. Always going to be compared to past titles, this iteration stands up to the challenge and delivers a whole new experience on what a Call of Duty title should be

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War does very more-of-the-same in places — it’s the franchise’s 17th instalment, after all — but when a formula has been so fine-tuned, it’s hard to expect the developers to monkey around with it too much.

Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War offers a familiar package: a too-short campaign developed by a reputable studio and multiplayer that provides lots of activities to score points, earn weapon unlocks, and shoot other players. Despite the length, the campaign is a fun departure from the Tom Clancy-esque tone of mainline games. It leans heavily into the aesthetic of the 1980s, from fashion to real-world advertisements. Yeah, it’s kind of gross that Doritos earned prominent placement but at least Raven had the foresight to include vintage brand designs.