Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Multiplayer First Impressions

Unequivocally one of the most popular gaming franchises of all time, it seems like Call of Duty is always ahead of the FPS curve. Landing millions of loyal annual buyers and a consistent player base in the millions, it’s maintained relevance for over a decade, ever since Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare brought the series to current events. While it’s visited the past plenty and even the future in some recent titles, we’re visiting the Cold War era for the 2020 iteration.

While multiplayer has taken a backseat to its battle royale counterpart in Blackout and Warzone, it’s something I sunk countless hours into back when I had an Xbox 360 in high school. Like riding a bicycle, once I got settled in, I knew exactly what to do and when to do it. The only issue was not having map knowledge, so finding the choke points and having the sixth sense as to when enemies would start spawning behind me took some getting used to.

Some fine additions in Black Ops Cold War include the return of the prestige system, a bit of bragging rights that has gone unparalleled in multiplayer gaming ever since. Anyone with prestige behind them shows they’ve played matches again and again, and are likely to run circles around you. They were willing to give up full access to the weapons, gadgets, killstreaks, and more, just to say they earned it all again. It’s a feat that adds an element of dominance on the battlegrounds and a welcome return.

The first few games before I could pick a class were grueling but necessary to get me acquainted with the game. I could fine-tune my aim sensitivity and get a feel for the flow of the match, with pace and spawn timing paid keen attention to. The guns feel outstanding and have such a kick to them that adds a sense of realism. I found myself favoring the MP5 and the Stoner LMG for quick movement and point-holding respectively, and am excited to see how the rest of the guns perform.

While the game performed like a dream on my high-end laptop, with no issues in latency or frame drops, it seems this wasn’t the case for everyone. I can’t think of a more triple-A game than this, especially considering it had a handful of acclaimed development studios at the helm, but Activision acknowledged the bumps and bruises in the launch and has graced players with double XP that began on Sunday to keep us happy.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War‘s multiplayer mode is one of four that anyone who boots up the game can play, as there’s a campaign, zombies, and Warzone to contend with on the title screen. I am most definitely going to be sinking the majority of my hours into this mode, though, as it’s giving me massive nostalgia for Call of Duty 4 and looks to be expansive enough to keep me gaining more and more XP to see how the next gun will work.