Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is a 2020 first-person shooter game co-developed by Treyarch and Raven Software and published by Activision. It is the seventeenth installment of the Call of Duty series and is the sixth entry in the Black Ops sub-series, following Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (2018). Set in 1981, Black Ops Cold War's single-player story follows CIA operative Russell Adler and his team of agents as they hunt down a Soviet spy named Perseus. As with previous Call of Duty titles, the game also includes a multiplayer component and the cooperative Zombies mode.
Development on Black Ops Cold War began as a collaboration between Raven and Sledgehammer Games, which was not intended to be an entry in the Black Ops sub-series, but due to disagreements between the two studios, Activision assigned Treyarch to lead the production of the title in May 2019. Marketing for Black Ops Cold War began in August 2020 and was done in different forms, including cryptic messages within Call of Duty: Warzone, puzzles made to be solved online by fans, and a website showcasing historical Cold War events; a full reveal debuted on August 26, as part of an in-game event in Warzone. The game was released on November 13, 2020, for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Gameplay
As with previous Call of Duty games, Black Ops Cold War is a first-person shooter, featuring a single-player campaign, a multiplayer component, and the cooperative Zombies mode. The campaign gives players the ability to create their own custom character; players can choose their intelligence agency, skin tone, nationality, and gender, as well as different personality traits that provide in-game perks. Its missions feature a non-linear design, which gives players multiple ways to approach a mission's objectives. In-between missions, players are able to access a safe house, where they are able to review various pieces of evidence, interact with non-player characters (NPCs), and plan out subsequent missions via an evidence board. Black Ops Cold War also features multiple endings, which depend on several choices that the player has to make throughout the campaign.
Initial release date: November 13, 2020
Platforms: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S, Microsoft Windows
Composer: Jack Wall
Genre: First-person shooter
Designer: David Vonderhaar
Developers: Treyarch, Raven Software, Beenox
Publisher: Activision