Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War has been a difficult recommendation since its launch back in November 2020. Despite its disastrous launch, though, has BOCW managed to build itself back up? Is Call of Duty: BOCW Worth it in 2021? Can we recommend Black Ops Cold War? Let's take a look...
When BOCW launched back in November 2020, it was a mixed bag of an experience. The campaign was a fun and quirky experience – if a li'l bit racist – and all-the-more successful for its decision to take a step away from realism. Zombies was also pretty solid, but the game stumbled when it came to multiplayer.
A fumbled-together mess of game modes and design, Black Ops Cold War was an honest embarrassment when compared to its contemporary, and supposed-best-friend, Warzone. Even if we were to ignore Warzone (which would make very little sense), when compared to 2019's Modern Warfare, BOCW fell flat on its face.
Then came December. Then came Season 1. Whilst we got the delicious Nuketown ‘84 at the turn of the month, when Season 1 finally dropped (after a significant delay), it did very little to relieve our complaints about the game. Worse yet, Activision made the not-so-smart decision to throw a bunch of BOCW stuff into Warzone, making the game almost unplayable. Yet again: faceplant!
Warzone is relatively fixed now, and Season 5 has added a bunch of stuff... things are looking up. The thing is, though, that Warzone does not require much of an investment — it is free to play. Black Ops Cold War, however, is still a jumbled mess of ideas, costs money, and is about to be usurped by what looks like three much better games – Battlefield 2042, Call of Duty: Vanguard, and Halo Infinite. The good news? Well, at least it is now a fun jumbled mess of ideas. Hence, the question: is Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Worth It in 2021?
Is BOCW Worth It In 2021: Multiplayer
In terms of the Multiplayer, BOCW is absolutely not worth it in 2021. Multiplayer has always been the core of the CoD experience, so we will start here. When the game launched, it was a total mess. Of course, there were the standard modes, which were fine, but the maps were boring, generic, and few. They had good variety aesthetically, but that was about it.
Combined Arms and Fireteam: Dirty Bomb were interesting, but were both not very good, if we're being honest with you. Armada was awesome in Combined Arms, but the other maps were, yet again, a jumbled mess. Fireteam...was just a poor man's Warzone. What about now, though?
Not a huge amount has changed, to be honest. Keep in mind that the bones are still here: it is a Call of Duty game, after all! The guns feel fantastic, everything works well, and it is graphically impressive. The problem is, we have had some new maps, a few new weapons, some new modes... and that's about it.
The flip to what we just said, however, is that there have been some fantastic new maps these last few seasons. Express was a fantastic addition, but to be honest, that's not really a BOCW map (it’s a BO2 map...), and this is the core problem with Black Ops Cold War's multiplayer. It's utterly iterative. There is nothing new about BOCW, in fact, the vast majority of maps introduced to the game are simply remakes of maps from older Call of Duty games. It has been lame, and a huge disappointment. Certainly a reason as to why BOCW's multiplayer is not worth it. To be fair, though, weapons have been refined, better balanced, and some of the new operators are pretty sweet. So it's not... all bad.
Is BOCW Worth It In 2021: Zombies
Black Ops Cold War's Zombies mode is certainly worth it in 2021! Zombies has been the highlight of Black Ops Cold War since launch. It suffered some technical issues, and had a painfully difficulty-balance at launch, but has been ironed out and fine-tuned to make it the absolute highlight of BOCW. Die Machine was excellent, but everything else has been even better...
Season One: Reloaded brought us Firebase Z, and it was an absolute blast... but then came Season 2, and with it, Outbreak. This has been added on in subsequent seasons, with Zoo coming to the map, and a whole lot of extra fantastic areas. This is one of the most ambitious, fun, and well-designed modes yet to grace Call of Duty's Zombies mode. We are addicted, and it is getting unhealthy. Seriously. This is almost its own game.
What's clear is that Zombies is where the passion is in Black Ops Cold War, and the quality. Not only have Treyarch iterated on and made Outbreak better each and every Season, but they have added quite a few other Zombies maps and modes that are all tip-top quality! Zombies in BOCW is dense, fun, well-designed, and superbly balanced. We love it, and all of the additions, guns, maps, and everything that has come with this mode. The absolute highlight of BOCW.
Is BOCW Worth It In 2021?
The answer to this question is a bit complicated, but in short, we would not recommend Black Ops Cold War in 2021. Black Ops Cold War is better now, yes. It has improved, yes. Is it even close to being up there with the best of Call of Duty? Absolutely not. As we said earlier, the Campaign is pretty good – but the Multiplayer is still a snooze fest that we simply cannot ignore. It is boring, unimaginative, and in many ways, flawed to its core.
Zombies is the saving grace, and a fantastic mode that inspires our love, enthusiasm, and real Call of Duty spirit. This is what we come for in Treyarch's latest effort. It will be what you come for. So, if you like Zombies: this is the best Call of Duty Zombies yet. If you like Multiplayer: just stick to Warzone and Modern Warfare. Seriously.
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