Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is set during the Cold War in the early 1980s. The story follows Green Beret turned CIA SAD/SOG operative Russell Adler and his mission to stop a USSR extremist group in 1981. The story is inspired by actual events and the campaign features locations such as East Berlin, Vietnam, Turkey, and the Soviet KGB headquarters.[4] Adler is supported by Call of Duty: Black Ops characters Mason, Woods and Hudson. With new characters being Adler's MACV-SOG friend Sims, Mossad fixer Lazar, and MI6 officer Park. Players assume a custom character for the campaign, codenamed “Bell”, with the ability to choose their intelligence agency, skin tone, nationality, and gender; as well as different personality traits that provide in-game perks.[5] The campaign features multiple endings, dependent on player choice throughout the campaign.[6]
Multiplayer features new and returning game modes, as well as maps that accommodate both the traditional 6v6 format, as well as larger 12v12 combat. The game also introduced a new game mode named "Fireteam", which can support up to 40 players.[7] The Create-a-Class system from Modern Warfarereturns, with two major differences: field upgrades are implemented as part of class loadouts, and each class has a wildcard choice out of four possible ones: Gunfighter (allows up to 8 primary weapon attachments), Perk Greed (allows 2 perks from each perk type for a total of 6 usable perks), Danger Close (double grenade equipment), or Lawbreaker (allows mixing and matching any weapon/perk type in any slot).[3] Like Modern Warfare, Cold War also support cross-platform play and cross-platform progression.[3] Following an update, the progression system for multiplayer is integrated with Call of Duty: Warzone, allowing for a unified level system across Cold War, Warzone and Modern Warfare. In addition, Operator characters and weapons from Cold War are also added to Warzone to be used alongside Modern Warfare Operators and weapons, though the multiplayer modes remain separated and do not share Operators and weapons.[8]
Zombies features a new storyline titled "Dark Aether" which expands on the original Aether story, concluded in Black Ops 4, while also staying true to the main narrative of the campaign. Instead of playing as predefined characters, players can take on the role of Operator characters from Multiplayer, as part of a CIA response team codenamed "Requiem". Progression from Multiplayer is shared with Zombies, as players are able to use any weapon to start a Zombies match, alongside Gunsmith, scorestreaks and field upgrades, in addition to returning mechanics such as wallbuys, the Mystery Box, Pack-a-Punch and past fan-favorite Perks. For the first time in Zombies, players can opt to "exfil" the map, which will put them in a difficult wave with increased enemy spawn that they must survive before they can escape. Collectible intels are also scattered around the playable maps, allowing players to keep track of and unfold the main story as they progress.[9] A skill upgrade system is featured in the game, allowing players to enhance weapons, perks, ammo mods and field upgrades with Aetherium Crystals, a currency acquired from reaching round milestones. A new game mode, Onslaught, is introduced exclusively to PlayStation players until November 1, 2021. In this mode, which are played within Multiplayer maps, up to 2 players defend areas grounded off by the Dark Aether orb, which must be powered by zombie kills. Sufficient kills will move the orb to new positions, forcing the players to move or die outside of the orb's protection zone.[10] The Season Two update introduces "Outbreak", a large-scale mode where players fight off zombie hordes and complete objectives in an open-world area, composed of locations featured in the larger Multiplayer modes.
