It works to an extent, but the overall story isn’t quite as gripping and the characters far less engaging. Where Modern Warfare was a punchy, incredibly well-placed thrill ride, Black Ops Cold War wants its players to immerse themselves, reading through dossiers, and piecing together leads in your hunt for the big baddie. The skulduggery and mind games are more prevalent than ever here, one level showcasing this perfectly as you finally unravel one of the story’s biggest twists. Most of them amount to next to nothing, though you’re given more agency in Cold War than other Call of Duty campaigns before it, bar the superb Black Ops II. Where this campaign delivers is in the choices it presents. With Cold War promising a return to the more traditional campaign format – dropping us in the 80s with a familiar cast of characters – there was definitely some promise there. Black Ops III and its futuristic bending of reality proved more than a little divisive, thanks in part to Treyarch’s insistence on making it a co-op focused experience, and then Black Ops 4 shelved its campaign entirely.
Modern Warfare: Campaignįirstly, there’s the campaign.
