Today, Treyarch unveiled the multiplayer coming to Call of Duty Black Ops : Cold War.
Featuring cross-gen, crossplay, and cross-progression support, Cold War multiplayer features “signature Black Ops combat and fast-paced battles by land, sea, and air. Engage in deniable operations with all new and fan-favorite modes and maps from locations all over the globe.” At the end of the trailer, we also get a tease for the upcoming Zombies mode that will be arriving post-launch!
The beta begins on October 8th beginning with the PlayStation 4 (as PlayStation has the marketing rights again). Here’s the full breakdown of dates:
Beta Schedule:
- Weekend 1 — PlayStation 4 Exclusive
- Early Access Begins: October 8
- Open Beta Begins: October 10
- Weekend 1 Ends: October 12
- Weekend 2 — Beta on PS4, Xbox One, and PC
- Early Access for Xbox & PC (PS4 Open Beta) Begins: October 15
- Open Beta Begins: October 17
- Open Beta Ends: October 19
Thanks to our friends at Charlie Intel, we also have information for you on the Loadouts system which varies slightly from Modern Warfare.
- Players have the choice to pick a Primary Weapon, Secondary Weapon, one tactical equipment, one lethal equipment, one Field Upgrade, three Perks, and a Wild Card as the base way to create a class.
- The Gunsmith system also returns from Modern Warfare allowing users to build out how they want attachments to create the weapon for them to use in game. There are 7 different attachment slots to pick for each weapon, and the attachments have an unlock and upgrade path similar to Modern Warfare.
- The standard amount of attachments you can pick is 5.
- Weapons have their own progression level system, similar to Modern Warfare, and leveling up the weapons will unlock more attachments in each category.
Players can pick the following attachment slots for each weapon:
- Optic
- Muzzle
- Barrel
- Under-barrel
- Body
- Stock
- Magazine
- Handle
Wildcards
Black Ops Cold War also features Wildcards that allow players to change up some of the rules in the create a class.
Here’s a the Wildcards in the Alpha build:
- Danger Close – Equip extra lethal and tactical equipment, and start with max ammo
- Law Breaker – Equip any weapon in either slot and equip any perks
- Gunfighter – Unlocks 3 additional attachments slots of your primary weapon
- Perk Greed – Equip 3 extra perks
Field Upgrades
Field Upgrades also return from Modern Warfare and can be activated by pressing L1 + R1.
There were four Field Upgrades available in the Alpha build of Black Ops Cold War.
Here’s what the options are:
- Proximity Mine – Throwable mine, explodes shortly after one enemy runs or drives over it. Can be avoided by crouching. Destroys any vehicle that runs over it.
- Recharge Time: 2:00
- Sam Turret – Launches missiles at enemy air scorestreaks and player-piloted helicopters.
- Recharge Time: 3:45
- Jammer – Creates an electronic disruption field, disabling enemy Field Upgrades and degrading enemy mini-map information.
- Recharge Time: 2:30
- Field Mic – Deploys a recording device that highlights enmity sounds on your mini-map
- Recharge Time: 3:15
Our Take
While Black Ops multiplayer is always popular for Call of Duty, we’re a little hesitant with this one given the shortened development time and popularity of Modern Warfare and Warzone. We’ll see if the usual transition takes place to Cold War and whether those players stick. We’re also anxious to see more of Zombies but right now, there’s no date to look forward to.