In our single-player summary, we reveal how good the story of Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War actually is before the test.

Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War offers one of the best story campaigns in recent years. However, the single player of the first-person shooter is plagued by an age-old problem: it’s far too short! Treyarch proves how much you can make out of a CoD campaign with its latest prank.

And before that we provide you with a comprehensive review with all the info about the multiplayer, the zombie mode and the integration of Warzone, here’s our conclusion about the singleplayer. But we already have a first preview of the multiplayer for you:

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CoD Cold War does some things right in multiplayer – but a lot wrong

What is CoD: Cold War all about?

The creative fireworks are still a long time coming, at least at the beginning of the campaign: Set during the Cold War era a small special CIA unit led by our new boss Russell Adler tries to hunt down the Soviet secret agent “Perseus”.

Perseus has been causing headaches for the Americans for decades and now has a particularly hot iron in the fire with which he wants to upset the entire world order. Of course, the CIA wants to have a say in the matter and hunt Perseus down.

The launch trailer for Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War already teases more about the story:

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Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War – The launch trailer gets you in the mood for the story

Pale faces and old friends

We ourselves slip into the uniform of the agent “Bell” in the story of Cold War, among other things, whose military history, character traits and gender we are allowed to determine ourselves.

However, this doesn’t really go into depth: Black Ops: Cold War does without a real editor. It’s a pity, because the creation of our own character seems rather half-hearted and almost superfluous. There would have been much more here – for example, transferring this character to the multiplayer of Cold War or even Warzone.

Character editor in Cold War single player: What’s in it?

The individualization options of your character in the story of Cold War remain quite manageable: you specify first and last name, gender and skin color and can decide on two perks, which, however, have only minimal play effects. You can’t determine the appearance or even the voice (dialog options aren’t set to music). Instead, you can choose a previous career with a secret service, such as the CIA or MI6. However, this doesn’t really affect the story either; only a few lines of dialog change.

All the more exciting is the long-promised reunion with Alex Mason and Frank Woods: two well-known veterans of the Black Ops series, who play a somewhat reduced role in the events of Cold War compared to before. Definitely a treat for fans! Mason and Woods not only accompany us on some missions – Mason is even playable.

Do I need to have played Black Ops 1 before Cold War?

Speaking of Woods and Mason, no, you don’t have to have played the now ten-year-old Black Ops to understand and enjoy Cold War. And that’s despite the fact that the latest Call of Duty is thematically located between part one and part two of the Black Ops series.

Of course, prior knowledge won’t hurt: There are a few nice cross-references that allude to the first Black Ops and will definitely make fans reminisce nostalgically. It also makes it easier for you to understand the relationship between the individual characters – for example, between Woods, Mason and Jason Hudson.

However, you definitely don’t have to be a black ops expert to understand why Woods is anything but a fan of CIA sunglasses-wearing Hudson. The guy remains an ass – regardless of whether you’ve played Black Ops 1. By the way, there is also a direct link to Modern Warfare, but you’ll have to find it yourself.

If you want to refresh your knowledge of Black Ops, check out our story recap:

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How well does Cold War play?

Great action cinema …

Few single-player campaigns of Call of Duty were as varied in terms of gameplay as that of Cold War. Of course, we shoot with various assault, shot or sniper rifles as well as pistols, grenade launchers from all guns (there is also a bow for Rambo fans) and can press the full action button.

And, typically for Treyarch, this feels thoroughly accomplished: Hit feedback is rich, each weapon has its own handling, and gunplay remains satisfying. We also get to sit behind the controls of a fighter helicopter or chase down planes taking off in a remote-controlled car.

… greater spy cinema

But it is away from the action that Cold War plays to its unexpected strengths: Almost like a “real” agent game, the new Black Ops gives us quite a bit of freedom of action, at least in some missions: we can silently infiltrate bases, pick locks, assassinate from the shadows, and hide the bodies of our victims in the closet.

Optional or even alternative solutions are also available to us, one particular mission (without giving too much away) is even conspicuously oriented towards the playful freedom of a Hitman: Do we poison a target in order to get his key card, do we blacken him with his superior or do we sic a murderer on him?

Who would have thought that Call of Duty would suit this change of pace from non-stop action so well? And also the collecting of evidence or the optional solving of additional puzzles (with one or two real head nuts), pleasantly loosen up the CoD trot. The different solution paths, the playful mix, alternative endings and also the multiple-choice dialogues, despite their banality, drive the replay value of Cold War up neatly.

Thus, after (far too short) five hours, you have already completed the campaign, but you still dare to do a second or third run to really uncover every secret of the story. You’ll only grasp the full story of Cold War once you’ve seen every ending.

(Still) a tad too little

But especially from the playful freedoms you could have gotten more out of itThe consequences of each decision for the story are more serious. In the end, it doesn’t matter which answer we give to whom in the course of a heated debate or whether we solve one of the two optional side missions well, badly or not at all – in the final sequence it changes a concluding sentence.

How good are the optional side missions?

The optional side missions of Cold War’s single player are unlocked in the course of the story. You take on the role of Alex Mason and are given Frank Woods as an AI companion. In terms of gameplay, however, the missions feel more like filler material: Target persons have to be found or eliminated in a relatively open area. All in all, it’s a nice addition that rather benefits from the accompanying puzzles.

And nothing has changed since the last five CoDs in terms of the usual mixed enemy and ally AI: Our enemies only become dangerous in the masses, while they rather half-heartedly seek cover or like to completely ignore non-lethal hits.

In addition, although the rather tedious script sequences have been significantly reduced, it is still negatively noticeable time and again when we have to run after a teammate and wait for him to unlock the next door. Cold War doesn’t eliminate all the long-standing diseases of the CoD campaigns, but it treats some symptoms extremely effectively.