In the leadup to the game's official first season, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is already in a great position. Treyarch's return to the Black Ops subseries brings with it a revamped Cold War setting, a completely new Zombies experience, and a much more familiar multiplayer experience. Compared to Modern Warfare, Black Ops Cold War appeals much more to the classic gameplay experience. Movement is fast and fluid, and the map design is overall much less cramped or confusing compared to its predecessor.
After the beta, big changes have come to Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War to make the game's multiplayer balance much better. There were some egregiously powerful weapons in the game's beta, some of which were purposefully broken and later changed, while others still remain at the top of the game's meta. Snipers are still quite strong, despite being a shell of their former selves in the beta. The MP5 still stands tall as multiplayer's best gun, just like in Modern Warfare. There were also quite a few movement changes that were incredibly beneficial. Black Ops Cold War is in a pretty solid state on initial release, despite a few outliers that could use adjustment.
Significant Weapon Changes In Some Areas, Not Others
Players of the beta may be happy to know that snipers were nerfed immensely compared to the beta's implementation. For those out of the loop, Treyarch lead designer Tony Flame specifically stated that snipers in the Black Ops Cold War beta were buffed specifically for crossplay weapon balance testing. On release, snipers are now much slower to ADS, even with mods to buff ADS time. Snipers are just as strong and can land one-shot kills on upper body shots, but they're far less prevalent than they were in beta. It's even got to the point where Black Ops Cold War snipers are asking for buffs, although it's hard to imagine snipers will return to their former glory.
Outside of snipers, some guns are still incredibly strong in Black Ops Cold War. Beta players will be very familiar with the MP5, as it's still arguably the best gun in multiplayer. All it takes is one firepower mod and the MP5 becomes an incredible weapon, without even counting any other recoil/movement/sight modifications that players choose. There are also more subtle weapons that are strong like the M16, which often kills combatants in one burst at the body with firepower/fire rate builds. Other notable nerfs are the Type 63, which has a slower fire rate, much higher recoil, and nerfed TTK, practically unusable compared to the beta version.
Movement Mechanics Are Less of a Crutch, Scorestreaks Are Tweaked
Several mechanical changes outside of weapons have made the experience a bit easier to manage for most players as well. Sliding in particular saw a reasonably strong nerf in speed, distance, and cooldown. In Black Ops Cold War's beta, sliding had basically become a get-out-of-jail-free card, allowing players to change direction and momentum in an instant. Sliding is now functionally very different, as it can still be used in scenarios to get out of dodge, but it's far more situational now than its beta version. Mantling speed was also slightly increased, but it still feels natural and not too fast. Overall, the game's overall mechanical feel is in a relatively strong position.
Scorestreaks also saw some tweaks as well, changing both lower tier and higher tier rewards in a reasonable manner. Lower tier rewards were nerfed ever so slightly in point requirements, meaning things like UAVs and Care Packages aren't rewarded as often as they were in beta. Higher tier rewards were reworked so that things like Chopper Gunner aren't acquired as easily for everyone, but are rewarded quicker for those on the higher end of kill streaks or performance. Additionally, some of the scorestreaks themselves were changed, like Chopper Gunner's length decreased and the Attack Helicopter's damage output was increased.
A full list of the changes are available via Treyarch's patch notes here.
Black Ops Cold War's Balance Is Solid But Not Perfect
At the moment, it feels like Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's multiplayer balance is in a pretty good state. It's certainly not perfect; the MP5 is literally everywhere and has the versatility of an AR with the speed of an SMG, some maps have questionable spawn points and spawn-flipping (specifically Crossroads), and a few other minor issues. That being said, the game is much snappier and faster paced compared to Modern Warfare, and to many that's a very good thing. Black Ops Cold War makes a concerted effort to appeal to a more classic Call of Duty multiplayer experience, ramping up the pace and making gameplay more exciting.
Treyarch's developers have already made it clear that big changes will be coming in Season One, when Warzone combines with Black Ops Cold War and Modern Warfare. There haven't really been any hints as to any big changes, but there are some pretty obvious outliers like the MP5 that will probably receive a nerf. That being said, overall the game doesn't have as many egregious issues as it did in the alpha or beta tests. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War puts itself in a great position in its launch/pre-season.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.