Since 2015, the Call of Duty series has featured a PlayStation exclusivity deal, and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War continues this trend. While map packs have become a thing of the past thanks to a focus on free Seasonal content, Activision and Sony have found ways to make exclusive content meaningful. While Call of Duty: Warzone’s exclusive PlayStation items have been limited to cosmetic combat packs, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s content is a bit more varied.
Whole Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War fans that play on PlayStation can access all the Call of Duty: Warzone content packs in the game, there is much more available alongside it. An exclusive Zombies game mode and a spinoff for that mode top the list, though exclusive blueprints and lore-filled intel are included as well. With a few multiplayer boosters on offer as well, Activision and Sony have gone out of the way to endure that the PS4 and PS5 serve as the best place to play Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.
Zombies Onslaught Mode
Starting with the biggest piece of exclusive content, Zombies Onslaught mode offers a separate co-op experience that only PlayStation fans have access to. Like the other exclusive content, it will not come to Xbox and PC until the start of November, ensuring that PlayStation holds onto Onslaught for a long time to come. Like Outbreak, the mode re-uses multiplayer content, though it is on a much smaller scale. Set on the game’s 6v6 maps, two players need to follow a Dark Aether Orb around a location, clearing out Zombies at each stopping point.
The undead forces will eventually get harder as each wave is beaten, with players forced to kite them through a small area determined by the “phase” barrier. Every three waves, a mini boss will spawn, forcing players to contend with a powerful enemy like a Megaton. When killed, it will drop a random perk, scorestreak, or weapon. While the mode was brutally difficult on launch, failing to get players interested, clever changes have seen it improved drastically. Zombies Onslaught is now worthwhile, as it finally features a way to Pack-A-Punch weapons. Level 2 and 3 armor is also available, giving players a fighting chance.
Zombies Onslaught: Containment
The most fun players have had with the PlayStation exclusive Zombies mode is undoubtedly the variant called Containment. While the mode follows the same rules as traditional Onslaught, it also features Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s lineup of Gunfight maps. This serves the Onslaught style far better, as it speeds up Zombie spawns and makes the objectives feel far less tedious to complete. The smaller maps instantly make things more intense, as gamers can instantly tell that they were designed for a lower player count. With Onslaught being a two-player mode, the tiny maps simply make sense.
Exclusive Zombies Intel
As new maps are added to multiplayer, they eventually find their way to Onslaught as well, adding to the mode’s value. Each map features its own set of Zombies intel, with the lore pieces exclusive to the PlayStation fan base. While this war is not essential to the main story, it does do some solid world-building. Through these exclusive item drops, which randomly have a chance to be in a mini boss’s loot pool, players can learn more about how the rest of the world is responding to the undead. The Cartel map, for example, details the reaction of Raul Menendez and his drug cartel, while other intel pieces give backstory to each Zombified multiplayer map.
Exclusive Blueprints
The final piece of Zombies-related content that is only seen on PlayStation is the Onslaught blueprints. Thus far, players have been able to collect several special Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War blueprints by playing Onslaught. For each, a challenge will have to completed, with the objective usually tied to the chalices received for mini boss kills. Some of the weapon blueprints are as follows:
- Crowstorm: This version of the Type 63 Tactical Rifle sees players covering the weapon in a white camo. All across the gun, black crows can be seen flying.
- Hellhawk: Sticking with the bird theme, the Hellhawk sees a red gradient used as the camouflage pattern. Near the barrel of the gun, a feint red can be seen, with the color darkening near the stock. Thick black stripes also cover the weapon.
- Primal Hunter: The most basic of the Onslaught blueprints, this Diamatti features a desert camo pattern. Light brown and dark brown spots are seen on the pistol’s siding.
- Jungle Fighter: Another blueprint for the Type 63, this PlayStation exclusive item sees the weapon covered in some green camo. It also features a unique wrapped suppressor, helping it to stand out a bit further.
Update Pre-Loads
Oddly enough, this exclusive feature is only accessible on PlayStation 4. Seen with the update for Season 2 Reloaded, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War fans were able to pre-load the midseason content a bit early. Those on other platforms, including PS5, had to wait until the day of release. With Season 3 Reloaded quickly approaching, it will be interesting to see if midseason pre-loads remain exclusive — and if they are available on PS5 as well.
Numerous Multiplayer Benefits
Finally, PlayStation’s Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War fans receive a number of benefits in multiplayer. One of these is a boost to the $20 version of the battle pass, which normally includes 20 automatic tiers. On PlayStation, this number is raised to 25. Alongside this feature, Call of Duty players will be given access to two additional loadout slots if they are on a PlayStation console. With players having so many weapons to choose between, loadouts fill out quick, making this option extremely beneficial.
The final two benefits for PlayStation fans are XP-related. First, there will be monthly Double XP events that only PS4 and PS5 users have access to. Secondly, a PlayStation Party bonus sees PlayStation fans getting 25% more Weapon XP when playing with at least one other person. While players can get this benefit via cross-play, as it will for Xbox and PC players if someone on PlayStation is in their group, it is far easier for those on PS4 and PS5 to make use of. With so many different benefits, the PlayStation exclusivity deal is far more apparent in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War than it is in Call of Duty: Warzone. Further, with more Seasons on the way, extra Onslaught content is only going to see the wait until November being harder for those on PC and Xbox.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.