Since the Xbox 360 launched in 2005, Activision's Call of Duty franchise has been there to usher in the next-generation of gaming consoles. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War has the honor this time around, and while the game has some rather significant shortcomings, it does succeed as a showcase of sorts for the next-generation technology.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is stunning, with players able to choose between gorgeous ray-tracing visuals or have the game run at a blistering 120 frames per second. As far as early Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 games go, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is definitely one of the most visually-impressive, and so anyone looking for something to showcase the power of their new consoles may want to give it a look.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's use of 3D audio is also remarkable, and as long as players have a proper set of headphones, they will be able to experience it to its fullest extent. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's 3D audio and cutting-edge graphics are best displayed in the campaign, which sees Raven Software take the lead on the development of a Call of Duty game's campaign for the first time.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's campaign tries some bold new things, like adding side quests, a character creation system of sorts, dialogue choices, and allowing players to make decisions that change how some things in the story play out. But as is usually the case when Call of Duty promises sweeping campaign changes, these things amount to little more than window dressing, not changing the formula in any significant way.

One aspect of the Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War campaign that does make it a little different is the openness of some of the missions. This allows players to experiment more and tackle objectives in different ways, which is unusual for a Call of Duty game. The best example of this is Black Ops Cold War's KGB headquarters mission, where players are given a slew of ways that they can accomplish their task, all the while exploring a completely open area.

The Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War campaign is brief, even by Call of Duty standards. Depending on difficulty selected, how thoroughly one explores the levels, and if they bother with the side quests, it can be completed in about 3-5 hours. There are pros and cons to this approach. On the plus side, this ensures that the Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War campaign is lean, without any of the fatty filler that sometimes bogs down the pacing in previous entries. On the other hand, some players may feel shortchanged by Black Ops Cold War having such a short campaign, especially if they pay for the $70 next-gen version.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's campaign is quality, but it lacks quantity, and that philosophy extends to the versus multiplayer as well. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War only has eight traditional multiplayer maps at launch, along with two maps dedicated to the large-scale Fireteam game mode. But while there aren't many maps, the bright side is none of them are really duds. There's certainly nothing as loathed as Modern Warfare's Piccadilly in the lineup.

Maps like Moscow and Satellite are the standouts, whereas the other maps range from passable to pretty good. However, some fans may still prefer having more maps at launch, for variety's sake if nothing else, and it does give the game a sense of content deficiency, which is odd for a series that's usually provided players significant bang for their buck.

What may be more concerning for fans, though, is the lack of popular game modes. Once again, fan favorite modes like Gun Game and other wager matches are not available at launch, which is especially disappointing since the modes have been staples of the Black Ops sub-series. Gunfight, the breakout mode from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare that is set to return as part of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's Season 1, is also unavailable at launch, with fans having to wait at least a month to play it.

The standard Call of Duty match types like Free-for-All, Kill Confirmed, Team Deathmatch are available in Black Ops Cold War at launch, but it also tries its hand at some new modes, with varying degrees of success. Combined Arms offers a larger-scale Call of Duty experience, with a focus on big maps, objective-based gameplay, and vehicles. Combined Arms can be great fun and provides fans with plenty of variety, as each map has its own vehicles and other gimmicks to ensure they stand out. VIP Escort, meanwhile, requires far too much cooperation with teammates to be fun when playing with randoms, so players should avoid it unless they are playing in a full squad.

Fireteam is the other new game mode in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, and it will likely appeal to fans of the Call of Duty: Warzone battle royale. At launch, there's only one version of Fireteam available, Dirty Bomb, which tasks players with collecting uranium and detonating bombs before other teams have the chance to do so. Fireteam: Dirty Bomb differs from the standard Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War multiplayer experience by incorporating elements of Warzone, with players dropping in on the map from the sky and using an armor plate system.

Fireteam: Dirty Bomb can be frustrating due to the sheer number of players involved and how hectic things can get, and like VIP Escort, it may be best to avoid it unless one is playing in a full squad that's actively communicating. However, it certainly has its moments, and at least it's something new. It will be interesting to see what new Fireteam variants Treyarch comes up with in the months ahead.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, in general, will be a much more content-rich and generally better game as the months go on. Activision has ambitious post-launch plans for the game, starting with the addition of Nuketown '84 later this month, and then Season 1 on December 10. However, at launch, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is lacking content, with a small selection of multiplayer maps, an incredibly short campaign, the twin-stick shooter experience Dead Ops Arcade 3, and a single traditional Zombies map.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War brings back the fan-favorite Zombies mode from previous Black Ops games, with a single map called Die Maschine. Taking place in and around the original Zombies map Nacht der Untoten, Die Maschine gives fans a traditional Zombies experience of opening locked doors, turning on the power, completing an elaborate easter egg, and fighting off hordes of the undead.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War makes some effort to shake up the Zombies experience, and the changes all definitely seem to be moves in the right direction. Instead of starting players out with a simple pistol each time, the game instead lets players take their multiplayer loadouts into Zombies. The benefit is that Zombies is far faster-paced right out of the gate, so players don't have to get to high rounds before things get interesting. Plus, players earn XP for their weapons and unlock attachments while playing Black Ops Cold War Zombies, which makes it an even more appealing prospect.

There are some new perks as well as an Exfil system that lets players quit Zombies rounds without having to kill themselves. Zombies also have health bars now, so players know how much more ammo they will need to expend to take them down and can adjust their strategies accordingly. Beyond these changes, though, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's Zombies plays exactly like the older versions of the mode. Some fans will be happy about this, but others will have a sense of deja vu and tire of it quickly. Others still will be turned off by Zombies' graphical defects and lack of polish when compared to the other available game modes.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's Zombies is plagued by some bizarre graphical defects, at least when playing on Xbox Series X with ray-tracing enabled. The most notable covers the map in a blanket of shade depending on where players are standing. This can create a flickering effect if players are running a train of zombies around the map, and it can be very distracting. If this was the only major technical issue with the game, it would be easy to forgive, but unfortunately, it's not the only problem that Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is grappling with at launch.

There are numerous technical issues weighing down Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War at launch, besides the aforementioned graphical anomalies. Some of these issues only seem to pertain to the game when played on certain consoles, so mileage may vary, but players have been dealing with everything from endless matchmaking, Zombies not working unless in private matches, and the option to play Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War in split-screen being completely absent.

While Call of Duty games sometimes have notable glitches or bugs, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is one of the buggiest Call of Duty games at launch. And these issues combined with the general lack of content when compared to previous games in the series may be a result of a couple of different factors. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on video game development, and beyond that, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's troubled development is well-documented. The game simply did not have as long in the oven as its most recent predecessors, and the end result is an experience that is not quite as polished at launch or content-rich as fans would normally expect from a Call of Duty title.

With time, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's technical issues will be ironed out and the game will undoubtedly get a ton of new content. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Season 1 alone is promising new maps, modes, playable characters, and even some content for Warzone. But at launch, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is disappointing, and so fans may want to give the developers some time to smooth things over before picking it up.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. Game Rant reviewed the game on Xbox Series X.