During the long wait before Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War was finally announced, Modern Warfare and Warzone was still relishing in its continued success. With an unprecedented silence from Activision throughout the majority of this year, Modern Warfare and Warzone has received a ton of support from fans, more so than any previous Call of Duty release in the subsequent year. So to many fans' surprise, when Black Ops Cold War was finally unveiled, the similarities between it and Modern Warfare were plentiful.
Treyarch's Call of Duty seems to have learned and iterated on a lot of what 2019's Modern Warfare pioneered. As Call of Duty moves on to an interconnected development platform, it's clear that Modern Warfare's innovations have helped inspire Black Ops Cold War's concepts and mechanics in numerous ways. Whether it's the return of singleplayer from its lack thereof in Black Ops 4, or the more traditional multiplayer customization instead of the "Pick 10" systems from before, it's clear Black Ops Cold War borrows a lot from Modern Warfare.
Melding Modern Warfare's Tone With Black Ops Storytelling
While the first Black Ops game was praised for its highly innovative story, over subsequent entries, it was clear that the overarching narrative had begun to fade. Call of Duty: Black Ops brought the game to a never-before-seen Cold War setting for the franchise, whilst also managing to tell a thrilling and unusual story throughout its campaign. Sure, it wasn't exactly the most riveting or revolutionary storytelling in a video game period, but it was certainly a far cry from previous Call of Duty campaigns, which largely played out with the emotional weight of a Fast and Furious film.
Now, after quite a few sequels and even Black Ops 4 eschewing a singleplayer story entirely, it seems Black Ops Cold War is returning to roots and iterating off the original Black Ops story. From what's been revealed so far, it seems Modern Warfare's approach to a more grounded military story is being mixed with the storytelling prowess of Treyarch. Where the original Black Ops was fueled by Cold War brainwashing conspiracy theories, Black Ops Cold War is taking a more realistic story approach and basing the game around the real-life Perseus Cold War myth.
Iterating on Modern Warfare's Concise Multiplayer
In terms of systems, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is borrowing a surprising amount from Modern Warfare's offering. For one thing, the previous "Pick 10" Create-A-Class variant seen in several previous Black Ops games has been replaced with the typical class customization seen in Modern Warfare, likely to keep the experience in line with Warzone as well. In an effort to differentiate the two, Wildcards return as an added customization for each class. Modern Warfare's Gunsmith weapon customization is also returning, which frankly isn't a surprise considering how well received the original system was.
Mechanically, the game also resembles Modern Warfare quite a bit, though there are some minor defining differences that makes Black Ops Cold War's multiplayer unique. Already there's a pretty huge change with visible health meters on both opponents and players' selves, something other shooters have implemented before but never in Call of Duty. Additional sprinting is taken out in favor of one continuous sprint speed, simplifying the seemingly unnecessary two sprint speeds. That being said, a lot of what made Modern Warfare's multiplayer enjoyable and satisfying to play is largely returning in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, for good reason.
A More Unified, Better Call of Duty Experience
In a lot of ways this is perfect for Black Ops Cold War, and to some extent future Call of Duty games as well. Considering Warzone is meant to persist between future Call of Duty games (for now), this is the perfect way to justify annual releases each year. It used to be every year Call of Duty fans would need time to adjust to the major differences in mechanics, weapon balance, and various other factors between games. Now, between Modern Warfare and Black Ops Cold War, the differences aren't vastly different to the point where the carryover/readjustment period won't be as long.
Plus, a lot of the changes that do make Black Ops Cold War different from Modern Warfare are largely beneficial. There are some exceptions, like the killstreak to scorestreak controversy that a lot of players didn't agree with. However, things like one unified sprint, the familiar and streamlined Create-A-Class system alongside Wildcards, these changes are all in service to making a better Call of Duty multiplayer experience. Black Ops Cold War's singleplayer mode is taking on the similar mature tones that Modern Warfare did and was praised for. Overall, Black Ops Cold War should be a worthy successor to Modern Warfare this holiday.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War releases on November 13, 2020, for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.