In September, Activision and Treyarch gave Call of Duty fans their first crack at Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's multiplayer through a record-breaking PS4 alpha test. Feedback from the alpha has been applied to the Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War beta that was live for PS4 gamers this past weekend, showcasing a number of different maps, modes, weapons, and more.
The Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War beta test shows that the game has come a long way since the alpha, delivering a much tighter and well-rounded online multiplayer experience. And while there are things that may be worrying to some fans, the Black Ops Cold War multiplayer beta should leave most who play it feeling optimistic about this year's Call of Duty.
Combined Arms
The star of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's multiplayer is undoubtedly the Combined Arms game mode. Combined Arms, for the uninitiated, features large-scale matches for 16-24 players that take place on big maps. During the Black Ops Cold War beta weekend, fans were able to test the Domination and Assault variants of Combined Arms, both of which revolve around capturing objectives.
Call of Duty has flirted with these kinds of large-scale battles in past games. The most recent attempt was Call of Duty: Modern Warfare's Ground War mode, which was met with a mixed response from fans and largely overshadowed by the standard multiplayer, Gunfight, and Warzone battle royale. However, Combined Arms is a significant step in the right direction, playing like a faster-paced take on Battlefield.
Black Ops Cold War's Combined Arms is more consistently engaging than Ground War for a couple of reasons. For one, the maps seem to be slightly smaller than Ground War's maps, or at least designed in a way that players are constantly being funneled to each other, and therefore almost always engaging in firefights. Secondly, the spawn system is much improved, doing away with the frustration of spawning in and dying constantly that was prevalent in Ground War.
Vehicles in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War are also a blast to use, with each map having its own unique vehicles for players to utilize, like jet-skis and snowmobiles. They offer a twist on the standard Call of Duty multiplayer experience that helps it feel at least a little different than what's come before.
VIP Escort and Other Modes
Of course, the typical, small-scale Call of Duty multiplayer was also well-represented in the Black Ops Cold War beta. Players could check out modes like Domination, Kill Confirmed, and Team Deathmatch on a selection of Black Ops Cold War's launch maps. While Black Ops Cold War's multiplayer adds health bars and the general aesthetic is somewhat different, it boils down to being generally the same Call of Duty multiplayer that fans have been playing for years.
Besides the usual suspects, the Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War beta also gave fans the opportunity to try the brand new VIP Escort mode. In this mode, one random player is selected to be the VIP, while their teammates have to escort them to an exfiltration helicopter. The opposing team's goal is to kill the VIP at any cost.
VIP Escort makes some tweaks to the usual Call of Duty multiplayer by making it so players are downed before they're killed and by having them work with limited lives. The mode requires more strategy and communication than is typical of a Call of Duty game mode, and unless one is playing with a full team, it's easy to see how it could become frustrating. Still, it's hard to fault Treyarch for trying something different. That being said, anyone hoping for VIP Escort to be the new game mode revelation that Gunfight was for Modern Warfare will likely be disappointed.
Maps
In total, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War gave players six maps to try during the beta test. For regular multiplayer matches, Black Ops Cold War players could check out the Cartel, Miami, Moscow, and Satellite maps, whereas Combined Arms used Armada, Crossroads, and Cartel.
While many fans have reacted negatively to Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's Miami map, nothing was on the level of Piccadilly. As far as Standout maps, Satellite was by far the most impressive, having players battle it out in a sweeping desert landscape that's perfect for snipers. The Moscow map is also quite fun, and lends itself particularly well to the Domination match type. Overall, it seems as though Black Ops Cold War is launching with a stronger map selection than Modern Warfare.
SBMM
Worst-case scenario, it seems that the Black Ops Cold War multiplayer will be on par with past Call of Duty games, but it may actually exceed them. Combined Arms is a lot of fun and is just different enough to feel fresh without straying too far from what makes Call of Duty multiplayer entertaining in the first place. The maps are impressive, both visually and in terms of their layout, as they all are designed in a way that players will never have much downtime.
There are some concerns about Black Ops Cold War's multiplayer, however. Chief among these is Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's use of SBMM, or skill-based matchmaking, which has already led to outcry from the community. Treyarch has indicated that it can adjust the way Black Ops Cold War's SBMM is incorporated, and it will be interesting to see if things change between now and launch, or even between now and next weekend's beta.
The next Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War beta test will start October 15 for those on PC and Xbox One that have pre-ordered, as well as PS4 players. Then from October 17 to October 19, the Black Ops Cold War beta will be completely open to all players. It may very well be the last chance fans have to try the game before launch, so anyone interested should be sure to participate.
Tons of Potential
At launch, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War will have even more to offer players than just its multiplayer component. The game includes a full-fledged campaign developed by Raven Software and the return of the fan-favorite Zombies mode. So while it remains to be seen if all of this content lives up to expectations, there's no denying that Black Ops Cold War is going to give players plenty of bang for their buck.
And the game should only improve beyond launch. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War will have a Battle Pass and seasonal content, similar to Modern Warfare, which will include new maps, modes, playable characters, weapons, and much more. It's likely fans will see the return of classic Black Ops series maps as part of the post-launch support - Nuketown was already teased - so there should be plenty to look forward to for months to come.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War launches November 13 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.