Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is the next major title in the Call of Duty series, following on from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. While the two titles have different development teams, they are both published by Activision. As such, there's going to be quite a lot of interaction between Modern Warfare and Cold War, despite their very different settings.
There was some big news about Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War in the recent PlayStation 5 showcase. First there was a new gameplay trailer, allowing fans a deeper look at the upcoming title, followed by a surprising announcement. The Alpha of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War will be available to all PlayStation 4 owners from September 18 to September 20. As a bonus, those who take part will unlock a special item in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: Warzone.
Under Fire
It's not often that Alpha access to a game is offered to all pre-order customers, let alone everyone who owns the console the game is on. As such, it's expected that huge numbers will be dropping in to try the new title and earn themselves the Under Fire Calling Card for Modern Warfare and Warzone.
To get started in the Alpha, players will first need to download it from the Black Ops Cold War PlayStation Store page. The size of the download is approximately 25 GB. Players who own Modern Warfare or Warzone will also be able to access it through the Alpha menu of those titles. Any such player who takes part in the Alpha before it ends on Sunday will unlock the Under Fire Calling Card. The Alpha will close at 10AM PDT on Sunday, September 20.
Calling Card
Calling Cards have been in the CoD series since Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. A type of player customization, the Cards are stylized backgrounds that appear on a player's nameplate when it's shown in-game. Most often Calling Cards appear while attached to a kill-cam, letting other players know who just killed them.
The Under Fire Calling Card features a distinctly Vietnam War style, which stands out in the modern-day Modern Warfare. It depicts what looks like an American soldier with an M16 and sergeant's stripes tattooed on his arm. His light clothing and bandana scream jungle warfare, and he's apparently involved in an active firefight as flames fill the foreground.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is out now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.