2019's Modern Warfare felt like a new beginning for the stagnated franchise of Call of Duty. MW had the most refined engine ever seen in a CoD game with fantastic gunplay and graphical fidelity, with a fun campaign that was essentially a MW reboot. The multiplayer was a bit more controversial. The maps were large, with lots of camping spots, and the fast time-to-kill as well as the return of killstreaks rather than scorestreaks further encouraged slow playstyles.
Cold War's multiplayer goes back to a pre-Modern Warfare era. The gameplay is faster paced, with a slower time to kill and the return of a Scorestreak system, albiet a reworked one that allows player to keep their streaks after death. The game also, unfortunately, takes a step back in terms of the feel. This game just feels cheap compared to MW. The animations are worse, the gunplay is worse, all that stuff is worse. If Cold War had the technical polish of MW 2019 with the gameplay design philosophy ofthe older CoDs, it would be a fan favorite.
The campaign is great, but way too short. Fan favorites like Alex Mason and Frank Woods make a return, as well as the new player character codenamed "Bell". The campaign feels just as trippy as the strangest parts of the original Black Ops. The only real fault is the incredibly short length. It only took me about 5 hours to complete on Hardened difficulty, and I wish there was more.
Zombies makes a return as well, and after the flop that was BO4, Cold War takes a return to the mode's roots, with the map being a reimagining of the original Nacht Der Untoten, as well as bringing back the classic perk system, but the mode also has some new additions, such as a weapon rarity system, as well as being able to start with whatever weapon you want. The mode is a lot of fun, but could've used more content at launch.
Overall, Cold War is a weird game. It has some great ideas, but the execution just feels cheap compared to its 2019 predecessor. It's worth a buy on sale, maybe for $30, for the campaign and zombies, but it definitely feels incomplete.
Also, SKILL BASED MATCHMAKING
6/10
Cold War's multiplayer goes back to a pre-Modern Warfare era. The gameplay is faster paced, with a slower time to kill and the return of a Scorestreak system, albiet a reworked one that allows player to keep their streaks after death. The game also, unfortunately, takes a step back in terms of the feel. This game just feels cheap compared to MW. The animations are worse, the gunplay is worse, all that stuff is worse. If Cold War had the technical polish of MW 2019 with the gameplay design philosophy ofthe older CoDs, it would be a fan favorite.
The campaign is great, but way too short. Fan favorites like Alex Mason and Frank Woods make a return, as well as the new player character codenamed "Bell". The campaign feels just as trippy as the strangest parts of the original Black Ops. The only real fault is the incredibly short length. It only took me about 5 hours to complete on Hardened difficulty, and I wish there was more.
Zombies makes a return as well, and after the flop that was BO4, Cold War takes a return to the mode's roots, with the map being a reimagining of the original Nacht Der Untoten, as well as bringing back the classic perk system, but the mode also has some new additions, such as a weapon rarity system, as well as being able to start with whatever weapon you want. The mode is a lot of fun, but could've used more content at launch.
Overall, Cold War is a weird game. It has some great ideas, but the execution just feels cheap compared to its 2019 predecessor. It's worth a buy on sale, maybe for $30, for the campaign and zombies, but it definitely feels incomplete.
Also, SKILL BASED MATCHMAKING
6/10