Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War was announced for a 2020 launch, not that anyone expected otherwise, and quickly followed up the news with a live Warzone event. Despite the event taking place in a multiplayer environment, the payoff of the special Warzone playlist was an explosive look at the single player.
As most Call of Duty players will agree, the real meat of any installment is the competitive multiplayer (and to a lesser extent Zombies, when it’s included). However, the Black Ops Cold War reveal event only left us with a brief tease and a September 9th date for the full unveiling of the competitive modes.
Thanks to a mistake by streamer DougIsRaw, who was presumably playing an alpha build with influencers during a capture event, we no longer have to wait. There is a lot to pull apart in the 4-minute clip. So let’s go over the details.
Starting Classes
Before players are granted the ability to build out a custom class, Call of Duty provides preset loadouts to get things started. The following starting classes are visible in the video:
- Stealth Ops
- Pointman
- Grenadier
- Fire Support
- Double Agent
The streamer never hovers over these selections since the custom classes are available to him. While we can’t confirm the contents of the fixed loadouts, our readers will likely be able to guess based on the weapons we see throughout the gameplay snippet.
Weapons
Weapon structure in Black Ops Cold War looks to mirror what we have seen in Modern Warfare (2019) with five attachment slots and level progression. This information is gleaned from the class select screen and we aren’t provided a deeper dive of customization.
A handful of guns receive the spotlight over the course of the match. Here is every weapon observed:
- AK-74U
- XM4
- MP5
- Stoner 63
- Gallo SA12
Equipment/Perks/Wildcards
There are three other areas that are embedded in the player loadout. We only get a quick glimpse of these areas since DougIsRaw doesn’t bother changing any of the default selections.
Equipment is comprised of Tactical, Lethal, and a Field Upgrade slot. Tactical and Lethal host the standard stun grenade and frag, respectively. Field Upgrade contains the Field Mic equipment and we are unsure of its functionality.
Perks are no stranger to Call of Duty. During the stream, these perks can be seen:
- Tactical Mask
- Flak Jacket
- Quartermaster
- Scavenger
- Ninja
- Ghost
Lastly, we have Wildcards, a component familiar to anyone playing Treyarch entries since Black Ops 2 (and that one appearance in Advanced Warfare). As a refresher, Wildcards allow players to modify their classes even further and provide a unique edge in combat. Today’s leak revealed the Greed and Danger Close selections. Greed offers up an additional perk per section, whereas Danger Close doubles up the Tactical and Lethal equipment.
Modes and Maps
Given the brevity of the video, only one map and one mode are shown. The map takes places in 80’s Miami and that comes packed with all the neon lighting you would expect. The ambiance is improved further by the fact that it is set at night. The match opens with a brief cinematic in a van, the equivalent of Modern Warfare’s helicopter infil scenes. From here, both sides duke it out in a 6v6 VIP Escort mode while attempting to protect a designated player.
Everything Else
Black Ops Cold War packs away a few other details in the unauthorized gameplay preview. We will quickly jot those down here for your reading pleasure.
- Player health bars are visible
- The CIA and DGI are the two factions fighting
- Modern Warfare’s blue-tinted Play of the Game has been replaced with a straightforward Best Play
There you have it. You officially know everything we do about Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. Join us next week on September 9th for the official multiplayer reveal.
