With Call of Duty NEXT and the Black Ops 7 beta right around the corner, I figured now would be a good time for me to take over the Windows Central quiz and see just how much our community knows about the Black Ops franchise.

Black Ops is a series that has introduced drastic changes to the Call of Duty franchise over the years. In an era when many shooters embraced the brown and gray aesthetic, Black Ops dared to be a little brighter, featuring maps with bolder color palettes that are still among some of the best playgrounds even today.

From the Siege of Stalingrad to Project Blackout, Black Ops’ history has taken us on mind-bending adventures across the annals of history that forge a twisted path to a future beyond imagination. And yet, Treyarch leadership says that Black Ops 7 will not bring the series to a close.

“It can’t be [the end] for us because we have so much love for our other games,” answered Yale Miller, Treyarch’s director of production, “Like Black Ops 3 is canon, right? There are still things that are there [to explore].”

While Black Ops’ deep lore and extensive campaigns provide plenty of fodder for future titles, so does its much-loved Zombies mode. Effectively a game-within-a-game, Zombies has grown into a beast of its own with its own canon story lines, unique cast, and nightmarish undead foes.

Take our quiz below and test your Call of Duty: Black Ops knowledge:

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is set to launch on Xbox, PC, and PlayStation on November 14. The next mainline title in the 20+ year old franchise is expected to be stacked with an all-new cooperative campaign and endgame. You can also look forward to classic multiplayer with a slightly more futuristic twist, and the next chapter in the Dark Aether storyline for its famed Zombies mode.

Black Ops 7 is the first Call of Duty title to fall under the Xbox Play Anywhere initiative, offering cross-entitlement to players on PC, Xbox, and Xbox Cloud Gaming with one purchase. The game will also launch day one on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.

For more intel on Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, stay tuned for Call of Duty NEXT 2025 on September 30.

What you need to know

• Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's Onslaught and Onslaught Containment modes will finally be hitting all platforms on Nov. 2.
• The Onslaught mode was exclusive to PlayStation players from launch.
• PlayStation exclusivity deals have been standard since the Modern Warfare reboot in 2019.

With just days until the launch of Call of Duty: Vanguard, Treyarch announced in a tweet that Nov. 1, 2021 is the final day for the exclusivity agreement surrounding Onslaught and its sister mode, Onslaught Containment. The newly unlocked modes will launch as part of an update for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War on Nov. 2 at 9 p.m. PT for all platforms.

Onslaught will launch on Xbox and PC with 23 maps. The update is also expected to introduce the Hammer & Sickle melee weapons as one of Cold War's final store bundles, and new 100 percenter challenges.

Despite Call of Duty's status as a multiplatform juggernaut, the premium releases from the franchise are no strangers to timed exclusivity deals. During the Xbox 360 era when players still had to purchase additional multiplayer maps as DLC packs, Xbox players typically enjoyed a window of early access to map packs and other game add ons that was typically limited to 30 days or less.

That changed with the release of 2019's Modern Warfare reboot, when Infinity Ward locked away a Survival playlist for their cooperative Spec Ops mode behind PlayStation exclusivity for an entire year. Call of Duty cycles annually with the franchise's premium releases, meaning a good portion of the player base would move on from Modern Warfare to 2020's Black Ops Cold War release less than two months after gaining access to Spec Ops Survival.

Continuing the trend of exclusive modes, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War sliced off a mode from their wildly popular Zombies segment to create the Onslaught mode for PlayStation players only. Unlike typical round based zombies gameplay that took place on maps designed specifically for the mode, Onslaught brought traditional multiplayer only maps into Zombies. Players band together as a squad to eliminate an endless swarm of the undead along with occasionally spawns of elites zombies, while their mobility is limited to a zone of protection courtesy of a Dark Aether orb. Similar to Spec Ops Survival, Onslaught has been limited to Playstation exclusivity for a year.

Season 6 marks the end for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War as the final battle pass before the release of Call of Duty: Vanguard. Black Ops Cold War isn't dead just yet, however, and there's no better way to drive that home to the playerbase than to blend the Season 6 event with the upcoming Halloween festivities. Oct. 19 marks the return of Call of Duty's The Haunting event for the second year in a row. The event will bring with it a variety of new modes and Operator skins to up the scare factor.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War gets the Halloween treatment

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's most popular map, Nuketown, gets a temporary festive makeover for The Haunting. Nuketown Halloween is a nighttime variant of Nuketown, complete with orange string lights and a host of other themed props scattered about. The new map will be available in both the limited-time modes and your usual favorite playlists. Care packages have also been given a facelift, and the newly named "Scare Packages" will come along with tricks and treats for those who dare open them.

The limited-time modes being added to Cold War include Infected, Prop Hunt, and Scream Deathmatch. Both Infected and Prop Hunt are returns of popular modes with additional Halloween elements thrown in. Infected play mode pits a normal team of Operators against a team of Zombies who will attempt to turn the Operators into one of their own with the zombies winning if they succeed, and the Operators winning if they run out the clock. In a new twist, surviving Operators will earn new perks to reload, slide, movement, and ADS speed with each infected they kill. Prop Hunt is the same classic mode most players are already familiar with but will include Halloween friendly props such as black cats and pumpkins.

Scream Deathmatch is the newest mode to be added to Black Ops Cold War. Two players will become Ghostface killers, and will be tasked with finding the other players who have chosen hiding spots throughout the map. While the survivors do not have any weapons, they can take a risk to defend themselves and win for their team if they can defeat the killers, or they can hide and hope the clock runs out before the killers eliminate them all.

Multiplayer doesn't get to have all the fun. Zombies mode will see some changes as a result of the Halloween event, as well. Outbreak will see a new challenge titled "You'll Never Get Out Alive" where a team will need to survive a 10-minute round in a single region. Every two minutes the zombies will ramp up in difficulty with increases in health and horde numbers. The exfil point will spawn as far as the map allows away from the players and every zombie on the map will be fully aware of players' location. If that's not enough to stress you out, there will also be Ordas lurking around, ready to single-handedly end a run.

Round-based players will be greeted by Scare Packages every five rounds that have the potential to offer high value rewards, and zombies will begin dropping a new item — the Jack-O'-Lantern — which can be used for weapons, support, mods, and more. Some zombies will also show up with pumpkin heads that will serve as bonus point targets.

Call of Duty: Warzone goes dark

Much like 2020's Haunting event for Warzone, Verdansk will be going dark as the map enters nighttime. A new mode, Ghosts of Verdansk, will also be introduced. There are a lot of similarities between the previous zombie-themed Haunting mode Warzone players enjoyed, but this new take will see dead players become ghosts instead of spawning in the gulag. Ghostly players will meet some unique challenges.

Ghosts are weaponless, naturally, but they will have special abilities such as super jumps, teleportation, and a Spectral Blast that can act as an EMP. They will be able to melee living Operators, and if they're lucky enough to eliminate a survivor they will receive a piece of soul. Three soul pieces can allow a ghost to rejoin their squadmates as a living player once again. Should a ghost be skilled enough to take out a living Operator with a finishing move and without interruption, then they will be able to respawn automatically.

Ghosts of Verdansk does throw in some changes to the formula to keep the mode fresh for those who previously experienced the zombie variant of the mode in 2020. One new element is the Fear meter. A player's fear meter will increase naturally over time and can be exacerbated by events occurring near the player such as being shot at or seeing a ghost or corpse. Showing cowardice by camping will also rank up that fear meter. Fear can be decreased by eliminating other players and ghosts and reviving teammates. Should your fear levels get above 50%, players can expect to start experiencing hallucinations. What happens at 100% remains to be seen.

Fear can be reduced by spending time within Sacred Ground, a new game element added with The Haunting event. Sacred Ground is a blue circle that will move around Verdansk and provide safety from the supernatural elements of the mode. Be warned, however, that enough ghosts throwing their bodies at the circle can destroy it.

Operator bundles

While Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is rooted in the '80s and has featured classic movie crossovers as Operator skins in the past with the likes of John McClane and Rambo, The Haunting event will feature more modern Halloween cult classic characters. The first of these bundles, the limited-time SCREAM Operator Bundle, will add Ghostface from the Scream movie franchise as a standalone Operator — as opposed to being a skin — that can be accessed in Multiplayer, Zombies, and Warzone.

In addition to the standalone Operator, the SCREAM bundle will include a finishing move that can be accessed by all in game Operators as well as a "Ghost Blade" blueprint to recreate the killer's signature weapon from the movies. There will also be three legendary weapon blueprints and two additional ranged weapon blueprints featuring tracer fire. Last but not least, players can expect to find the standard flair in the bundle, including wristwear and an animated emblem.

If you'd rather hop around Verdansk, then you'll be happy to know that on Oct. 24 "Frank the Rabbit" will launch as an Operator skin for Baker with the rest of the Tracer Pack: Donnie Darko limited-time bundle. Like the Scream Bundle, the Donnie Darko bundle will include a finishing movie that will be available for all Operators and skins, not just Frank the Rabbit. The bundle will also include your standard flair and three legendary weapon blueprints equipped with purple electric tracer fire.

If you're looking to add a little creep to your Operators but aren't interested in cult classic thrillers, there are still options as three separate Operator bundles will drop in the Call of Duty franchise store closer to Halloween. Portnova fans can pick up the Necro Queen Reactive Mastercraft bundle complete with the Necro Queen Operator skin and the reactive mastercraft "Void Monster" assault rifle blueprint. The Disciple of Mayhem Ultra Bundle is packaged up with an Operator mission to unlock COD points as well as a "Disciple of Mayhem" skin — inspired by the Disciple from Zombies — for Weaver and new lobby companion, Klaus, from "Mauer der Toten."

The Haunting event may be the beginning of the end of Black Ops Cold War, but there will still be at least one more weapon bundle, Split Personality, to be released before all eyes turn toward Call of Duty: Vanguard, which could become one of the best Xbox shooters. Split Personality will feature a duel wielded Hammer & Sickle tool set. The bundle will include two operator skins for Antonov and other items, and will be available Nov. 2.

Despite being the subject of a lawsuit alleging labor violations that recently led to a settlement with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Activision has not slowed down when it comes to the Call of Duty franchise. All hands are on deck as the release of Call of Duty: Vanguard is quickly creeping up on us while the Season 5 battle pass for Black Ops Cold War and Warzone comes to a close.

Season 6's big draw is the impending shake-up of everything we know and love about Warzone's Verdansk map as the free-to-play first-person shooter prepares to merge with Vanguard this winter, but that's not all that Call of Duty players can expect. From new weapons to maps and a special Haunted event, there's no shortage of content for Cold War's final season.

Season 6 release date and time

Like with previous seasons for Cold War and Warzone, players can expect to see the new content, like the aforementioned The Haunting event, rolled out in waves over the course of the entire season. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War will see the first update drop on all platforms on Oct. 5 at 9 p.m. PT. Call of Duty: Warzone's update will follow later on Oct. 6 at 9 p.m. PT.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Season 6 new maps for multiplayer

The team behind Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War will drop not one, not two, but three brand-new multiplayer maps with the launch of Season 6. The first of these maps, Deprogram, is best described as a fever dream that attempts to create a cohesive battleground out of the scrambled memories from formerly brainwashed operator Russell Adler's deprogramming sessions. Deprogram will feature a series of red doors scattered about the map that can be used like fast travel portals to give your team the upper hand over unsuspecting enemies.

The second map to release with Season 6 will be Amerika, an idealistic Main Street, USA replica created to serve as a training grounds for the Soviets. Players who have completed the single player campaign for Black Ops Cold War will quickly recognize the stage where they can encounter enemies for close quarters combat among the Burger Town mock-up or hang out on the edges of the arcade and theater on either end of the block for those long, sniper-friendly sight lines.

Lastly, a tiny underground vault will be dropping in the Gunfight and Face Off playlists — yes, even Face Off's hectic 6v6 mode. Players will be able to engage in rapid fire combat in an underground vault of the Lubyanka Building. All three new maps will be playable in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's multiplayer at the start of Season 6's launch for no extra cost.

Zombies fans haven't been forgotten in Season 6, either. The current Dark Aether storyline for Black Ops Cold War's zombie mode will reach its conclusion with Forsaken, the final round based map to be released for the title before all eyes shift to Vanguard. Players will finally get some pay off for the showdown that previous seasons have been building toward. They'll have a little bit of help for uncovering all of Forsaken's secrets with newly added perks and weapons, including PhD Slider — a perk that will allow players to slide into enemies to trigger an explosive reaction — and the two handed Chrysalax. Additional support will come in the form of the new aether-modified RC car known as the ARC-XD and the Hand Cannon.

Call of Duty Warzone Season 6 shaking up Verdansk

One of the unexpected side effects of Warzone's success is that each new entry to the Call of Duty franchise needs to integrate into the free-to-play title. Players are not exactly forgiving when elements of a game they've enjoyed are removed which puts Raven Software, the development team responsible for Warzone, in a bit of a bind.

Previously, Call of Duty's development cycle allowed for the different studios to create storylines that were completely independent of one another. Now, however, those stories need to come together to form a more cohesive narrative for Warzone. This conundrum has led to some of Warzone's more unusual events, such as when the map had to be taken back to the '80s to fit with Cold War in contrast to the modern-day Verdansk that was originally released alongside 2019's Modern Warfare.

To prepare for the shift to the Pacific map for Warzone that will launch shortly after the release of Call of Duty: Vanguard, Season 6 will introduce a man-made seismic event that will result in Verdansk being torn apart by a large fissure crack. This crack will once again change the ever-popular Stadium location as well as Downtown, and will reveal that Verdansk has been hiding WWII-era bunkers just below the surface. Players will be able to traverse the surface cracks as well as explore the newly uncovered bunkers.

Those who don't make it out of the bunkers in one piece will find themselves trapped in a new area of the Prison Complex, as the Gulag's classic look comes back with a bit of a twist for one last second chance before we finally say goodbye to Verdansk.

New Operators, blueprints, and prestige

Anybody who has ever played a Black Ops campaign recognizes the iconic quote "The numbers, Mason? What do they mean?" Now players can ask that question every time they choose Alex Mason as a NATO operator. Mason will be available in Black Ops Cold War and Warzone as an immediate Tier 0 unlock for anybody who purchases the Season 6 battle pass. For the Warsaw Pact operator, the ruthless mercenary Benito "Fuze" Ortega will be added as a store bundle later in the season. In addition to Mason and Fuze, players who preorder any digital edition of Call of Duty: Vanguard will also get immediate access to Arthur Kingsley as an operator in both Cold War and Warzone.

There can't be new operators without new armaments, so Season 6 will be launching with three new free weapons for both Cold War and Warzone including the .410 Ironhide Shotgun, the Grav assault rifle, and two-handed Battle Axe. Additionally, fans can look forward to a new SMG and new melee weapons to be released later in the season. These later additions, along with more information regarding the special Haunting event can most likely be expected part way through Season 6's cycle when we receive more info about the mid-season refresh.

As Season 6 brings Black Ops Cold War's multiplayer cycle to a close, we will also see the introduction of the last four levels of Prestige Master. Just as with previous seasons, multiplayer progress is reset to level 1 at the start of the season. Reaching level 200 in the season unlocks the coveted Prestige Master ribbon, but players can continue earning XP up to level 1,000 before the end of Season 6.

While Call of Duty: Vanguard might be stealing all the hype, there's still more to come for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. The battle pass system that Cold War shares its free-to-play battle royale counterpart, Warzone, recently debuted its fifth season, but a midseason refresh is already on the horizon.

Cold War fans can expect a new multiplayer map, a returning fan-favorite mode, limited-time events, and more Zombies action. Warzone is also set to score a new mode and mid-season event, tied up in mysterious broadcasts located across Verdansk. Here's what you need to know before Season 5 Reloaded shakes up the battle.

Season 5 Reloaded release date and time

Activision has outlined plans to launch Season 5 Reloaded, its next major update for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Call of Duty: Warzone, on September 9. The free update will be available to all versions of the game on console and PC.

The season will roll out throughout the week, with Cold War slated to receive an early update on September 8 at 12 a.m. ET / September 7 at 9 p.m. PT. The accompanying Warzone update is slated for September 9 at 12 a.m. ET / September 8 at 9 p.m. PT, 24 hours after the Cold War download.

It comes as Activision Blizzard finds itself the subject of a lawsuit filed in California courts, describing a culture that allegedly fostered harassment and other instances of workplace malpractice.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Season 5 Reloaded new map and mode

Season 5 brings all-new content for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, including a remake of Zoo, a multiplayer map that was previously available in the first Black Ops entry via post-launch DLC. The map has been reshaped to support six-versus-six lobbies, while resizing the layout with a direct focus on the animal exhibit and park.

Don't worry, the monorail will still be there for those who want to those long sightlines for sniping, while the souvenir shop is guaranteed to scratch that close-quarters itch. A 24/7 playlist for Zoo will also be available so you can get your fill of the map without waiting for the usual rotation.

Cold War will also see the much overdue return of the "Demolition" mode. Demolition was originally added in 2009's Modern Warfare 2 but has been noticeably absent following a brief appearance in Modern Warfare. Demolition offers Search & Destroy style gameplay, where one team aims to plant a bomb, while the other defends its base. However, unlike Search & Destroy, respawns are enabled.

As with past mid-season releases, Season 5 Reloaded will add new Zombies content, too. Armada is the former site of NATO and Warsaw Pact skirmishes in the North Atlantic Ocean and doubles as the newest Outbreak Region for Zombies. The current Dark Aether storyline will spread throughout the Atlantic where dimensional rifts have resulted in energy spikes. There's an overabundance of Aetherium Crystals and essence around the sunken nuclear submarine, but also a ton of zombies to hunt down. A new world event will also be added, allowing players to discover four varieties of a Black Chest — small, medium, large, and golden.

For those who prefer round-based zombies gameplay, Season 5 Reloaded brings about the Rampage Inducer. This orange canister of essence will be available in the starting area of each match as an optional challenge. The inducer drastically scales the difficulty with zombies endlessly sprinting, plus an increased spawn rate until Round 20, or when the squad is wiped.

Call of Duty: Warzone Season 5 Reloaded two new modes

Warzone Rumble, the action-packed 50-versus-50 mode, is also returning to Verdansk with a few changes

Retitled as Clash, the foundations of Rumble return with two teams facing a deathmatch style battle with unlimited respawns until one team reaches 500 points. These massive multiplayer battles take place on smaller sections of Verdansk, including famed locations like Downtown, Boneyard, and Factory. Clash eliminates the customary loadout drops for custom loadouts right out of the gate, but with armor plates, vehicles, and other Warzone signatures still present.

In addition to Clash, Warzone will see the introduction of a new battle mode titled "Iron Trials '84." Iron Trials could deliver the greatest challenge yet, with drastic changes to health, time to kill, and equipment viability. Complimentary loadout drops will be removed, requiring players to purchase their preferred weaponry from buy stations at an increased price.

The gulag will still provide a second chance for those killed in Iron Trials though with some tweaks still present. Semi-auto and full-auto shotguns won't appear in the Iron Trials gulag, tactical equipment will be limited, and the surviving player will redeploy to the battlefield their gulag weaponry. The squad that scores first place also receives an exclusive Calling Card.

The Numbers Event: What do they mean?

Both Warzone and Cold War's multiplayer will see a limited-time event related to The Numbers broadcasts introduced earlier in Season 5. In Warzone, mobile broadcast stations have been blasting the "Dragovich Program" tapes across Verdansk. Players will be encouraged to investigate the trucks placed around the map in exchange for a $2,000 in-game cash reward for Warzone matches. Each broadcast station also rewards stickers, calling cards, and weapon charms.

Black Ops Cold War will also see a set of nine challenges being added for the Numbers event, with a variety of cosmetic rewards and a new arcade cabinet up for grabs. Completing all nine challenges in either Cold War or Warzone will unlock the new Sai melee weapons.

Zombies, too, will have something to offer during the Numbers event with limited time Outbreak Survival mode. Armed with a single 1911 handgun and the field upgrade from your starting loadout, players are dropped into a random region with no maps or music, and a limited HUD. Automatic health regeneration has also been removed and players must find food items of various rarities to recover from damage. Canned corn, chocolate chip cookies, and even entire pizzas will help you survive the threat.

Season 5 Reloaded Operators and Bundles coming soon to the store

Along with all the other free content, two new in-season operator skins will become available for purchase in the store shortly after the Season 5 Reloaded update. Special Agent Jason Hudson will be joining the fight as an operator and will be available as part of a bundle that will include three legendary weapon blueprints.

If you haven't gotten enough of the 1980s themed crossovers from the additions of John McClane and Rambo, there's still more to come. Judge Dredd will join the game as a DLC skin for Beck later in the season. The Judge Dredd bundle will also include a "comic strip" cel-shaded black and white skin variant, weapon blueprints with tracers, and a finishing move.

There will be a multitude of other skins and bundles available throughout the remainder of the season, as well, with all customization options available in both Warzone and Cold War.

Since the launch of Call of Duty: Warzone, the battle royale version of Call of Duty has skyrocketed in popularity, quickly becoming one of the most popular battle royale games available. Warzone quickly locked itself in as one of the three biggest battle royale games on the market and has stayed extremely popular despite not changing too much up. That all changed today, though. The introduction of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Season 3 brought with it an overhauled map for Warzone.

Throughout Season 2 of Black Ops Cold War, the world of Warzone has been overrun with zombies. After arriving in a boat on the map's Prison location, the zombies slowly began to infiltrate all of Verdansk, the home of Warzone. In a four-stage event that kicked off the Warzone side of Season 3, players jumped into a special, two hour limited time-game mode known as The Destruction of Verdansk, Part 1. In it, players had to attempt to survive as long as they could against a horde of zombies overrunning Verdansk. The event came to a conclusion with the map being hit with a nuclear device, detonating the map and destroying it permanently.

Following the destruction of the map, players then had a full day to play another limited-time game mode, Rebirth Island Night, which gave players the chance to play through Rebirth Island at night in the aftermath of Verdansk's destruction. The final part of the event came with another limited-time mode, The Destruction of Verdansk, Part 2. This allowed players to dive back into Verdansk prior to its destruction and fight to be the team that actually set off the nuke that destroyed the map. Following that, every player was then pushed into the newest version of the map, Verdansk '84.

While it may have the same name as its predecessor, Verdansk '84 aims to be a lot different then the map fans have played on for a year and a half. To start, seven new locations have been added to Verdansk '84, including the addition of the fan-favorite Call of Duty: Black Ops multiplayer map Summit, now known as Goran Summit in Verdansk. According to Activision, nearly every building, surface, and object in the original Verdansk was reviewed and retouched to make for a better player experience.

Outside of the physical changes, Activision hopes to balance many of the new and existing weapons that exist in Warzone. Currently, the game sports a meta that focuses heavily on burst weapons like the AUG tactical rifle and M16. The company hopes to also tweak the FFAR assault rifle, as the gun had been encroaching too much on the sub-machine gun space. These changes should be music to fans ears, as the community had been calling for changes to both guns since earlier this month. Players looking to jump into the new version of Warzone can do so now, as Verdansk '84 is available for everyone to experience.

Call of Duty: Warzone is available to download for free across consoles and PC.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War has been going through a lot of changes since its launch last year. Sharing the same "Seasons" structure as other popular games, Cold War is set to enter its third chapter this week. With it, the game will once again be expanding, with new modes, weapons, and even more zombie content for fans to dive into when one of the best shooters gets an upgrade.

Throughout the first two seasons of Black Ops Cold War, an overarching narrative has been brewing that deals with operatives trying to find the missing Russell Adler. When Season 3 launches on April 22, players will get to continue that narrative in a variety of ways. One of the biggest will be in an in-game limited-time event called "Hunt for Adler." This event will see players looking to complete unique, in-game challenges across Cold War and Warzone, learning more about his whereabouts, and unlocking gear along the way.

Much like the last two chapters, Season 3 will also feature a brand new Battle Pass for players to level up. That brings a ton of new items, including three brand new operators. Wraith, Knight, and Antonov will all make their debut in Black Ops Cold War, but legendary Call of Duty character Captain Price will also be joining the fray. He'll be available to unlock in the Season Pass. Of course, the Battle Pass also features a ton of other items, including new weapons.

In what is the biggest batch of released weapons for a Call of Duty season, the upcoming Season 3 of Black Ops Cold War will see six new weapons enter the game. Three of them — the PPSH-41 SMG, the Swiss K31 sniper, and the Ballistic Knife — will be available to players during launch week inside the Battle Pass. The CARV.2 Tactical Rifle, the AMP63 Pistol, and the Baseball Bat will also be released later in Season 3, likely as more content is pushed out to the game.

Elsewhere in the game, four new multiplayer maps will be introduced into the game throughout Season 3. Launch week will see Yamantou, a six-versus-six map set on the peak of a snowy mountain, and Diesel, a similarly-sized map that's set at a gas station in the middle of America. As Season 3 progresses, Standoff from Call of Duty: Black Ops II will also be making its way into the game, alongside Duga, set in the Ural Mountains. Sticks and Stones, another fan-favorite map from the Black Ops series, will also be returning for the launch of Season 3.

Finally, Season 3 of Black Ops Cold War sill feature some new content for fans of the games Zombies mode. Duga, a region that is also getting added as a multiplayer map, will be introduced as a region in Cold War's Outbreak mode. New vehicles and field upgrades will also be introduced into the mode throughout Season 3, giving Zombies fans more to do and explore throughout the game.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Season 3 officially launches on April 22, 2021.

What you need to know

• Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Season 2 is coming on February 25, 2021.
• Activision shared a new cinematic trailer, showing how the story of the multiplayer is shifting into the jungles of Laos.
• Season 2 brings new maps and a new battle pass with more cosmetics to unlock.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War released back in November 2020 alongside the newest generation of consoles. Since then, there's been numerous updates and additions to both multiplayer and zombies. Now, Activision is sharing more about where we'll be heading in Season 2, which kicks off on February 25, 2021. You can take a look at the cinematic reveal trailer below:

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War has sold extremely well so far, becoming the 20th best-selling game ever tracked in U.S history by NPD, while Activision-Blizzard stated in its Q4 2020 financial results conference call that the company is now looking to apply the "Call of Duty model" to its other franchises.

A new Call of Duty game is coming in Fall 2021, though at this time the developer has not been confirmed. BlizzCon 2021, or BlizzConline, is coming up in a few days, where Blizzard will be showing more of upcoming major titles like Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2, though neither of these games are set to be released in 2021.

Xbox Series X/S

Main

• Xbox Series X: Everything we know
• Best games coming to Xbox Series X/S
• List of Xbox Series X specs
• What is the Xbox Series X release date?
• How much does Xbox Series X cost?
• Why you can't preorder Xbox Series X yet
• Best Xbox Series X Headsets

What you need to know

• Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is the latest in the long-running Call of Duty FPS franchise.
• Like many Call of Duty's from the past, Black Ops Cold War features a popular Zombies mode.
• For one week only, starting on January 14, 2021, players can download and play the Zombies mode for free.
• The free week ends on January 21, and any progress will carry over if you buy the full game.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is the latest entry in a series that tops the sales charts year-after-year, and brings with it a thrilling campaign, Call of Duty's classic multiplayer, and the latest iteration of its horrifying Zombies. Now, as announced on Xbox Wire, players will be able to install and experience Call of Duty's latest Zombies mode for free for one week only.

Starting on January 14, 2021, and ending on January 21, anybody can install Zombies on their Xbox and play two different maps to their heart's content.

If you find yourself loving Call of Duty's Zombies mode after your free week, you can purchase Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and have all your progress from the free week carry over as well. Black Ops Cold War has two different editions, with the base Xbox One / PS4 version and the cross-gen edition that features enhancements for the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, so be sure you get the right version for your console.

You'd be hard-pressed to convince me you haven't heard of Call of Duty, with the epic franchise topping the sales chart every year. There's always a Call of Duty game in our list of Best Shooters for Xbox as well.

It's Call of Duty. It really doesn't matter whether it's good or bad, right? It's the game that everyone is playing. If you want the video game of the hour, you need this one. And Best Buy is offering a $15 discount whether you want the latest Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War for last gen or current gen. It's $44.99 on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 and $54.99 on the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5. The deal doesn't include PC, and the only version on sale is the basic standard edition. But that's the best one anyway. These prices may sell out, and since this is a deal of the day the prices will expire by tomorrow anyway. If you're looking for a Christmas present for the gamer in your life, you might grab this one. You can also find this deal on Amazon for every edition except the PS4, which is sold out.

You can check out our review of Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War and see how this version of the latest from Activision stacks up. Samuel Tolbert said, "If you want to experience the campaign, I'd recommend it, as the new gameplay mechanics and level design easily elevate it to one of my favorites in the series. Raven Software did a fantastic job, especially given the effects of the pandemic. I'd love to see this team leading another game in the future — be it Call of Duty or something else entirely."

The new game combines three different modes and used multiple game development studios to get it done. With one game, you get a standard campaign featuring Cold War-era espionage and locales. You'll meet historical figures like Ronald Reagan, who was featured prominently in the trailers, and visit places like Vietnam, East Berlin, and the KGB's headquarters in the Soviet Union.

You also get the co-operative Zombie mode where you and your friends can fight off the hordes. And then there's the standard multiplayer fare that includes a selection of maps, guns, and kill streaks for you to go nuts with.

If you're eyeing up Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, the latest in the blockbuster shooter franchise, a new price cut at Newegg brings the best discount we've seen so far. The latest entry in the best-selling franchise released less than two weeks ago, and you can already save $10 on its Xbox digital download. Furthermore, this saving applies only to Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's "Cross-Gen Bundle," which includes both Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S versions of the title.

This is a surprising deal to see and a standout Black Friday promotion. This type of saving is incredibly uncommon for Call of Duty digital downloads this early on, which often hold value much longer than physical, disc-based versions. This saving applies exclusively to the next-generation Xbox version, which includes the Xbox One and Xbox Series X versions for $60, usually retailing for $70 in the U.S. Check out and present the promo code "EMCGGFN37" for this offer.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is the latest entry in Activision's military shooter, this year with a Soviet-era backdrop, following a CIA operation amid the Cold War in the early 1980s. The single-player campaign sees players infiltrating enemy lines with undercover missions, including some all-new role-playing elements like custom characters and player choices, which filter into multiple endings and outcomes.

The iconic competitive multiplayer returns, shipping with all-new maps and modes, alongside weapons and gadgets in-line with the setting. The Zombies mode also features, this time with a new storyline, with fresh locations and changes to the wave-based cooperative sandbox.

This saving should satisfy Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S owners, where its upgraded variant traditionally costs $70, rather than the $60 norm for Xbox One releases. Activision is among the first increasing prices on the latest consoles, and this promotion at Newegg essentially averts that $10 premium on the latest generation. It is also safe to buy for Xbox One owners, with an Xbox One version inside, but with an upgrade to Xbox Series X|S ready for whenever you purchase either system.

What you need to know

• Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is the latest entry in the long-running Call of Duty FPS franchise.
• The game has had a rough start, with many issues and bugs revealing themselves after launch, especially on next-gen consoles.
• On the Xbox Series X, this has led to multiple crashes and has even completely bricked consoles, according to user reports.
• A Treyarch dev has responded to these issues on Reddit, hopefully indicating that the team is actively working on a fix.

A new Call of Duty comes around every year, for better or worse, and this year brought us Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, which earned a middling review from us due to its lackluster multiplayer. The newly launched game has also seen a ton of issues on multiple platforms, but especially on next-gen consoles like the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, and Playstation 5. One of the more serious issues is how Black Ops Cold War is consistently crashing Xbox Series Xs, and even completely bricking them in some cases.

Reddit user Junesfoshiz (via CharlieIntel) shed some light on these issues, discussing how Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War crashed their system every 4-5 games, until eventually their console would simply not start up anymore. Reddit user FoxhoundFPS, a Treyarch developer, responded to this thread and to the reported crashing issues afflicting the next-gen powerhouse.

According to the dev, they're investigating "all crashes," and his "immediate recommendations are to make sure that you're using the correct version for your platform. Players have also shared that disabling Ray Tracing on XSX has helped." Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War also has a Trello board to monitor community issues and to provide progress updates on incoming fixes and more.

In our own investigation, we found that the most likely culprit behind the crashes is related to how Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War handles next-gen upgrades. Rather than use Xbox Smart Delivery, an intelligent system that installs the best possible version of a game for your console automatically (and for free), Black Ops Cold War has two different versions of the base game to choose from, and only the more expensive one includes the upgrade for next-gen consoles. Even with the cross-gen version, however, the Xbox Series X will still play the Xbox One X version, leading to crashes and eventually more serious issues.

It certainly doesn't help that Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War has extremely confusing box art and messaging.

If you're having these issues, make sure you're playing the correct version of Black Ops Cold War for your system, turn off ray tracing for a while, and consider playing another of the Best Shooter Games for Xbox. If your Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War experience is great, consider one of the Best Controllers for Xbox Series X|S to ensure you never lag behind, and one of the Best External SSDs for Xbox Series X|S so you don't run out of space for this massive game.

Microsoft recently launched the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, its latest console duo succeeding the Xbox One family. The systems dropped in tandem with Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, the latest in the top-selling shooter franchise. And while available on Xbox One, the title also targets Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S with various performance upgrades, including 120 frames-per-second (FPS) and ray tracing support on the flagship console.

Publishers have taken various approaches to cross-generation video game releases this holiday, intending to ease the transition between systems. The vast majority have arrived as free upgrades, with Microsoft even presenting its own standardized solution on Xbox, dubbed "Smart Delivery." In the simplest terms, the feature ensures buyers can purchase supporting Xbox One titles with confidence in an automatic upgrade when booted on the new system.

But a few have trialed paid upgrades, with Activision among adopters of the model for the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. The game ships with two distinctly different editions, with Cold War for Xbox One priced at $60 in the U.S. at launch, while the Xbox Series X version costs $70. But that divide also makes buying the latest title a downright mess, with confusingly deceptive box art likely to mislead some throughout the coming year.

Look at the image below for a few seconds — which product would you pick off the shelf?

from r/xboxone

While enthusiasts may quickly identify the few identifying traits, you have to admit this makes for a horrible shopping experience. I've asked several casual gamers to choose between the two products, and many ultimately failed to identify those differences.

For those confused, hold tight — Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War ships in two standard versions, one tailored to Xbox One and the other tailored to Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S buyers. The Xbox Series X version is pictured on the right, optimized for new consoles with upgrades, but with a free Xbox One version included. The left provides only the Xbox One experience without Xbox Series X enhancements. With Microsoft supporting blanket backward compatibility, the non-upgraded version also works on Xbox Series devices, hence the Xbox Series X tag.

There are several giveaways upon closer inspection, namely with the Xbox Series X sticker in the top right-hand corner of the box and the bottom-right label, emphasizing the two versions. But the shared box design makes this hard to understand quickly, with many likely to buy the wrong edition this holiday. Many we spoke to didn't see those differences until explained.

The situation is further worsened with no upgrade path from Xbox One to Xbox Series X with the physical disc. It means those with the Xbox One boxed version can't switch to the full Xbox Series X experience unless double-dipping with a second full-price purchase. The PS4 disc version does provide an upgrade opportunity, with users presented a PS5 upgrade for free via the PlayStation Store. Digital versions on Xbox One and PS4 can upgrade for $10, however.

And that's not even touching on technical issues, with many Xbox Series X/S owners experiencing crashes and instability when playing the Xbox One version.

While confusing marketing is far from unusual, it's worth stressing for those buying the new Call of Duty, whether a casual gamer or holiday gift shopping. That comes from someone who defended the Xbox Series X name, which is still a fundamentally different product, despite name similarities to Xbox One X. This is easy to miss — and it's just as easy to do the same thing with a digital license via the Microsoft Store, with no warning if opting for the "standard" $60 version.

It all stems from Activision sidestepping the free upgrade provided by most publishers, providing those graphical upgrades at a premium price point. Microsoft equally hasn't made it clear, with similar box designs and an online storefront that fail to differentiate these products. It's not an issue with the PS5, where Sony has adopted a white box with clear branding this generation.

When shopping this holiday season, stay aware. It's currently only an issue for Call of Duty, and while we expect more cross-generation releases to experiment with paid upgrades, the exact implementation may differ across publishers. Just triple-check the box before you hit the checkout.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is, somewhat fittingly considering its Cold War roots, an enigma.

The campaign is far from profound but it does introduce several new gameplay elements that are among the best Call of Duty has seen in years. The Cold War isn't set dressing — it feels lived-in and tense. Gathering evidence and cracking ciphers are more compelling than any firefight or vehicular destruction could ever hope to be. Meanwhile, the multiplayer and Zombies modes fall short of where I'd hoped.

Black Ops Cold War features a campaign led by Raven Software, while Treyarch took point on the multiplayer, and, unfortunately, the separation is obvious. It's a mixture of different ideas that conflict and fight each other harder than the ruthless spies in its setting. Therefore, it's a difficult game to figure out. However, it takes definite risks, which for the series, is notable.

Disclaimer: This review was made possible by a review code provided by Activision. The company did not see the contents of the review before publishing.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War delivers an ambitious, thrilling campaign

Raven created some interesting shakeups for the Black Ops Cold War campaign. After designing your character's dossier — where you can choose to be male, female, or non-binary and include different psychological traits for different bonuses — you'll find yourself as part of a team dedicated to stopping Perseus, a Soviet agent seeking a nuclear end to the Cold War.

A lot of the campaign is character and choice-driven. You'll have dialogue options as you can talk with your team and can even make choices out in the field, taking certain targets alive or killing them. Without diving into spoilers, we see characters conflicted as ugly secrets are revealed all around them and there's war crimes for everything to share the blame in. While much has been made of the marketing, which showed President Ronald Reagan as a character himself defending the American way and authorizing the team to stop Perseus, he's not really present in the game otherwise. It makes that scene feel patriotically jarring.

You'll still undergo a number of standard Call of Duty missions: sniping in the snow, gunning down waves of foes in Vietnam, and using a helicopter to strafe convoys. However, these fall short of the stealth levels that have been included. On a few occasions, you have to quietly make your way through hostiles unseen, tracking guards with binoculars and stowing bodies in a way that wouldn't feel out of place in something like Dishonored.

It's here that the graphical quality and performance in Black Ops Cold War doesn't just pleasantly hum — it sings. Making your way through rainy, neon-lit East Berlin behind the Iron Curtain feels great and looks even better. Going undercover in a Russian base as you decide how to dispose of guards and which optional objectives to track fit the setting and tone of the game, providing options in a way that feels downright revelatory for the series. These choices all add up, making for one of the most mechanically interesting Call of Duty games in several years. It's worth mentioning that ray tracing and 120 FPS modes are also supported on Xbox Series X, though you can only pick one.

Throughout the campaign, you build an evidence board to track Perseus and his spy network with some engaging optional missions. If you're careful and take the time to find pieces of evidence through missions, you can piece together who Perseus' top agents are and where some of them are planning to strike. Even though these missions were optional, it felt satisfying cracking a code and knowing you won't be dashing into a main mission blind.

Source: Windows Central

This tension continues to build throughout the campaign, culminating in an excellent level that takes place in a "mind palace" of sorts. It's visually striking, with the player struggling to follow orders while remembering what happened during a pivotal moment in Vietnam. There are branching, conflicting memories to explore and secrets to uncover that weave together masterfully.

Unfortunately, the final mission is something of a letdown. Your choices throughout the game do make a difference, but everything hangs on one big decision, not the culmination of all your work and espionage throughout the past few missions. This doesn't undo how great the experience is up to that point but it's always disappointing in a choice-driven game.

Overall, it's a solid campaign that takes some real risks in how it handles level design and narrative. When the inevitable sequel arrives, I hope it leans even harder into the undercover and spy elements than the standard shootout. The campaign in Black Ops Cold War is at its best when it's trying to emulate Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, not Michael Bay explosions.

Call of Duty: Black Ops War has multiplayer and Zombies, but both fall short

If you played the multiplayer alpha or beta, you'll know what to expect here. The changes I previously discussed in my alpha preview are mostly all the same, with large-scale maps and new modes shining at the forefront and changing up gameplay. Partying up and communicating with friends is still difficult, with inconsistent success in getting party-chat across platforms to work. There's only eight multiplayer maps right now, but Nuketown is coming on Nov. 24 as free DLC.

In general, it feels like a lackluster experience, especially compared to the prior entry in the series, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. The overall visual quality and gun audio takes a step back, though textures do seem improved from the beta, at least on Xbox Series X. The gunplay feels much floatier and less grounded compared to Modern Warfare, which wanted to focus on heavier, "realistic" gameplay. Meanwhle, the map structure has reverted to basic three lanes, eliminating much of the tension from having multiple looping pathways.

It's worth noting that many of my peers have had other severe technical issues with the game not recognizing which version its supposed to be but I didn't encounter these myself.

The final chunk of the game you'll probably spend a lot of time with is Zombies, the iconic survival-horror wave defense mode that first debuted in 2008's World at War. While much of it remains the same, there are some smart tweaks that'll make Zombies far more accessible to newcomers. You no longer start with a handgun, instead bringing over your chosen class from multiplayer. Objectives are clearly marked and it's no longer a slow grind towards inevitable death — you've instead got the option of evacuating early in order to get some bonus rewards.

These decisions add up and while I haven't found every secret or easter egg the community is certain to uncover over time, it's an enjoyable gameplay loop. Unfortunately, serious performance issues drag Zombies down. In addition to having markedly worse texture quality than the other modes, the framerate is unstable at best, jumping up and down in a way that can impact your performance. That's on top of some serious lighting bugs, which would flash inaccurately when walking around on the outside portion of the map.

I haven't been able to test other versions yet but considering I'm playing on Xbox Series X, any kind of performance problems are jarring and forebode an even worse experience on weaker hardware. The solid changes made to the formula are completely undone by how bad performance is. Hopefully, these problems are patched soon because while it's not quite unplayable, it's a markedly worse experience than it should be.

Should you buy Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War?

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is a mixed bag and as such, you need to consider what your wants are before deciding to purchase it. If you want to experience the campaign, I'd recommend it, as the new gameplay mechanics and level design easily elevate it to one of my favorites in the series. Raven Software did a fantastic job, especially given the effects of the pandemic. I'd love to see this team leading another game in the future — be it Call of Duty or something else entirely.

On the other hand, I can't wholeheartedly recommend multiplayer, especially since Call of Duty: Warzone remains free and available for everyone to jump into at no cost. The lack of maps and quality of maps available are a step back from Modern Warfare, so there's no real reason to jump in at the moment. Modern Warfare's multiplayer features more grounded gunplay and more complicated map design, which is more engaging overall.

If you're in it for some co-op through Zombies with your friends, I'd recommend holding out for a bit and waiting to see if some patches come through to improve performance. It's a fun mode right now that I'm sure the community will enjoy but it isn't where it needs to be on the technical side of things.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is currently available for Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PC, PS5, and PS4.

Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War is here, taking the popular franchise to some notorious battlefronts from the West's covert war with the USSR. We're still working on our full review, but so far it seems like another solid entry in the franchise, with impressive features on the Xbox Series X including ray-tracing and 120 FPS support for some of the best Xbox Series X TVs. Alas, some of you have been reporting issues to us.

On Twitter, we received a few DMs asking if we'd been experiencing crashing or shutdowns with the game. Personally, I've experienced an issue with the UI, where elements would disappear and give an error, until you restarted the game. I've also experienced an issue with Quick Resume, which would wipe the Xbox Series X's connection to the TV completely as it switched resolution and HDR modes, although this might be an issue with my TV.

More pressing are some of the other issues we've seen, where Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War fully shuts down the Xbox Series X after a few minutes of play.

Cold War doesn't support Xbox Smart Delivery

For some, we think this may be caused by having the $60 version of the game being delivered to your console. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War irritatingly has separate versions for Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. The "cross-gen" Xbox Series X version is $70. If you're using the $60 version, it seems to be broken on the Xbox Series X as of writing. What's even more irritating, there doesn't seem to be a simple way to "upgrade" to the next-gen version. This wouldn't have happened if Activision had used Xbox's Smart Delivery, but alas, here we are.

However, if you are sure you have the Xbox Series X version, it may have delivered the wrong version of the game to an external HDD. If you've installed Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War on an external HDD by mistake, you've installed the Xbox One X backward compatible version, which appears to be completely broken when running on an Xbox Series X. You should be running the Xbox Series X version, installed on the internal SSD or official Xbox storage memory card SSD, such as this one from Seagate.

To fix this, uninstall Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War from your Xbox Series X, and re-install the specific next-gen version from the Microsoft Store, making sure it's installing on the internal SSD, and not a connected USB HDD. Your connected USB HDD should be used for older backward compat titles only, and not Xbox Series X-enhanced games.

For greedy companies like Activision that don't use Smart Delivery, hopefully, Microsoft can make it a bit more obvious in subsequent system updates if you're buying the "wrong" version of a game. Even still, the Xbox One backward compat version should work on Xbox Series X, so, hopefully, Treyarch will fix it.

Are you struggling with Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War on Xbox Series X? Let us know in the comments.

Xbox Series X/S

Main

• Xbox Series X: Everything we know
• Best games coming to Xbox Series X/S
• List of Xbox Series X specs
• What is the Xbox Series X release date?
• How much does Xbox Series X cost?
• Why you can't preorder Xbox Series X yet
• Best Xbox Series X Headsets