Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, the proven multiplayer alpha
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Treyarch is still the flagship studio Balance problems, but it is normal Certainties and doubts This year for the multiplayer of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War will be very tough. To say it all, in reality, all competitive online games are in the difficult position of having to search for a space among the mass of battle royale on the market but in this specific case, the real fear for Activision even comes from a proprietary rib, or that Call of Duty: Warzone that in recent months has been able to attract hundreds of thousands of players and keep them glued to their servers season after season. For Treyarch, who has taken over this Call of Duty to bring back the old and still beloved way of understanding the shooter par excellence, the challenge is to reverse the trend, to convince the fringes of the public accustomed to throwing themselves into 100-player maps that buying this new title to shoot friends in fast, narrow and adrenaline-pumping maps is still a source of precious fun. The easiest way to do it? Show everyone the state of play with a short alpha over the weekend, collect feedback and hope fans will return to a past generation.Treyarch is still the flagship studio
Having skipped the last few chapters and only partially appreciated Call of Duty's futuristic vision, we wondered what it would be like to actually go back to play the new chapter from our sofa and it took very few games to understand that the pure fun of Black Ops II, the last multiplayer that really drove us crazy, is still all here. That knowing how to build interesting maps with three-way lines of engagement, that unique and recognizable way of shooting, however arcade it may be, and that magic in creating a rhythm of play with a decidedly unique flow, were thrown in our face in one. snap of fingers. We knew how to shoot, we knew how to move and we knew very well how to plan the construction of the next room without even having crossed the threshold yet. For many this could be the classic excuse to attack Call of Duty given its immobility over the years while for us it is proof of knowing how to continue to build a product faithful to the taste of their fans. In short, Treyarch's strategy to bring players to Cold War is limpid and clear and rather than exaggerating and wanting to overdo it as in the past, it was decided to give a blow in the sponge and start right where that aforementioned magic had almost been lost. , at that precise moment when wanting to give something extra to the players had become a gorging on them with something they really didn't even need.For heaven's sake, the surprises in this alpha were not lacking but, even more so, just when Treyarch tries to get out of the sowing and build something different, the feeling disappears and falls back into the abyss of an arcade shooter that quickly loses bite. We are obviously talking about the new 24-player mode, an attempt to bring a pinch of Battlefield to COD for a concept of strategy and game that just isn't in the strings of this production. Too big maps, vehicles to fly that are almost more uncomfortable and less fun than when we run and slide gun in hand and a departure from that perfect rhythm from the Moshpit playlists, where there are half of players.
Balance problems, but that's normal
This alpha was also a way to experiment, to see where you could go with sniper rifles and scorestreaks and then eventually adjust your shot in view of the open beta next month and the official launch in November. From this experiment, therefore, it becomes almost useless to argue about what works and what needs to be fixed, so much so that the developers themselves are already aware of many of the problems highlighted by the public. But the direction is clear and the increased time to kill has made it clear that Cold War will try to allow players to respond with the skill to being caught off guard, perhaps even giving some shred of chance to get out of a two-on-one fight alive. . It's fantastic to see such weapon customization return, as well as the return of Wildcards, and we also really appreciated the energy bar above the opponents' heads, a clear indication to allow you to better manage strategies during firefights.The return to an almost contemporary setting has also allowed Treyarch to work towards a reduced mobility of the players, completely eliminating wall races and double jumps and remaining anchored to the much loved "foot on the ground" "that we like much more. In the coming months, however, we expect a lot of work from a technical and graphic point of view, first of all on the animations to date, perhaps the weakest piece of this first appearance to the general public. We don't like too much the abuse of overly dark or high contrast colors as seen in Miami, which in terms of construction and level design is superb, a map that conceals too many shaded areas where it is all too easy to hide and camp. On the balance they will then have to try to work precisely to prevent players from excessively exploiting the stationary positions because in beta a type of game of that kind guaranteed a net advantage over the classic frenzied roaming for the map in search of spawn points. The pop-up of the textures and other small technical defects should also be reviewed, marginal elements of a product that has shown a solid structure and a decidedly winning appeal but which still carries some big question marks in its backpack.
It will be great to return to playing Call of Duty this year if the premises of this alpha are maintained and elevated to even higher quality standards. We liked the rhythm, the sound too and even the temporary feeling of the guns showed some great potential. However, Treyarch's mission is complex because players are unlikely to return to the competitive scene in our opinion, especially after the announcement of the sports circuit on PC with the pad, but the margin to attract fans of the first hour and old nostalgics is there. that's all, for a more casual type of game. If on the one hand we have found all the old flavor of CoD the new modes with much more players than the old skirmishes have not yet completely convinced us. It will be up to wait for the next test phase, therefore, where we will see the long-awaited improvements and maybe some new maps, so as to arrive prepared and decided for the launch day. Treyarch fully deserves our trust, and yours? Have they already earned it?
