Geek Interview: Unpacking Untold Secrets in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War with Treyarch and Raven Software

The Cold War was a major turning point for the world, especially for the lives of those who lived it. It also somehow turns out to be a constant source of intrigue for works of fiction, simply due to the fact that many of them happened behind closed doors, and thus paranoia and rumors among the masses and the media went wild. . Yet in the eyes of today’s creatives, whatever happened during that somewhat hazy period in modern history abounds with quality (and maybe even downright crazy) storytelling.

That’s the kind of situation call of Duty Black Ops games have given us over the last decade: dark, gritty, and sometimes exaggerated stories, set in the context of the Cold War. And with the next Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War coming out this week, it’s more of the same, but with the conflict between the United States and the USSR front and center this time.

With recent iterations of Black ops Fast forward decades in the timeline into the near future, the developers at Treyarch and Raven Software decided that it was about time gamers revisited a more familiar, yet terrifying time, in the 1980s, when the Cold War was raging. at the beginning of his dramatic third act.

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“One of the things that the Cold War of the 80s brought was the fear of a nuclear war, of the Third World War. And that was really what was at stake globally. When you go to write a story, you want a lot at stake, something that is not just [involving] one country, or two countries – really, the Cold War affected the whole world. So we love the idea of ​​having this high-stakes story about the nuclear arms race that continued to escalate over and over again in the 1980s, ”he said. Dan Vondrak, Senior Creative Director, Raven, in an interview with Geek Culture.

“And then of course [we’re] telling our story and actually telling the fictional truth of what happened behind all these historical moments that we have heard of. Something Black ops What he’s always done well is to use that paranoia, the idea that there’s a little secret behind the story that you really think you know, and that’s why we loved using the iconic characters, the iconic Cold War moments and then telling this one. fiction tale. “

What Vondrak just described is what players can expect from the single-player campaign for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. The game of events takes place in 1981, where then-United States President Ronald Reagan authorizes a sting operation led by CIA agent Russell Adler to take out Soviet spy Perseus, a new franchise villain, before a planned attack on the rest of the world is born.

Like the rich history of the Cold War, the Black ops The franchise now has its own tapestry that veteran players can look back on and admire. Be over ten years old and five games (eleven and six, if 2008 are counted) World at war, which was a prologue to the entire series), featuring various characters like Frank Woods, Alex Mason, and Jason Hudson, it can seem daunting for new players to get in on the action, especially given that this upcoming title is actually a prequel. being among the original Black ops Y Black ops 2.

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However, Vondrak disagrees and believes Black Ops Cold War It offers a fresh take on the franchise and gives newcomers a head start on getting familiar with everything about it, without feeling pressured to go back and explore previous games.

“For us, what we wanted to do was not allow our love of the game to ensure that new people couldn’t experience this new story. So we start with a new bad boy named Perseus. And we really want to start the game, so that anyone who has never been involved in clandestine operations can focus on the idea that there is an imminent threat that could upset the balance of the Cold War. And then as the story progresses, you begin to listen to Woods and Mason, and you begin to understand how these kinds of ties to the events that happened in Black operations 1but you don’t need to play Black operations 1. And then of course we loved going back to Vietnam, because not only did it give us the scene of the great war, but it also gives us the feeling that the whole story played out over decades, events of 1968, linked to the events of 1981., “he explains.

Similarly, the cooperative multiplayer gameplay, Zombies, another staple in the Black ops franchise: has dedicated followers. But knowing that there will be an influx of new players as with each new Call of Duty game, developers had to not only give reasons for veteran players to come back, but also give new players a reason to get acquainted with the hectic and addictively fun gameplay of pumping lead-filled chemically enhanced undead soldiers.

Hence, the introduction of the new Onslaught mode, a 2 player co-op mode that aims to speed up the typically slow and methodical gameplay of traditional Zombies maps with much smaller and tighter maps, most of which have been mined. of various competitive multiplayer. maps in Call of Dutypast titles.

“[When conceptualising Onslaught], we saw it as a very obvious and fun new way to test. We have all these great multiplayer maps, and there is a chance to say, what if we put zombies on those empty maps? And what we got was a really fun, simplified version of normal Zombies, but it’s a lot more hectic. And it becomes very difficult, very fast, but it’s a lot of fun that way, “he said. Kevin Drew, Expert Game Designer at Treyarch.

“It really cuts out a lot of the systems and it’s just about killing zombies, being skilled, acquiring new weapons and moving within those spaces, and defeating the bosses and trying to do your best to survive as long as possible. So deep down it’s very similar to the original Zombies maps from [Call of Duty: World at War]. So I think players looking for that very streamlined experience will find it there and have a lot of fun. “

But here’s the thing: Zombies Onslaught, unfortunately, will be a timed exclusive on PlayStation 4 and 5 consoles for 12 months after launch, so PC and Xbox gamers may have to wait a while before getting their hands on it. . That said, the presence of cross-play in all other multiplayer modes will be present in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War It certainly looks like an outright win for the developers, which is something they believe can fill the void until Onslaught exits its PlayStation exclusivity a year from now.

“[Cross-play] it’s just an overall win for Zombies players, with the ability to remove these limitations across different systems and generations. All it really means is that the group is bigger than ever for Zombies players. That, combined with our free seasonal DLC, means we’re never going to fracture the player base. And that was something we saw in previous titles: the DLC came out, fewer and fewer people would play it, but now you have everything available to all players, which is huge. So overall, it’s been a great thing, ”explains Drew.

At the heart of it all Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War It is not only a step forward for the franchise, but also an ode to its legacy. At the time the first game was made, the developers never anticipated this amount of love and appreciation for the intriguing lore, iconic characters, and really fun alternate gameplay in Zombies, which has grown out of the Black ops games. Looking back then forward Cold WarAt launch, they are certainly eager to take the series to even higher levels for Campaign and Zombies modes.

“I don’t think there is much limit to Call of Duty; I think that’s what the studies are inspired by, ”says Vondrak. “Who knows what the future holds. Black ops is probably one of the most important sub-franchises of Call of Duty, and I think there is much more space to work there. I hope some of the things that we’re trying to do in the campaign are just stepping stones, you know, adding that player choice is something we can continue to expand on. “

“I think we are actually very excited to be here in the 80s with a more recent environment. And that’s a bit different than a lot of the Zombies modes we’ve had in the past, where most of it is [set in] WWII. So it’s interesting to go a little further into the future and tell a new story there, ”added Drew.

“And where we go from here, it’s like what Dan said, it’s basically how we get inspired and where we want to go next. It’s hard to tell now that we’re about to get this one out. “

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is thrown in November 13 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X | S and PC.

Marion has a serious addiction to role-playing games. Sometimes he bleeds out in real life; he forgets to sleep because he thinks he has a Witcher biological clock. Forgive him in advance if he suddenly blurts out terms like “Mind Flayer” and “Magic Missile,” because not once does he stop thinking about his next Dungeons & Dragons game.

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