Description of several Black Ops Cold War campaign missions 

During a virtual briefing of Black Ops Cold War late last week, we got to see parts of three different mission experiences in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s campaign. 

Here’s descriptions of the missions. All gameplay was PS5 gameplay and pre-beta. 

Early Campaign Mission Cutscene: 

A first cut scene was shown to us during the briefing. This cut scene, per Raven, takes place early on in the game’s story. 

This cut scene takes place inside a White House briefing room, as Russel Adler and team showcase their evidence and information on how to catch Perseus. Officials in the room are doubting the intel that Adler’s team brought in, and were questioning as to if Perseus is even real or not. General Hag claims during the scene that ‘it’s more myth than fact’ about Perseus’ whereabouts. 

But the intel they have suggests he’s in play again and has plans to launch an attack against the West. CIA analysts consider him the ‘single largest threat to the free world.’ Russell Alder says, when doubted by the generals, ‘you don’t have to take us seriously, but innocent people will die.’ There’s something ‘major’ happening after 13 years of not hearing of Perseus. 

The scene continues with President Reagan entering the room to get an update on what’s happening. The President says ’is the threat real? Can you stop Perseus?” But Adler calls out that the mission would probably be illegal and in violation of treaties. Reagan ends with ‘Give Adler what he wants’ and says ‘I know you won’t fail us.’ The scene ends. 

First Mission: Ukraine

This mission was a mid-game mission, and it takes place in a Soviet structure behind the Iron Current. This mission features stealth and high action gameplay, where fans have to find out what’s held inside the said structure. 

Fans enter a massive Soviet base and attempt to recover what’s left inside, but are met at first with a glaring 1980s Russia’s vision of America-style set. It looks like ‘any town USA.’ 

This mission is very classic Call of Duty style. When you breach into the perimeter, your team gets detected and has to take out the Russian forces. The mission shows AK-47 weapon, mounted turrets on vehicles as you have to storm through the city to get out with the intel. 

The mission footage ended with a montage style of parts of the mission, including mounted turret on a vehicle to vehicle combat. 

Second Mission: Moscow 

The second mission we saw took place inside the KGB Headquarters in Russia. The building is called the Lubyanka. This is one of the missions that emphasize player freedom and Raven’s decision to allow player choice in Black Ops Cold War. 

This mission starts with you as an undercover Soviet Agent inside an office in Lubyanka. The first half of this mission lets you pick how you want to play it. A screen Raven showed us offered you to play through it by making a choice of whether to Steal, Poison, Bribe, or Blackmail a certain individual in the mission. This dictates how the first half of the mission goes. As you are walking through the Lubyanka, there’s a tense feeling echoed through the character. 

The second half of the mission is the classic Call of Duty action you know from past Black Ops games. You must fight your way through the entire Lubyanka and successfully secure intel and take it out of the Headquarters. 

The mission demo presentation ended with the intense fighting sequence as you work your way out of the location. 

Third Mission: Laos (Vietnam) 

The third mission we saw was a flashback mission to the Vietnam War. The team needs to find vital intel in the past that helps shape Black Ops Cold War story. 

This mission takes place in the later half of the overall story, and they need to find the hidden clue. 

In this mission, players pick the path they want to play through – there are four different options to experience. The map takes place during both day and night in Laos.

The Laos mission is the most unique and mind-bending mission in Call of Duty history, Raven says. You can reset this mission as you play through it and make different decisions throughout the mission itself. There’s four different options to live through this mission. It’s ‘never seen before in Call of Duty.’ 

The clip started in Laos during day time fighting in the jungle as you navigate through enemies and massive firefight. The mission jumps for the sake of time to the night time in Laos as you fight your way to secure the Helicopter to get clear of the area. You can actually reset the mission as you work your way through it and experience it in different ways. 

One clip Raven showed us shows the mission start over and then make players go through a mind-bending experience. Bunkers are falling from the sky into the map, and twists you into falling into it. And then you fall through different dimensions as you try to adjust your mind to get back into the main action. You hear voices in your head with one saying you’re the ‘only one who knows’ the truth about something redacted.

The sequence ended at that point. 

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