Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War Alpha: A Final Look
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The Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War Alpha will end tonight and kick-start the wait for the final version of the game to hit the stores this November. The alpha build of the game unveiled a lot about the game, from the Easter Eggs to the much talked about SBMM feature in the game’s multiplayer.
Here is a compilation of the impression the new CoD title has made on the community.
Further reading: Call of Duty Pros Take a Dig At Cold War SBMM
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The upcoming sniper nerf in Call of Duty BOCW
For starters, the incredibly buffed up snipers are something a large section of the community seems to have enjoyed. However, devs have confirmed that they will most definitely ‘balance’ the sniping mechanics in the game. They have said that they deliberately buffed the snipers in the alpha version to evaluate their performance.
Here is what Tony Flame, game designer, has to say about the sniper issue.
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Ok let's talk Sniping in Cold War.
Crossplay is coming, but we knew it wouldn't be in Alpha. We buffed Snipers to evaluate their performance in this Alpha specifically. Sniper Rifles WILL have balance changes for the upcoming Beta based on our analytics data this weekend.
— Tony Flame (@Tony_Flame) September 18, 2020
It seems like many players are not really keen on the idea, and for good reason. The sniping experience in Call of Duty BOCW is quite satisfying and stable, with fast ADS speeds. Moreover, the sniping mechanics allow players, who usually play assault or heavy, to take over a long-range role.
This is something that Pamaj, the popular streamer from FaZe, agreed with.
honestly ya'll nailed the sniping. don't base it on the select few that have been using 1 weapon class for a decade
— FaZe Pamaj (@Pamaj) September 18, 2020
However, it remains to be seen exactly how much devs nerf the snipers. After all, the community’s feedback will form the basis of the upcoming changes in the game.
The looming SBMM horror in Black Ops Cold War
Speaking of changes, a lot of players want the studio to remove the SBMM in the final version of the game. The skill-based matchmaking issue is something that the community has been complaining of since Modern Warfare.
SBMM takes a player level and not rank into account, and so it increases the chances of casual players encountering sweats. SBMM makes sense in ranked and competitive gameplay but can be a buzzkill in the pub match lobby.
A lot of pros, including Scump, of Chicago Huntsmen, have expressed their displeasure with this. In fact, a large section of the community wants Treyarch to take the feature out. Who knows, maybe the devs will comply with this.
The SBMM in Cold War is nuts.
— Seth Huntsmen (@scump) September 18, 2020
developers for Battle Royale games have now all included skill based matchmaking (SBMM) to in their eyes make a better playing experience for everyone, but it sure has ruined the fun for a lot of people
— Rod Breslau (@Slasher) September 18, 2020
No matter how good a CoD is, if it has SBMM it instantly sucks the life out of it for me. The argument that SBMM doesn't matter is absurd. If BO2 and MW3 released with SBMM back in the day, those games would have also been shit. SBMM ruins gaming but it makes companies money.
— Tom Henderson (@_TomHenderson_) September 19, 2020
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The Alpha unveiled some interesting Easter Eggs connected to the zombie mode
Zombie modes have been an integral part of the franchise, straight from the classic Call of Duty: World at War (Nacht der Untoten, anyone?). It is expected that the zombie mode will feature some iconic locations from various CoD zombie maps over the years. In fact, the multiplayer reveal trailer even showed the staircase from the classic map Nacht der Untoten.
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Furthermore, one of the Easter Eggs, in the Moscow map, suggests that the zombie storyline of Black Ops Cold War is set in the Aether arc. If players wander into the apartment and glance at the wooden drawers along the wall, they will spot a Matryoshka doll that resembles the iconic character. Richtofen is central to the Aether arc of the CoD Zombies storyline, thus suggesting that the zombie storyline of this installment might be set in the said arc as well.
In conclusion, as far as the alpha is concerned, the game has succeeded in meeting a majority of the expectations. Of course, the game requires a few tweaks here and there as the feedback suggests, but with those out of the way, it seems that Black Ops Cold War Alpha can become one of the most impressive titles of the series.