If one is looking for some quality first-person shooter time, it is difficult to go wrong with Call of Duty, and this year's entry, Black Ops Cold War, is no exception. Along with the brief but exciting single-player campaign detailing Cold War espionage comes an online multiplayer suite all fans expect from the series.
It is admittedly slim compared to last year's offerings from Modern Warfare, but there is still plenty to love. For some guidance on which modes to jump into first and, perhaps more importantly, what to avoid, this list details the best of the best along with the worst of the worst. Those who find no joy from Black Ops Cold War will be happy to know Warzone is still fully supported
10 Avoid: Search And Destroy
For experienced players looking for a more high-stakes game, Search and Destroy is perfect. However, casual fans who just want to run around and shoot things should steer clear, unless they enjoy waiting several minutes after dying seconds into a round. With no respawns, every movement and decision counts. It is incredibly rewarding if one invests the time to learn all the maps, but it is not ideal for simply jumping in and running wild.
9 Incredible: Hardcore
Less of a single game mode and more of a modifier, Hardcore takes many of the standard game modes and takes away the HUD, reduces health, and also adds friendly fire. The game in general is slower paced and has a higher time to kill than Modern Warfare, so this mode changes the feel of combat significantly. Those who don't like the increased health or find themselves getting killed even after shooting first should check this mode out.
8 Avoid: Free-For-All
While this game mode may seem perfect for casual play, it requires a fairly extensive knowledge of each map in order to play competitively. This is mostly because the every man for himself style makes it a haven for campers. Not knowing the favorite spots turns into an exercise of patience as stationary players shoot everyone else in the back as they run by.
7 Incredible: Kill Confirmed
This is always a classic, and for good reason. Those who are just into racking up kills generally lose, since they ignore picking up the required dog tags.
Those less experienced at actual shooting can still prove useful here as they scour the play field for enemy dog tags and their own comrades' to deny the point for the opposing team. It also generally encourage everyone to move around more.
6 Avoid: Fire Team: Dirty Bomb
The general idea is interesting - pit ten teams of four against each other to arm bombs and blow up parts of the map, but the developer still needs to work out a few kinks with the design before it really shines. Hopefully in the future they add this team setup to more traditional game modes. In the meantime it is best to avoid this game mode unless one has three other friends with whom they can coordinate strategies.
5 Incredible: VIP Escort
Of the few new modes introduced in this year's installment, VIP Escort is the standout addition. One team has to guide a player-controlled VIP to an extraction point while the attacking team simply has to kill them. Like Search and Destroy, there are no respawns during a round. Games are unpredictable, since a VIP can enact any number of strategies, so one always has to be on their toes.
4 Avoid: Zombies Onslaught Mode
Zombies is a little different this year, with players being able to drop in with a custom loadout. Exclusive to PlayStation consoles for nearly a year is Onslaught, where players defend themselves from the undead within a moving radius. Xbox and PC players should not feel too bad about lacking this mode, since it is nothing to write home about. The waves grow boring quickly and the action does not accelerate fast enough.
3 Incredible: Domination
A series mainstay, Domination has two teams fighting over several different points on a map. It is a solid mode for those who both like objectives and just shooting enemies. The control points add a structure to the destruction game modes like Free-For-All and Team Deathmatch lack. For anyone who even casually follows the Call of Duty games, this mode's quality should come as no surprise.
2 Avoid: Team Deathmatch
This is not necessarily a terrible game mode, and it is a classic standard of any first-person shooter. However, there are better alternatives for those simply wishing to run around the map and hunt down the opposing team.
As previously mentioned, Domination is significantly better in terms of fast-paced rounds where one can easily rack up some fast kills. With no structure, it is too easy to camp or exploit other parts of the maps.
1 Incredible: Combined Arms
In terms of large-scale battles, nothing in Black Ops Cold War comes as close as Ground War from Modern Warfare, but Combines Arms should still satisfy a similar itch. Combined Arms: Assault involves steadily capturing and recapturing bases in a tug of war-like manner, while Domination is the classic mode only with a higher player count. Vehicles and more players on the field means a higher probability of death, but one is also more likely to earn themselves more kills.