You don’t have to start Zombies mode with a pistol in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War

‘Bring in your AR, your SMG, whatever you’re feeling’

Treyarch is bringing Zombies mode back for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, and along with a first look at the mode’s 1980s Dark Aether storyline (that conveniently involves a World War II bunker), the studio also confirmed that Zombies will support cross-platform co-op. That’s what we like to see.

“We finished a story [in Black Ops 4], but we’re still in that same universe, and this is the next chapter,” said game designer Kevin Drew. The new Zombies crew in Cold War is a CIA-backed team, Requiem, that’s led by Grigori Weaver from Black Ops. A rival Soviet squad, Omega Group, is also in the mix.

One of the bigger structural changes is that you won’t have to start hunting undead hordes with a pistol this time – player progression in Zombies is hooked into the wider Black Ops Cold War multiplayer experience (including the Battle Pass), and you can bring your Gunsmith weaponry over “via loadout.”

Treyarch says that “any weapon in the game” can be “sustainable in later rounds” through a new weapon rarity system. More than anything else, I like the sound of an exfiltration option that lets players get to a chopper if things are looking grim. If you escape, you’ll come away with “some rewards.”

We’ll see how these changes go over with long-time players. Perks, including Juggernog, are coming back (without a usage limit), and Treyarch also plainly teased Dead Ops Arcade 3 on Twitter.