Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War zombies everything we know – PCGamesN

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War zombies has officially been unveiled ahead of the FPS games November 13 release date, and its shaping up to be one of the most expansive, accessible, and replayable zombies modes in Call of Dutys illustrious undead history.

Treyarch promises that the new zombies experience will be fresh with hints of the familiar, including a new storyline set in the Dark Aether, an offshoot reality of the main zombies storylines. The first revealed map is set in the 80s and is called Die Maschine. Fans of the zombies mode will immediately recognise its central building from the very first zombies map, Nacht der Untoten, but a few decades on and were visiting the site with a fresh perspective.

With fan-favourite perks, a reworked Pack-a-Punch system, a new loadout mechanic, and a whole new cast of characters to meet, theres plenty to pick apart in anticipation of Cold War zombies. So whether youre here to catch up with the story, or you want to double-check that really was a Chopper Gunner killstreak in the trailer, heres everything we know about one of the most anticipated zombie games this year.

So, what is Dark Aether? Were not going to get too tangled up in zombies lore, and thats great because we dont really have to in Dark Aether. The Dark Aesther is a new dimension that was opened up at the end of Black Ops 4s final zombies map. It houses an ancient race of evil beings called the Apothicons, and anything that enters the Dark Aether is corrupted.

That final Black Ops 4 zombies map, Tag der Toten, all of the heroes from previous zombies storylines sacrificed themselves to plunge all of the many diverging zombies universes into the Dark Aether, thereby banishing the Apothicans and creating a new, singular reality. According to Treyarchs blog post, they were half right.

In Die Maschine, the setup is that we are hunting down a powerful piece of tech a World War II-era experiment known as Projekt Endstation that threatens to start an arms race. We play as operators from multiplayer or the single-player campaign, but the crucial factor is that we fight for an agency called Requiem, which is a CIA-backed international response team led by Russian-American Grigori Weaver. Opposing Requiem is the Omega Group, a Soviet-led organization that aims to use and exploit Projekt Endstation.

Now, for zombies lore nerds, here is where things get really interesting. One of the Requiem contacts is a woman called Sam, who is almost certainly an adult Sam Maxis, which would mean that the Dark Aether story is a direct continuation of the Aether story. We know this because Samantha Maxis lullaby plays as Sam walks into the payphone during the Die Maschine intro cinematic. Its also been spotted that the number she puts into the keypad spells Maxis.

The first map is called Die Maschine, but interestingly, its clearly a revisited version of the very first zombies map, Nacht Der Untoten. We see the bunker several times in the trailer, destroyed and covered in bright graffiti. It appears that players will spawn in the bright daylight outside of the bunker, fighting around a crash site in the woods before entering the bunker and exploring some underground levels.

The really interesting part of Die Maschine, is that in the trailer and in official screens, it looks like the map will change from daytime, to a dark, alternate reality that must represent the Dark Aether dimension. There are floating neon jellyfish, plumes of luminous dust, and half-tracks suspended in the sky.

We dont appear to be getting a rambunctious crew of charismatic zombie-slaying warriors this time around. Instead, Treyarch says that Instead of being locked to one of four characters, youll play as the operators from multiplayer and even some familiar faces from the single-player campaign, including Russell Adler, Lawrence Sims, and even Sgt. Frank Woods himself.

Its too early to tell if this means there wont be any story attached to the operators themselves, but it could be a little disappointing to find our characters dont have hundreds of zombies-specific quips to reel off over the course of a match.

By now we all know pretty much what to expect from zombies gameplay. Youll start with low-quality weapons against easy to kill zombies in a small area, collect points from killing those zombies, which youll use to access new areas and upgrade your kit. Each wave of zombies will increase in size, speed, and youll need to deal more damage to take down the undead the longer you survive, so upgrading your weapons and Call of Duty Cold War perks is the only way to survive.

Cold War zombies gameplay is sticking to that classic formula, with many beloved perks and mechanics like the mystery box and Pack-a-Punch machine returning, too. However, you can expect a few twists this time around.

The confirmed Cold War Zombies perks are:

These will appear in perk machines as they always have in CoD zombies, but those machines are getting a visual redesign. Dont worry, theyll still have jingles for each perk.

Whats interesting is that for the first time these will be upgradable perks no details on what that means, but hopefully it will add a lot more progression to a zombies match and give some big benefits to some of the lesser used perks. You can also equip an unlimited number of perks.

This ones small and not entirely gameplay related, but Cold War Zombies will be cross-gen and offer cross-play, which is a neat first for CoD zombies. We also have the added benefit that any hard work you put into grindingCall of Duty Cold War guns in multiplayer will reward you with the same attachments in zombies. In addition to cross-progression, youll also progress your battle pass through zombies, and earn zombies rewards from the battle pass.

Cold War zombies is getting loadouts for the first time in the series. Instead of entering the woods around Die Maschine with a pistol and a couple of mags, you can now start with a full loadout. However, this probably wont make your life much easier the longer you get into a match, because of a new weapon rarity system. This, alongside the mystery box and Pack-a-Punch machines, means youll need to change to an improved version of your favourite firearms to keep up with the increasingly challenging waves of undead. These loadouts also mean you can bring Cold War field upgrades into zombies.

Cold War zombies equipment is broadly the same as it is in multiplayer, but youll also be able to add some more exotic tools to your kit as you progress through the map, including a grenade launcher, explosive crossbow, and even the Chopper Gunner scorestreak.

So you can actually survive Cold War zombies, which is another series first. If you decide to call your run short and you and your pals want to leave zombies then Exfil will add a challenging final few rounds in exchange for some lasting rewards. Treyarch says you can expect zombie spawns to be dialled up to 11 for these last rounds, so be ready.

This is Treyarchs way of making all weapons viable even into the later waves of a run. Effectively, wall buys and mystery box weapons will have a range of rarities, with buffs to damage and other stats on rare weapons. This will supposedly ensure you need to change out your zombies loadout pretty early. We dont know how this system will interact with Pack-a-Punch it could either carry the damage buff of a legendary weapon over to its Pack-a-Punch variant, or scrub the rarity in the process.

The important thing is that both of these mechanics are returning we really dont know a lot more about them. Crucial detail: the Ray Gun is in Cold War zombies.

Well update this guide as Treyarch release more details, so stay tuned for more zombies information.

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Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War zombies everything we know - PCGamesN