Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War Open Beta weekend has come to an end. While it was significantly better than the Alpha that was playable earlier, the Beta has still come with its own gripes and grumbles from the community at large. Let’s dive into the yays and nays of what the Beta had to offer.

Prologue of a community tester


Now before getting into the nitty gritty, I feel like this hasn't been said enough. Pre-launch versions of a game (whether they are alphas or betas) are not meant to be polished versions of the game. They are meant to give you a general feel of map design, weapon types and progression as well as general user interface (UI) and game dynamics. It’s not unheard of for some features in a game to be left out of the pre-launch versions and to be released with the full game and vice versa - sometimes features that were available in the pre-launch versions don’t make it into the full game because either the community didn't like it, or the developers decided that it doesn't work as well as they had hoped.

How does it look?


The maps are set out in a typical Call of Duty style with your predictable three lane set up. The maps from the Alpha have clearly been worked on for the Beta, especially Miami which had visibility issues early on. It’s easier to see where you are going and the side lanes (particularly the beach lane) are now being used rather than everyone pushing straight down the middle. Spawn locations on the larger maps like Armada have been tweaked, meaning that you won’t get spawn trapped as easily, but spawn locations definitely need a lot more work. There is an inconsistency in spawn flips, meaning that you either keep spawning over and over on one side regardless of how far you venture to the enemy side, or you flip every time you respawn - often respawning with enemy behind you which means you don’t stand a chance.

My favorite map by far was the new map, Cartel. There are various flanking options, even though it has its traditional three lanes, so players can get around a “camping” enemy and push them from behind. The environment on all the maps still looks like it could do with some work, but that is to be expected from a Beta - especially one that is essentially built to run on next-gen consoles and more powerful graphic cards. I really hope this is the case, as currently the textures seem “off” and give a feel of an older, retro game (definitely not something I would be spending the hours on that have already been poured into Modern Warfare).

How does it feel?


First off, I am a huge fan of competitive FPS, so for me, the character movement in the Beta felt clunky and slower than I would like. I even turned my sensitivity on to what the game considers “high”, but it was still too slow for me. In fact, when I switched back over to Modern Warfare after playing the Beta, it took me two rounds to get used to my speed again (I was all over the place and I totally blame the Beta and not my potato aim). The Beta definitely feels more geared towards players starting out as aiming is slower and character movement isn’t as twitchy and smooth as Modern Warfare.

I also have a very distinct problem with the aiming so far in the Black Ops Cold War Beta. You cannot track a player as they run (and worse when they are sliding) - your aim speed simply does not keep up with the player even when you tweak it. Level progression was extremely fast during the Beta, yet weapon progression was slow. I hope that when the full game launch is upon us, that these two will somehow meet in the middle. As it stands now, serious players will be level maxing in one to two weeks easily.

How does it sound?


One of the most distracting elements for me in the game is the in game sound. Footsteps and sounds from opening doors, knocking things over, etc. seem to come from all around you in the default setting. Even when changing your sound to “boost” they are still in a general area and not really specific to where the enemy is. It can be a little disorientating and sometimes costs you a position on the objective and your life as you can’t actually hide from or ambush an enemy effectively. Explosion sounds were pretty weird as well, sounding very arcade-like. I had to turn my effects sound down as the explosions were just not pleasant to listen to for either myself or my viewers. The gun sounds, however, are great. They pack a real, satisfying punch - especially high powered weapons like the snipers.

How did I not potato that shot?


At the moment, hit registration appears faulty. I am not a sniper by any stretch of the imagination, and yet while I was trying out the snipers on Satellite I felt God-like. I kept saying to viewers on my stream that I don’t feel like I should have gotten the kills I was and while watching killcams when I died to a sniper, I felt like I shouldn’t be dying to those shots either. Snipers were the number one issue that the community had with the Alpha and although they have been balanced somewhat, it still feels like you just have to aim NEAR an enemy’s head to get a one-shot headshot. It feels as though the hit boxes are just too big right now.

Hopefully this is something that gets fixed before the game is officially launched as this issue is one that's bound to make many people stop playing the game even if they have already pre-ordered it. The TTK (Time To Kill) is higher than it should be for the speed of movement of your character. Many times as a player you would find yourself dying extremely quickly before realising that you were being shot at. Where other titles in the series give you a sense that you are being shot at, I feel as if that is lacking a bit in the Beta, especially when you are being shot with an SMG or Assault Rifle as these have a fast rate of fire and you don’t have the notice you need to be able to pull back to cover or fire back.

Last Impressions


Of course, we are still in Beta for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, so a lot of these issues will hopefully be sorted out soon. In my gut I am hoping that assets, sounds, textures, etc. are being “downgraded” for the Alpha and Beta tests, and will jump out on the full game with crisp, clean lines, exceptional sound quality and better movement. I feel like the Beta is already miles ahead of the Alpha, but it still has a way to go to become an all round amazing AAA title. Modern Warfare has set a high bar and although there are things in the game that could be improved upon, I am hoping that Black Ops Cold War will blast it out of the water.

*Article by Sheree "Endseeker707" Buchholz