Black Ops Cold War

DeveloperTreyarchRaven Software

PublisherActivision

ReleasedNovember 13, 2020

PlatformsPlayStation 4 and 5Xbox One and Series X/SWindows (Battle.net, Steam from March 2023)

Zombies maps4 round-based1 at launch, 3 in free seasons

StoryDark Aether

First Rooms here4 leaderboardsNo Support

Black Ops Cold War opened a new Zombies story, the Dark Aether, and a new way to play it. Players are no longer famous characters but operators of Requiem, a CIA-backed response team, and they start a game with a weapon of their own loadout instead of a pistol. Weapons have rarities, armor can be bought, salvage dropped by zombies builds equipment, and from the end of round 10 a team can call a helicopter and leave the map.

Four round-based maps came out over a year: Die Maschine at launch, then Firebase Z, Mauer der Toten and Forsaken in the free seasonal updates. Every one of them has its First Room board here, from solo to four players.

The First Room in Black Ops Cold War

A First Room run keeps every door shut and makes do with the spawn area. The aim has not changed since World at War, but the tools a team brings into the room have.

A loadout weapon

Every player chooses the weapon he starts with. The wall weapons of the room matter less than on any earlier game.

Rarity

A weapon comes in Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic or Legendary, and each step makes it stronger. Ultra is kept for the Wonder Weapons.

Salvage

Killed zombies drop it, and the Crafting Table turns it into lethal and tactical equipment or scorestreaks.

Perks without the power

On Die Maschine, Juggernog, Stamin-Up and Quick Revive run on generators and can be bought before the power is on.

Exfil

From the end of round 10, then every five rounds, the team can leave by helicopter. A record run never does: the round counter is the only thing that counts.

The No Support category

No Support is the only category tracked for Black Ops Cold War. The rules are the same on the four maps.

No support

The support items, the scorestreaks such as the Sentry Turret, the Chopper Gunner or the War Machine, are never used.

No door opened

And every round played in full.

Outbreak first is allowed

Loading into Outbreak before the map to get the extended interaction range is accepted.

No glitch, no exploit.

Full gameplay

And in co-op the point of view of every player.

The four First Rooms

Die Maschine

Projekt Endstation in Morasko, Poland, rebuilt around the ruins of the Nacht der Untoten bunker. A game starts outdoors, by the wreck of a plane. Leaderboard

Firebase Z

Outpost 25 in the A Shau Valley, Vietnam. A game starts in the village courtyard, with the Magnum on the wall for 750 points. Leaderboard

Mauer der Toten

East Berlin by the Wall. A game starts on the roof of an apartment building; the Diamatti hangs in the fifth floor apartments for 750 points. Leaderboard

Forsaken

Test Site Anna in the Ukrainian SSR, and Anytown, a copy of an American town. A game starts in the Staging Area, with the 1911 and the Diamatti at 750 points each. Leaderboard

The records

The world records of the four No Support boards at the time of writing, in rounds reached.

Board	Solo	2 players	3 players	4 players
Die Maschine	275	59	58	53
Firebase Z	90	53	53	38
Mauer der Toten	65	37	37	32
Forsaken	246	45	41	35

Two solo records stand far above the rest: 275 on Die Maschine, held by drainbb, and 246 on Forsaken, held by Slang Kush 420. With two players or more, no board goes past 59. Firebase Z belongs to one team: x-tropical_kush holds the solo record and plays in the 2, 3 and 4 player records with Hicham-78Az.

What the game itself says

Die Maschine has two achievements that already look like a First Room challenge: Entamaphobia, stay in the Yard for 15 rounds, and Nightmare at 20 Feet, kill 100 enemies without leaving the top of the crashed plane wing.

The maps

Map	Released	What it is
Die Maschine	Nov 13, 2020	Poland, November 1983. Nacht der Untoten reimagined, the D.I.E. Machine, Heavy Zombies, Plaguehounds and Megatons.
Firebase Z	Feb 4, 2021	Vietnam, June 1984. A village and a firebase linked by a teleporter, three Aether Reactors, the RAI K-84, Manglers, Mimics and the Orda.
Mauer der Toten	Jul 15, 2021	East Berlin, February 1985. The CRBR-S, Klaus, Tormentors, Disciples and the Krasny Soldat.
Forsaken	Oct 7, 2021	Ukrainian SSR, June 1985. Anytown, the Chrysalax, Abominations, and the end of the story.

Firebase Z came with Season One Reloaded, Mauer der Toten with Season Four Reloaded and Forsaken with Season Six, all free. Between them, Outbreak took Zombies to large open zones in the Ural Mountains.

Perks

The classic machines are back: Juggernog, Quick Revive, Speed Cola, Stamin-Up and Deadshot Daiquiri. Die Maschine adds a new one, Elemental Pop, and has Der Wunderfizz. Each season brought a perk back to every map: Tombstone Soda with Firebase Z, Mule Kick with Mauer der Toten, then Death Perception and PhD Slider.

Wonder Weapons

D.I.E. Machine

(Die Maschine), with the Ray Gun back in the Mystery Box.

RAI K-84

(Firebase Z).

CRBR-S

(Mauer der Toten), with three upgraded variants.

Chrysalax

(Forsaken), a weapon that is also an axe.

Trivia

The best-selling game of 2020 in the United States.
Battle.net first. On PC the game was sold only on Battle.net until March 2023, when it came to Steam.
Die Maschine means The Machine, and Mauer der Toten Wall of the Dead.
A wing with a message. The crashed plane wing on Die Maschine reads “Czarnobog’s wrath is coming”, after a Slavic god of darkness.

All Black Ops Cold War leaderboards