Raven Software is exploring the ’80s with Call of Duty: Black Ops – Cold War, so it only makes sense that some inspirations from the time are seeping into the upcoming PC game. Speaking to Official PlayStation Magazine (thanks, Segment Next), senior creative director Dan Vondrak explains that you’ll need to solve puzzles to unlock intel and access different parts of side-missions.
“I was like, dude, if this was an ’80s game, you would have to solve some kind of puzzle,” Vondrak explains. “People thought I was crazy. [Now] you have to use the evidence to solve these puzzles and that’ll unlock a different part of the side-mission, so even here we wanted to make a call back to the ’80s.”
Call of Duty’s missions are typically more linear, so it’s interesting to see Raven Software switch things up by making things more open-ended. Vondrak goes on to explain that CoD: Cold War has two optional side-missions that will affect the war game’s storyline and ending. I’m a bit lazy myself when it comes to these things, but if it means getting an ending that isn’t naff, then I guess I’ll do the side-quests.
Dialogue and choice is more front and centre this time around as missions are designed with multiple endings based on the decisions you make. All this is why Vondrak reckons the new PC game is “breaking out of the normal traditional Call of Duty structure”.
The Call of Duty: Black Ops’ – Cold War PC beta isn’t too far away, and we’ve got plenty of guides to help you prepare. The Call of Duty: Black Ops – Cold War class system and Call of Duty: Black Ops – Cold War guns guides are a good place to start, I reckon.