CoD Modern Warfare VS. Black Ops Cold War: Which Game's Better?

Modern Warfare and Black Ops Cold War
Which one's better? BOCW, or 2019's Modern Warfare? (Credit: Activision via Dexerto)

Both monoliths in the shooter space, both great in their own right, Modern Warfare and Black Ops Cold War are both fantastic experiences. The thing is that they are very different experiences, and not everything will be for everyone in either game. Thus, the question presents itself: which game is better?

You could consider this a review, you could consider it a hot-take, but whatever you consider it, you can't consider either of these games as the same. They are both shooters, they both task you with mindlessly murdering people for no apparent reason. They both try to be good, but they both fail in different ways, and succeed in others. Let's dive in.

Modern Warfare Vs. BOCW: Campaign

Well, this one's certainly a little bit subjective. While you'll find other elements of the games in question pretty night and day in terms of their quality, this one's a little different.It depends on taste. In Black Ops Cold War, you will find that Treyarch return to the traditional Call of Duty campaign in style, and with substance.

The choices presented in Black Ops Cold War are surface-level, though, and whilst more than you would usually expect from a CoD campaign, they may as well not really be here. The story notes are interesting, and the player feels more involved, and absorbed in the world of BOCW than in a game like Modern Warfare.

CoD Best Characters Price
Price is one of the best characters in Call of Duty history... what more needs to be said? (Credit: Activision)

Problem is: Modern Warfare has a much more interesting, engaging, and well-structured campaign. It is plotted unbelievably well, and what's even more important: the characters are simply fantastic! So, it is a mixed bag. Leaning? Modern Warfare, to be honest...

Modern Warfare Vs. BOCW: Multiplayer

This is where that “night and day” comment comes in. Well, the next section too, but they are in favor of different games. We're just going to say it: Black Ops Cold War's multiplayer is a simplified and s**tter version of Modern Warfare.

Modern Warfare reinvented Call of Duty, to a certain degree. Obviously, Black Ops IV brought in the Blackout Battle Royale Mode, but Modern Warfare introduced Warzone (and then Black Ops Cold War f**ked it up) and one of the deepest and most well-designed multiplayer modes in CoD history. There is simply no comparison.

Hey, we're here to compare, so here you go: Fireteam: Dirty Bomb and Combined Arms? Kind of s**t. Ground War? Pretty fabulous. Balance? Modern Warfare. Maps? Modern Warfare. Even after two seasons, it's still Modern Warfare, and that's a bad sign.

Modern Warfare Vs. BOCW: Zombies / Co-Op

Night and day, part 2. This time: Black Ops Cold War takes the winning place. BOCW has possibly the best Zombies mode in Call of Duty history, especially afterSeason 2's Outbreak mode dropped. Modern Warfare? Spec Ops was kind of a mess, a waste of space and a waste of time if you chose to spent your time in it.

Meanwhile, the maps that are out so far for Black Ops Cold War's Zombies Mode are fantastic, especially the open-world style Outbreak, which elevates Zombies to a higher level than it has ever been. This is definitely the best Zombies or Co-Op mode since the original Black Ops, if not in the entirety of Call of Duty history. Enjoy!

Modern Warfare Vs. BOCW: The Verdict

This breakdown will probably have a lot of your knickers in a knot. That's okay, that's why you can vent to us on our Facebook, complain away! We think that this is pretty clear cut, though. There is only one game out of these two that delivers quality throughout the majority of its experience.

Seriously, even if you just consider a win in each category as valued at one point, then Modern Warfare has two points out of three. That's two thirds! Now that this glaringly obvious point has been made, it's time to make the final, disgusting, and incredibly important statement in this whole article:

Modern Warfare makes us moister than Black Ops Cold War's oyster.

We're sorry, just so sorry (not)...

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Evan Williams

Australian gamer, musician, and journalist at EarlyGame. Currently living in Germany so no, I don't ride a Kangaroo to work. I am currently hard at work making our CoD and Rocket League pages the best on the internet. Lofty ambitions,...