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Black Ops Cold War is three games sharing a menu: a 1981 spy campaign that hides two side operations and two endings behind an evidence board, a multiplayer suite built around the Gunsmith, and the first two Dark Aether Zombies maps. Our guides are organised the same way, with the Dark Ops challenges running through all three. Everything below links to a full page.
Campaign: the safe house and its evidence
The campaign keeps returning you to a safe house, and our campaign walkthrough treats it as the hub it is. It starts with the locked room whose six-digit gate code can be worked out from three clues or simply typed in as 11-22-63, then tracks the six pieces of evidence you collect across other missions and shows how they solve the two side operations. Operation Chaos is a floppy disk that wants a passphrase and a numeric code; Operation Red Circus asks you to pick three double agents off a board. Both feed into the endings, where telling the truth or lying in the final interrogation sends you to Solovetsky or Duga. Raven Software’s creative director explained the thinking behind those puzzles before launch, and our news story on the RPG-like puzzles preserves his explanation of why an ’80s game needed them.
Multiplayer: loadouts, perks and levelling
Our loadouts guide picks one build for each of the ten weapons we cover and explains how the Gunsmith slots and Wildcards fit together. Behind it sit the individual pages: the XM4, Krig 6, AK-47 and FFAR 1 among the assault rifles, the MP5 and AK-74u for close range, the burst M16 and semi-automatic Type 63, and the Pelington 703 and level 55 M82 for sniping. The perks guide explains all fifteen perks by slot and names the six worth running, the rank up fast page covers double XP codes, weapon challenges and objective modes on the way to level 55, and the best settings guide walks the graphics, audio, controller and mouse menus, down to a 100 field of view with an independent ADS FOV.
Zombies: Die Maschine and Firebase Z
The Zombies maps guide takes Die Maschine from the first 500-point door to the exfil chopper. Its children are the pieces: turning on the power through roughly 8,250 points of doors and barricades, the six perk machines plus the Wunderfizz in the Dark Aether, the Coffin Dance side egg with its five orbs, and the main Easter egg through four Wonder Weapon upgrades to Orlov and the ninety-second escape. The second map gets the Firebase Z Easter egg, from Ravenov’s first errand to the three-phase fight with Orda.
Dark Ops: the thread through every mode
The classified entries in the Dark Ops tab are hidden challenges worth Calling Cards and XP, and our mechanics guide pairs the full Dark Ops list for Multiplayer, Zombies and the campaign with the branching endings, since several challenges, from decrypting the floppy disk to clearing both Zombies quests, are tasks the other guides already walk you through.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need the side operations to finish the campaign?
No, but the recap at the end reports whether you solved Operation Chaos and whether your Red Circus picks were honest, and the final interrogation choice, not the side missions, decides which ending you see.
Which weapon page should a new player open first?
The MP5 for close quarters, since our page rates its control and range above the AK-74u, or the XM4 for an assault rifle that works in any situation. Both loadouts are summarised in the loadouts guide.
How much do I need before the Die Maschine power switch?
Around 8,250 points across four barricades and three doors, according to our power guide; the switch itself is free once you reach the control room.