Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War: New maps, game modes and more coming to the Beta

The annual release of a Call of Duty game is often met with mixed reception from the fanbase. While Call of Duty's core fanbase looks forward to the release with much anticipation, others feel the annual release structure has contributed to the studio's creative rut.

However, fan perception has changed significantly since Call of Duty Modern Warfare's release in 2019 and the subsequent success of Warzone. The community seemed to agree that the game was the best Call of Duty entry in the franchise in years.

While Modern Warfare was developed by Infinity Ward and Black Ops: Cold War is Treyarch's baby, expectations are still pretty high, given that the series is returning to its roots in the Cold War.

After a rather successful Alpha run for Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War, fans will be treated to a Beta over two weekends. Players will be able to play new maps as well as new game modes.

Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War; New Maps and Game Modes

New Map: Cartel

(image credits: Treyarch)

Multiplayer map, Cartel, will be available from the start of the Beta on October 8th on the PS4. Set in the steamy jungles of Nicaragua, players will storm a remote cartel compound where a known Perseus associate has been operating in the shadows.

Combined Arms: Assault

(image credits: Treyarch)

The Combined Arms category of 12v12 modes brings bigger teams, larger play spaces, plenty of vehicles and objective-based warfare. This might sound familiar if you played the Alpha and jumped into Combined Arms: Domination, which was playable on two different maps: Crossroads and Armada.

Players will now be able to play the game mode on the new map, Cartel.

New Game Mode: VIP Escort

(image credits: Treyarch)

In VIP Escort, your objective is to safely escort the VIP to one of two extraction zones or to wipe out the enemy team. If you’re on defence, you’ll need to stop the enemy VIP from extracting before your team is eliminated. Because this is a no-respawn mode, players can revive their downed teammates before they bleed out, so it pays to coordinate with your squad.

New Game Mode- Fireteam: Dirty Bomb

(image credits: Treyarch)

Available for the first time during Weekend 2 of the Beta on two new large-scale maps, Fireteam: Dirty Bomb cranks the action up to 11 with multi-squad insanity. A total of 40 players, broken up into 10 teams, will compete to take out enemies, collect uranium caches, locate Dirty Bombs scattered throughout the map and successfully deposit their uranium into said bombs to detonate them and get the win.

Check out the full details on Treyarch's website