Call of Duty Cold War should bring back Black Ops II's unlikely RTS missions

Black Ops 2
(Image credit: Activision)

Black Ops II is well remembered for three things: its multiplayer, which many consider the peak of classic COD; the campaign, an ultra-grim Greek tragedy with AKs; and the post-credits sequence, in which narco-terrorist Raul Menendez strapped on a bass guitar and joined the rhythm section of Avenged Sevenfold. I wouldn’t mind forgetting the latter, actually.

What’s less talked about is Strike Force, the series of levels that ran parallel to the single-player campaign—a brave, and failed, experiment that brought real-time strategy to Call of Duty.

Black Ops 2

(Image credit: Activision)

To my mind, COD’s dalliance with the RTS genre began with Modern Warfare, and specifically Death From Above, the level viewed from 7,000 feet up in a Spectre gunship. Peering through a black-and-white screen, you picked off tiny targets as Price, Soap, and their squad of murderlads sprinted to extraction down below.

Treyarch revived that perspective for the first Black Ops. From a Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft in the campaign, you briefly directed a team of commandos as they navigated Russian patrols. Very briefly; as soon as you issued a single order, the game moved on to its next protagonist.

Only in Black Ops II did the studio grant us complete control of the battlefield for the duration of a mission. In Strike Force mode, you start off looking through the eyes of a soldier, same as always. Hitting tab, however, brings up tactical view: from there you can send any friendly unit to a waypoint somewhere on the map: a bottleneck to defend, or an enemy to shoot to bits.

Black Ops 2

(Image credit: Activision)

Best of all, you don’t have to come back to earth in the same spot you left it. Select another soldier in a more opportune position, or wielding a rocket launcher, and the camera will swoop down to their position instead. That’s true even for the drones that zip above the buildings, and the autonomous machine guns that trundle about the map on tracks; you can seize control of anything that moves. For me, it feels like the logical conclusion to all of COD’s perspective hopping. If Modern Warfare 2 could cast you as a dead body dragged into a shallow grave, why not a hunk of metal glued to a machine gun and a GoPro?

Black Ops 2

(Image credit: Activision)

Even in first-person, Strike Force gives you access to your commands, turning COD into a slightly clumsy tactical shooter. Spot an enemy RPG on a roof? Hit 5 to select your helicopter support, then tap 4 on the target. Just, er, don’t hold 4, which sends everyone, almost certainly getting them killed.

OK, so it’s not Rainbow Six, and the key bindings could do with a little finessing. But there’s something exciting about fiddling with this strange hybrid, particularly in a series that tends to evolve slowly and conservatively. Strike Force ties Black Ops II to a history of brave action-RTS games on PC, from Shiny’s Sacrifice, through Double Fine’s Brutal Legend, all the way to Fortnite’s Save the World mode. These are hectic strategy games that light up two parts of your brain at once; games in which tactical problems can be solved by jumping into the fray for a spot of Hail Mary hack and slash.

Black Ops 2

(Image credit: Activision)

Strike Force is not the best example of this oddball genre, it has to be said. Since units have FPS health bars, they tend to die quickly, often forcing you to bunker down at an objective until your reinforcements hike halfway across the map. And of the mode’s five missions, roughly half feature assault objectives that don’t show the mechanics in their best light: when you’ve got two city blocks of respawning enemies to wade through, it makes more sense to sprint for the goal than to micromanage.

But when it works—as in the defensive FOB Spectre, wisely the only RTS mission Treyarch made mandatory to finish the game - you can still see the potential. I don’t expect Strike Force to make a return in Cold War’s campaign, but if Activision could spare a bit of cash for an experimental DLC pack, it would make COD feel like a platform where surprises can happen, rather than just something that comes around every November.

Contributor

Jeremy Peel is an award-nominated freelance journalist who has been writing and editing for PC Gamer over the past several years. His greatest success during that period was a pandemic article called "Every type of Fall Guy, classified", which kept the lights on at PCG for at least a week. He’s rested on his laurels ever since, indulging his love for ultra-deep, story-driven simulations by submitting monthly interviews with the designers behind Fallout, Dishonored and Deus Ex. He's also written columns on the likes of Jalopy, the ramshackle car game. You can find him on Patreon as The Peel Perspective.

Latest in Call of Duty
A soldier looks out over the Verdansk map, as a single tear rolls down his cheek.
The original Verdansk map is returning to Call of Duty: Warzone, to celebrate which we get a soldier crying to Nat King Cole
black ops 6 season 1
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 3 has been delayed, as the devs say they're 'taking the time to deliver a great experience' for what will be a 'big moment' for Call of Duty
A zombie santa with six fingers leaps at the screen.
Call of Duty admits it's using generative AI to 'help develop some in-game assets', and suddenly all those poorly made calling cards make sense
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in Black Ops 6.
Call of Duty's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossover costs like $90 and even the die-hards are in shellshock: 'Cash cow-abunga!'
Ghost, from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022), looks bleakly at a fellow passenger in a transport.
For COD’s sake: One player’s 763-day legal quest to make Activision unban their account ends in total success: ‘Worth the effort’
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 2
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 2 will let players battle on boats and bullet-trains, with the Terminator entering the fray 'shortly after launch'
Latest in Features
Inzoi player character holding a coffee
Inzoi lets you customize your entire house down to the last thread, which is great in theory but doesn't feel good in practice
Dancing Green in Final Fantasy 14.
Final Fantasy 14's latest raids have me fully convinced that Square Enix can still cook, even as job design lags behind
Razer Blade 16 (2025) gaming laptop
Nvidia RTX 5090 mobile tested: The needle hasn't moved on performance but this is the first time I'd consider ditching my desktop for a gaming laptop
Phantom Blade Zero
Chinese action game Phantom Blade Zero didn't click for me until I realized its deep commitment to wuxia film authenticity meant I had to relearn how swords work
kingdom come deliverance 2 thunderstone quest
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2's masterful quest design can be summed up by one wonderfully weird search for a magic stone
Blue Protocol players dancing minutes before the game closes forever
What will we do at the end of the world? If MMOs are any indication: mostly what we already do, plus a lot of dancing