Throughout Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War’s campaign, players will have played their part in tracking down the mysterious Perseus, who’s determined to cause a nuclear war. As protagonist Bell, players will fight their way through iconic world stages trying to put an end to the madness. But as things unfold towards the beginning of the game, we realize not everything’s as it seems. When given a major decision, players will determine which of Black Ops Cold War’s endings they’ll get.
It can all get a bit confusing, but fear not, we’ll explain how to get both of the main endings, as well as the decisions that change the final cutscene you’ll get.
Be warned, this guide contains spoilers for Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War’s campaign, in particular, its endings. If you’re looking to enjoy the campaign spoiler-free, turn back now.
How to Get the Good Ending in Black Ops Cold War
During the ‘Identity Crisis’ mission, Bell will be getting interrogated by the rest of the team. It turns out that they placed an identity in your mind by brainwashing you into thinking you’d served in Vietnam, which you never had.
Ultimately, they’ll ask you where Perseus is. If you choose to tell them the truth that Perseus is in Solovetsky, you’ll get the ‘The Final Countdown’ last mission. This sees the team heading to Solovetsky and disabling a radar array that Perseus was going to use to detonate the nukes across Europe.
After the mission’s completed, Bell and Adler will stand looking out over some clips and chat a bit, before pulling guns on one another and pulling the trigger. Both of them die, but it’s never really explained why.
Our best guess is that Adler pulled the gun on Bell because he knew too much about what had happened over the course of the campaign. Leaking that knowledge could have huge implications on the global scale, so he had to be silenced. Bell likely pulled his in retaliation.
How to Get the Bad Ending in Black Ops Cold War
To get the bad ending, choose to lie and tell them that Perseus is in the Duga array in Ukraine.
This will see you get the ‘Ashes to Ashes’ final mission, which sees the team left in the lurch out in Duga. Adler will ask if you lied to him, which you can either talk about ideologies or signal for an ambush.
Signaling for an ambush leads to Perseus and his crew launching an ambush on Adler and co. who then disperse and require hunting down.
You’ll then need to pick each one of them off, before tracking down Adler in a nearby building. Head inside and after a bit of chit-chat and talk of a lighter, he’ll try and stab you. Struggle back and stab him in the chest to end the gameplay section.
Perseus will then congratulate you for your betrayal and reward you by letting you press the big red button.
‘Third Ending’ – Talk About Ideologies
If you instead choose to talk about ideologies, your team will shoot you. Perseus will still set off the nukes, but you won’t have the last laugh over the team you betrayed.
Ending Choices
Finally, there are several choices players can make throughout the game that will change the small cutscene that plays at the very end of the campaign. This details the outcomes of the decisions players make and will recap:
- Killing or holding Qadim
- Killing or capturing Volkov
- The success or failure of Operation Chaos
- The success or failure of Operation Red Circus
- Saving Lazar or Park, or leaving them both to die
There you have everything you need to know about Black Ops Cold Wars endings. Head over to our wiki for more guides on the game, or check out the coverage below.
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