Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War | Zombies ... Die Maschine

Cold War, like all the other black Ops entries in the Call of Duty franchise brings with it it's own take on Zombie warfare. This includes three new main modes of play. Die Maschine, Die Maschine 20, and Dead Ops Arcade 3 being those three modes. The story driven, and wave based Die Maschine, in particular, is what I'll be focusing on in this article. Within Die Maschine the developer, being Treyarch, adds a new Soviet spin to the ongoing Zombies lore. This time around the Nazi experiment falls into the Soviets hands, and once again all hell breaks loose on earth. We find this out from a female agent who has gone off the grid after stumbling upon video footage of the containment breach from an unknown machine that has quite literally reanimated the dead after having been reactivated itself. This of course takes place in and around a snowy bunker, and abandoned communications/crash site. As one of four soldiers it is your duty to go in on this informational lead, unlock the mysteries at hand, and defeat wave after wave of increasingly stronger undead as you collect that intel.

Perhaps in the most original sense Zombies, and the two Die Maschine modes of play therein incorporate a loadout system unique solely to this year's Call of Duty experience. In it you'll be able to equip one primary weapon, it's attachments, and a field upgrade. Attachments this time can effect things like salvage or equipment drops within the modes. In regards to the field upgrade it's vastly different from the main Cold War multiplayer's. In fact the field upgrade is not your traditional field upgrade. It is more or less a a cool down based extra assist that allows the player to freeze zombies, buff player damage output while simultaneously burning zombies, drop mines, enter a stealth state, and even heal or revive fellow teammates. These field upgrades can be upgraded by using the Aether points you get from playing through a session of the mode giving them alternate abilities that stack. 

The Aether currency you'll earn is also used to upgrade elemental ammo mods as well as the primary weapon types. By upgrading the weapon types alone you gain additional damage, critical damage, and sometimes additional slots or something else more gun/weapon driven. The same goes for the ammo mods, and perks. Ammo itself is elementally charged this time with three tiers of upgrades increasing the elemental effects. In-game the ammo, and weapon upgrades are acquired through a pack-a-punch machine that is constructed through objective completion. Along with that returns Elemental Pop, Mystery Box, and soda based perk machines. The consumable drinks, in particular, return with their buffs to stamina, speed, health recovery, critical damage output, and more via these vending machines. Elemental Pop vendors, on the other hand, will add a bonus chance at random elemental damage for a price. Lastly the Mystery Box is where you can nab some pre-constructed weapons randomly at different rarities with the rarer weapon opportunities coming at later waves. 

Speaking of that you'll also be able to activate trials once you get into the deeper parts of the Die Maschine environment. Trials will reward you with rand prizes for completing timed objectives. This can include staying in a certain place for a limited amount of time or even killing zombies in a certain fashion. The more trails you complete the better the chance at getting a rarer prize. These prizes include everything from power-ups to currencies, and even special weapons. For those looking to re-roll weapon loadouts you'll be able to do that at the armor/weapon dummy located near the pack-a-punch machine. This dummy will also allow for three tiers of armor ,and weapon upgrades. Making you more prepared for the increasingly difficult waves of zombies.

About that XP ...

One really cool thing about the Die Maschine mode is that XP earnings are the best in the game. You get extra XP for surviving waves, and killing the undead as well as XP for certain milestones or feats in-game. Currently there's even a new seasonal version of Die Maschine called "Jingle Hells" which not only adds a Christmas theme, but awards you in new ways with presents dropped from destroyed snowmen. 

Objectives ...

When it comes to objectives Die Maschine is your standard Zombies thoroughfare. That with a fresh Wintry theme slapped on for good measure. When a match begins you start off at a starting point, and wave by wave kill off a certain amount of zombies. Killing zombies rewards you points that can then be spent on new weapons, consumables, ammo, armor, pack-a-punch weapon/ammo upgrades, and even in unlocking previously inaccessible areas with bombs. You'll even find that workbenches make a return, and that the dropped salvage from zombies will allow you to gain things like the clapping monkey distraction. Additionally power-ups of old make a return gifting you things like instant barrier building, zombie clearing nukes, max ammo, and even insta-kill. Making the fight for survival a little easier than it would be otherwise. As far as story elements go it is through access via point paid bombs that the narrative portions of the story open up. The more areas you unlock the more the story will progress. It is also how you can capitalize on the mode's new Exfil or evacuation feature, and earn even more rewards. By finding the extraction phone at round fifteen, and every five waves after you can make your way to a designated extraction point where you can jump upon an awaiting rescue helicopter, and get the hell out of Dodge with whomever remains of your party. The catch being that you must kill a certain amount of zombies or the helicopter will be shot down, and the Exfil attempt made void.

From my cold dead hands ...

Getting attacked enough in the game during your wave by wave fight for survival will put you into a state of bleeding, as per usual, in which you only have so much time that you can be revived. This requires a teammate injecting you until a dial meter fills up, or using the healing field upgrade. If they fail to reach you in time your only chance to get back in on the action is for your surviving teammates to clear the current round. After which you will be revived, but with the loss of all previous perks, and upgrades. Depending upon the version of the mode you choose the amount of waves will vary. The main mode is endless whereas 'Die Maschine 20' has only 20 waves. You can of course Exfil out of it at the fifteenth wave, but only if you can make it to the extraction point, and hop aboard the helicopter for a ride to safety.

Gameplay perks ...

Bonuses for playing Die Maschine are plentiful. They include quicker Battle Pass tier progress, easier loadout leveling and unlocks as well as currency to spend on the Zombies mode upgrades. You'll even unlock some character, and weapon skins for use in other parts of Cold War. The trade off is these sessions can last a really long time, and depending on how long your teammates want to stick it out you might invest quite a bit of time in a single playthrough. Sometimes you'll even have to deal with poor teamwork, or trolls as well, but for the most part everyone wants out with the highest payout possible. The longer you wait to Exfil the more Aether points you'll get on Exfil. One thing you'll really want to mind though is how complimentary your loadout is in comparison to your teammates. Those loadouts basically equate to roles as the can serve as extra offense, defense, and healing. If everyone is running the same kind of loadout it may not benefit the team as much, and that's why communication is a must if you really want to make it far.