Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold Warhas been out for a few days now, giving fans of the popular first-person shooter franchise plenty of time to complete its brief campaign. There are plenty of twists and turns throughout the story, culminating in one of three possible endings.

Choices players make throughoutCall of Duty: Black Ops Cold Warwill determine some plot developments that happen in certain missions, and will also change the recap that the game offers at the end about the whereabouts of all the characters. However, there is really one major decision that players make that determines which ending they will get. Please note that to discuss this decision and the ending, we will have to go intoMAJOR SPOILERSforBlack Ops Cold War.

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Here is what happens at the end ofCall of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.

Operation Greenlight

Throughout the course ofCall of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, players become aware ofOperation Greenlight. As it turns out, Operation Greenlight is a nuclear weapons program run by the United States that saw the country install nukes all over Europe. This way, the US would be able to respond immediately if the Soviet Union decided to launch a nuclear attack.

It’s revealed thatCall of Duty: Black Ops Cold Warantagonist Perseusis aware of Operation Greenlight, and intends on launching all of the program’s nukes simultaneously. This would permanently damaged the United States' reputation the world over, knocking it out of its spot as a superpower, and would give Perseus the opportunity to rise to power.

Bell - Identity Crisis

In the mission “Identity Crisis,” it is revealed thatCall of Duty: Black Ops Cold Warmain protagonist Bell is not really who he appears to be. While he has memories of fighting in Vietnam alongsideRussell Adler, those memories were implanted by CIA experiments after he was captured by Adler’s team. In reality, Bell was a rogue Russian operative who used to work closely alongside Perseus, a terrorist who is out to cause mass destruction and rebuild the world as he sees fit. Adler has even been controlling Bell’s action with a key phrase in a twist that’s not unlike the famous “Would you kindly?” line from the originalBioShockgame.

Now that Bell knows his real identity, he is given the choice to tell the truth about Perseus’s location, or lead Adler’s team elsewhere. This decision is the big choice thatCall of Duty: Black Ops Cold Warplayers have to make that determines which ending they will see.

Good Ending - The Final Countdown

Choosing to tell Adler the truth will unlock the “good” ending inCall of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, leading the team to Perseus to stop him from launching the United States' vast arsenal of nuclear weapons that it has spread out all across Europe. Working together with his captors, Bell,Frank Woods, Adler, and the rest are able to successfully destroy Perseus’s transmitter equipment, preventing him from launching the nukes and saving the world in the process.

With order restored in the world, Adler and Bell hike out to a cliffside to discuss their experience. However, Adler then reveals that he has to kill Bell, and the two draw guns on each other. The game doesn’t make it clear who shot who, leaving the fate of both Adler and Bell open to interpretation.

If players are feeling about about Bell being used and abused by the CIA, they can decide to turn against their teammates, sending them to the wrong location and giving Perseus an advanced warning. This will unlock theAshes to Ashes mission inCall of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, which culminates in the game’s “Bad” ending. In this ending, Bell turns against the team and has to kill all of them. Perseus is successful in launching the nuclear weapons, and the world’s view of the United States of America is irreparably damaged. Perseus declares his intention to essentially take over the worlds' governments after the crisis.

Worst Ending

If Bell fails to tip off Perseus, things in theCall of Duty: Black Ops Cold Warendingplay out pretty much the same as they do in the Bad Ending. However, the difference is that instead of Bell killing Adler and his team, Adler kills Bell. This results in a more abrupt and less action-packed ending than the Bad ending, but the end result is ultimately the same, as Perseus is still able to launch the nuclear weapons.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold Waris out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.

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