Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Alpha Will Include These Game Modes and Maps

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s alpha test is arriving soon for PlayStation 4 players. The alpha will show only a part of the game’s multiplayer experience ahead of the October beta, and thanks to some new details from Activision, we now know what all the alpha will consist of. It’ll have three different game types from your usual small-team multiplayer modes and one mode called “Combined Arms” that’s new to Black Ops Cold War. All these will be played on four different maps with two each available for the different team sizes.

The first types of multiplayer mode that players will be most familiar with are the 6v6 game modes. These include Team Deathmatch, Domination, and Kill Confirmed. The first of those is the core multiplayer experience that needs no explanation, the second requires players to capture and control different objectives until one team wins, and the last puts a spin on Team Deathmatch by requiring players to retrieve dog tags from fallen enemies and teammates to score and deny points. Activision teased a “larger capture area” in Domination than we’ve seen in previous Call of Duty games.

These three traditional modes will be played on two maps: Miami and Satellite. Miami is the map we’ve seen before from leaked gameplay footage and will set players in Miami’s South Beach to battle in streets, buildings, and on beaches. Satellite is a much different sort of map that’s set in the Angolan Desert and features almost no man-made structures for players to utilize.

And then there’s Combined Arms: Domination, the 12v12 mode we’ve seen teased before. Combined Arms are the larger game modes in Black Ops Cold War, and in this alpha, the only playable variant will be Domination. Combined Arms matches are played on larger maps and feature different vehicles like tanks and gunboats and snowmobiles, so if you’ve been playing Warzone, you’ll be familiar with the vehicular combat here.

Combined Arms: Domination’s larger maps are Armada and Crossroads. Armada is set in the North Atlantic Ocean and features battles across ships via ziplines, rappel lines, and some of the vehicles mentioned previously. Crossroads is set in the frigid Soviet region where players will use tanks and snowmobiles to navigate the terrain.

The Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War alpha test will run from September 18th to September 20th on the PlayStation 4.