Shroud explains how Treyarch can fix Fireteam in Black Ops Cold War

Andrew Amos
Shroud side by side with Black Ops Cold War Fireteam gameplay

Fireteam is the newest game mode to hit Call of Duty, with Treyarch adding the team-based mode in Black Ops Cold War. However, according to Michael ‘shroud’ Grzesiek, Fireteam is a long way off being enjoyable. He’s got some fixes though.

The new Fireteam game mode in Black Ops Cold War is a bit of everything. It’s part battle-royale, with players being divided up into 10 teams of four. It’s got some objective hunting, and obviously, kills go a long way to racking up points.

However, the game mode has received a mixed reception upon release in the beta. While it’s definitely a different gameplay experience to normal, the mode loses its charm pretty quickly.

COD player planting bomb in Fireteam mode
Fireteam is a huge new game mode in Black Ops Cold War, but there’s some kinks that need fixing.

It can feel like a grind, with games taking forever, and long time-to-kill making the action less explosive. It can also get pretty confusing, with the objective not awfully clear. Shroud shares many of these same concerns with Fireteam as the rest of the community.

He’s got some solutions though. His biggest quandary with Fireteam is the long time-to-kill. With players getting armor on top of their health, gunfights can take forever, and even if you win one, you’re at a stark disadvantage until you find time to heal up and top up your plates.

Shroud has a simple solution though: remove the armor, and increase everyone’s base HP.

“I wish there wasn’t armor in [Fireteam]. That would be nice. Simple solution: why can’t they just make it so your HP is higher in this game mode? No armor, nothing ⁠— your HP is just a little bit higher. You still get the same regen, it might just take a little bit longer to get to max, but isn’t that an easy solution,” he said while playing through the beta.

Shroud’s problem isn’t with the armor mechanic itself. After all, he was an avid player of Warzone, and didn’t have any problems with it in the battle royale environment. It just doesn’t fit the bill for Fireteam though. It makes the gameplay clunky, in his opinion.

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“The problem isn’t the armor itself, or the health that you have. The problem is that once you’ve ticked away and that armor can’t be regened like your health can, you’re now Joe Garbargio,” he said.

Then, there was also another issue: “that game mode took way too long.” That’s been a pretty hot talking point in the community since Fireteam’s release. The simple solution for that is reduce the time limit and points required to win.

Those changes will come with time as Treyarch keeps tinkering with the new game mode. For now, the jury is still out for shroud on Black Ops Cold War. While he’s enjoying himself, he hasn’t played enough yet to form a proper opinion.

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About The Author

Hailing from Perth, Andrew was formerly Dexerto's Australian Managing Editor. They love telling stories across all games and esports, but they have a soft spot for League of Legends and Rainbow Six. Oh, and they're also fascinated by the rise of VTubers.