The zombie mode has been revised and largely modified for this new chapter of the series, introducing new mechanics, including that of the Crystals of Etherium, which can be used to unlock perks, weapons and so on from the shop that you can visit before each game. These special crystals can be obtained by playing and surviving for as long as possible the hordes of zombies that will try to wipe you out, waiting to be able to call a helicopter to carry out the extraction.
Once logged in in Zombie mode, scroll through the menus by pressing the L1 and R1 keys (on Playstation), or LB and RB (on Xbox), until you reach the pre-game Loadout screen. From here select the Skills option and then Weapon Classes, within which you will also find the Melee tab, which will only become accessible after you have reached at least level 50 in multiplayer mode. Within this tab you will find a total of three different skills, which you can unlock and equip by spending a certain amount of Etherium Crystals (in total 6 crystals, 3 for the first two skills and 3 to unlock the real Bowie Knife. own). The last of these skills will be exactly what you are looking for, as it will allow you to replace the classic melee attack, usually performed by hitting the opponent with the butt of the weapon held at that moment, with the Bowie Knife, an formidable weapon in terms of damage dealt to enemies.
If you want to know more about the game, we refer you to our review of Call Of Duty Black Ops Cold War. If, on the other hand, you have already purchased it but still don't know how to best use it, you can take a look at our guide with the tricks for the COD Cold War campaign.