Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is the latest addition to the ever-growing franchise. This game has been widely-anticipated amid the trend of AAA publishers trying to quickly capitalize on the success of the battle royale craze. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 adds its own twist to the battle royale formula with Blackout. This is the first time in Call of Duty‘s history that a single player campaign will not be included. The developers at Treyarch are banking on revitalizing the franchise on three core pillars: Blackout, Multiplayer, and Zombies. Does the inclusion of Blackout make up for the lack of any single player content? Let’s jump straight into it and talk about the marquee game mode.
Total Blackout
Blackout is Call of Duty‘s take on the immensely popular battle royale genre. Treyarch remained silent about the details surrounding their battle royale mode since E3 2018. Players were recently given access to a beta before the final release. First impressions were promising. Here we are with a full release and I can safely say that Blackout is an amazing game mode. It includes all the hooks that will keep solo players and squads playing for hundreds of hours. Fornite may still be more accessible because of its cartooney aesthetics. However, Black Ops 4 offers the tactical warfare that players crave. Call of Duty‘s engine makes Blackout shine when compared to its closest competitor, PUBG.
What is there to say about the great Multiplayer experience that Treyarch is known for? Well, plenty as the developers have subtly changed some key aspects of Call of Duty‘s specialist-oriented multiplayer action. The most noticeable changes comes from both the Time to Kill (TTK) and the reigning in of the specialist class system.
The TTK of Black Ops 4 has increased thus changing the way you approach various game modes. Players now have health bars and everyone can manually heal themselves with an ability on cooldown. This changes modes like Domination dramatically because it narrows the focus on teamwork. Teamwork is further encouraged as teams can’t run multiple of the same specialist. Each specialist is given a better defining role rather than each a variation of a non-stop killing machine. Take the new specialist Crash as an example, he can boost the max health of all his teammates and several classes have been reworked to certain roles. While Seraph still carries her signature Annihilator pistol, she can also deploy a tactical beacon on cooldown. Nomad’s Nano Bugs have been scrapped in favor of a dog. The canine buddy seeks out enemies or patrols an area alongside his laser triggered mines.
Multiplayer is still as great as it has ever been. You get all the game modes fans of the series love like Kill Confirmed, TDM, Search and Destroy, etc. There is great synergy between Blackout and Multiplayer. Both play almost the same. This allows for a seamless transition between them when you need to take a break from Blackout. I found myself playing several matches of Blackout while regularly switching to multiplayer to level up my rank and vice versa.
Zombies returns with a brand-new storyline known as IX alongside Voyage of Despair and Blood of the Dead. The fan favorite mode also includes its own progression system. You can easily sink hours into it by discovering new amulets, potions and weapons to craft. For the first time ever, single players will be able to play this mode by themselves with bots filling in the rest of the roles.
Final Notes
Lastly, there are two facts about Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 which need to be addressed. There is no real single player content and the specialist “story modes” are nothing but tutorial missions slapped with some cut-scenes. Treyarch and Activision had said beforehand that a single player campaign would no longer be included and Blackout will take its place instead. As someone who has enjoyed the series since the first games it’s understandable why they made this move. The other complaint I have with the game is the lackluster UI in the main menu. That first menu UI is horrendous when you compare it to the other menus for Blackout, Multiplayer, and Zombies. The UI design for those modes looks fantastic. The added touch of loading characters via a smoke effect is the icing on the cake.
Other than those two complaints, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 offers a ton of replayability despite the lack of content. It will be interesting to see how the series will change and evolve with post-launch support. Blackout is a great take on the battle royale game mode. It’s one of the best performing games when compared to the bug-filled PUBG. Multiplayer still offers a great time and can help change things up after several Blackout matches. Zombies is a deep and massive as it has ever been. While other games like Fortnite and PUBG have cheaper barriers to entry, you shouldn’t sleep on Black Ops 4. It’s well worth the price of admission for the level of polish that only Call of Duty can provide.
New Crazy Zombie Maps Rebalancing of Multiplayer Blackout’s Map
Progression in Blackout Lack of new game modes in Multiplayer
Review Summary
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is a great entry with the inclusion of their battle royale mode known as Blackout. Multiplayer has changed for the better by focusing on teamwork and Zombies is back with three massive new maps. While Blackout is amazing there is still room to improve as the initial offering is lacking in content.
