Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

The game industry has had a pretty interesting year in terms of gameplay trends. From single-player games dominating sales charts to the continuing dominance of Fortnite and the Battle Royale genre, there are games catering to every type of player. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 comes into the fold by not only ditching its single-player campaign but going all-in on multiplayer content. I was a little trepidatious at first but I’m happy to say that Black Ops 4 truly nails its multiplayer content.

Call of Duty has been known for its multiplayer for years now and it was only a matter of time for them to make the jump. And what a jump they made. Not only are they taking on the current industry titan in Fortnite with their addition of Blackout but they’ve tightened up their multiplayer and Zombies modes.

Let’s just jump straight into it.

Blackout

The Battle Royale storm keeps churning throughout the gaming industry. Now Call of Duty has been swept up in its strong winds. Blackout, Black Ops 4’s Battle Royale mode, is a shining example of what a Battle Royale mode from a triple-A developer can and should be. Never straying too far from the formula that makes these Royale games work, Blackout instead trusts that Call of Duty players will intuitively understand how to dominate the mode.

Capped at 88 players (which Treyarch insists isn’t set in stone), players are dropped into a pretty diverse map that includes drop-points loosely based on past Black Ops multiplayer maps. Yes, Nuke Town is there, and its definitely been… nuked. What I found most interesting about the map was how “lived-in” it felt–something Blackout’s competitors have always seemed to struggle with. If you play solo, the sense of isolation is there. Call of Duty’s hallmark sound design is still present and works to wondrous effect to give the impression that this is a map where the action is constantly happening. Gunshots in the distance echo to signal danger and some of the lootable perks enhance your sense of awareness by boosting the sound of enemy footsteps.

As you would expect, guns and gear are scattered throughout the world. Some areas are more sparse than others when it comes to gear to find but I never really felt as though I wasn’t able to find a weapon within the first minute or so of landing. One small gripe I do have is the variation of drop rates for some weapons. It does seem there is a higher chance to find a shotgun over an assault rifle and I often find ammo for weapons that aren’t even in the area. This could be by design to keep players moving from location to location but it also could be my luck (which is more likely). There is a lot of growth potential when it comes to weapons Treyarch could add to Blackout. I do foresee them adding some of the crazier weapons that have been seen across the series.

Which brings me to the best addition to the Battle Royale genre: Zombies.

Treyarch is the leader when it comes to zombie-focused content in video games and it only makes sense for them to throw their world-renowned Zombies mode into Blackout. Players are able to drop in certain locations that could be infested with zombies; locations that are also home to some of the best weapons in the game. There is a trade-off though as these zombies are no joke. They seem to hit harder than the standard fluff zombies in Black Ops 4’s Zombies mode and will chase after you, making your looting just a little more difficult. There was one match where I dropped into the Asylum (an apt name for a place where zombies would spawn) and was met by a horde of zombies that were hell-bent on eating my brains as I was just trying to find any weapon I possibly could. It was chaotic, it was thrilling and it was fun.

Of course, once I found a weapon and fired it at said zombie horde, that alerted every player in the area exactly where I was and I paid for it dearly.

Blackout also has drivable vehicles, which I believe to be a first in a Call of Duty multiplayer mode that isn’t a killstreak. The vehicles do work pretty well, although helicopters are easy targets for any sort of rocket launcher and they don’t seem to be able to stay in the air for long. Unless you are squading up with three of your friends, I would recommend avoiding using vehicles due to how much noise they make. Another testament to the sound design Treyarch has put into Black Ops 4.

The inventory system Treyarch has implemented is solid enough to where I never felt like I couldn’t switch between guns and attachments on the fly. I do wish I could hold a few more weapons on my person, as I do find there are often times where a sniper rifle would be helpful, but not at the cost of giving up a spot to my assault rifle and submachine gun. But in turn, it forces players to think very strategically. Many times when I was caught in a situation where a sniper rifle would be ideal, not having one forced me to silently pursue my target across a great expanse. And just like zombies, it was a tense experience that I was not expecting from Call of Duty.

All in all, Blackout is such a standout mode that I wish it were a standalone release so it could be in more people’s hands. The deliberate pace the mode offers is so out of left field that I felt like I was playing one of the game’s competitors. It’s a lot of fun solo or with friends, and I never felt like I was at a huge disadvantage due to the game’s systems, unlike with Fortnite’s building mechanic. Skill matters, but so does patience. Blackout is such an exhilarating experience, it’s hard to not recommend.

Zombies

In lieu of a traditional single-player campaign, Treyarch has decided to beef up its base Zombies offering by creating a story within the mode. I was a little hesitant with their approach, as Call of Duty’s single-player campaigns has always been my favorite part of the series. Luckily, Treyarch has provided players with two engaging, funny and tense stories within Zombies. That’s right, players have the opportunity to play through two different timelines with different casts and characters.

The three base maps are fine for what they are: IX (a bloody gladiator arena), Blood of the Dead (a prison run amok) and Voyage of Despair (set aboard the doomed Titanic). My biggest disappointment from the map designs was just how bare-bones and safe each one felt. For example, IX is centered around players being transported to the start of a gladiatorial match. The catch? Zombies are the trials you must face. It was quite disappointing to learn that the map, other than aesthetics, never really tackled what makes the theme so great. Instead, IX gives players more of the zombie wave after zombie wave we’ve gotten since the inception of the mode. No melee weapons like gladiator spears, tridents or swords? No body armor to find and equip? Or for Voyage of Despair, a map centered around the Titanic hitting the iceberg, you never actually see the Titanic actually sink. It would have been great to have players feel the tension as the ship slowly sinks into the water, giving them tighter spaces to work through while the zombie horde closes in. The maps are still fun, they just feel like a missed opportunity to give players something amazing.

AI teammates have finally been introduced into Zombies, a welcome addition to a solo player like me. Yes, the AI can be a little buggy at times, but it makes solo play more enjoyable. In addition, a comprehensive tutorial system has been added to give new players (and even veterans) a refresh on how the game plays.

One of my biggest gripes is how the story is delivered. I do feel as though it would have been better to have interstitial cutscenes or pauses in the zombie waves to actually give some exposition. Instead, we have a lot of key (and often humorous) dialogue lost behind sound cues and zombie moans. For example, during an interesting portion of the Blood of the Dead map, another teammate of mine picked up the “Insta-kill” power-up, causing the in-game announcer scream “INSTA-KILL” over some important story dialogue. I know not every player cares for the story and looks past it but for a game without a single player campaign, I found this to be the biggest nuisance.

Multiplayer

Black Ops 4’s multiplayer is the mode that didn’t impress me at all. Not to say the mode is bad, because it’s still as solid as ever. Unfortunately, it’s the lack of forward progression and innovation that I feel stifle the mode. Some of the new additions, such as getting rid of auto-healing and replacing it with a healing button, just aren’t enough to make the mode feel fresh and new.

Specialists are back from Black Ops 3 and a little more varied this time around. Most of them have some pretty unique abilities and equipment. I typically stuck with Recon, which has the main ability to see through walls. Since it is more fast-paced and chaotic than Blackout, many of these specialists work best when you play with a team that picks and chooses specific roles. It’s a little more difficult to play with a random team, as many players don’t seem to coordinate enough to really get the most out of each specialist. One really cool feature is the Specialist HQ. With fully-rendered CG cutscenes, Treyarch offers a little backstory and tutorial to each specialist in the game. While I wish the game had a full-fledged campaign, the Specialist HQ offers enough backstory to at least keep players engaged with the specialists.

Standard game modes apply, with some new additions like Heist, a mode revolving around teams stashing away money to buy weapons/perks before the next round. Standard multiplayer is fun but feels entirely too safe to write more about. If you enjoy Call of Duty multiplayer, you’re getting more of the same.

Overall

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 has been very interesting to review. Since it’s multiplayer focused with an entirely brand new game mode introduced, it’s taken a lot more time to really look critically at every facet the game has to offer. But what Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 offers is a plethora of multiplayer content that any fan of the series will surely enjoy. Blackout is certainly a standout mode and I cannot recommend it more to fans of any first-person shooter. Black Ops 4’s Zombies is a great entry point for anyone who has been interested in the mode and even provides some great story moments throughout. However, if you’re going in for the story, be sure to play solo. Multiplayer is more of the same when it comes to Call of Duty multiplayer–a fact that veterans will surely love. But those looking for something exciting and fresh should head back into Blackout.