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Black Ops 4 Review: Forget Blackout, this Call of Duty raises the bar for ALL multiplayers (Pic: ACTIVISION)
Black Ops 4 breaches the typicalities of its forebears, establishing itself as a true milestone in the Call Of Duty franchise. The game waves a woeful goodbye to campaigns and takes a triumphant hop onto the battle royale bandwagon with its newfound Blackout mode.
However, fear not for the exclusion of the franchises staple – a campaign rounded off with a celeb cast, hasnt resulted in a lackluster COD experience. The games still teeming with a manifold of quality multiplayer-centric content.
The games core multiplayer generally plays as youd expect, showcasing the same quintessential Call Of Duty style FPS action that sees fans making return trips to the franchise annually.
Treyarch have however cheekily tampered with several traditional mechanics, invoking a sense of nuance as the fast-paced, boots on the ground combat of the series is made all the more intense.
Specialist classes are back, each equipped with their own unique gear and abilities constituting versatile gameplay throughout. Abilities including operator dependant lethal grenade options, replenish gradually as you play objectives and stack kills. This mostly nullifies unjust deaths by stray grenades.
Operators make for assorted tactical options on the battlefield. For instance, hold an objective as a Nomad, calling upon K-9 aid by whistling Juneau the dog to your side. Order her to patrol and neutralise any oncoming threats as you lock down entry points with trip mines.
Specialist HQ offers adequate tutorials and a vague backstory for each class, presumably to compensate for lack of narrative. Its clear the game sways more towards the likes of Overwatch and Rainbow Six, having players take on roles in combat.
Plenty of familiar 6v6 and 5v5 game modes mould the multiplayer playlists, keeping things chummy, complimenting the tactical play Treyarch have tried to accommodate. Heist is a new addition offering a Payday-esque twist as teams compete to extract a bag of cash.
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Manual healing stands in for automatic health regeneration. Itll ensure you assess encounters more thoroughly, calculating whether to retreat and tap L1 to heal or engage vulnerable players with questionable health.
You may adapt to the changes Black Ops 4 exhibits in an collection of maps including some vibrant new additions and old fan-favourites spanning the many Black Ops eras.
Black Ops 4 one hundred player battle royale mode may have mixed up the formula the franchise has retained annually for over decade but presents an immersive, compelling multiplayer experience that will have you questioning why the widely-credited game mode hasnt met an AAA title beforehand.
Although little is offered in the way of progression and rewards, its hard not to enjoy the intensity of fighting to be the last survivor. Blackout features the biggest COD map to date, compiled of numerous locations from the series so far.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (PS4)
Gathering gear and dropping foes across Quads, Duos and Solo modes seesthe Black Ops combat-style right at home in battle royale. Every shot fired and power slide executed feels smooth and fluid and constitutes joyous and engaging gameplay that doesnt abruptly sour after a mere few hours.
A more classic zombies experience is also back with heaps to offer. Customisable options as featured in COD: WWII entitle you to varying starter weapons whilst custom mutations allow you to alter overall difficulty and tweak zombie health and speed, making certain that the infamous horde mode excels in replayability.
Three maps are available from the get go, IX, Voyage Of Despair and Blood Of The Dead. Whilst the former two maps follow new characters on a fresh and haunting zombies adventure in the Chaos storyline, the latter, Blood Of The Dead follows Richtofen and his comrades in partial remake of Mob Of The Dead in the Aether storyline.
As always Zombies mode encapsulates a terrifying yet satisfying experience, choc-full of morbid secrets to unveil as you survive round after unrelenting round of the undead who look to fetch your souls.
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The Verdict – 4.5/ 5
Black Ops 4 feels as much of a nostalgic throwback as it does unique Call Of Duty experience. Recycled old maps across the game pay humble homage to the franchises roots whilst refreshed mechanics and new modes bring nuance. Blackout makes for an exhilarating approach to the battle royale craze and Zombies offers more right off the bat than ever before with promise of community ventures going forwards to accentuate its replayability even further. The latest addition to the renowned FPS series raises the bar for all multiplayers, enforcing strategy and team-play, so indulge with friends for maximum coordination and enjoyment.
The Good:
- New mechanics mix up the traditional playstyle of Call Of Duty for a unique take on the game.
- Black Ops style combat works fluently in a battle royale style mode.
- Zombies offers a lot more than anticipated and makes four hours of zombie-slaughtering fun.
The Bad:
- Absence of campaign leaves the game multiplayer-centric which may significantly reduce the audience it appeals to.
- Specialist backstories feel incoherent and more like a poor narrative filler in the absence of a campaign mode.
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