Over the last two months, Call of Duty fanatics have had the opportunity to get a decent taste of what Call of Duty Black Ops 4 has to offer before its October 12th release. Over the last five years, many Call of Duty players have felt that the franchise has taken a turn for the worse. This can be seen when Call of Duty: WW2 and Call of Duty: Infinite War units sold are combined equaling fewer units sold than Call of Duty Black Ops 3 by 1.58 million units. Based off of the Black Ops 4 beta, Call of Duty Black Ops 4 might be the best selling Call of Duty in the last five years thanks to the announcement of Blackout, their battle royal mode, three zombie modes launching upon the game’s release. As a Treyarch and Nazi Zombies fan, we were excited about the opportunity to get additional hands-on time with Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 and the public beta did not disappoint.
On August 3rd, PS4 gamers had the opportunity to play the Black Ops 4 multiplayer beta a week before their Xbox One counterparts. Sadly even though we took part in the beta, we were not impressed by the first weekend’s experience. While playing, certain Specialists felt overpowered while others felt completely useless; Battery, Recon, Ruin, and Torque dominated most matches while Ajax, Firebreak, and Prophet fell to the wayside. Hopefully by the time Black Ops 4 launches next week all characters will have there strengths and weakness. During the multiplayer beta, most matches felt like run and gun scenarios rather than having the ability to sit back and pick off your enemies down range. The run and gun style almost completely eliminates the opportunity for players to use sniper rifles for long distance shooting and encourages the old quick-scope mentality. The run and gun style was encouraged further by the lack of camping or elevated places on each map, eliminating the high ground mentality. The maps that were available during the beta were well put together visually but felt rather awkward with some areas being to open and having no purpose other than to run through in-game while other spots felt so narrow that the player could trip over their shoes.
The second week of the multiplayer beta felt a lot smoother after Treyarch implemented a variety of balancing changes. Most players still used the run and gun style but a few players played the long game to counteract the grappling hook. Luckily, we had the opportunity to team up with players who had mics which made the multiplayer experience a lot more enjoyable. It will be interesting to see what Treyarch has changed since the end of the multiplayer player beta and how players will adapt around it.
In September, players were able to get their first look at Call of Duty Black Ops 4‘s battle royal mode, Blackout. Blackout, like its battle royal counterparts, pitted players against one another in an epic death battle. The Blackout map appeals to long-term Treyarch fans combining multiple maps from the Black Ops franchise into one big map. Survivalist had the opportunity to either deploy solo or team up with other players in order to be the last person/squad standing. While searching for additional players, players wait in a random part of the map and have the ability to explore the local terrain, test out how weapons shot, try out different weapon attachments, or try different abilities; while in the waiting area players do not have the ability to kill one another but can still annoy the living daylights out of each other. The ability to sample Blackout put our mind at ease regarding Treyarch’s Black Ops 4. From our time with the battle royal game mode, we were able to enjoy Call of Duty‘s adaptation more than when we tried PUBG or Fortnite. The use of armor, abilities, and different attachments gave Blackout the Call of Duty treatment it deserved and differentiated it from its competitors. The addition of zombies in Asylum added an extra element of excitement/horror when having to decide how to navigate the area.
After playing both the multiplayer and Blackout betas, we are excited to see what all Treyarch has planned for Call of Duty Black Ops 4. Hopefully, Treyarch will consider instituting killstreaks to the Blackout game mode to add an additional element to the battle royal. Sadly, we did not see any helicopters or boats to use in Black Out but we will be keeping an eye out for them once the game launches. Although Blackout impressed us, Call of Duty Black Ops 4’s multiplayer left us underwhelmed. The run and gun style feels overplayed in the shooting genre and may cause Black Ops 4’s multiplayer to die off quickly. Black Ops 4 looks to be the most beautiful and detail oriented Call of Duty to date, but at the end of the day, it ultimately comes down to the players experience rather than the looks of the game. We cannot wait to dive into Black Ops 4 when it releases for Xbox One, PC, and PS4 on October 12th.
Below is our gameplay of Black Ops 4’s multiplayer and Blackout
