Call of Duty Black Ops 4

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What is Call of Duty Black Ops 4

Call of Duty revisits one of its most beloved sub-franchises with a first person shooter that focuses on modern weapons and tactics. When Call of Duty: World War II first hit the scene, it was a much needed palate cleanser after years of modern and futuristic settings. Many fans were feeling exhausted by the annual release structure, the lack of innovations, and the move away from what made Call of Duty so popular in the first place. WWII was well regarded; and while Black Ops 4 is bringing things back to the modern day, they've taken the prior game's lessons to heart. But there are still some bold moves being made in terms of this iteration. They've eschewed single player entirely to instead focus on making their multiplayer suite as polished and expansive as possible.

Case in point is the new Blackout mode. While it's a bold new addition for the Call of Duty series (or any shooter operating on this caliber), it will be familiar to anyone who's followed the FPS scene for the past couple of years. All the players are thrown into vast maps together, and they're left to fight in open melee until there's only one man left standing. Battle royales are a dime a dozen these days, but few of these shooters have the polish of Call of Duty, and developer Treyarch is leaning hard into what makes their franchise special. Both maps and characters return from past iterations of the series to turn this mode into a loving bit of fan service, and the included maps also offer vehicles that can navigate the skies, land, and water.

The main focus on this new iteration is to put the focus back on tactics. Too often shooters can feel like tests of trigger reflexes, and while there's an element of that here, Treyarch is working hard to make sure that the players with situational awareness and an eye towards smart planning have the upper hand in most situations. Eight specialists are available to each player, meaning that you can create a play style that interests you while also providing a lot of variety in case you want to expand your repertoire and take on a different style of play. There's a refreshing amount of variety here as well. While the typical tanks and snipers are still available, you'll also find classes that can take advantage of the environment through the creation of environmental hazards and dedicated healers who can really bolster a team's overall chances of success. Cover in general plays a much bigger role than earlier entries in the franchise, and it adds a much needed level of differentiation to a game that was risking falling into the same old routines. That said, beneath these changes, this is still a Call of Duty game, and your interest is likely to be tempered by your love for the core conceits of the series and your desire to keep grinding for the next level of guns and perks.

Pros:

• Eight character builds with countless customization options
• Whole new gameplay mode in the form of Blackout

Cons:

• No single player mode available
• Doesn't fundamentally change the Call of Duty formula