Review: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 challenges the CoD formula in bold ways

DISCLAIMER: A review copy was provided by the publisher.

Platform: Xbox One, PlayStation 4 (reviewed), PC

Developers: Treyarch, Raven Software

Publisher: Activision

MSRP: $59.99 (Standard), $99.99 (Digital Deluxe Edition), $129.99 (Digital Deluxe Enhanced Edition)

NOTE: Given the expansive nature of Black Ops 4, we’re going to be splitting this up into three pages. First page, an intro and review of multiplayer. Second page, a review of Blackout. The third and final page, a review of Zombies and overall verdict of the game. Each page has the final score of the game which is a reflection of the entire game and not one independent mode.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is one of the boldest games in the franchise since the move to the future setting about four years ago. In a series that is often criticized for being too similar year over year, Black Ops 4 seeks to change that mindset in a massive way by removing the campaign, adding battle royale, doubling down on zombies, and fundamentally changing multiplayer.

Treyarch bet big on this game but did it pay off? The removal of the traditional big-budget star-studded Michael Bay-esque single-player campaign (holy hyphens) made many fear that was an early sign that Black Ops 4 was in trouble but truthfully, I don’t know if they could’ve fit a campaign in this package.

As a major fan of the campaigns, it does make me a bit sad that it’s missing this year but Treyarch has gone above and beyond with delivering a bang for your buck. An expansive battle royale mode, four zombies maps available at launch (3 available to all players), and a layered multiplayer mode act as three hinges on a sturdy door, there’s just no room four a fourth mode.

Zombies fills a hole in that narrative experience with its mind-boggling easter eggs as usual but should you still yearn for some story, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 has something tucked away for you. Yes, there is a story mode in Black Ops 4 it’s just not what you’d usually expect but there’s definitely an effort made.

In Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, there’s a Specialists training mode where you can do some tutorial missions with each of the multiplayer characters. These tutorials are sandwiched with story-heavy cutscenes about the small mercenary group being formed with these characters and there are even some connections to other games in the series. Sgt. Woods returns in his full glory as a computer program in his prime, he shows you the ropes and throws an insane amount of one-liners that land more often than not.

The Mason family lineage continues as you learn about Alex Mason’s granddaughter and there are other pieces of intel to gather that talk about characters like Black Ops 2 antagonist Raul Menendez. For a game that is adamant about not featuring a single-player campaign, Treyarch made sure that there was something that still ensured those fans weren’t totally forgotten.

To be clear, this is NOT a mode that is worth buying the game for. These are simulated multiplayer matches with bots that have really well-made cutscenes in between, think of it as an appetizer to a full-course meal.

One of the main entrées of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is, of course, the multiplayer. We’re not just back to basics this year with boots on the ground combat, we’re reinventing the Call of Duty wheel with more tactical team-based gameplay. Automatic health regen is gone, Specialists have more tools at their disposal, and it ultimately feels a bit more hardcore.

Despite this, Black Ops 4 doesn’t lose its identity. It still feels fast, fluid, and most importantly, fun. When I played the beta back in August, I had some very strong feelings towards the game and felt that there wouldn’t be enough time to make changes to really make Black Ops 4’s multiplayer feel worthwhile. It was too unforgiving, it felt like it lacked focus, but here in the final game, it feels fully realized.

Gunplay is smooth and refined, still giving off that adrenaline-filled vibe that one comes to Call of Duty for. The moment to moment action isn’t slowed down, it’s simply more thoughtful. Awareness is keen to succeed in Black Ops 4, whether that’s knowing your general surroundings or being more methodical about the classes you create and what you’re equipped with on the battlefield.

The Pick 10 create-a-class system is more important than ever given the fact the ability to heal yourself takes a slot as well as armor. It’s a lot more than just “Ah crap, I can’t have this extra grip or perk.” It’s a whole new approach to preparing yourself for battle by not just making yourself as strong as possible, but by determining if you want to be a consistent martyr for your team by sacrificing healing for more team-focused gear or if you want to try and extend your lifespan with key perks and equipment.

There’s still an emphasis on teamplay in Black Ops 4 following the beta but not so strong that it doesn’t feel like Call of Duty anymore, you can still survive as a lone wolf but matches play out better with unity rather than sporadic separation from other players.

Rushing an objective as Ajax, a specialist equipped with a weaponized ballistic shield, to soak up bullets as your team falls in behind you is a lot smarter than just trying to get a triple kill with your SMG. That’s a strategy that you’ll quickly realize isn’t going to consistently work.

In contrast to the beta, gun battles with multiple oppressors do feel more balanced. I found myself being able to take on teams of 2 or 3 more often than I was in the beta. It’s not to the point where you’ll be a one-man army – nor should you be given the kind of game Black Ops 4 sets out to be – but you don’t feel overwhelmingly helpless.

One grievance to be found with Call of Duty: Black Ops 4’s MP is the maps. There are 10 brand new maps to the series with four Black Ops classics (Jungle, Summit, Slums, and Firing Range) mixed in. These old-school Black Ops maps haven’t had any adjustments made outside of the updated graphics and that feels like it’s cheating a bit.

No area extensions, no dynamic elements, no differences in times of day, nothing. They’re all exactly as you know them, some people may like that but it feels like in a game that really leaned into focusing the multiplayer that the maps took a backseat.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4’s original map selection is a bit of a mixed bag. Treyarch does efficiently utilize the trademarked three-lane system in this entry unlike some of the other Call of Duty developers who fumble in that department. Some devs seem to look at that term very literally, three paths that lead straight through the map. That’s pretty terrible map design.

Treyarch is smarter by using those three lanes and having smaller routes weaved in with chokepoints, buildings to move through and use as vantage points and more. That’s smart map design, having layers to your map rather than the very basic three branching paths. There are some maps where that thought process feels forgotten such as Icebreaker, a map set in the Arctic where a submarine has become stuck in the center.

You can move through two pretty open paths on the left and right of the submarine or move straight through it. There’s also a small patch of icy water to swim through under the submarine but if you stay in it too long, your screen begins to freeze over and gets harder to see. It’s one of the weakest maps in the game due to it feeling like a layman’s understanding of the three-lane structure.

There are some other maps that feel more carefully designed but still have questionable logic. As noted in our beta preview, the Gridlock map has some walls for a courtyard that can be seen from the main street. If you’re looking to get out of a tight situation or gain a jump on someone in the courtyard by using Ruin’s grappling ability, forget about it. Your grapple can attach on to things to get over the wall but you end up hitting and bouncing off an invisible wall to prevent you from getting into that courtyard.

Are these little things annoying and frustrating? Yes. Are they a deal breaker? Absolutely not. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4’s multiplayer is one of the best in the series due to the fact it takes so many steps back that this new FPS begins to feel innovative for the series.

Next Page: Blackout

After the success of games like PUBG and Fortnite in 2017, Call of Duty wants to have a piece of the battle royale pie. With Call of Duty: Black Ops 4’s Blackout, Treyarch hasn’t just copied a formula to make some extra money, they’ve made a mode that is purely Black Ops and it’s spectacular.

By combining the tactical nature of something like PUBG with the more fast and loose mindset of Fortnite while simultaneously putting their own spin on things, Treyarch has molded something very special. Blackout is 88 players (or 100 in Quads) who drop out of a chopper on to an island with towns made up of both new locations and classic Black Ops maps. Everyone scavenges for gear and fights to the death until there is only one person or team left standing.

Blackout is a love letter to the Black Ops herritage, plain and simple. Many have dismissed the mode because battle royale is popular and they just think Treyarch and Activision want to cash in on this trend but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Blackout radiates passion from the team with iconic characters like Sgt. Woods and Reznov being playable, recognizable locations from the series’ past, and beloved Black Ops-exclusive equipment repurposed for the mode like the RC-XD.

As you load into a lobby, the load screen flashes red numbers at you similar to the ones seen in the first Black Ops game, when you jump on to the map, you’re hit with familiar locations like Nuketown, Array, Firing Range, and more, there are zombies that surround you on key points of the map, and the list goes on.

This could’ve been something quick and rushed together but there every detail is painstakingly catered to, down to even the must obscure Black Ops references like a memorial to Tanbor Fudgely (if you know, you know).

That’s all well and good, you can have a lot of passion but a bad game so is the game mode actually good? Yes, god yes.

The responsive gunplay of Call of Duty makes for fluid engagements with higher stakes, to quote Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War: “No resurrections this time.” I didn’t think gameplay that has been made for rapid close-quarters combat would work very well in a massive slow-paced map but I was so wrong. The combat is a refined version of the classic Call of Duty gunplay to ensure combat isn’t too snappy but isn’t too long, creating the perfect amount of tension when a firefight ensues.

There’s still room for improvement when it comes to things like balance and bugs, however. Armor is a bit too powerful, you can fire a rocket launcher at someone at point blank range with level three armor and it’ll bounce right off of them like a pebble. It’s something that’ll be tweaked as time goes on but it’ll be bound to cause frustration with early adopters of which there are many.

Some bugs also include not being able to spawn in Blackout and being forced into spectator right away, not having kills tracked in the post-game screen, and emotes not working at all during gameplay. These are issues that will inevitably be ironed out in due time but ones still worth noting.

One of my complaints during the beta was that was an overabundance of weapons to be found at the start of the match. While there are still plenty, it feels like they’ve dialed the spawns back a bit. It used to be possible to just get gunned out of the sky as you were landing from your initial drop because anyone who touched down before you could find a gun as easily as the soil beneath their feet.

While I have yet to get a win in the mode, it’s incredibly addicting and rewarding simply because of the stories that come from it. One of my personal favorite moments to happen so far is when I was flying a chopper towards the construction site toward the end of the game.

My eyes locked down on a small helipad on the roof of the half-made multi-level building, seeing no one in sight after a quick circle around the building, I made my descent. BANG, BANG BANG! Dozens of bullets rattled my chopper which quickly began to smoke and then catch fire, a group of soldiers had begun spraying me with lead on the roof.

I panicked and pulled up on the chopper and knew that regardless, I was dead, so I better make the most of it. I slammed forward on the sticks and propelled the copter towards the three men who scattered. I persisted towards one and pushed him off the roof to his death, I spiraled over to another who kept firing at me and hit him with the back of my tail rotor. I’m not sure if the blade sliced him up or if the mere impact killed him but regardless, he was down for the count.

The third and final man kept shooting at me and I bailed out as I was low enough to the ground to survive a fall. The bird fell off the roof and hit the ground with a fiery inferno, this last man reloaded his gun as I gained my footing on the building. I pulled a grappling hook out of my backpack and flew towards him like Superman, he began shooting again as I whizzed past his bullets. I went right over his head and landed behind him, giving me a split second to put a shotgun shell square in the back of his shaved head.

It was an incredible moment that was cut short by some bastard with a sniper but I was still fresh off the adrenaline high that it didn’t matter. These are the kinds of war stories unique to Blackout, nothing like that is remotely possible in Fortnite or PUBG. Treyarch has masterfully claimed their stake in the battle royale genre and I can’t wait to see how they continue to expand on it throughout the next 12 months.

Next page: Zombies and The Verdict

Call of Duty’s zombie mode is something that you either love to death or don’t bother with all that much. While there was an almost rabid nature surrounding the maps with World at War and the first two Black Ops games, the eventual inclusion of the mode in all Call of Duty titles and the need to innovate made some sour on the mode, myself included.

Elements of the mode became convoluted, making some of the simplest aspects feel like a full-blown puzzle and the narrative became drawn out and tiresome. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 seeks to make everyone feel comfortable this time around, veterans, lapsed players, and newcomers alike.

For starters, there are some great playable tutorials that make all of the crazier stuff like creating a zombie class with elixirs and whatnot feel less overwhelming. You can also personalize your experience with modifiers and difficulty options to make it easier if you’re not ready into the full zombies quite yet. This is far more welcoming than Black Ops 3’s zombies which scared the hell out of me because it was such a radical leap from the second game. I quickly became turned off and never touched it again after a few rounds.

Black Ops 4 reignited my love for zombies with 3 fully fleshed out experiences right out of the box, all of which feel easily digestible. It all finally clicked for me. The create-a-class system is actually really smart, allowing you to pick your starting weapon, which perks show up on the map for you, and more.

While there was a lot to love about zombies when it all originally began simply because you built something from nothing, going from pistol to a laser LMG, bowie knife, and an alien ray gun, the innovations here are welcomed. There’s more personalization to it, it allows you to refine yourself as a player while trying to master the daunting trials of these massive maps.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4’s mechanic of specialist abilities also find a way to seep into the zombies. By pressing the bumpers on your controller, you can activate various special moves that help you mow down the undead like they’re paper with swords, special firearms, and magical staffs. They’re not unique to anyone in particular unlike specialists, you can swap them in and out via the create-a-class menu and they’re all incredibly fun to experiment with. They even have different levels which lead to additional kinds of attacks and abilities for them. It’s a great way to not only feel rewarded beyond the points in the game but give players a powerful system that gives them breathing room in the more intense rounds.

The 2 new original maps are incredibly distinctive with one taking place in an ancient Roman gladiator arena and the other on the Titanic. They each bring new types of enemies, challenges, and mysteries to uncover, bringing players a zombies experience that will be sure to consume hours upon hours for months.

There are 2 remade zombies maps with the OG crew as well, although you have to buy the $50 Black Ops Pass to get one of them. The one included in the game is Blood of the Dead, a remake of the Alcatraz map from Black Ops 2 known as Mob of the Dead. Ray Liotta and friends are gone, with the likes of Dempsy and the decade-old ragtag group of heroes attempting to navigate the dark depths of the San Francisco prison.

The Black Ops Pass exclusive map known as Classified is a remake of Five, the map from the first Black Ops set in the Pentagon. These maps have had changes made to them unlike the “remakes” in MP, Classified has changed up how you get the pack-a-punch machine in a way that will make zombie veterans very happy, expanding areas of the map, and removing that crazed man that ran around the place for whatever reason.

Perhaps it’s the feeling of familiarity with classic maps that eased me back into zombies or maybe it’s just that it’s presented in a far more accessible way but whatever it is, the zombies in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is the best it has ever been for the series. The depth is there to make it more than just a horde mode but doesn’t make it so damn complicated that it deters players from touching it at all, the variety of maps make it feel like you have a complete zombies experience right out of the box rather than one you’ll need to keep paying for over the course of a year, and it’s endlessly rewarding.

The Verdict:

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 fires on all cylinders and hits every target with immense precision. This is the peak of zombies, one of the best battle royale experiences in the genre, and one of the most fluid, engaging, and tactical Call of Duty multiplayer modes to date. Even with the removal of a traditional single-player campaign, Black Ops 4 feels like you’re paying $60 for a game that you could value at $100 or more. There’s never been so much content in a Call of Duty game from day one than there is with Black Ops 4.

Black Ops 4 was a massive risk and gamble for the series but one that was well worth it and will be incredibly lucrative for both Treyarch and Activision.