Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (PS4)

The hype. The theatrics. Does Black Ops 4 live up to it all? That's likely the question going through the minds of those who are on the fence about buying into the new experience. With a team based multiplayer returning with 8 game types centered around a new specialist team based combat system, a Battle Royale mode that was meant to be a contender to Fortnite, and a Zombies mode that looked to be more serious than ever one would think there was proper effort put into the construction, and creation of these online only experiences. Unfortunately corners were cut, and that which seemed promising ended up feeling more like a gimmick than a properly fleshed out Call of Duty experience. A mixed bag of tricks that were thrown at the gamer with the obvious intention of having at least one of the three modes be enjoyable to them. While I found the main multiplayer alright, Blackout less than so, and Zombies good I can't help, but wonder what Treyarch was thinking.

Having played every Call of Duty from MW2 to CODWWII I have seen the many ups and downs of the series. I have seen the failures, and the successful moments that were witnessed by gaming's largest community. Time after time I bought into it like so many have hoping the next entry would be as good, if not better than the height of greatness that the series once knew. It was a guessing game, and like anyone else I bought into it hook, line, and sinker. Never learning from the lessons that were given as Treyarch, and the other CoD developers missed the mark, and lost the insight into what made Call of Duty great at it's prime.

Following the updates, and trailers of Black Ops 4 I was more indecisive than ever before about buying into the latest CoD. So much so I spent my only extra money on pre-orders of Red Dead Redemption 2, and Soul Calibur VI instead. Only by the PR's willingness to give me a chance was I able to get this copy of the game for review purposes. To that end I'm truly appreciative. Knowing what I know now I doubt very seriously I would have bought into Black Ops 4 on launch, myself. It is truly that disappointing. Seeing Treyarch stoop so low as to jump on the bandwagon of gaming trends, and derail from their signature formula was heartbreaking. The main multiplayer wasn't so bad, but that and the Blackout Battle Royale were obvious nods to games that were not what Treyarch best understood.

Aside from the trending missteps, and lack of a campaign story the game as a whole was so limited in presentation that I was awestruck with disbelief. Everything from the menu system to the features were dumbed down to a point that everything felt like a shallow attempt. Like Treyarch was either rushed to push the game out, or that they had spent all their resources on the in-game gameplay itself. Either way it did not look nearly as impressive as the former Black Ops 3.

Returning to the game in the way of extras though were the custom paint job, and custom emblem features that I liked so much. These were two of my favorite things from past CoD's, and I was more than glad to see them return. Being able to design my own emblem (within reason) allowed my creative side to manifest itself for other CoD players to see. I spent a good hour designing one emblem, and enjoyed every moment of it. These custom art tools which adorn identifying profiles, and weapons are a welcome sight, and though they too were streamlined to a point of feeling less than fully fledged they earned some positive points from yours truly.

For those of you worried about earning those prestigious pre-made weapon skins, and banners they do return, but as with everything else the available variety is very limited in comparison to past CoD entries. I was baffled at how hidden they were this time around, and at how less than prestigious everything you could earn felt. Sure the golden camo looks cool, and the animated banners interesting enough, but it's not something we haven't seen before. Despite the banners being new they simply felt less than special, especially in comparison to what a gamer could do with the custom creation options. I had hoped something like CoDWWII's weapon bling/keychains would be introduced

Moving on to gun play ...

I know gun play is going to be one of those things a lot of you are curious about as well, and to be fair it works in some instances, but not in others. In objective based team combat the fast pace, and quick time to kill come together more complimentary. Even with the health boosters combat is as fluid, if not more fluid than ever. That being said guns, weapons, and attachments have their advantages and disadvantages when facing off against other more efficient or less than efficient combat options. It presents a balancing problem. Something akin to what happens in a fighting game where only certain characters are used, because they allow for easier wins. This will no doubt render some of the available arsenal useless over time. You'll be seeing a lot of the same guns used online.

Besides gun play, and weapon value the maps also effect the enjoyment of the game types you engage in. Maps in this CoD are your smaller maps laden with plenty of hiding spots, vantage points, and flanking potential. The flanking potential itself is problematic in that it forces you to keep on the move due to the multiple entry, and exit points at each turn and pass. There are really no safe places except for the odd corner you can hunker down in, and even then without the right Specialist (Ajax) you cannot hold that corner for long if discovered. Compounding the problem is the inability to hear or see most players approach. Unless they are in the line of sight, and without the proper perks they can sneak up on you, and finish you before you can even turn around to face them.

As much as I want to say weapon loadouts can turn the tide in your favor if built right I'd have to say that's hardly the case. A lot of sacrifices have to be made in each custom weapon loadout due to the allotted points system. This along with more options gives you less options, if that makes sense? Returning to the custom weapon setup are the primaries, and secondaries with the three slots for attachments, and optics. Primaries include the usual suspects such as assault rifles, sub-machine guns, LMGs, and snipers. New to the mix are tactical rifles which are basically a nod to Destiny's scout rifle class. The secondaries include pistols, launchers, shotguns and melee in an extremely limited assortment. In fact the entire gun library is extremely limited. Getting any of the weapons is done simply by leveling up in multiplayer via earned XP. There are no points to spend on unlocks. It is a progression system this time around, and I think it's that way to compensate for a lack of weapons. It should be noted that leveling up weapons via continued usage unlocks optics, and attachments in kind.

When it comes to gun loadouts you can ultimately attach the set amount of optics and attachments up front, or extend upon those slots with the returning wildcards. Wildcards include the usual weapon setup perks allowing for extra additions to your setup. Things like extra weapon slots, or two primaries are options you can tinker with. Unfortunately using wildcards takes away from your allotted loadout point total as everything else you choose to equip does. For those of you curious about the grenades, throwing weapons, and specialist equipment they return in the gear and equipment sections. From what I've seen there's nothing really new. Just different named tools doing the same old things. The only thing could be considered new is the gear section which allows for things like kill streak earning advantage, extra armor, the ability to hear soldiers easier, and quicker health refills/usage. It ties in mostly with the soldier sustainability which plays into the borrowed Overwatch team shooter theme. Speaking of Overwatch players now have access to a customizable tag dial menu which is a blatant rip-off of Overwatch's decal feature. You also get gestures which rip-off Destiny's emotes.

The Multiplayer ...

The multiplayer in Black Ops 4, outside of the new team shooter focus, is the SSDD. You have a total of 8 game types to choose from. Both in the core, and hardcore listings. You can select them individually or in playlist fashion to mix things up. Included in said mix is Control, Heist, Kill Confirmed, Domination, Search & Destroy, Hardpoint, Chaos TDM, and Free-For-All. The only one that looked new to me was Heist, and it's actually kind of fun. When playing heist the objective is optional. You can either take a bag of cash to a drop-off point or kill the entire enemy team before they do the same to you to score a single win out of four needed wins. As you get kills you earn money for your team to use in a paid for pre-match weapon setup that includes the usual bells and whistles, figuratively speaking. Before each of the four rounds each player will have a set amount of money to buy weapons, and gear. Mostly according to how well they performed the previous round. That money amount will also depend on how well you did past the initial free money round. When on the map you will even find health packs, and ammo that can be picked up if need be. A way to skate around the paid for ammo refills. Together these things make for a more strategic, and team focused event.

The other game types are pretty much self-explanatory if you've ever played a CoD game, so i'll skip past that. The only catch that you need to know about is that you have a set amount of team lives to use, and once that pool of lives is used up no one else can respawn. This makes surviving crucial to victory. The only mode free of the life pool is free-for-all, and that goes without saying. Maps for all of these modes seem to adhere to a small to middle sized map design that makes team confrontation inevitable. You will see the return of some older maps as well as a handful of newer ones. The layouts are the usual design though with the hiding places, vantage points, and flanking areas that I previously mentioned. Keeping on the move, and being aware of your surroundings is a must.

Blackout ...

Going into this mode I expected so much more. It was so hyped up. Like the rest of the game's features though the menu options felt bare bones. I personally think Treyarch missed the point of Fortnite's Battle Royale success. It wasn't the redundant trek through the map, or even the combat. It was the character customization. Sadly, in this case character customization, and character options in general are so limited it's ridiculous. Even with the vehicles, the first-person perspective, and the quite well arranged item usage UI (User Interface) I can't see this mode's popularity lasting long. It does not feel like a Fortnite killer. To it's credit though the drop-in times via parachute are definitely better than Fortnite's, and as I said the item/weapon UI is more gamer friendly.

Zombies ...

Zombies returns in what could be one of the series' most robust offerings. This tutorial inclusive mode includes several story driven 4 player co-op entries ranging from IX to Voyage Of Fear, and more. The gameplay remains mostly the same with the pay to equip, and pay to progress features. All using the usual points system. Boarding up for defense also returns as does portal travel, Pack-a-Punch chests, weapon crates, relic hunting/placement as well as a new God/Goddess perk system that comes in tandem with a God weapon based character class. That, and the new work benches where you can craft useful limited use tools such as Ajax's shield with collected tool parts is a thing. Character classes in the game are customizable to a certain extent at the main menu. You'll pick a base class from things like Warlord, and other named loadouts adjusting them to your liking if you so wish. There are several different named classes with pre-determined God/Goddess weapons such as Zeus's hammer as well as elixir selections, and perk setups. Some of which are locked behind rank progression. Whichever base class you choose you can select elixirs which are equipped on the DPad directions along with whatever perks that are made available at the in-game God/Goddess shrines as well as your weapon/equipment loadouts.

Aside from the standard Zombies tales there's also a new Zombie Rush mode that is a competitive point based fight for survival. Each of the four players are given a set amount of lives, and must move from location to location taking opportunity of special timed events where point drops will drop for the gathering upon zombie wave completion. It's more of a free-for-all zombies mode, and is definitely one of the more fun game types that Black ops 4 has to offer. Along with that you'll even find a new zombie mutations feature where you can actually modify zombies. As far as presentation goes everything about Zombies mode is polished decently enough. It's a little less foreboding, and grisly at times, and definitely a bit less than theatrical, but it's enjoyable. For those of you who don't like scary games there's actually an option in the options menu to make things look even less creepy and gory if you like. You simply flip on a cel shaded visual filter. As with the multiplayer's game types, and offerings Zombies mode feels like it had more care, and consideration given though than the previously mentioned Blackout. A lot more care.

The Verdict ...

This Call of Duty entry would be a hard pass for me if it weren't for the good points in Multiplayer, and Zombies. Even with those things offered it still feels lacking enough to be hard to recommend. I think Treyarch definitely cut some corners. Maybe they were rushed? Maybe their budget, and resources were stretched too thin on doing three online modes? I don't know, but I do think it was not as great as it could have been in any one mode. I think the hype was partially overblown, and I am somewhat disappointed as a CoD gamer. If, by some chance, you can look past the lacking features, and simply applied modes I think there is some fun to be had, but this is by far not a game changer for the Call of Duty franchise. I hope Treyarch doesn't see this as an absolute victory. I hope they don't let the sales go to their head. I hope with all my heart they do better next time. Definitely up the quality, and do a campaign. No more Blackout, PLEASE!