Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is almost here, and it will be the
first ever in Activision’s shooter franchise to not feature a solo
campaign. Instead, it will only focus on multiplayer with a mixture of
traditional modes, Zombies and a new battle royale mode in the form of
Blackout.
It is easy to be cynical about Call of Duty’s somewhat inevitable jump into the battle royale genre.
Of course, this was going to happen. If a new hamburger, never seen before, was invented tomorrow and became the most popular thing on Earth, you can bet your backside that McDonalds would have their own within the year. People were also a bit concerned with the fact that this mode has seemingly been developed at the expense of a traditional solo campaign, which for the first time isn’t present in a Call of Duty game.
A trailer recently dropped for the Blackout mode which finally shines a light on the highly-anticipated battle royale mode. Featuring 80 players, it seems to be an utterly mad mixture of classic maps and characters.
The thing is, the core concept of the Battle Royale game – 100 enter, one emerges victorious – is so compelling, but there hasn’t quite been the ideal one for me. Fortnite’s building heavy endgame puts me off, whilst PUBG has a thrilling finale but some occasionally long-winded and boring matches depending on your dropzone and luck. Blackout mode sits somewhere between the two and, despite a few issues that you’d expect from a beta, feels like it’s going to be a contender.
First of all, it’s so slick. You’d expect this from Call of Duty – regardless of what you think of the games, they’re a highly polished product – but this is up there with Fortnite and makes PUBG’s wonky console launch seem a bit amateurish by comparison. Combat is that trademark sweet spot between realistic, strategic shootouts and fast-paced, arcade action that COD has traded on since Modern Warfare and it suits the battle royale genre near perfectly.
The map, although much smaller than those other games, is full of interesting locations that draw upon Call of Duty’s 15 years of history, which sees the returning fan-favourite Nuketown repurposed in the form of an island, and a few areas that either mashup famous maps or expand upon them. You’re never far from a firefight and the variety in these areas is surprisingly vast. Sure, they appear to be the usual suspects – a dam, a building site, a trainyard etc – but they all offer some fairly unique tactical positions, be it close quarters combat or a lovely spot for snipers to sit and ping your moustache off from a mile away.
Weapons also draw on Call of Duty’s rich multiplayer history. Of course, it’s mostly military hardware, but there are a few brilliant curveballs thrown into the mix. Mystery boxes drop, like the supply drops in Fortnite, and contain some more wild weapons from Call of Duty’s zombies mode, like the 50’s sci-fi Raygun, for instance. AI zombies wander around the map and can be used as distractions in firefights or can kill you quite quickly if you’re not paying attention. It’s full of cool little ideas and all of them are incredibly fun.
Vehicles provide a means of getting around the map really quickly, no doubt due to the smaller size, and there’s even a helicopter hiding out there somewhere, but they never feel like you’ve got a total advantage with them. Sure, you can get in and out of trouble with ease and find yourself a superior tactical position, but you’re a total sitting duck. Even though it is a considerable feat of skill to pop the pilot of a chopper, the more arcade-y style of game this is means that it doesn’t feel out of the realms of possibility. Go on, have a crack. Be a hero.
Meanwhile, other specialists have ballistic shields, grenade launchers, and even adorable killer guard dogs. The team sizes have shrunk slightly to 5 v 5 matches, and team composition can be the difference between winning or losing, even if the meta isn’t yet in place at this early beta stage.
There’s currently some server side issues that need resolving and are no doubt the reason this beta is taking place, but there’s also some weirdness with the way you pick up weapons. Holding square is probably so there’s no accidental reloading when trying to grab a medkit, but it doesn’t feel quite as responsive as you’d like, sometimes requiring a bit of fiddly movement in order to get yourself in the position to bring up the button prompt, and this needs a bit of tweaking before release.
Asides from that, Blackout mode seems to show that Call of Duty and the battle royale genre are damn good partners, and with Activision Blizzard’s considerable clout backing this, the current big two might want to keep an eye out on this one – the old dog with a new trick.
In a real loss, the specialists aren’t as distinct as either Blizzard or Ubisoft’s efforts, so it’s unlikely we’ll see a real fandom generate around the characters, as players own create-a-class choices actually offer a lot more customisation – however it shows a direction that Activision is moving towards and as we’re losing the game’s single-player campaign, surely this scant characterisation isn’t all we’ll get?
Things are changing for Call of Duty, and this beta shows that it’s being influenced by the market around it. However, these changes may be too little too late for those who have decided that Call of Duty isn’t for them.
Activision hasn’t confirmed whether individual maps will be available to purchase or if you’ll need to buy the entire Black Ops Pass. At the time of writing it’s unclear how much the pass will actually cost. Here’s hoping players can purchase specific content without the entire pass in their library.
The PC version is being developed from the ground up by developer BEENOX and will be coming to the Battle Net platform which hosts the likes of Overwatch, World of Warcraft and Hearthstone.
Is this on Steam?
For the first time ever, Activision is choosing to go with Blizzard's Battle.net rather than Steam. That's no surprise since Destiny 2 is also exclusively on Battle.net. Should be interesting to see if it fairs any better on PC because of this, especially with a battle royale mode. Download the Battle.net client here.
What are the PC requirements?
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 open beta minimum system requirements
It is easy to be cynical about Call of Duty’s somewhat inevitable jump into the battle royale genre.
Of course, this was going to happen. If a new hamburger, never seen before, was invented tomorrow and became the most popular thing on Earth, you can bet your backside that McDonalds would have their own within the year. People were also a bit concerned with the fact that this mode has seemingly been developed at the expense of a traditional solo campaign, which for the first time isn’t present in a Call of Duty game.
Call of Duty Black Ops 4 Trailer – How does it look?
You can check out the launch trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 below:A trailer recently dropped for the Blackout mode which finally shines a light on the highly-anticipated battle royale mode. Featuring 80 players, it seems to be an utterly mad mixture of classic maps and characters.
The thing is, the core concept of the Battle Royale game – 100 enter, one emerges victorious – is so compelling, but there hasn’t quite been the ideal one for me. Fortnite’s building heavy endgame puts me off, whilst PUBG has a thrilling finale but some occasionally long-winded and boring matches depending on your dropzone and luck. Blackout mode sits somewhere between the two and, despite a few issues that you’d expect from a beta, feels like it’s going to be a contender.
First of all, it’s so slick. You’d expect this from Call of Duty – regardless of what you think of the games, they’re a highly polished product – but this is up there with Fortnite and makes PUBG’s wonky console launch seem a bit amateurish by comparison. Combat is that trademark sweet spot between realistic, strategic shootouts and fast-paced, arcade action that COD has traded on since Modern Warfare and it suits the battle royale genre near perfectly.
The map, although much smaller than those other games, is full of interesting locations that draw upon Call of Duty’s 15 years of history, which sees the returning fan-favourite Nuketown repurposed in the form of an island, and a few areas that either mashup famous maps or expand upon them. You’re never far from a firefight and the variety in these areas is surprisingly vast. Sure, they appear to be the usual suspects – a dam, a building site, a trainyard etc – but they all offer some fairly unique tactical positions, be it close quarters combat or a lovely spot for snipers to sit and ping your moustache off from a mile away.
Weapons also draw on Call of Duty’s rich multiplayer history. Of course, it’s mostly military hardware, but there are a few brilliant curveballs thrown into the mix. Mystery boxes drop, like the supply drops in Fortnite, and contain some more wild weapons from Call of Duty’s zombies mode, like the 50’s sci-fi Raygun, for instance. AI zombies wander around the map and can be used as distractions in firefights or can kill you quite quickly if you’re not paying attention. It’s full of cool little ideas and all of them are incredibly fun.
Vehicles provide a means of getting around the map really quickly, no doubt due to the smaller size, and there’s even a helicopter hiding out there somewhere, but they never feel like you’ve got a total advantage with them. Sure, you can get in and out of trouble with ease and find yourself a superior tactical position, but you’re a total sitting duck. Even though it is a considerable feat of skill to pop the pilot of a chopper, the more arcade-y style of game this is means that it doesn’t feel out of the realms of possibility. Go on, have a crack. Be a hero.
Meanwhile, other specialists have ballistic shields, grenade launchers, and even adorable killer guard dogs. The team sizes have shrunk slightly to 5 v 5 matches, and team composition can be the difference between winning or losing, even if the meta isn’t yet in place at this early beta stage.
There’s currently some server side issues that need resolving and are no doubt the reason this beta is taking place, but there’s also some weirdness with the way you pick up weapons. Holding square is probably so there’s no accidental reloading when trying to grab a medkit, but it doesn’t feel quite as responsive as you’d like, sometimes requiring a bit of fiddly movement in order to get yourself in the position to bring up the button prompt, and this needs a bit of tweaking before release.
Asides from that, Blackout mode seems to show that Call of Duty and the battle royale genre are damn good partners, and with Activision Blizzard’s considerable clout backing this, the current big two might want to keep an eye out on this one – the old dog with a new trick.
In a real loss, the specialists aren’t as distinct as either Blizzard or Ubisoft’s efforts, so it’s unlikely we’ll see a real fandom generate around the characters, as players own create-a-class choices actually offer a lot more customisation – however it shows a direction that Activision is moving towards and as we’re losing the game’s single-player campaign, surely this scant characterisation isn’t all we’ll get?
Things are changing for Call of Duty, and this beta shows that it’s being influenced by the market around it. However, these changes may be too little too late for those who have decided that Call of Duty isn’t for them.
Call of Duty Black Ops 4 – Black Ops Pass
Activision and Treyarch have announced the Black Ops Pass, a new approach to post-launch content which will include the following content:- 12 multiplayer maps
- 4 new zombie experience
- Exclusive skins for Blackout: Battle Royale
Activision hasn’t confirmed whether individual maps will be available to purchase or if you’ll need to buy the entire Black Ops Pass. At the time of writing it’s unclear how much the pass will actually cost. Here’s hoping players can purchase specific content without the entire pass in their library.
Call of Duty Black Ops 4 release date – when is it coming out?
Black Ops 4 will be launching for PS4, Xbox One and PC on October 12, 2018.The PC version is being developed from the ground up by developer BEENOX and will be coming to the Battle Net platform which hosts the likes of Overwatch, World of Warcraft and Hearthstone.
Is this on Steam?
For the first time ever, Activision is choosing to go with Blizzard's Battle.net rather than Steam. That's no surprise since Destiny 2 is also exclusively on Battle.net. Should be interesting to see if it fairs any better on PC because of this, especially with a battle royale mode. Download the Battle.net client here.
What are the PC requirements?
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 open beta minimum system requirements
- OS: Windows 7 64-bit or later
- CPU: Intel Core i5-2500k or AMD equivalent
- RAM: 8GB
- GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 2 GB / GTX 1050 2GB or AMD Radeon HD 7850
- HDD: 25GB HD space
- DirectX: Version 11.0 compatible video card or equivalent
- Network: Broadband Internet connection
- Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
- OS: Windows 10 64-bit
- CPU: Intel Core i7-4770k or AMD equivalent
- RAM: 12GB
- GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 / GTX 1060 6GB or AMD Radeon R9 390 / AMD RX 580
- HDD: 25GB HD space
- DirectX: Version 11.0 compatible video card or equivalent
- Network: Broadband Internet connection
- Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4: great first-person shooter for your PC, bringing the most realistic feeling to players
ردحذفWith 3 modes of play, images, high quality sound, it becomes the hottest shooter today.
I'm playing Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 and it's really awesome, it makes me passionate about winning.
Install Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 and fight with friends now
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