Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 review

Certainly the best COD post-boost jump.

Advanced movement and campaign is gone. Treyarch Studios, the most well-loved “Call of Duty” developer comes back releasing their next game after “Black Ops 3” launched in 2015. In order to properly review “Black Ops 4,” you have to address “Black Ops 3” and its problems.

It had a great amount of content, but it was soiled by heavy anti-consumer practices that are basically giving gambling to a much wider audience. That being said, I don’t trust Activision and Treyarch to not make that mistake, but I had some hope that the game itself would be great.

Safe to say, “Black Ops 4” is absolutely a fun time. After a lacking story mode, “Blackout,” a new Battle Royale à la Fortnite has taken its place and become the forefront, along with Zombies and Multiplayer returning.

First, the multiplayer is the main thing that really sets it apart from the past few CODs, its healing mechanic and the lack of the boost jumping or advanced movement system. As of now, the healing system most definitely mixes things up. It is a slightly less casual experience at first, but when it clicks it works well. Specialists also return from “Black Ops 3,” some having team-oriented abilities while others don’t, such as Crash, with an ability to heal all teammates and throw down ammo. There are new modes that are welcome additions, but Team Deathmatch and Domination are still my go-to modes. One of my biggest problems with “Black Ops 3” was the bland set of guns, with the cool ones being locked behind gambling to unlock them. In a complete 180, the launch set of guns in “Black Ops 4” are a fun assortment of weapons.

Then there is Blackout. I’m absolutely loving it, coming from somebody who isn’t necessarily a fan or particularly good at battle royale games. It doesn’t have the building mechanic Fortnite has, which I honestly think is a great component. It possesses more polish than all the in-perpetual-early-access battle royale games have. You are dropped into a very large map of lovingly recreated areas from previous COD’s and completely new ones, and put in a free for all battle to the death. It really blew my expectations with its server performance on launch, and its overall playability.

Then there is Zombies. The perfect gunplay COD has always possessed fits perfectly with round-based zombie killing, and when normally COD games launch with one or sometimes two, if you buy a season pass, BO4 launched with four, counting a map from the season pass. From what I have played, the maps are all great additions to the zombies lineup over the years, and possesses the replayability that I enjoy.

“Black Ops 4” is a solid three-mode package that is a blast. Like every other COD before it, the game will see a ton of post-launch content, and the developer and publisher’s respect for the consumer will determine if this game will hold up.