Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 - Our review

A bit of history

Let's start by talking about the Call of Duty saga, it is a historic brand that has now reached its 15th title (excluding spin-offs). Like any annual saga, it is not exempt from criticisms, more or less heavy, mainly referring to the rate of change compared to the previous title, the rate of realism or the excessive presence of the hated "campers".

Rivalry…

Like any self-respecting genre, even the one dedicated to FPS is divided into two schools of thought, those who love the COD saga or those who prefer the eternal rival developed by DICE, Battlefield.

Are there just these two? Certainly not, many have been the ideas of the software houses to take the hearts of the players and the coveted throne of the "best first person shooter". One above all starts from Ubisoft, the Canadian house decided to add a high rate of tacticity by relying on Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon.

In the end, however, we are here every year trying to decree the rightful heir to the throne, choosing between these two famous sagas. To make this difficult decision we will have to wait until November 20, the release date of Battlefield V, there is no honor to win without opponents, right?

Controversy

This year Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 did not start off quite on the right foot, declaring that the title of Treyarch and Activision would not have the single-player campaign.

This is certainly a particularly courageous and controversial choice, as many of the historical fans of the saga have turned up their noses (including myself). This mode certainly did not shine for longevity, an aspect always neglected in favor of online multiplayer, a factor of extreme importance for this kind of titles, but it fulfilled its dual task of entertaining and training.

Then how can we forget those characters who somehow have remained etched in the minds of gamers, from Captain Alex Mason to Frank Woods, without forgetting those villains who made that little time truly unforgettable, all surrounded by patriotism in quantity.

Before shooting, you have to learn to walk

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 begins by showing us a series of tutorials of the ten specialists of the game, this thing comes directly from Black Ops III, even if in the latter case there were fewer specialists and with different characteristics.

To help you get familiar with it all, an offline mode called Specialist Headquarters is proposed, where you can test their skills and abilities against a group of Bots.

This help won't help COD veterans, as overall mechanics and controls remain the same. This "Training Area" does not just throw totally stupid Bots at you, but try to recreate situations as similar as possible to online multiplayer.

Walk on the walls? It's not Prince of Persia!

Don't think about doing super jumps, using Jet-packs or walking on walls, this is the battlefield honey and you have to get dirty to the top of your hair to stay alive, so feet on the ground and fire before it's your turn to fertilize the ground. .

Game mode

After metabolizing the lack of the single player campaign, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 will drag you online, where you can taste the 14 maps and the 3 different game modes: Blackout, Multiplayer and Zombie. Within the Multiplayer there are 8 other modes, the game remains the same, but offers a wealth of possibilities never before had.

The essential role of the Specialist

It is useless to exclude from this review, the importance of the Specialists, they are soldiers with particular skills and special moves, all enriched by the presence of a unique gadget.

The interesting part of this version is the fact that the equipment of the Specialists is linked to an interesting system of "Pick 10", which consists in the possibility of choosing 10 elements, including perks, modifiers and upgrades. As for optics, weapons, Killstreak and grenades, they can be freely equipped, as long as you have the necessary points available for unlocking.

The developers have in fact built this system, to encourage team play, as some upgrades become extremely useful in particular circumstances. Precisely for this reason, the team of Treyarch and Activision has worked hard to improve the maps, in fact the 14 maps alternate combat scenarios forcing players to understand which styles and which weapons are suitable for certain environments.

Another welcome novelty dedicated to maps is the presence of the fog of war, which consists in the obscuring of some parts of the map on your radar, forcing the teams to communicate more (if you are dealing with communicating beings, I add).

Did someone say Zombie?

This mode maintains a similar structure to the previous Call of Duty, but everything has been enriched by some interesting news. One of these is the Rush mode, which offers players a more arcade style, focusing on scoring, competitiveness and speed of execution.

The classic mode remains almost the same, but everything is enhanced by a very particular plot: Scarlett Rhodes is trying to understand the reasons that gravitate around the disappearance of her father figure. She is helped in the adventure by three faithful teammates, together with them she will travel through the meanders of time to destroy endless hordes of the undead.

The maps are even more particular than the plot itself, we start from IX, it is an exclusively circular space and will pit you against huge gladiators and explosive tigers, just like new gladiators.

Desperate Journey instead is set in the Titanic (who knows if you will also find Leonardo Di Caprio). Finally you will have to face hordes of zombies hungry for your brain in Blood of the Dead, a map inspired by Mob of the Dead from Black Ops II, in this case you will be in Alcatraz (and as you know it is not easy to escape), your enemies will be characters known and three-headed dogs.

Among other things, this mode introduces a completely new system of Advantages or Perks. In fact, players will be able to bring with them 4 elixirs to be jealously guarded in battle, a series of power ups to be activated at will during the most difficult moments.

Fortunately, these benefits often have short payback times, allowing you to better organize team strategies.

Blackout mode: Battle Royale are everywhere now ...

It is clear that a large majority of gamers are moving towards this type of games, Fortnite and PUBG have shown it quite well.

The developers of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 then decided to go with the flow, logically enriching this mode with the typical style of COD. How does it work?

Up to 100 players are catapulted to a desert island and will have to do what they can to survive not only the raids of other players, but also a deadly area that tightens more and more.

The innovation in this mechanic is almost totally absent, apart from the introduction of zombies in some areas.

Despite the lack of innovations and the fact that the mode doesn't really make us jump on the sofa, we must give Treyarch what is Treyarch, in fact the development studio by lowering the quality of the textures still managed to keep the 60 FPS quite fluid.

You will understand immediately after you have closed your wingsuit, the game rhythms are not the usual ones of COD or any other first-person shooter, all in fact leans towards a more frenetic game model, even the driving of vehicles is of the mold. arcade, let's assume that driving on four wheels needs to be reviewed.

Surely not all players will appreciate this mode, fortunately there are other game possibilities. Whether Treyarch will support this new system or abandon it to itself remains to be discovered.