PS4 Review – Call of Duty Black Ops 4

Call of Duty Black Ops 4 was officially released on 12 October 2018. It was developed by Treyarch and published by Activision . It is first person shooting game set in the Black Ops series of the Call of Duty franchise.

AIR Entertainment obtained a digital copy of the game from Activision for review purposes.

If you are subscribed to AIR Entertainment’s Youtube Channel, you can catch a glimpse of AIR Entertainment’s gameplay videos along with some other game videos.

And we have a special treat. In this review, we have three gameplay videos for you to enjoy: Multiplayer, Blackout and Zombie.

STORY

When I first heard that Call of Duty (COD) Black Ops 4 was not going to have a single player campaign mode, I was quite upset. As an author, screenwriter and game writer, story is everything to me. However, having enjoyed World War 2 to death and having prestiged my multiplayer character so many times, and also having played Black Ops 3 multiplayer to death, I was more than happy to give it a chance.

And now I have learnt my lesson. Just because there is no single-player campaign mode, does not mean there is no story, or that you cannot play any of the stories in single player mode.

Let me explain.

There are three official modes that can be played in local play (single player or two players split screen) or online (also available in split screen). Multiplayer is like the normal Black Ops mode (and other COD games) we know; play maps locally or online and kill as many bots or online players as you can. These come in the standard modes like Team Deathmatch, Free Kill, Domination, etc.

Now Multiplayer mode takes place in 2043, with a mercenary group taking part in a covert mission. What is exciting about this mission mode is that there are several Specialists that you can choose in HQ and play their tutorials. Each Specialist has unique abilities that help in certain situations. This makes Multiplayer so much more exciting than every before.

Zombie mode returns with the usual type of gameplay, but not with more stories to it. At the time of this article, two stories are available, namely Chaos Story and Aether Story. Each one has their own storyline and objectives, and with Season Pass there is a promise of more to come.

And now, for the new edition to any COD game: Blackout. While this type of gameplay is not new to games, for instance the Battle Royale of Fortnite, Blackout takes the Battle Royale and makes it even better. There is no need to build ridiculous structures just to survive. Blackout also has a storyline, but one has to find intel during Specialist missions to understand what is happening.

So effectively, all in all, Treyarch have made an excellent multiplayer experience while retaining stories in the game, and completely getting rid of single player campaign mode. In my opinion, they have pulled this off in a way I don’t think anyone else could have. And that’s even comparing it to the Star Wars Battlefront games that lean heavily on an already established universe.

GAMEPLAY

If you have played any Call of Duty game, especially Black Ops, you should immediately at home. Much of the mechanics have not only returned, but been improved upon. A shotgun is now labelled as a secondary weapon, which is where I believe it always should have been. In WW2, one had to apply Rifleman tag just to have two primary weapons and thereby have a shotgun with a rifle or sniper.

Attachments to weapons have also slightly changed. Many of the attachments are similar to what we have had before, but are applied in a better way now. It has the same feeling as previous games, and yet there is an overall sense that the game is a vast improvement on every COD game ever made.

Vehicles are also now available, specifically  in Blackout mode. You can either take a quadbike for a ride, or fly in a helicopter with your team shooting from the sides. Massive trucks can be used to carry teammates over long distances to stay in the safe zone. This makes Blackout the most enjoyable of all the modes.

Those who have a slow connection though, specifically those who do not own fibre, are going to suffer. By the time you have run for cover, you have already been killed 10 steps back. The server connection is more stable than WW2 though, and I hope that with more players joining the servers that this will remain the case.

Black Ops 4 already sports a massive selection of maps in Multiplayer mode, both for local and online modes. The best feature that could have been included was bringing back some of the maps from Black Ops 3. The goosebumps ran up my arms when running through the Jungle, where I was champion in BO3.

SOUND AND GRAPHICS

Everything about the graphics is superb. EVERYTHING. Elements such as water and fire are utterly amazing. The old maps that have been brought back have been redone in the new modern graphics, making everything much more clear than before. And playing on a 65″ 4k SuperHD Smart TV is absolute heaven with BO4.

My only concern is when playing splitscreen. The width is reduced in order to save the graphical detail and resolution. This means, even on my massive television, squinting to see what is happening on the map and other areas of the User interface.

The sound is crystal clear and is better played with headphones. You can hear someone running outside a house that you are hiding in, or driving a quadbike nearby in order for you to hide behind a nearby tree. Shots are heard from miles away in the game, alerting you to the fact that someone, somewhere, has just killed someone. The wind whistles passed your ears, the grass rustles under your feet… pure symphony.

FINAL VERDICT

Black Ops 4 is the epitome of First Person Shooting right now. Massive Online Multiplayer maps, Battle Royale with a hundred players and different Zombie story modes… It is everything Call of Duty and shooting gamers could ask for. It already has our vote for Game of the Year 2018, and we aren’t anywhere near the end of the gaming year yet.

With amazing graphics, fantastic gameplay elements, multiple story arcs and the new Blackout mode to enjoy, Black Ops easily get the full 10/10.

Disclaimer: AIR Entertainment obtained a digital copy for reviewing purposes. This review is the author’s own opinion and not influenced by the developer in any way, as per our reviewing Code of Ethics.

SHAUN M JOOSTE

Author, Poet, Screenwriter, Gamewriter, Journalist,
….and Elemental Mage Supreme in his spare time