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Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

(stylized as Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII) is a 2018 multiplayer first-person shooter developed by Treyarch and published by Activision. It was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on October 12, 2018. It is a sequel to the 2015 game Call of Duty: Black Ops III, the fifth entry in the Black Ops sub-series, and the 15th installment in the Call of Duty series overall.

Information

Black Ops 4 is the first Call of Duty title without a traditional single-player campaign mode. Instead, it features the Solo Missions mode, which focuses on the backstories of the game’s multiplayer characters, known as “Specialists”. The missions take place between Black Ops II and III chronologically. Some of the Specialists also carried over from Black Ops III. The multiplayer mode is the first in the series to not feature automatic health regeneration and introduces both predictive recoil and a new ballistics system. The game included three Zombies maps on release day, four if a special edition of the game, or the Black Ops Pass, was purchased. The locations of the maps include the RMS Titanic, an Gladiatorial Arena in Roman Egypt, and Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. The game also introduced a battle royale mode called Blackout, which features up to 100 players in each match. Many characters from this and other Black Ops titles can be used as the player’s character model in this mode.

Development for the game started shortly after the release of Black Ops III. Treyarch chose not to create a campaign mode for the game at the beginning of development, instead putting all of their focus on the multiplayer aspect. They cited an increased interest for multiplayer and lack of time spent by the playerbase on the campaign mode as reasons why they shifted their focus. Black Ops 4 utilizes Blizzard’s Battle.net platform for the Windows version instead of Steam, the first game in the series to do so. Teasing of the game began in March 2018, with a full reveal taking place later in May. Two betas were held for the game; one for the multiplayer in August and one for Blackout in September. The release date was moved up to October instead of the series’ usual November in an attempt to avoid coinciding with the release of other high-profile games.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

Pre-release reception of the game was negative due to the game’s lack of a campaign mode and the Black Ops Pass, a – Season pass that distributes downloadable content (DLC) in the form of “Operations”. Black Ops 4 received positive reviews upon release, with praise towards its three modes, particularly Blackout, while it received criticism for the game’s lack of a campaign mode and the design of its microtransactions implemented in updates. Despite physical retail sales for the game being the lowest in the series in a decade, it was the best-selling digital launch in Activision’s history, surpassing 2017’s Call of Duty: WWII.

Multiplayer

Black Ops 4’s multiplayer features the return of Specialists, unique soldier characters with special abilities and traits. At launch, the game features a total of ten Specialists, six of which (Ruin, Prophet, Battery, Seraph, Nomad, Firebreak) are returning characters from Black Ops III, while the other four (Recon, Ajax, Torque, Crash) are new additions. Unlike Black Ops III, the game allows only two unique Specialist per team, in order to emphasize the role of each character. Following launch, more Specialists are added to the roster, with unique weaponry and equipment.

has also been reworked with various changes for more tactical and teamwork gameplay. Automatic health regeneration is removed in favor of a manual healing system (with each player having a health bar), weapons are now given predictive recoil patterns, and a mixed ballistics system, using both hitscan and projectile damage, is employed as opposed to just hitscan. Weapon customization is also emphasized, allowing for deeper personalization of players’ arsenals; attachments are also given tiers, with tier-2 upgrades providing even bigger improvements to the weapons. Certain weapons also offer Operator Mods, which significantly change how a weapon works, while costing a significant portion of the 10 customization slots per class.

In addition, the game includes Specialist Headquarters, a solo mode featuring skill-based tutorials that unlock backstories on various Specialists in the game. The missions are set within the same narrative world of the Black Ops campaigns, between the events of Black Ops II and Black Ops III

Multiplayer/Blackout

In the year 2043, during a covert mission involving a mercenary group, Jessica Mason-Green (Alexa Kahn), a US Army Specialist is presumably killed while her two squad mates, Donnie “Ruin” Walsh (Christian Rummel) and Erin “Battery” Baker (Morla Gorrondona) escape with critical injuries. Two years later, Savannah Mason-Meyer (Evangeline Lilly), a trillionaire researcher and Jessica’s sister, recruits ten of the world’s most elite soldiers, including Ruin and Battery, for a top-secret project against an unknown threat. Savannah uses a Combat Immersion program to train the Specialists in a virtual simulation, with Sergeant Frank Woods (James C. Burns) acting as their instructor.

While taking a break from training, Ruin discusses with Battery about their survival two years prior, and that he received a warning message from a mysterious individual. At some point, the individual contacts Ruin at his home, tipping him off to an ambush by mercenaries. Ruin survives the ordeal, and arrives at a warehouse where he confronts the individual, revealed to be Jessica who remained alive and went undercover. It is implied that Savannah intends to eliminate all the Specialists she hired, and that she was somehow responsible for the botched mission in 2043. Woods is then shown in an asylum, standing beside a wheelchair-bound Alex Mason (Sam Worthington). As Mason mutters to himself, Woods tells him that it has always been him “in the box”.

Intel files unlocked from completing Specialist tutorial missions reveal additional stories. Savannah is revealed to be running Project Blackout, an experiment that is implied to be about resurrection of the dead through unknown means. The project was successful in reviving four subjects, referred to as “archetypes”: Mason, Woods, Viktor Reznov (Piotr Michael), and Raul Menendez (Kamar de los Reyes); the latter is tasked with overseeing the project alongside Savannah. Jessica, who disapproves of Savannah’s actions, was revealed to have been actually shot by Savannah during a heated argument between the two sisters. Battery is revealed to have been seeing flashes of numbers, an effect of the brainwashing technique that Mason previously experienced during the Cold War, further hinting that the event of the mission in 2043 may not have been real. Woods, who is involved in a relationship with Savannah, is tasked with brainwashing Mason, using the same technique from before, for an unknown purpose. The latter was then allowed to meet Reznov, who Woods claims to have survived the events of Vorkuta.

Call of Duty

The Call of Duty series has existed since 2003 and in addition to various spin-offs, including for the handheld systems Nintendo DS and Sony PSP, 14 major titles of the series have now been released. Ever since the first part of the series, great emphasis has been placed on the online multiplayer mode in addition to the single-player campaign, which is also reflected in the development of the shooter series. Since the first Call of Duty, World at War, which was developed exclusively by Treyarch, each part also included cooperative challenges that you could play together with friends. The latest installment, Call of Duty: World War II, also features an extended multiplayer mode that puts you and your friends in the combat zones and famous battles of World War II. Using the divisions, you’ll be able to choose between the deadly sniper and the brute armored division and support your comrades in battle. In addition, World War II also has a zombie mode “Nazi Zombies”, as in its predecessor Call of Duty: Black Ops. Face the monsters of the Third Reich and win glory and honor.