Tick tock it's Cod o'clock, time to get Blopped
Blip blap
The falling of the leaves heralds the launch of a new Call Of Duty game, but things are different from the usual routine with Call Of Duty: Black Ops 4. Its launch overnight came a month earlier than usual, for starters, but most notably this Cod doesn't have a singleplayer campaign. Cod Blops 4 also jumps on the battle royale bandwagon with its 'Blackout' mode, which is curious bit of zeitgeist-chasing from a series which set the tone for a decade of multiplayer FPSs. I have heard good things about Blackout from serious battlers royale, mind. As for the state of the game at launch, do be warned: some players are reporting crashes.
This Reddit thread has a whole load of players reporting the game crashes for them, with folks offering a number of potential solutions that work for some - but not others. If you're having trouble, try there first. Sadly, it seems some crashes will require proper fixes from developers Treyarch. Some players who could play fine in the beta test are having the launch game wonk on them too, so crashes are a surprise for some. Onto what the game is when it works...
So: no, Blops 4 doesn't have a singleplayer campaign. It does have a few story-driven missions focused on particular characters, but they're a minor feature. Rumour had it that the campaign was looking like it wouldn't be finished for the annual release schedule, so it was ditched, though the official story is that they wanted to focus on multiplayer.
The cooperative wave survival 'Zombies' mode returns with three maps across two stories, one visiting Ancient Rome and the Titanic for wacky shenanigans and the other being all serious in World War 2. Then there are the regular competitive Cod multiplayer modes. And Blackout.
Blackout is an interesting-sounding Plunkbut, perhaps the first mega-budget fancy battle royale FPS. The genre has been pretty scrappy so far, with leader Playerunknown's Battlegrounds still running sloppily long after launch. A battle royale FPS which runs well is almost a novelty in itself (Fortnite, while polished until it gleams, isn't an FPS obvs). And Blackout is a pretty exciting-lookin' one too, full of Cod funsies like wingsuits, grappling hook guns, sliding, helicopters, character perks, some weird weapons, and so on. It's more arcade-y than regular Cod too, giving players more health.
Dunno! I do want to play Blackout; I don't want to buy the whole game just for it.
Young Matt chatted with some Blops devs the other day about Blackout and other bits.
Cod Blops 4 is out now on Battle.net. This year it require's Activision's client, getting no Steam release. It costs £50 for the regular version and £80 for the one with the season pass. Remember, Black Ops 4 won't sell individual map packs, unlike previous games, so it's the pass or nothing. And yes, DLC will still launch earlier on PlayStation cos of an exclusivity deal.
We've only just got hold of Cod Blops 4 ourselves, so our review will be coming... when it's done?