The Call of Duty: Blackops 4 battle royale PC beta goes live later this week
Blop till you drop
I didn't have much interest in Call Of Duty: Blackops 4 or its battle royale mode, but then it whipped out a grappling hook. The PC beta doesn't open until September 15th, but it might be worth taking a peek at other people playing before you decide if it's worth downloading. Fortunately, the internet is awash with streams from the PS4 beta.
Here is the least angry person I could find:
HMMMM. I'm in two minds about this one. I was wondering how well CoD royale (Blackout, if you insist on the official name) would work when everyone crumples after just a few measly bullets, and Treyarch seemed to have wondered the same thing. Their answer is apparently 'make the time to kill far too long', and now I'm doubting whether CoD's guns will still feel good if the people you're shooting don't always fall over.
I'm suspicious of those perks, too, which you can find lying about and activate to receive temporary unfair advantages. Those include silencing your footsteps or being alerted when someone is aiming at you: the type of buffs I'll feel cheated by when I encounter someone using them.
I probably will wind up feeling cheated by them though, because that grappling hook looks like just enough of a lark to lure me in. The zones with zombies also promise to spice things up, especially when that symbol-clashing zombie-summoning monkey is in play.
I'll see for myself after 6pm British time (10am PT) on September 15th, when the PC beta opens. It'll be free to get in, and ends at 6pm BST/10am PT on Monday 17th. Pre-ordering Blops 4 lets you nip in a day early, but don't do that.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 will be out on October 12th via Battle.net, priced at £50/$60.