As you may have heard, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 won’t have a single-player mode, so that developer Treyarch can focus solely on the multiplayer – including the new Battle Royale mode Blackout.
We recently had a chance to try a few of the game’s multiplayer modes: Hardpoint and Heist. Unfortunately, we didn’t get our hands on Blackout, though we did learn some new information about the map, weapons and players. There’s also a trailer:
Hardpoint mode has two teams fighting over control of checkpoint that keeps moving around the map. It’s a mode that should be familiar to COD fans, and its back in Black Ops 4. Hardpoint is as enjoyable as ever, with intense firefights that constantly shift all over the map as the teams chase the checkpoint.
Its one of our favorite modes the game’s multiplayer, just for the way it begs you to use tactics more complex than just running around, indiscriminate killing other players.
For this mode, we picked an operator called Ruin who stars on Black Op 4’s box art. We then tried and use the game’s “Pick 10” loadout system to customize its arsenal to fit our play style. For those of you who don’t know, the “Pick 10” system allows players to choose how to distribute 10 points in an operator’s combat kit.
It’s a “make your own class” kind of system. The player can even take only a pistol or a knife and invest the rest of the points in a whole lot of perks and tactical gear, sink in every point into a monstrous main rifle with all the bells and whistles, or load up on armor perks and make themselves into a tank.
For every specialist in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 there are two unique “superpowers,” similar to what we saw in Black Ops 3. A new power we saw was the ability to deploy a ballistic shield, which protects the user and allows other players to use as mobile cover as well.
One other power that was added is the first aid kit. It heals and boosts the max health of your operator, as well as up to four other allies. Deploying your first aid kit at the right time and place can make the difference between life and death for you and your team.
The second mode we got to play is Heist. If you ever played old-school Counter-Strike as we did, you’ll feel right at home when playing Heist. This was what the developers intended when they created this mode – to build on the nostalgia of FPS players who’ve played CS1.3 when they were young.
In this mode, one team has to steal a money bag and bring it to a chopper, while the other team needs to stop them. There are no respawns, but team members can still revive each other, though it takes time and leaves both players vulnerable.
Unlike other modes, in Heist, you purchase all your guns and gear at the beginning of every round. In the first round, you won’t be able to afford anything other than the basic pistol. Killed an enemy? Won the round? Congratulations, you just got yourself a nice amount of cash which you’ll be able to spend on better gear for the next round.
It’s a great mode to play, but the main problem with it is the inevitable snowball effect – a winning team gets more money to buy better guns, resulting in better odds at winning the next round, and so on. For example, our team won the first round and from that moment on we dominated the other team until the end of the match. There’s still some work Treyarch needs to put into Heist to prevent such one-sided battles.
Zombie mode returns in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, and while we didn’t get to try it, history shows the Treyarch now what they are doing when it comes to zombies. They do have the best ones out of all the Call of Duty developers, after all. But since there isn’t any new info on this mode, let’s move to the main event – Blackout mode.
We’re very curious to see how Call of Duty will approach the Battle Royale formula. You have to aim high when you want to compete with the likes of Fortnite and PUBG, but Treyarch isn’t shying away from this challenge.
The map is going to be huge, with an unprecedented number of players. The map itself is going to be a mix of different areas from previous games in the Black Ops timeline, which fans of the series will surely appreciate. We’ll also see familiar vehicles, helicopters, weapons, and even characters – all guarantee an intense action experience, worthy of a COD title.
The map includes thick woods that will allow for stealthy movement, roads for vehicle mobility, urban areas, and a hydroelectric dam, which we do hope we could blow up, like in the Hydro map from Black Ops 3.
The Blackout beta will be available starting September 10 for PlayStation 4, and later for the PC and Xbox. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 will launch on October 12.
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