Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is a 2018 first-person shooter game developed by Treyarch and published by Activision. It is the fifteenth installment of the Call of Duty series and the fifth entry in the Black Ops sub-series, following Call of Duty: Black Ops III (2015). The game was released on October 12, 2018, for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One.
Black Ops 4 is the first mainline Call of Duty title to not include a single-player campaign. Instead, it features the Specialist HQ, which details the backstories of the multiplayer mode's characters, known as "Specialists"; its missions are set between Call of Duty: Black Ops II (2012) and Black Ops III chronologically. The multiplayer component is the first in the series to not feature automatic health regeneration and introduces both predictive recoil and a new ballistics system. The cooperative Zombies mode also returned, with four maps available on release day. Additionally, Black Ops 4 features a battle royale mode called Blackout, which features up to 100 players in each match.
During the development cycle of Black Ops 4, Treyarch initially planned to include a campaign-like mode in the game, titled "Career", which was intended to continue the story of Black Ops III, but the mode was scrapped in early 2018 due to technical concerns, timing, and negative feedback from play-testers; the team resorted to creating the Blackout battle royale mode as a replacement for Career. Teasing of the game began in March 2018; a full reveal took place later in May. Two betas were held for Black Ops 4, one for the multiplayer component in August and one for Blackout in September.
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". Upon release, Black Ops 4 received positive reviews from critics, with praise directed towards Blackout. It drew criticism for the design of its microtransactions implemented in updates. Retrospective reviews have been mixed, although all three of its modes have received praise. Despite grossing over $500 million in worldwide sales within its first three days of release, Black Ops 4 ultimately failed to meet Activision's overall sales expectations. The game was followed by Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (2020).
Gameplay
Black Ops 4 is a first-person shooter. Unlike previous entries in the Call of Duty series, Black Ops 4 is the first entry to not feature a traditional single-player campaign, and contains only Multiplayer, Zombies and a new battle royale mode called Blackout.
Multiplayer Black Ops 4s multiplayer features the return of Specialists, unique soldier characters with special abilities and traits. At launch, the game featured 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 (Zero, Outrider, Spectre, Reaper) were added to the roster, with unique weaponry and equipment.
Multiplayer has also been reworked with various changes for more tactical and team focused 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. A new Gear slot was also implemented in create-a-class, allowing for the selection of a single powerful item such as Body Armor.
In addition, the game includes Specialist Headquarters, a solo mode featuring short tutorials (known as Onboarding missions) that feature 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.
Zombies
Zombies returns as the cooperative multiplayer mode for Black Ops 4. The game mode features a wider range of customization, allowing for more personalized play styles. Mechanics of the game can be customized via "Custom Mutations", which include over 100 variables, such as overall difficulty, zombie speed, health, damage, and more. Time-limited events known as "Callings" are also promised to be included in the game for long-term engagement. Similar to the Nazi Zombies mode in Call of Duty: WWII, custom loadouts are included to allow players to select different starting weapons, equipment and special upgradable weapons, as well as perk selection to be available in each match. A new game type, Rush, is introduced into Zombies, where the players build up points and multipliers and compete against one another for the highest point possible until death. Black Ops 4 features a new form of consumable items called Elixirs, which grant temporary buffs to the players upon activation; and Talismans, special modifiers that are applied at the start of each match. Elixirs are provided in five types: Classic, Common, Rare, Legendary and Epic; the first is unlocked permanently via player progression, while the latter four are consumable and only craftable using the in-game currency. Talismans are also consumable, and can only be acquired in the same method.
Black Ops 4 is also the first game to feature two distinctive, separate storylines for Zombies. At launch, the game features three on-disc maps: "Voyage of Despair", which takes place on the ; "IX", which takes place in an Gladiatorial Arena in Roman Egypt; and "Blood of the Dead", a soft-remake of the Black Ops II map "Mob of the Dead", taking place once more in Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. The former two maps form the new "Chaos" storyline, and star a new cast of characters: Scarlett, Shaw, Diego and Bruno; while "Blood of the Dead" returns to the original "Aether" storyline established in the previous Black Ops games, and stars the four original characters (Dempsey, Nikolai, Takeo, Richtofen; also known collectively as Primis). A fourth map, titled "Classified", is included in the special editions of the game and the "Black Ops Pass" at launch, and is a remake of the Black Ops map "Five", featuring the original incarnation of Primis (known as Ultimis) as the playable characters. The map "Dead of the Night" features a celebrity cast, in maintaining tradition of previous Black Ops games containing one Zombies map with playable characters portrayed by celebrities.
Blackout Black Ops 4 features a battle royale game mode called Blackout which serves as a stand-in for the campaign mode. While utilizing the traditional Black Ops combat style, the mode includes the largest map featured in a Call of Duty title. Players compete against each other through locations appeared in previous Black Ops games. This mode will also feature land, sea, and air vehicles for players to use. The game mode features various playable characters from the entire Black Ops series, such as Alex Mason from the original game, Raul Menendez from Black Ops II, and the Primis crew from Zombies.
In Blackout, up to 100 players, who can choose to play as Solo, Duos, or Quads (squads of 4), drop into the map via helicopters, and must scavenge for loot to survive as the last person(s) standing, while a circle collapses and narrows the map's playable area. In addition to regular weapons, players can equip health kits, armors, ammo types, attachments, as well as perk consumables. AI-controlled zombie enemies also spawn at Zombies-themed locations, such as Asylum or Lighthouse, and upon being killed drop Zombies loot items, such as the Ray Gun or Cymbal Monkey. Several vehicles, such as the ATV and helicopter, are also available for traversal around the map.
Similar to Fortnite Battle Royale and the main multiplayer, Blackout features special modes that change the presence or mechanics of physical items in the Blackout world. Modes such as 'Close Quarters' emphasise a faster and more aggressive playstyle through the exclusion of long-range weapons, while others like 'Fast Collapse' feature a faster narrowing of the circle. Later updates included a different map, called 'Alcatraz', which features a significantly smaller map, which is supposed to represent Alcatraz Island. Main differences between Alcatraz and the regular map include the fact that only 40 players are allowed per match, there are respawns included, and no vehicles are present.
Synopsis Characters and settings
The Multiplayer and Blackout modes take place in the 2040s, and are centered around the Specialists, a group of global elite soldiers hired by researcher Savannah Mason-Meyer (Evangeline Lilly), granddaughter of Alex Mason (Sam Worthington). The initial Specialist roster includes: infantryman Donnie "Ruin" Walsh (Christian Rummel), demolitions expert Erin "Battery" Baker (Morla Gorrondona), Medical Sergeant Jarrah "Crash" Bazley (Mark Coles Smith), militia officer Kerk "Ajax" Rossouw (Stelio Savante), JGSDF soldier Katsumi "Recon" Kimura (Daisuke Tsuji), former British Army Corporal Kieran "Torque" Mackay (Matthew Waterson), ex-arsonist Krystof "Firebreak" Hejek (Adam Gifford), 54 Immortals enforcer He "Seraph" Zhen-Zhen (Judy Alice Lee), survivalist Tavo "Nomad" Rojas (David Cooley), and engineer David "Prophet" Wilkes (Dwane Walcott). Additional Specialists later join the roster, including: hacker Leni "Zero" Vogel (Stephanie Lemelin), Alessandra "Outrider" Castillo (Loreni Delgado), assassin Spectre (Roger Garcia), and combat robot EWR-115 "Reaper" (Keith Silverstein). Other characters featured in the Specialist Stories include: Jessica Mason-Green (Alexa Kahn), Savannah's sister and a former squad mate of Ruin and Battery; Sergeant Frank Woods (James C. Burns), Mason's best friend who appears as an instructor in the Specialists' training program; Viktor Reznov (Piotr Michael), a Red Army soldier who was Mason's ally prior to his death; and Raul Menendez (Kamar de los Reyes), former leader of the terrorist organization Cordis Die who plays a vital supporting role in Savannah's research.
The Chaos story of Zombies mode features a new cast of characters, starring: adventurer Scarlett Rhodes (Courtenay Taylor), former French Foreign Legion soldier Bruno Delacroix (Andrew Morgado), Mexican spy Diego Necalli (Christian Lanz), and British chemist Stanton Shaw (Nick Boraine). Scarlett leads the other three in search of her father, Alistair (Charles Dennis), who has mysteriously disappeared following an encounter with the Order, an ancient cult worshiping a dark power led by the High Priest (Fred Tatasciore). Dead of the Night, a prequel to Scarlett's story, features a different crew of characters, who are Alistair's associates: the Rhodes family butler Godfrey (Charles Dance), stage show cowboy Gideon Jones (Kiefer Sutherland), phony psychic Christina Fowler (Helena Bonham Carter), and Brigadier General Jonathan Warwick (Brian Blessed). Other characters include the Oracle of Delphi (Cissy Jones), who guides Scarlett's crew toward their goal, and Perseus (Andrew Morgado), the demigod son of Zeus who became a zombie warlord after failing a trial.