We got our hands on the Black Ops 4 beta which is the next Call of Duty in line to be released in October. So is the new Black Ops 4 any good? Well, we’ve played a couple of matches, we got some wins and we’ve got some losses but, in the end, we’ve had fun and that’s all that matters for now.
The Black Ops series within the Call of Duty franchise has always been one of the favorites for a lot of gamers because of the innovation and the interesting setting where man met machine. Black Ops 3 was one of the best Call of Duty games out there and it seems hard to get passed that level of excitement. Treyarch showed off some interesting features during E3 and thanks to the beta, we got the opportunity to try it and give our first impressions of this next Call of Duty title.
The first thing I noticed was the smoothness and the feel of the game. The game ran fluently and there was no lag throughout my play sessions. There was always a steady FPS without any form of stuttering. Since the game is focusing on the multiplayer, the technical performance of the game must be on point. The slightest glitch within the game system can ruin your online experience.
Graphically speaking, the game hasn’t changed that much since the previous Black Ops. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing and it seems obvious that they didn’t upgrade their graphics to a whole new level. Black Ops 4 is meant to be in the same universe as the previous Black Ops game, just with a lot more “Boots on The Ground” feel. Black Ops 4 allows the player to thrust himself over the ground, but the player won’t be able to wall-run or take it to new heights with its thrusters. This has been a request from so many people and the developers listened and reacted.
Gunplay is better than ever. Black Ops 3’s greatest feature was the use of guns. It felt great and now, with the new Black Ops 4, the guns feel even better. The pick 10 system also returns to the stage and this allows you to create your own set of skills and weaponry that’ll fit your playstyle perfectly. It’s a great system to really build a character to your liking without the fear of players becoming too powerful. As a player, you can choose between a primary weapon, secondary weapon, and perks to build the ultimate pack of destruction.
There were different modes available to the player like chaos TDM (TDM or kill confirmed), search and destroy, domination and control. A lot of these modes are actually known to the community but in the second weekend, the developers added a new mode “Heist”. This new mode is all about grabbing the cash and getting it to the extraction point. If your team has grabbed more money than the opposing team, you win the first round. The first team that’s able to win 4 rounds will be crowned the winner. During this mode, you also gain cash and at the start of each round, you’ll be able to buy guns or other equipment that’ll help you win the game. It’s a very fun game to play, especially with friends. If you’re playing with friends, you’ll be able to be a bit more strategic because this is what the new COD is all about.
The new Black Ops 4 wants to be a bit more “strategic” than previous COD’s. First, your life doesn’t regenerate automatically, you’ll have to use your health stim to regenerate your life. In the beginning, it felt a little off especially when I was in the heat of battle… I was so used to in getting my health back automatically that I often forgot to look at my health bar to see if I was viable enough to survive the next attack. This system felt a bit awkward in the beginning but later I did use my “Health stim” and it’s something that I’ve really learned to love, even in such a short time.
The health bars in this game are enormous. It takes a long time to kill someone and even though I love this approach, I do feel like it needs some tweaking because it doesn’t always make sense. It’s a system that not everyone will love because COD was always a fast-paced shooter, and this slows the game down. You waste a great number of bullets to kill someone off and at some point, I even got killed a lot because my clip ran dry. Then, to my surprise, there were also moments where I got laid down very fast. I didn’t even get a chance to shoot some bullets. Even though I’ve had my fair share of being laid down unexpectedly, I do find the system interesting. This long health bar allows the player to get out a fight and flank the enemy, so even though it slows the game down, this feature has its advantages.
“As a player, you’re probably going to choose the skill that fits your playstyle best.”
Another feature of Black Ops 4 is the fact that every mercenary has its own set of ultimate abilities. With each kill you make, you build up your meter and this allows you to use certain abilities. It feels a bit like Overwatch but it’s a feature that made the previous Black Ops such an amazing game to play. I do love the fact that they’ve kept this system because it can turn the battlefield into your favor. Of course, some abilities will help you get your scorestreaks a lot faster because these abilities let you gain a lot of points passively instead of actively. For example, vision pulse helps you and your teammates to see through walls and with each enemy tagged, you gain points that’ll fill up your meter. You just have to survive and run around the battlefield. A lot of other abilities are more active, so you’ll have to get in some work in order for your ability to be successful. As a player, you’re probably going to choose the skill that fits your playstyle better.
The maps were created in a way that you can easily get to the other side of the map very quickly. That’s why a lot of these maps feel like it was constantly “close quarters combat”. This can be fun, especially when you’re running an SMG (which was a bit overpowered in the first weekend) but sometimes, you just want to get out your sniper and get some long-range shots. However, the maps do feel like you’re having a lot of ways to get from point A to B which is a good thing, especially for modes such as hardpoint or domination.
“The Black Ops 4 beta has been a blast to play and it’s definitely something to look out for…”
There were a couple of “problems” within the first weekend that has already been solved. There were the unlimited bunny hop and the strong thrust forward. As a player, you could jump very high without any sign of exhaustion, so players took advantage of this playstyle. The strong thrust forward was a great way to get some distance very fast and a lot of the players used this to their advantage to kill enemies very quickly. In the second weekend, these things have already been patched and it was for the better. The load times before you entered a battle were also very long, they minimized the waiting time to get the players a lot faster in a game. This long waiting time was essentially implemented in the game to give players time to sort their loadout out but not many people were a fan of the long waiting time. They reduced the waiting time tremendously which gives a bit more credit to this “fast-paced styled shooter”.
The Black Ops 4 beta has been a blast to play and it’s definitely something to look out for if you’re done playing the current shooters like Fortnite, Overwatch or Rainbow Six Siege. It feels like the developers played a lot of these games themselves and implemented a lot of these features in Black Ops 4. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I do feel like they need to sort out some things to know what kind of game they’re willing to make. Because all of these features are amazing but too many is too many. What feature is still unique for the Call of Duty franchise?
It’s great to see that Treyarch’s trying to experiment with all of these things to create something fresh but I have a feeling this game has been a bit rushed. The game hasn’t got a single player campaign which made a lot of fans disappointed, one of the developer’s selling point is “Blackout” which is a Battle Royale version of COD but we haven’t seen any gameplay footage yet and last but not least, a lot of these characters, skills, maps, and guns have been recycled from the last Black Ops 3 game… I really don’t know how to feel about this new Black Ops 4. I’ve had a lot of fun, but the game doesn’t feel fresh enough to keep my interest for long. Hopefully, Treyarch still has some tricks in its sleeve.
