Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

The title features more modes, settings, and ways to engage than any game in the series I can recall. The blazing new Blackout mode steals the zeitgeist of the battle royale’s thunder, packaging it in a polished, powerful entry to the burgeoning genre. If you’re willing to eschew single-player completely, the payoff is worth it.

Even if lacking the the trademark narrative pillar of the series, CoD: Black Ops 4 manages to deliver an impressive and content-filled package with a more tactical and grounded multiplayer, a way improved and rich Zombie mode and probably the best - and definitely the most polished - Battle Royale mode available today.

Still, as rich in content as Black Ops 4 might be, it does exclude a segment of shooter fans that have no interest in multiplayer or competitive gaming, or don’t have a community of gaming friends to play with. Solo players can have a lot of fun with Black Ops 4, though ranking up in multiplayer can be a bit of a frustrating slog through hours of humiliation at the hands of experienced series veterans. The new Blackout mode is probably the best point of entry and promises to be an entertaining game of choice for months to come.

Call of Duty Black Ops 4 is one of the best multiplayer shooters of the year. Its new proposal and the Battle Royale mode make it a must of this generation.

It simply has more options than many other first-person shooters on the market, and even though it’s lacking a campaign, it doesn’t feel content deficient at all. Between the multiplayer, Blackout battle royale mode, and Zombies, players will more than get their money’s worth with this game.

Black Ops 4 is the complete multiplayer package. Some design choices lack originality, yes, but Blackout has all the tools to be as big a multiplayer shooter as Modern Warfare was eleven years ago, while also offering a solid complement of competitive and cooperative modes.

Sacrifices had to be made, but the gamble of chopping off a short single player campaign to focus on multiplayer modes that will offer many more hours of fun has paid off. Multiplayer and Zombies are much better off because of it, and newcomer Blackout sets Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 up as the most well-rounded multiplayer shooter of the year.

Blackout is a game mode that will no doubt be played for years to come. It’s a refreshing change from the typical modes usually found in a Call of Duty game. And maybe it’s just me, but it makes multiplayer a little more accessible for someone who loves playing the game online but certainly struggles playing a mode like Team Deathmatch against high level players. It honestly makes me excited to play Call of Duty online again.

In pruning the campaign from its suite of modes, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 has discovered a renewed focus on the nuts and bolts of what most players demand from Activision's undying shooter series. Blackout is a superb addition, in which Treyarch improves upon the battle royale formula, ensuring the gamble in losing single-player ultimately pays off.

Black Ops 4’s rough edges do hold it back from an even better execution of its best moments, but when you’re not experiencing those technical issues, any of Black Ops 4’s three modes make for an enjoyable shooter experience that feel distinct and personalized.

With three strong and well-designed online experiences, Black Ops 4 is a fantastic and addictive experience for young players. Its own Battle Royale called Black Out turns out to be better than people expected and could establish a new direction for this popular genre. A must-play for Call of Duty long time fans.

Treyarch no longer cares to hide what Black Ops 4 is: a 3 in 1. Good news is that each of those three games has the polished classic gameplay of the saga, and links it to different concepts. A multiplayer with a more tactical approach and new modes, a tremendously addictive arcade battle royale, and the deepest zombie mode to date.

Deprived of its usual solo campaign, Call of Duty Black Ops 4 looks more like a patchwork than a whole, tight experience. Nonetheless, its multiple game modes, among which the first AAA Battle Royale, have enough to offer.

Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII is exactly what is advertised. It is the most complete multiplayer package the series has ever seen. The three modes complement each other well. The Battle Royale mode is fantastic. Multiplayer feels great for veteran players. Zombies is neat if not a bit mundane before it ends. Still, there is a lot here, and for those wanting that online CoD experience will find plenty bang for their buck. I miss the campaign, but they have definitely made up for it for those interested in killing other players online.

Black Ops 4 is one of the most packed Call of Duty experiences to release in years. Multiplayer could still use some balance and spawn tweaking, Specialist HQ's implementation flopped, and there are still bugs to be addressed. Nonetheless, there is something here that feels like the biggest step in the right direction the Call of Duty series has taken in a long time.

Many will be happy to see the most popular side to Call of Duty given the main focus this time around, but the lack of anything new and intuitive makes it feel more like a rushed out cash grab than a genuine new entry into one of the world’s most popular franchises.

PUBG keeps it simple but is riddled with performance issues and is too slow; Fortnite works well, but is too busy for me and takes too long to get to the real action; Blackout is just right, and the best battle royale game on the market.