Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

 Xbox One
User Score
4.2

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 438 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 127 out of 438
  2. Mixed: 68 out of 438
  3. Negative: 243 out of 438
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  1. ninjablue
    Oct 23, 2018
    8
    This game was amazing a bit boring in the specialist HQ but still fun. multiplayer is fun and fast paced as always but with the twist of the healing mechanic made it even more enjoyable. Blackout is a great mode with a fun and engaging gameplay and challenge. zombies is always great in treyarch games and i think they knocked it out of the park with this one in my opinion it's the bestThis game was amazing a bit boring in the specialist HQ but still fun. multiplayer is fun and fast paced as always but with the twist of the healing mechanic made it even more enjoyable. Blackout is a great mode with a fun and engaging gameplay and challenge. zombies is always great in treyarch games and i think they knocked it out of the park with this one in my opinion it's the best zombies we have had and the 3 base maps are just fantastic and classified is worth the price of the black ops pass alone i have to say these maps are in my top 5 zombie maps of all time. specialist HQ is fun but boring in long periods but still enjoyable. Overall this is the best cod in years and the people giving this 0-4 the just don't understand what this game is and people who complain there is no campaign that dose not mean its not good… Expand
  2. ShadowFrog
    Oct 22, 2018
    9
    Other than the server issues, great game 3rd CoD ive owned best one for sure. Blackout and zombies is awesome, mp is solid though seems to me like the hit detection isnt the best. Recommend the game.
  3. captainkane
    Oct 22, 2018
    4
    Black Ops 4 is a messy hodgepodge. Treyarch compiled a greatest hits tribute of popular fps modes, minus a campaign. Unfortunately, the tribute contains sloppy, off tune renditions of better games. BO4 isn’t nearly as fun or innovative as Black Ops 2, the last good game of the series. If BO4 had launched under a different brand, it would’ve immediately failed. BO4 looks and feels rushedBlack Ops 4 is a messy hodgepodge. Treyarch compiled a greatest hits tribute of popular fps modes, minus a campaign. Unfortunately, the tribute contains sloppy, off tune renditions of better games. BO4 isn’t nearly as fun or innovative as Black Ops 2, the last good game of the series. If BO4 had launched under a different brand, it would’ve immediately failed. BO4 looks and feels rushed to market. And that’s likely since rumors suggest the original version was scrapped midway thru development. COD is struggling to stay relevant because it's out of ideas.

    Graphically, BO4 is an obvious step back from Infinite Warfare. IW looks fantastic with its punchy, vibrant colors. Plus, it has speedy, consistent performance. BO4 resembles a scaled up 360 game. Its muddled colors and bland textures are inexcusable when considering the amount of money supporting the franchise. Frame rates drop during intense battles. Several maps are recycled from older games, but they aren’t improvements. Blackout is where the engine really struggles. Blackout looks ridiculously dated and has the substandard performance to match.

    B04’s multiplayer is an unbalanced mess. The Pick 10 system intentionally hampers open-ended customization. Guns of the same class have divergent upgrade paths. For example, one LMG gets several magazine upgrades and multiple FMJ’s types, while another LMG gets a laser to improve hip firing. These exclusive upgrades restrict gamers from playing how they want.

    Spawns are horrid. They're the biggest problem in multiplayer. Players are spawning into firefights, on top of grenades, and in front of the baddies who just killed them, etc. Spawn trapping is easily exploitable. In other matches, spawns will flip constantly. So it’s impossible to enact tactical map control. Treyarch acknowledged the broken spawns, but this should’ve been fixed before release.

    The insanely fast movement speed complicates the broken spawns. Players can traverse any map in a few seconds. Plus, they have unlimited stamina. I spawned into a domination game in progress. At the start of the second round, enemies called in a UAV. I immediately rocketed it into pieces. By then, enemies were already in our spawn and capping our objective. I was killed before I could switch back to my primary weapon. All that happened in about 3 seconds. Ridiculous. The rapid traversals wreak havoc on the broken spawns because players are literally everywhere at once. This problem is amplified tenfold on small maps. Unrestrained sprinting nearly killed Halo 4. It might kill BO4 as well.

    Basically, holding strategic positions is fruitless. Enemies will certainly spawn directly behind players holding key points and by the time those players turns around, enemies will have spawned on the opposite side as well. Constant flanking means 1v1 firefights nearly always tip towards 1v3’s and 1v4’s. It’s comparable to the chaos in Advanced Warfare. B04 forces players to play offensively and aggressively because of its bad design and broken mechanics.

    Specialist abilities are broken. Abilities range from overpowered to downright useless. BO4 shamelessly borrows from Destiny and Overwatch. Unlike Overwatch, abilities lack obvious counters. A flamethrower should roast someone camping behind a shield. Not in BO4. Dogs-which are now an ability and not a scorestreak-should be obliterated by rockets. Not in BO4. This exact same problem existed in BO3. Lazy. Lazy. Lazy developers.

    Lethals such as trophy system and grenades are now locked behind high level caps. Players must give up operator abilities to access them. That sucks. In order to eliminate grenade spam, Treyarch essentially removed grenades. It “fixes” one problem only to create 10 more.

    Hit detection is substandard. It's been confirmed that server tickrates were lowered 70% after B04's release. It's noticeable. B04 has terrible hit detection compared to Halo 5, Overwatch, and Titanfall. Host disconnects happen frequently. COD still uses bargain bin servers because it values the bottom line over the player experience. Cheap. Cheap. Cheap. As long as gamers support the series, that won't change.

    The health bar has negligible impact in firefights. The time to kill continues to be quick. The first to see, first to kill rule still largely applies. Flinching can prevent players from taking cover, which negates the role of health. BO4's poor design mean there's virtually nothing about it which encourages tactical play or justifies the bar’s addition. Plus, terrible hit detection effectively negates the advantages of health.

    The much touted Blackout mode will be unrewarding for many. Flushing out enemies, kill assists, or providing squad mates with upgraded weapons earns no points. Blackout is a polished PUBG. Nothing more, nothing less. Zero innovation. There’s nothing worthwhile here for people who aren’t battle royal fans.

    BO4 is a missed opportunity.    … Expand
  4. GunnerMcDagget
    Oct 21, 2018
    6
    Blackout is great. Unfortunately that's the only thing that's worth buying the game for. Zombies and adversarial multiplayer are still fun but they feel like every other generic multiplayer shooter out there. The classes add some value but not much, and there's no real urge to use the class abilities over the standard run and gun.

    As I said, Blackout is great and definitely worth    Blackout is great. Unfortunately that's the only thing that's worth buying the game for. Zombies and adversarial multiplayer are still fun but they feel like every other generic multiplayer shooter out there. The classes add some value but not much, and there's no real urge to use the class abilities over the standard run and gun.

    As I said, Blackout is great and definitely worth playing for any fan of the genre, but paying full triple A price for a single mode is just too much of a stretch.    … Expand
  5. Stinky_Winky
    Oct 20, 2018
    0
    A boring ugly novelty that quickly wore off. I got bored after just an hour or so. And NO CAMPAIGN!! This is the first Call of Duty game that doesn't have a story campaign to play. No campaign means this years entry is half a usual Call of Duty game. But is it half the price then? Because half the game half the price, right? That's fair. But Nope, of course it isn't, don't be silly, it'sA boring ugly novelty that quickly wore off. I got bored after just an hour or so. And NO CAMPAIGN!! This is the first Call of Duty game that doesn't have a story campaign to play. No campaign means this years entry is half a usual Call of Duty game. But is it half the price then? Because half the game half the price, right? That's fair. But Nope, of course it isn't, don't be silly, it's full price as usual. I won't be buying any further Call of Duty games after this, that's it.… Expand
  6. Tenacidad963
    Oct 19, 2018
    0
    Es una pena en lo que se ha convertido Call of Duty. No poner un modo historia formal apostando solo por el multijugador online que antes era un complemento en el título de cada año. Además, obliga al jugador a pagar el servicio online de la consola. Solo le venden al público que ya tiene posicionado su producto. Sus ventas se deben a que copió el modo battle royal. Hay un parche de 50 GBEs una pena en lo que se ha convertido Call of Duty. No poner un modo historia formal apostando solo por el multijugador online que antes era un complemento en el título de cada año. Además, obliga al jugador a pagar el servicio online de la consola. Solo le venden al público que ya tiene posicionado su producto. Sus ventas se deben a que copió el modo battle royal. Hay un parche de 50 GB como si el disco del juego que uno compra estuviera vacío.

    In English
    It's a shame what Call of Duty has become. Do not put a formal story mode betting only on the online multiplayer that was previously a complement in the title of each year. In addition, it forces the player to pay for the console's online service. They only sell to the public that has already positioned their product. His sales are because he copied the battle royal mode. There is a 50GB patch as if the game disc that you buy is empty.    … Expand
  7. Zucheto
    Oct 18, 2018
    0
    Same garbage, year after year, with a weak battle royale mode throw in to try and save face.
  8. Xiricon
    Oct 16, 2018
    10
    Best COD ever.
    Battle Royale - Played PUBG for over 400 hours, didn't care too much for Fortnite. Won't ever touch PUBG again, shooting mechanics can't be beat in BO4.
    Multiplayer - Heist mode owns, Counter Strike style cash buy system with no respawns. No jetpack, wall run BS, boots on the ground with modern setting, the traps add more variety to the gameplay. Zombies - Looks good,    Best COD ever.
    Battle Royale - Played PUBG for over 400 hours, didn't care too much for Fortnite. Won't ever touch PUBG again, shooting mechanics can't be beat in BO4.
    Multiplayer - Heist mode owns, Counter Strike style cash buy system with no respawns. No jetpack, wall run BS, boots on the ground with modern setting, the traps add more variety to the gameplay.
    Zombies - Looks good, hard to stop playing BR or MP to give it a decent try.
    Campaign - Who cares that it doesn't have one, seriously go play your nofriendo switch.    … Expand
  9. HARRYNUGZZ
    Oct 16, 2018
    9
    I'm gonna keep as this simple as possible. First , I wanted to dislike this game I really did. Lets be real, Treyarch has been going down the money hole for a long time and I HATE when companies do this. IE Bungie. I figured this would be a slightly revamped version of BO3. In some ways yes it is, there are a few character crossovers and yes there are some specialty items that make aI'm gonna keep as this simple as possible. First , I wanted to dislike this game I really did. Lets be real, Treyarch has been going down the money hole for a long time and I HATE when companies do this. IE Bungie. I figured this would be a slightly revamped version of BO3. In some ways yes it is, there are a few character crossovers and yes there are some specialty items that make a return. Yes the weapons are a little boring after awhile but the amount of new material and things you can do VASTLY outweighs these issues and I quickly found myself overlooking them entirely.

    First off the sheer amount of new multiplayer game modes can keep a standard gamer involved and entertained for months on end. The gun play is solid and very fun, definitely has some updates to movement and play but most average players wont notice the difference. The maps are interesting and breath life into each game. Old maps are offered along the way with the new giving you a dose of nostalgia here and there. The big question was will the new health bar be annoying and to me its not at all. its actually a breath of fresh air.. Its nice after dueling it out with another player and taking heavy damage to know exactly where your health stands and can quickly mend yourself for the next row instead of simply laying down and waiting the red flinch to recede. The slide is available when running but no more bounding around through the air and off walls which was also nice to get rid of.

    Blackout.... pretty much the sum version of PUBG I was always hoping for. The map looks pretty good. Environment detail is "slightly" rough but over all design is great and allows for varied engagements. Bullet dynamics is also spot on. I mean I felt like a real marine sniper taking pop shots at a target 700 yards away and trying to take calculate bullet drop like a pro. Weapons again get kinda old but I am sure this will be mended in the future. Vehicles are pretty simple to drive and helicopters offer a new exciting way to get around the map. Overall Blackout is a blast but made even better with friends.

    As far as Zombies goes i haven't played a lot of it. The times I have played its been way more fun than expected. Lots of changes fun and intriguing maps. if you love run and gun games go ahead and do yourself a favor and pick this up    … Expand
  10. MrSIlverFox
    Oct 16, 2018
    9
    From someone who has been playing Call of Duty since Modern Warfare One came out, this is actually a good Call of Duty. Infinite Warfare was down right bad. WW2 I wanted to like, but just couldn't do it. Then across Black Ops 1 - Black Ops 3, I have put over 800 hours into multiplayer alone.

    And this game I could see doing it again. B04 is a different Call of Duty. And you know what,    From someone who has been playing Call of Duty since Modern Warfare One came out, this is actually a good Call of Duty. Infinite Warfare was down right bad. WW2 I wanted to like, but just couldn't do it. Then across Black Ops 1 - Black Ops 3, I have put over 800 hours into multiplayer alone.

    And this game I could see doing it again.

    B04 is a different Call of Duty. And you know what, they did it, and they did it mostly right. It has a few issues and a few minor inconveniences, but what game doesn't these days. Maybe it is moving the way of bigger games, such as Overwatch and towards a more eSports approach, but hey, I understand staying relevant to the industry.

    I think it's genuinely great that for years, people complain about CoD being the same thing over and over, but when they make big changes like this year, a majority go back to saying "I miss the old CoD".

    ---Blackout
    Blackout is good. Better than Fortnite and PubG, in a personal opinion. I'm not a builder therefore I dislike the Fortnite aspect, and PubG still seems clunky to me. Blackout seems polished and making it to the finally 10-15 people is genuinely exciting, especially with the large swathe of weaponry and gadgets available.
    The XP though is a pain. You only earn XP for getting a full kill, not even a down, placing top 10, or winning, and that can be rough. That's the only negative thing I have to say and I bet some tweaks could definitely help that.

    --Zombies
    What put Treyarch on the map. so Black Ops 2 and 3 had...Alright zombies. I never got into it. But now. Again. It's bringing me back to Ascension and Der Riese days. IX is a really fun and a pretty solid map design and is the one I see myself playing more and more. Voyage of Despair I played once and was pretty crazy and intense, though it seemed a bit cramped, could turn to be fun as well.
    Honestly, I'm excited to get back into Zombies again...

    --Multiplayer
    Where to begin. Honestly. I enjoy it. I play hardcore so the self healing doesn't typically apply, though I find it to be an interesting mechanic and moderately enjoy it then the auto regen. I kind of miss the 6v6 but I think the 5v5 is alright.
    Search and Destroy is great and I really enjoy it, plus Domination is fun if you can prevent the spawn killing. I look forward to some updates about the spawn killing.
    Gun progression is simple. Camo challenges are here like before, and time to rack up headshots to get that Dark Matter baby! Challenges seem a bit easier in many aspects and specialists are unique and I like it, except for some are pretty awful in hardcore as you die before you can even activate the ability.

    Maps are good, and I look forward to seeing more. I even am glad that brought back old ones. Firing Range is a wonderful classic as well as Slums and Jungle. Most new maps are good. I struggle with some, but again, I believe it is the spawn trapping that gets me. Search and Destroy the routes seem pretty great.

    Multiplayer, to me, is fun again. If you liked B02 or B03, it will still have that same feel and progression with some new features tossed in.

    --Campaign
    Yep. There isn't one. And honestly. That isn't an issue. Yeah, I miss it. But why dump so many hours into developing something that 50-70% of the base will play once, maybe twice. Yeah. It's good and I enjoyed it, but I mean. I'm not heart broken like many others. I haven't done the specialist stories yet so I can't say anything about that. I just think that yeah, we raise our glasses in remembrance of something that was good, but is now gone due to a online perspective for a large, multiplayer based developer.

    I give it a 9 for Superb Blackout, Thrilling Zombies, and Exceptional Multiplayer. With a few updates and some of the content they mention about releasing. I think this could be one of the best for Treyarch.    … Expand
  11. EvilGhosty
    Oct 15, 2018
    8
    I'm liking the game so far, mainly playing the multiplayer mode but Blackout and Zombies is also pretty good. Best COD for a long time IMO.
  12. brandonb7
    Oct 15, 2018
    9
    Blackout is addictive and fun, and multiplayer is the best the game has provided in years. Also, with three full zombie maps, it's a game that is not lacking in content, despite no campaign. Highly recommend.
  13. ClTlZENFOUR
    Oct 15, 2018
    10
    If you're like me and you enjoy a good battle royal game, but have issues with the clunky feel of PUBG, or perhaps can't get into the building aspect of Fortnite, this game might be for you.

    In my opinion, this does the battle royal game genre better than the rest. The fluid feel of the call of duty controls, combined with the pubg realism, and fortnites smoothness. (quads can get a bit    If you're like me and you enjoy a good battle royal game, but have issues with the clunky feel of PUBG, or perhaps can't get into the building aspect of Fortnite, this game might be for you.

    In my opinion, this does the battle royal game genre better than the rest. The fluid feel of the call of duty controls, combined with the pubg realism, and fortnites smoothness. (quads can get a bit laggy at the moment, but i'm hoping that gets addressed or smoothens out over time).

    In the end, if you like the idea of fortnite, but can't get into the building aspect, this game might be for you. I personally feet his is the best call of duty experience that I've had since black ops 2.    … Expand
  14. Allthat
    Oct 14, 2018
    0
    Here we are at last... Call of Duty without a campaign. Am I surprised? F**k No! In fact I even predicted it in my CoD WW2 review. This is a sad day day indeed, the CoD i know and love has completely lost its identity. Back in the day, CoD was a franchise that focused on singleplayer then added multiplayer as a bonus. Now CoD wants to copy every other thing that's popular right now;Here we are at last... Call of Duty without a campaign. Am I surprised? F**k No! In fact I even predicted it in my CoD WW2 review. This is a sad day day indeed, the CoD i know and love has completely lost its identity. Back in the day, CoD was a franchise that focused on singleplayer then added multiplayer as a bonus. Now CoD wants to copy every other thing that's popular right now; overwatch, battle royale... It's just disgusting. Guns now have recoil, players have health bars, healing is done manually, multiplayer characters have unique abilities and supers... None of this is Call of Duty. And what about the battle royale mode? It sucks! Just like every other battle royale out there! Who even asked for battle royale? Give me my story campaign back!! I'm not even going to talk about zombies, I'm tired of zombies, everyone's tired of zombies.… Expand
  15. munday78
    Oct 13, 2018
    10
    Best the series has been in years. Packed with multiplayer content, Zombies content and Blackout has a nice leveling system to keep you coming back. PC version also runs beautifully.
  16. Carlinhoscwbr3
    Oct 13, 2018
    0
    This game is beyond horrible, it doesn't even have a campaign. There are Specialist missions with story instead, which are poorly designed compared to the traditional campaigns. You can't even play those offline. The gun mechanics are trash. The gun sounds are a joke. The physics are horrible.

    Blackout mode is just a cheap version of Battlefield. The developers promised the "best and    This game is beyond horrible, it doesn't even have a campaign. There are Specialist missions with story instead, which are poorly designed compared to the traditional campaigns. You can't even play those offline. The gun mechanics are trash. The gun sounds are a joke. The physics are horrible.

    Blackout mode is just a cheap version of Battlefield. The developers promised the "best and most refined mechanics" in the trailer, yet the mechanics are terrible. You can't even destroy any buildings. This game mode lacks vehicle variety. There are no jet fighters, or any planes to be found. Zombie mode lacks innovation. The regular Multiplayer is boring and repetitive. The maps are about the same as the last game, with a fresh coat of paint.

    The worst part of this game is that it requires a 50 GB patch to play. That makes the physical copy pointless. You can play multiplayer and Zombies with bots and splitscreen offline. But what's the point of having any of that if you need Internet to play? Not everyone has good internet, and it's pathetic how anti-consumer the developers are. The CODs before WWII didn't required internet. I don't recommend this game at all. Internet required games are a disgrace    … Expand
  17. Supremehv
    Oct 12, 2018
    8
    this game is great and really great fun with friends. i loved the zombies and while im tired of battle royale it give a nice and differant taste then anything on the market. but why i bought the game was multiplayer, which has flaws like some of the other modes. the main thing for me is balancing issues that where in the beta but ignored by treyarch for the game release. some guns are justthis game is great and really great fun with friends. i loved the zombies and while im tired of battle royale it give a nice and differant taste then anything on the market. but why i bought the game was multiplayer, which has flaws like some of the other modes. the main thing for me is balancing issues that where in the beta but ignored by treyarch for the game release. some guns are just to good even for a COD game. Battle Royale is great but gets old after a while for me as the game is the same, just differant landings and stuff. i think this game is worth my money but i beleive that some will hate it because it isn't you traditional game. if your actually tired of the same formula for multiplayer then this is it. most of the game also runs great but sometimes just lags, or even freezes. these are only bugs in the first day that i saw and should be adressed in a couple days. i think you should deffenately try this game but dont get your hopes up.… Expand
  18. Swiffi
    Oct 12, 2018
    0
    The game just feels cheap! Reused maps, 3 shot consistent kills on normal, boring art style, and gun game similar to a free-to-play. It honestly feels and plays like Lawbreakers, that super successful game that lasted a few months and peaked at 7,500 players... The reused maps and classes from the black ops series feels the worst. It's fine for nostalgia to toss in a few, but every classThe game just feels cheap! Reused maps, 3 shot consistent kills on normal, boring art style, and gun game similar to a free-to-play. It honestly feels and plays like Lawbreakers, that super successful game that lasted a few months and peaked at 7,500 players... The reused maps and classes from the black ops series feels the worst. It's fine for nostalgia to toss in a few, but every class from Black Ops 3 is back, and maps from Black Ops and Black Ops 2 appear in the NORMAL playlists. It's down right lazy.

    Not to mention the fact there is no single-player campaign or loot system (CoD WWII). It seems the only reason this game was even released was for the Battle Royale mode. That mode should have been a stand-off so that the rest of the game could come together.

    Not worth more than $30, at best.    … Expand
  19. fabzzs
    Oct 12, 2018
    6
    I want to love this game, but the terrible servers and plain brokenness of the game makes it very hard to enjoy it
  20. affan1992
    Oct 12, 2018
    10
    This is the best cod ever. It's the Most fun cod game since bo2. Bo4 is one of the best Call of Duty game since bo2. It has the bo2 and mw2 vibe coming back. blackout is one of the best modes in cod history. the only bad thing about this game is no single player but with all of that. this game has earned my money. This game is way better than fortnite,pubg, and battlefield 5. This is theThis is the best cod ever. It's the Most fun cod game since bo2. Bo4 is one of the best Call of Duty game since bo2. It has the bo2 and mw2 vibe coming back. blackout is one of the best modes in cod history. the only bad thing about this game is no single player but with all of that. this game has earned my money. This game is way better than fortnite,pubg, and battlefield 5. This is the best shooter of 2018 period.… Expand
  21. donuts842
    Oct 12, 2018
    0
    Feels like they put all their apples into the battle royal which made the whole thing lackluster.
  22. Arachnid1
    Oct 12, 2018
    10
    This is the most fun I've had in a CoD game since MW2. Treyarch knocked it out of the park, and trading the single player for Blackout (the best battle royal game to date), three zombies maps, and more multiplayer maps than usual was well worth it IMO. Don't listen to the low scores trying to sabotage user reviews. This is the highest critic reviewed CoD game we've had since MW2 for aThis is the most fun I've had in a CoD game since MW2. Treyarch knocked it out of the park, and trading the single player for Blackout (the best battle royal game to date), three zombies maps, and more multiplayer maps than usual was well worth it IMO. Don't listen to the low scores trying to sabotage user reviews. This is the highest critic reviewed CoD game we've had since MW2 for a reason.

    It's also worth noting that I'm usually pretty negative when it comes to this franchise. It hasn't been amazing for some time. Previous Black Ops games were good, but not amazing like MW1 and 2. This is back up to standard. Give this game a chance and you won't regret it.    … Expand
  23. Rezla
    Oct 12, 2018
    10
    Buy this call of duty, it's the best since 2009 and that's saying something, ignore the haters just because they could be bad at the game.
  24. thierry83
    Oct 12, 2018
    2
    I wand my 60 euro back bad game. Not word the money boring and still the same and noting compare to pug.Also the same 50 euro pass for the same crappy maps. Even free the same thing from CoD
  25. McGillotine
    Oct 12, 2018
    4
    Extremely lackluster, Black Ops 4 promised to be more than your average multiplayer experience however aside from a battle royale mode casually thrown in to appeal to PUBG and Fornite audiences there isn't all that much extra on offer to justify Black Ops 4's price tag.

    Specialist HQ: Specialist HQ replaces story mode in Black ops 4 and is inspired heavily by Rainbow Six Siege's    Extremely lackluster, Black Ops 4 promised to be more than your average multiplayer experience however aside from a battle royale mode casually thrown in to appeal to PUBG and Fornite audiences there isn't all that much extra on offer to justify Black Ops 4's price tag.

    Specialist HQ:
    Specialist HQ replaces story mode in Black ops 4 and is inspired heavily by Rainbow Six Siege's Situations mode. The mode encompasses 10 missions one for each specialist and serves as a tutorial mission. After each mission the player is awarded a star and a piece of cut-scene that when put together serves as the games "story". i use the term "story" very loosely as the cut-scenes lack context, make no sense and only confuse even the most intelligent of players. The only positive from this mode is the narration by SGT Frank Woods, voiced By James C. Burns, who maintains his trademark humor

    Zombies
    Zombies is back and as complicated as ever. I feel like i'm the only person sometimes who misses classic zombies. The thrill of running around, chugging perk sodas and mowing down zombies with pack-a-punched weapons. In a sense Black Ops 4 still does contain these elements, however, with class systems and an over-reliance on Easter eggs over survival, zombies continues its downward spiral into mediocrity with great maps being devalued by unneeded mechanics.

    Blackout
    The main draw of Black ops 4 is its unoriginal battle royale mode. Implemented solely to cash in on what is the current fad in gaming. Blackout is exactly what you would expect from a battle royale game. Dropped into battle with nothing more than your clothes, you collect gear and kill every other player until you or your team are left victorious. For those who are attracted to battle royale modes, you will likely have a great deal of fun. However if you hate battle royale of don't care much for it like me, you'll find that BO4 does little to change your outlook. The map itself is okay and aside from some baron areas and the noticeable decline in graphics, the game mode does run pretty well. I find myself placing in the top 5 on a frequent basis however while the mode is for the most part is smooth, i find myself having little fun with the mode itself.

    Multiplayer
    Black Ops 2 will be forever in my heart as the time the franchise peaked with its multiplayer. Every other game in the franchise has tried to "innovate" in some way or another and failed to reach the same heights as BO2. Whether it be Ghost's significantly decreasing the time to kill or Advanced Warfare adding jump packs or BO3 adding wall running and classes there has been a need to innovate the series regardless of whether or not its the right direction or not. Black ops 4 strips most of these "innovations" keeping only classes, a shorter time to kill, and the health bar system from WW2. Classes are for the most part unbalanced and limit player class customization, though restricting the players throw-ables and specialist abilities to 1 option per class. This means that while some characters will be able to hold a cluster sticky bomb others will only be able to hold a flashbang. The shorter time to kill is also a pain in the ass and throws skill out the window in exchange for who has the itchiest trigger finger. The health system is also completely redundant. As the player has to manually recharge their health by pressing button on their controller, this takes the player out of the action for half a second as their health goes back up. While this system would make more sense if health recharges were limited, a complete lack of limitation of how many times you can heal yourself in a single life makes the entire mechanic ridiculous as you have to remember after each encounter to press a button to recharge your health. The maps featured in Black ops 4 are also pretty average for a COD game and feature the typical three lanes of death: one path on the right, one of the left and one in the middle. Games end up playing extremely similar to one another and are pretty lackluster.

    As a fully priced game there is little to justify the heavy price tag. There is a distinct lack of content, that blackout and zombies fails to account for and the entire experience feels half done. Sure there are three zombies maps in the base game, but BO1 achieved that feat aswell and that had a campaign!. Now, I won't bring up Campaign anymore, because Treyach has been vocal in this not being one of the games features and its only fair to critique what is in the actual game. But in the being said the game is a bare bones experiences, if you like killing things to no end, you'll like Black Ops 4, however if you like a bit of depth to your game and some story, you probably won't like Black Ops 4    … Expand
  26. JTJSGamer
    Oct 12, 2018
    8
    We can all agree that the Call of Duty series is very repetitive, and this game is no exception, but that doesn't mean it is bad, the Battle Royal is fun, the Zombies mode is engaging and fast paced, and the multiplayer has all of the gamemodes the series is known for.
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Awards & Rankings

16
#16 Best Xbox One Game of 2018
11
#11 Most Discussed Xbox One Game of 2018
14
#14 Most Shared Xbox One Game of 2018

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
85

Generally favorable reviews - based on 19 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 19
  3. Negative: 0 out of 19
  1. Official Xbox Magazine UK
    Dec 18, 2018
    60
    Tired and lacking ideas, this is the most disappointing CoD in years that follows, not leads. [Christmas 2018, p.72]
  2. Jeuxvideo.com
    Oct 30, 2018
    80
    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.
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  3. DarkStation
    Oct 22, 2018
    90
    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.
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