Review for Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII. Game for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 12/10/2018
That time of year has come when Call of Duty fans reach for the pad to play the new chapter of the series, which this time brings in the Black Ops title. Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII is the new chapter developed by Treyarch that abandons much of what we have seen in Call of Duty: Black Ops III, while maintaining all the positive aspects and expanding them with lots of new content and with the new Battle Royale BlackOut mode.
The new chapter was presented by Activision as a "down to earth" title, in fact unlike the last futuristic chapters, in Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII there will be no Jetpack and wall races, but only pure Call of Duty style gameplay.
The king is back!
Call of Duty is known by fans to be one of the most adrenaline-pumping and fun-filled FPS titles around. In Black Ops IIII this concept remains and is enhanced to the nth degree thanks to the expansion of the specialists, some already present in Call of Duty: Black Ops III, and the introduction of new mechanics regarding player health. Before starting our first game, however, we took a look at the section "Specialist HQ", where we were offered some guided tutorials to get to know and learn how to use all the specialists, in addition to the various game modes. During these tutorials we learned the peculiar abilities so as to have an advantage in multiplayer games and at the same time we were bombarded by cut scenes in computer graphics that somehow seem to want to make up for the lack of a single player campaign, but without succeeding.
Having started the first multiplayer game, we realize that the feeling of the game respects a lot what we had felt during our test at E3 2018, with however some slight changes to Time To Kill which seems to have slightly decreased, while remaining higher than the previous chapters. The novelty that has completely changed the style of play is the removal of automatic health regeneration, in fact in Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII the only way to recover health is through an ability that will tend to recharge over time (a few seconds). This new feature adds a new element of strategy that players will have to know how to dose, in fact it often happens to find themselves in more or less excited situations and be forced to take care instead of reloading the weapon or vice versa, and in these cases they will be the skills and gaming experience that will allow the player to better manage every situation.
Another addition that we have already been able to test thoroughly in the beta is the so-called "Fog of war", which is integrated into the mini map and allows the player and teammates to spot enemies only in a well-defined neighborhood. This feature creates a greater sense of unity in the team, which will have to cooperate more than in the past, above all in the new Theft and Control modes. In Theft we and our team will have to recover a flat bag of dollars (very similar to the classic capture the flag) to then put them in safety and at the end of the turn buy new weapons and accessories to more easily exterminate the enemy team, a bit like in Counter Strike: Global Offensive. In the mode Control instead, each team will have a total of 25 lives at their disposal with the main objective of conquering (or defending) two areas marked on the map, each of which will have conquest steps that once completed will remain throughout the course of the round.
As for the basic structure instead, Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII does not add much new, there is a classic progression of the character with lots of unlock points and new weapons, which at each level will unlock new accessories that can be added to enhance features such as accuracy, magazine, extraction speed and much more. The balance of the various weapons seemed quite good to us, however as in every Call of Duty there are weapons that are preferred by the majority of players and are therefore classified as "best", it will then be up to Treyarch to understand if there are any actual advantages and possibly go and carry out balances. The specialists also seemed quite balanced to us, however, here too there are a couple of them, including Nomad, Seraph and Prophet, who come chosen mainly for purely individual advantages derived from the excellent special skills available. A question that instead made us turn up our noses are the Spawn Points of some modes that are decidedly badly calibrated and that must be fixed as soon as possible.
A Zombies mode like you've never seen it before
In addition to the multiplayer sector, the mode that has garnered the most favors over the years has been Zombies, and it is for this reason that no Call of Duty seems to want to do without it for years now. In Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII, Treyarch it didn't just introduce one map at launch, it created three (the fourth, Classified, is only available for those with the Black Ops Pass), two of these that follow the Chaos trend, and are "Desperate Journey" and "IX" and one, the remake of the historic Mob of the Dead, which follows the ether vein and takes the name of Blood of the Dead, a name that changes as some game mechanics also change.
The first we faced was "Desperate Journey", an adventure that puts us in the shoes of Scarlett, Diego, Bruno and Stanton, four intrepid adventurers who penetrate aboard the RMS Titanic to steal a precious artifact. After the initial cut scene we discover that the artifact was used to transform all the guests of the ship into ferocious zombies and as if that were not enough, in the middle of the ocean, we find an iceberg of considerable size waiting for us. As usual, we will start in a part of the ship where there will be various zones to unlock, points to obtain and above all zombies to kill, this while we will collect parts of objects to build and while we will complete one of the various Easter Eggs available. Desperate Journey is the classic example of a successful job, both from the point of view of gameplay but above all stylistic, in fact from the first game you will be struck by the complexity of the environments and by the feeling of gloom and fear that the setting manages to convey.
The second map we faced is IX, in which the protagonists "of the last episode" are back in time by millennia, and after having participated in a sinister ritual, they are teleported into an illusion (or maybe not?) That sees them protagonists in a gladiator arena to face hordes of zombies recalled by a shady figure always thanks to the usual artifact. Also in this case we will follow the classic modus operandi to which we have been accustomed for years, however, in this map there is a completely new stylistic component, perhaps it will be for the zombie champions with Roman-like characterization, or for the zombie tigers that in some rounds they will try to kill us, the fact is that IX represents one of the best zombie experiences of recent years.
Last but not least, Blood of the Dead, remake of the beloved Mob of The Dead of Call of Duty: Black Ops II, which boasts a complete restyling, therefore both graphics and gameplay. We will play the role of Tank Dempsey, Nikolai Belinski, Takeo Masaki and Edward Richtofen in their youth version, or that of Origins, another map of Call of Duty: Black Ops II set in the First World War. These characters replace the originals who were Albert “Weasel” Arlington, Finn O'Leary, Salvatore “Sal” DeLuca and Billy Handsome. In Blood of the Dead we will therefore go to delve into the same map, but having access to new areas, new secrets and enemies to face, all served with a massive dose of style, thanks to which the developers have managed to recreate a better version from all points of view, even if for the more nostalgic it will be difficult to replace the original version. All these zombie modes are available in classic or assault mode, we will also be able to choose the difficulty levels (from easy to realistic) and organize custom games in which to decide parameters such as the starting points and characteristics of the zombies.
A triple A Battle Royale
After the incredible success of Battle Royale as PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and Fortnite, Activision has also decided to go down this path and publish its version of the much-discussed Royal Battle. The basis remains in fact that of the titles mentioned above, we will come in fact launched in our wingsuit from a helicopter, we will then have to collect weapons, perks, accessories and medical kits to then find and eliminate the enemies, this until we remain the only ones alive. The strategies to be implemented can be various, from the stealth approach to the aggressive one, both valid, as long as you have the right equipment on your shoulders.
Our experience with BlackOut, the dedicated Battle Royale mode, was certainly positive, in fact more than once we happily took up the rifle together with our teammates to eliminate the opponents, all with a Time to Kill slightly different from classic multiplayer, which rightly would have been far too frustrating. A wide choice of weapons, accessories and perks forced us to play the mode for several hours before learning with confidence which weapon / accessory combination was the best for each situation, leaving out the various techniques to be used to try to conquer the first position. Interesting and perhaps brilliant is the idea of introducing on the island some spots that follow the old maps of the Black Ops series, without neglecting the zombies, which can be found in a particular area of the map, and which, among other things, will be useful. to unlock new characters to use.
Already during our test of the Private Beta we had thoroughly analyzed the mode, praising its merits and criticizing its flaws, in the hope of some changes for the launch of the full game. There have been changes, including various improvements to the balance and general stability of the mode, but some problems with for example the slow loot or inventory that tends to disorient the player they are still present, despite user pressure. As for the overall gaming experience, well we can only be confident in continuous support such as that reserved for Fortnite by Epic Games, which in just one year has continuously changed the map and gaming experience. In short, this is what we expect from Activision and Treyarch, in the meantime we will continue to grind enemies to conquer as many victories as possible.
We conclude by talking about the technical sector which, although improved from an artistic and stylistic point of view, feels the weight of a graphics engine that needs an update. The gaming experience however remains fluid and anchored almost always on 60 FPS, the only visible drops are noticed during the most excited BlackOut sessions, even if in the vast majority of cases everything is still playable. No problem of fluidity instead on zombies and multiplayer, the latter which is however slightly less defined and with a dynamic resolution that often varies on PlayStation 4 Pro, even if after a few hours of play you can appreciate it.
Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII offers a huge amount of content, starting with the solid multiplayer that has always characterized Call of Duty, then moving on to the Zombies mode, richer than ever, to finally arrive at the novelty of the year, BlackOut. The lack of the campaign is felt and it is useless to avoid it, however we do not feel to penalize Activision for this, indeed, we believe that the work done to bring this amount of content is commendable. The multiplayer slightly modifies its formula by removing the automatic regeneration of health and modifying the management of the mini map, all "down to earth". Zombie mode offers three different experiences, including the highly anticipated remake of Mob of the Dead, which returns with different characters, a larger location, and a total restyling of the map and enemies. Last but not least BlackOut, the first Triple A Battle Royale that had already been talked about during the periods of the Private beta and which is now depopulating among players and in the various streaming channels. The ultimate Call of Duty? Well it is difficult to say, there have been some steps forward, but the problems that have always plagued the series remain, that is an outdated graphics engine and a management of the Season Pass perhaps not too correct, despite the contents are still interesting.
► Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII is an FPS-type game developed by Treyarch and published by Activision for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 12/10/2018
