The following is my own personal, biased opinion so consider yourself warned. I’m not a fan of Call of Duty’s multiplayer scorestreak system, I never have been. I understand it has been a core part of the franchise for many years, but that doesn’t change my opinion. Competitive multiplayer is already an uninviting premise for more casual players, and the scorestreak system just exacerbates that flaw. It’s not any better in Call of Duty Black Ops 4.
The Inherent Flaws of Black Ops 4’s Scorestreak System
I joined a recent Black Ops 4 match where the enemy team gained a bit of a lead early on. Then they started pelting me and my team with Hellfire Missiles and Attack Choppers. Pretty soon a small but surpassable lead had snowballed into a major advantage that was impossible to overcome. Towards the end of the match my team could barely take a step before being insta-killed. The enemy team had a Gunship picking us off at our spawn points and an Attack Chopper mopping up stragglers.
Later on I joined a match in progress (never a good sign) and was welcomed to an explosive bloodbath. The enemy team was bombarding my side with a near constant barrage of Hellfire Missiles and Lightning Strikes. Clearly one player had gotten so fed up with the bombardment that they had just left and I replaced them. Unsurprisingly, I didn’t have much fun in either match.
I doubt any Call of Duty developer will ever get rid of the scorestreak system completely. The system might be modified or reskinned, but it will always be there. I get that it adds a dynamic element to each multiplayer match, but it ultimately only benefits high-skill players. I’ll just never understand why a winning team is gifted with powerful tools to all but ensure its victory. Meanwhile, any chance the losing team had of mounting a comeback is lost in a fiery Hellfire Missile explosion. The rich truly do get richer I suppose.
If my musings haven’t turned you off to Call of Duty Black Ops 4 completely, we’ve covered the game extensively. Be sure to read our confessions of a Blackout rookie or our look at the game’s new Black Market system.