Is Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Worth a Buy?
Perhaps to no one’s surprise, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is a bonafide blockbuster.
The latest entry in the long-running first-person shooter franchise made $500 million during its launch weekend. It also has reviewed well, consistently outperforming last year’s WW2 with critics.
However, this installment saw Treyarch cutting the single-player campaign in favor of “Blackout,” a 1-vs.-88 battle royale mode. That move has given some fans of the series pause. For those who primarily come to Call of Duty for the campaign, is Black Ops 4 worth a buy?
Specialist Training
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 boasts a pretty substantial training mode. Specialist training presents 10 short tutorials designed to help players get a handle on the basics. However, each tutorial also comes with cut scenes that tell a story about each character’s backstory and how they fit in with the squad as a whole.
After a grizzled virtual instructor walks you through each specialist’s abilities, your skills will be put to the test in multiplayer-style fights against bots. None of this is as satisfying or impressive as a well-designed campaign mission, and the writing in the cut scenes is underwhelming. Playing this mode feels like pressing X to pay your respects at the funeral of this year’s campaign. I wouldn’t be surprised if the cut scenes had originally been part of a scrapped single-player campaign, but got repurposed here as deadline approached.
Call of Duty Black Ops 4 Zombies
The beloved Zombies mode has returned, and once again supports up to four players. But, this mode can be played solo. Go in as a one-soldier army or stack your team with up to three bots. Each of the three maps is interesting and fun to explore, even by yourself.
But, Zombies—as always—is better enjoyed with a few friends to revive/trash talk you when the undead horde gets you down.
Conclusion
If you only play Call of Duty for its single-player component, it might be wiser to skip this year. However, if you enjoy multiplayer shooters at all, there’s plenty to do here.