Our reader DevilRon1989 spent many hours over the weekend in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 and wants to present what he likes less about Blackout, the Battle Royale mode, and what changes he wishes for.
How is Blackout so far? First of all, it must be said that Blackout is incredibly fun. What follows is clearly criticism at a high level, as Blackout gets a lot of things right: It looks good, plays fast, runs quite bug-free, and offers a lot of action without colorful llamas.
Blackout is hard to measure against Fortnite, as Fortnite offers completely different content and gameplay mechanics. However, I can already say that Blackout clearly outshines PUBG for me. PUBG still struggles with bugs on PC, and we shouldn’t even talk about the Xbox version.
But what does Blackout do wrong in my opinion? Here is a list of some points of criticism.
1. Airdrops need better items
This is how the airdrops are in other Battle Royale games: What works particularly well in Fortnite and especially in PUBG are the airdrops. These are the supply drops that are dropped by plane over a random landing point on the map within the circle. In PUBG, you can find the best items in these crates.
- Camouflage suits
- One-hit snipers
- Heavy machine guns
Many of the items are only available through the supply drops. Opening such a box feels great. This is how I come into possession of items that the opponent does not have.
This is how the airdrops are in Blackout: At this point, Call of Duty fails a bit because the crates in Blackout do not contain exclusive items. While you can also find good items in them, such as a LVL 3 armor or weapons that are already fully equipped, these can also be found randomly in other places in the game.
If I’m unlucky, I might even find a weapon in this crate that I already have in my hands, and I’m only missing a stock for it. It’s not worth it to seek out such an airdrop just for this in my opinion. Especially not when you are already in the late game, and the deadly circle has become so small that an opposing player could be lurking around every corner.
In this regard, Blackout could have clearly looked to PUBG and offered exclusive content only for the airdrops.
2. Wingsuits reduce strategic planning
What happens after the jump? Like in other Battle Royale games, the player is also dropped from a flying vehicle here and must shortly thereafter decide where he wants to land. In Blackout, however, it does not matter what linear flight path the helicopters follow, as pretty much every point on the map can be reached after jumping.
This is all well and good, as we know this approach from Fortnite as well. If someone wants to aim for a far-away landing spot here, he has to open his glider quickly and can cover a greater distance due to a significantly reduced speed.
What is the problem with the wingsuits? Unlike Fortnite, the player character in Blackout also has a wingsuit, which is cool, but also causes problems. It doesn’t matter where I jump out, as with a trick I can reach any landing spot at maximum speed.
To do this, one only needs to go into a free fall for a few seconds after jumping and then pull the control back up. The character receives a significant boost that lasts until the landing spot.
This fits well with Call of Duty’s fast play style, but it also robs the Battle Royale mode a bit of its tactical depth, as good timing when jumping plays only a minor role here.
3. The zombies need more fine-tuning
How were the zombies implemented in Blackout? Unlike in PUBG or Fortnite, Blackout also features PVE enemies in the form of zombies. Where they are located is indicated by a blue light beam that rises into the sky.
There, the zombie curse must be broken by eliminating a relatively small number of undead to later obtain exclusive loot.
These are the problems with the zombies:
- An extraordinarily large problem is the high health of the undead. It is not uncommon to need an entire magazine just to take down one zombie.
- It’s noisy – incredibly noisy!
In Blackout, numerous buffs can be found that are not too rare. For example, a buff called “Paranoia” that significantly enhances the auditory perception of the character. With it, even distant sounds can be pinpointed quite accurately.
So if you’re on a zombie hunt, the likelihood is very high that enemy players can hear your shots. In general, in Battle Royale: Every unnecessary movement, every unnecessary sound should be avoided!
Do the zombies make sense in Blackout? I can understand why Treyarch included these undead in the game. Call of Duty: Zombies has been very popular in recent years. Many customers buy an annual Call of Duty installment to enjoy the zombie mode with friends.
However, I believe that the zombies in Blackout currently serve little purpose. The exclusive weapons they can leave behind play almost no role in the Blackout meta.
For example, the light machine gun called “Zweihänder” is absolutely deadly at close range, but the zombie weapons cannot be modified. So I cannot attach any other sight to this weapon and must cope with the preset steel configuration as best as I can. However, that is not an easy task, as most fights take place at medium or long distances, and without a zoom sight, life becomes unnecessarily difficult.
4. Shotguns are useless
What is the problem with shotguns? As in other games, there are also good and bad weapons in Blackout. However, there are also weapons found here that make absolutely no sense and you should definitely avoid. Currently, an entire category of weapons is affected: shotguns.
There are two in the game, the MOG-12 and the SG-12, and both are absolutely useless! Sure, if you have nothing else, feel free to pick them up, but I assure you that you’ll have a damn hard time in Blackout with them. As mentioned above, most fights take place at medium and long ranges, and in such situations, you can’t do any damage with these weapons.
Even in close combat, it is better to use an SMG, as the fire rate allows for more forgiveness on missed shots compared to shotguns. Ideally, you should carry a combination of sniper or tactical rifles and assault rifles with you, such as the combo of “Koshka” and “Rampart-17”. This way, you’re definitely on the safe side.
5. The size of the map should be adjusted
Why isn’t the map big enough? This is really nitpicking at an extremely high level, but I still believe that the map in Blackout should be a few square kilometers larger. The game could also benefit from another one or two hotspots, as there aren’t really many of those in Blackout.
Furthermore, some places on the map are extremely close to each other, such as the lighthouse, the factory, and the harbor. These locations are all in the lower-left part of the map and are thus almost interconnected.
The lighthouse is not particularly large and consequently doesn’t provide much loot. So, if the team lands at the lighthouse, you either have to cross the river and go past the harbor or walk a bit towards the factory. However, there’s a good chance that opponents are already waiting there who have received significantly more loot.
Conclusion
For me, Blackout is clearly the highlight of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4:
- It’s fun
- Can be played well with friends
- So far runs quite smoothly
- And also feels fresh.
The core structure of Blackout is there and is quite solid, but now the fine-tuning needs to follow. A lot in Blackout seems quite cool, but makes little sense after a few rounds, such as the useless shotguns. In my opinion, this needs clear improvement.
Nevertheless, I can recommend this game with a good conscience to any fan of Battle Royale – see you on the battlefield.
This guest post is from our reader DevilRon1989.
