Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 experiments with Respawns in a team mode of Battle Royale in Blackout. Here’s how “Down but not out” works. The mode will first be available on PS4, and later for PC and Xbox One.
What happened? Black Ops 4 has introduced a limited-time team playlist in the Battle Royale mode Blackout where revivals are possible in the so-called “Down but not out” mode.
This breaks with the Battle Royale tradition, which is characterized by having only one life.
Note that “Down but not out” can currently only be played on PS4. Xbox One and PC should follow next week.
What defines the “Down but not out” mode? This additional playlist is now available for Blackout, limited-time until the end of the month and can only be played within the “Quads” team format. Teams of 4 players compete against each other. It is essentially a modified version of Quads.
In this playlist, players can be revived for the first time in the history of Blackout, even if they were completely dead. However, there is a twist.
If a team member survives until the next collapse, that is, until the play area shrinks again, all fallen teammates are revived. This is not an active revival that can be performed by players on dead teammates. One must survive until the next collapse.
The revived players will re-enter with the Strife pistol and 5 bandages. The gear at the time of death will not be carried over.
What does this mean for players? This mechanic has a huge impact on the course of Blackout matches. One living player at the collapse is enough to bring back an entire team. Instead of the almost certain death, spectacular comebacks are now possible. The match is really only decided at the end.
Moreover, this mechanic encourages a more aggressive playstyle, leading to a hectic and exciting finale with more players in the ever-shrinking circle. Nearly 50 players at the end of a match have been quite common.
Beginners also get more opportunities to acclimate and find their footing in Blackout. Especially for those who are currently testing the Blackout mode for free in the Free Trial, this is a great opportunity to familiarize themselves with the team format and the Blackout mode itself.
What do I do if I don’t want to play this mode? Anyone who enjoys playing Quads but does not want to play “Down but not out” has no reason to worry. The regular Quads format is still available in Blackout – parallel to the new mode. Your gaming experience will not be limited by this.
Is Blackout with “Down but not out” still Battle Royale? This is currently being debated by many fans. One of the pillars of Battle Royale is that you only have one life during a match.
In the new mode, however, numerous players can be revived – sometimes multiple times. This is fundamentally a break with a principle that actually defines Battle Royale.
However, Black Ops 4 is trying something fresh with the new mode, but it hasn’t reinvented the wheel. There have already been limited-time modes in Fortnite where revivals were possible – for example in Team Rumble or Disco Domination. There are indeed other representatives of the genre that have played with this mechanic before.
Have you tried the new “Down but not out” mode yourself? What do you think about it? Is it still Battle Royale?
