While Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 generally performs well with the press, it receives harsh criticism from some user reviews on Metacritic. Where do the negative ratings come from?
Today, October 12, is the official release of Black Ops 4, and the first ratings from the press look good. On Metacritic, the latest Call of Duty installment scores 87.
In contrast, user reviews show about a third of the ratings are negative. Where does this come from if Black Ops 4 is doing so well with the press? The main reason for players’ frustration is likely the (non-existent) story mode.
Why is there no singleplayer campaign, according to developer Treyarch? The singleplayer campaign was never intended for Black Ops 4. From the very beginning, the focus was on multiplayer, incorporating story elements and improving social aspects.
No campaign, but Battle Royale – not everyone agrees with this
This is why many user reviews are negative: According to the reviews on Metacritic, some fans are still dissatisfied with the absence of a story campaign in Black Ops 4. There are numerous negative ratings, mainly concerning the missing campaign.
Many suspect that a campaign was cut in favor of the battle royale mode.
At the time (afternoon on October 12, 2018) this article was written, negative reviews have increased from 35 (out of 105) to 70 (out of 130). The overall rating from users stands at 5.7.
That they are getting a battle royale mode is for many only a small consolation. Not everyone is a fan of battle royale and would hardly willingly give up a story for it. They want Activision and Treyarch to feel this through negative ratings.
But there are story missions, right? Even the missions for individual specialists are not enough for many as a replacement. These are cooperative missions that can be played solo as well. It is criticized that they are nothing more than small tutorials that one hardly wants to play more than once.
What else is being criticized? Some players believe that Black Ops 4 should not be a full-price title since this is no longer justified without a campaign.
Others find: Story was never the most important in CoD
On reddit, the topic is viewed not as negatively; many are much more relaxed about the missing story.
This is what fans respond to the criticism:
- Singleplayer has never been the most important in Call of Duty
- The stories were usually mediocre to bad
- Campaigns were usually very short…
- and offered little replay value
- Besides, with annual CoD installments, one can forgo the story for a year
Therefore, many can overlook the fact that the campaign is sacrificed for more multiplayer content.
That Black Ops 4 is still a full-price title does not bother most, as there are enough content with Blackout and the zombie mode in addition to the regular multiplayer. Furthermore, Treyarch plans to deliver content for years.
Are you bothered by the missing campaign?
