I was looking for something to pass the time until BFA on Monday, so I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to install and try out the Call of Duty Black Ops 4 open beta. I always have the itch to try out the newest Call of Duty game, though I’v resisted that itch for the past few iterations.
The itch goes back to my CoD4-MW2 days when I’d log between 200 and 400 hours without breaking a sweat. That’s pretty good for me in a shooter game. I wasn’t half bad at them back then, either.
My first impression of Black Ops 4 was that it was really involved. I was going to say complicated, but that’s the wrong word — involved is too. There’s just a lot going on. CoD used to be a really pure experience. You get in, you pick your guns you want, you maybe put on attachments if it’s one of the newer ones, then you just run around and shoot. That’s changed quite a bit.
Modern CoD now has characters, loadouts, too many ‘abilities’, tech, gadgets, etc. I suppose all of that would be fine if this were Battlefield, but all of this is crammed into a bloodbath of respawns.
I was impressed with how well the game ran on my now aging machine — practically no complaints. I wasn’t, however, impressed with how the game played. I’d often come on on someone and be hosing them down with bullets… and I’d have enough time to actually see a health bar go down. Huh. It’s most infuriating when I’d die to their friend before their health reached zero.
The maps were pretty. The game modes diverse. The guns are even aplenty.
So, I suppose my issue could simply come down to Black Ops 4 being too convoluted and in the process being unable to scratch that ‘pure shooter’ experience I was hoping to find. If you like a more bombastic, jam-packed bloodpath with lots of toys for a shooter, then you should definitely check out the open beta. I’m glad I did.