2.5/5 ★ – Vole's review of Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII.

Platform: Xbox One X My experience: Mixed 😐 Rating: 4.5/10 This review was made when the game had just been released. Let’s nip this in the bud, the game feels very lazy. Coming from the overflowing content of Treyarch last hit in the Black Ops series, BO3, this game fails to provide enough content for the £50 price tag. The main game consists of 3 (and a half) game modes: Multiplayer, Blackout and Zombies (specialist HQ is just kinda there). Of course, the game is missing the staple Campaign and seriously lacks from this deduction. Without a full story, how can a player affiliate this game to even be in the black ops universe, except for the fact specialists (returning from BO3) are in it as well as Woods (main character from BO1) popping up in the specialist HQ. Without the campaign, the game feels empty, providing the new Blackout mode as it’s ‘replacement’ I guess. Blackout The call of duty take on the battle royale system, Blackout, provides an expansive player count where soldiers fight to the death on a nostalgia filled battleground. In all, it’s actually quite fun. The vehicles mechanics are solid, the layout of the map is logically, bringing some of the best maps back, ‘firing range’, ‘stronghold’ and ‘verrückt’ just to name a few. Playing solo can be a chore but playing with friends can be a lot of fun, bringing a tactical charm to the series. My main gripes would be lag issues and the empty parts of the map. These could easily be filled with small maps from the franchise. It’s solid but I can’t see myself playing this mode regularly over the next few years. 6/10 Multiplayer The multiplayer is the beacon of the game, providing a new health system which makes gunfights more skill based. The new specialists are decent, expanding from BO3 cast with new faces like Ajax, a shield wielding solider with a 9-Bang at hand. Gun counts seem lower than before, with only 2 shotguns at the go. The maps are good too, providing new favourites: Seaside, Icebreaker and Morocco. However, there is also a series lack in original maps with four returning from past Black Ops games with out the layout changing at all. With the little content in this game, this lazy addition feels pointless. If you are to add old maps, why not add even more? Boosting the map count to 20? Multiplayer is very good but the maps for what they are, seem lacklustre with a smaller roster than past titles. 9/10 Zombies Oh dear, the zombies. I’ve loved zombies ever since Nacht Der Untoten on WaW, with its haunting atmosphere, to BO3 with its mystical Gorod Krovi, fusing Dragons with the zombie storyline without feeling out of place. The new zombies has changed the formula completely, adding custom classes, changing the gobblegum system and having the player choose the only 4 perks they can buy on the map. Custom classes and 4 perks are bad. It’s gets rid of the pick up and play nature of the mode. The new perk machiens have no personalities unlike the missing Juggernog, Speed Cola and Double Tap counterparts. Perks have changed names for no reason, making the immersion weird as there is no reason for Electirc Cherry to be named Electric Burst, no characters refer to this either. The maps are ok, with Voyage of Despair being the least inspiring. A map based on the titanic should be emotional, grasping and interesting but I feel lost on the mass of a map, with multiple layer which look the same. IX is the stand out, showing the new Chaos cast in a fantastic colosseum, fighting the hordes with the new wonder weapon and traps. Blood of the Dead is interesting, I looked forward to this map for so long, but with the new changes I felt no nostalgia for the map and it just felt clunky. The removal of perk machines really hinder this map as it’s what many associate with the game mode. Classified is available in the black ops pass, and is a brilliant addition. Unlike BOTD, nostalgia thrives in this map, taking you to each layer through the elevator with the older cast sayings some of the funniest lines I’ve heard. Overall, the zombies formula changed for worse and better. Jug was obviously overpowered, but without this and the ability to buy more than 4 (let alone choosing them and not having unique perk machines) makes the game unbearable, especially with the dog rounds, christ there spawning is awful. 4/10 I’ve given the game a 2/5 simply because BO3 felt like the definitive Black Ops Game, providing players with Multiplayer with a great array of maps. Campaign with although a weird storyline, it was interesting and explored the era it was based in. Zombies which provided the great Der Reise remaster (The Giant) and Noire inspired Shadows of Evil. Not to mention other game modes: Freerun, Dead Ops 2, Nightmares. As well, the game had a full soundtrack from all the 3 games, ready to play in the main menu. Paint job was also fantastic, you could actually paint the other side of the gun! To go from this Goliath of a game to BO4 is one of the biggest steps down in gaming I’ve ever seen. Remember this is just my opinion, I’m sure the multiplayer will keep me occupied, but this is a £20 game at best.