Video game releases generate as much excitement as blockbuster movies and what’s even more impressive is that the artistry and production values found in many of the games rival what Hollywood puts into its movies, but gamers get to be truly interactive with their choice of entertainment in a way filmgoers cannot be. That’s why I have asked Phillip Lorenzo to do a guest blog about the new "Call of Duty: Black Ops 4" that will be coming out. I can’t call myself a gamer but I appreciate all the craft and work that goes into many of these games and want to try and highlight more of it. So here's a review:
I don’t play "Call of Duty" all that often. Most of my gameplay is now "NBA 2K" and "Tekken."
"Call of Duty: Black Ops 4" is most likely going to make me reconsider this. Activision has continued to improve on this franchise with some tweaks to weapons management, teamwork strategy, and movement throughout each map and gameplay mode. The private beta demonstrated high quality gameplay with few issues.
"Black Ops 4" is going to be highly strategic, I am not going to take into account the crazy rush to learn weapons and discover maps that got in the way of teamwork during my time playing. I do not have a COD team, since I don’t play that often. The reason why I think this game is high on the strategy and teamwork is the return to “normal movement.” There is no more running on walls, or any other form of parkour, so attack and defense teams will be moving on the ground and need to strategize accordingly. The private beta includes six maps, so there is plenty to learn and get a leg up on those who decide not to pre-order.
Other key strategy considerations revolve around weapons and specialist class management, the addition of a health bar, choice of spawn location, choice of specialized gear: like a stim shot or COMSEC device, as well as the added features that come with the class you pick. What will help with keeping your head straight and in team is the buttery smooth gameplay and gorgeous graphics.
I am grateful that now, as a casual gamer, I got the opportunity to play the private beta. I have to say that the hiccups were minimal. The most issues I got, which makes sense, was getting kicked out of the server. This only happened three times out of roughly 11 hours of gameplay. Well there was that one time that I got an easy win thanks to the opponent spinning right in front of me for almost 10 seconds. As a casual gamer, my one small gripe with any COD is the learning curve and the intensity of gameplay. That is a small one, thanks to the immersive world that Treyarch created.
The animation for just about every action was smooth and immersive. From the moment that the countdown starts before the multiplayer match my blood started flowing, thanks to a moody score and the specialists getting ready with weapons locked and loaded. Their intense faces put you in the ready. During this private beta play, once I was in, I had to be all in. The action was entertainingly stressful, especially with who I can perhaps safely assume were pro Twitch streamers and avid COD gamers who pre-ordered for this invite. Meaning that I got crushed often, but I still had a blast and had a few decent rounds.
Specialist choice as mentioned earlier will affect your strategy. This is especially true depending on your team and their preferred specialist choice and the mode you are playing in. Specialists have names such as Ajax, Battery, Crash, Firebreak and Seraph. During the private beta there was a choice of 10 specialists. I tried a few, but my favorite was Ajax. Since I don’t play that often and I was learning this game on the fly, Ajax was the quickest to get used to. Other specialists can place satellites to help with mapping, or placing traps, with Ajax, your primary goal is to breach and just attack. The Ajax specialist has flash grenades and a personal shield with pistol hold. Battery and Seraph are also some specialists to consider trying, with Torque also possibly being a sleeper favorite, and Prophet from previous COD: Black Ops being pretty popular (I found that my deaths were most often caused by the Prophet class). As aforementioned, your team and the mode you are playing in will help you decide which specialists would be most effective for the fight.
Game mode choices for the private beta were restricted to multiplayer modes which included familiar ones like Team Deathmatch and Search & Destroy. The beta introduced a new mode which was the only one I could pick when I started playing: Control. In this mode, teams alternate between attacking and defending two static objectives with limited respawns. This is a pretty insane game mode with the context switching requiring some quick thought on attack vectors and defense positions. Quick note here, shotguns are not primary weapons, so keep that in mind, especially if you like using them. As a front-end developer, I paid attention to and liked the UI on the menu screens, so whoever is designing and writing the code, good job.
Other game modes that are coming include the highly anticipated blackout mode which will be revealed in a Battle Royale experience. This experience is a PlayStation first.
If you are a fan of "COD: Black Ops," I really don’t need to say more to get you in the game. Most likely you have already pre-ordered. Rest assured that this game already plays well and looks great, so by the time Oct. 12 comes around, this is going to be a strong entry into the COD world. If you haven’t tried these games before, be prepped for a fairly solid learning curve, but with an experience that is smooth.
You can pre-order the game now and get access to the private beta code now.
Phillip Lorenzo has loved video games since the Atari 2600 and used to game all of the time. Now he spends his time writing code in JavaScript mostly (he has also started diving into the blockchain, and is completely lost), occasionally acting in San Diego 48 Hour Film projects with Almost Good Films, and used to run film festivals. He has thought of becoming a full-time game tester for a while, but that may not be the best life choice.
