HIGH Exceptional multiplayer. 

LOW Lackluster campaign. Some slow progression.

WTF Staying up late during work nights to try and end on a win.

Within the storied history of multiplayer shooters, few contenders can carry the weight of something like DICE’s Battlefield. This long-running military series has been a major staple in the online space, offering large-scale battles across different settings ranging from World War I to the far-flung future. 

Over the last decade or so, players have experienced some highs (Battlefield 1) and lows (Battlefield 2042), but nothing has truly brought the series back to its peak. The best installments, Battlefield 3 and 4, seem like distant memories now, but over the last couple of weeks with Battlefield 6, I’ve walked away telling myself something I never thought I’d say — Holy shit, Battlefield is back. 

Developed by the newly-formed Battlefield Studios (comprised of developers DICE, Criterion Games, Motive Studios, and Ripple Effect Studios), Battlefield 6 is a first-person shooter comprised of two main game modes — a story-driven, single-player campaign and an online multiplayer suite. The latter is the obvious star of the show, with multiplayer being the bread and butter of any great Battlefield experience, but the campaign deserves mention. 

Being the first Battlefield campaign since 2018’s V (and the first non-episodic entry since 2013’s 4) I was surprised at its inclusion at all, given the series’ history as a multiplayer-first experience. Taking place between the years 2027-2028, players control a series of US Marines who are fighting a private army known as Pax Armata. Set across locales like Brooklyn, Cairo, and Tajikistan, gameplay in the single-player is largely linear. 

Most levels have players shooting enemies, running from one point to another, and ending each chapter on a major setpiece. Certain levels feature elements that shake things up, like giving light commands to AI squadmates — telling them to scout enemies ahead or to fire on a large group of hostiles. 

Overall, Battlefield 6’s campaign felt like a ‘best of’ collection comprised of various military shooter bits. There are dedicated sniper missions where players sneak around the perimeter of an area and take enemies out from afar, there are plenty of vehicle sections where players either drive large trucks or man turrets, and there are even some sections that play out in a neat night-vision mode focused entirely on stealth. Those who have fond memories of playing things like Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007) might get some enjoyment out of the campaign’s short length and ease of play. 

While the narrative itself is not the most interesting, the main reason to play is that it essentially serves as an extended tutorial to the mechanics. Things like squad commands, different weapon types, vehicles, and even the destructibility of certain levels all come into play when players take to the online modes. The offline adventure is a good way to ease into it, even if it’s not a dramatic extravaganza. 

The campaign is gorgeous in terms of presentation though, with Michael Bay-esque set pieces and Hollywood-level sound design coming together to create something cool. Playing with some decent headphones elevated this experience and added to the immersion. However, with all that said, the real meat of BF6 is the multiplayer. If the campaign was less than impressive, the chaos that comes from any given multiplayer match more than makes up for it.

Spread across several different modes, the main offerings in rotation are Conquest, Breakthrough, and Rush. All three revolve around a mix of defending and attacking certain objectives or sectors on the map. Up to 64 players across both teams can play in these modes, with each team being separated into groups of four called squads. 

From the jump, the gameplay loop is exceptional thanks to these large-scale battles, ensuring that no two matches are ever the same. The tension that comes from dealing with enemy snipers, constantly trying to revive fallen teammates, or using a sledgehammer to tear down walls and create new perches was all exciting. Most matches last between 30-40 minutes, and the hours flew by as that “one more game” feeling kept hitting.

While the gameplay structure of each mode is largely unchanged from prior BF titles, there are some smart tweaks to the formula and refinements that I can appreciate. The overly large, sprawling maps from 2042 are gone, replaced with smaller (yet still huge for an online shooter) arenas that feel more dense. Navigating these zones no longer feels like a drag, and the annoying weather events from the last installment are also gone. The experience has been refined down to its purest elements.

Also returning from prior BF games is the class system, with each offering different advantages and weapon specialties. I mostly ran with the assault class, which primarily uses assault rifles and has faster health regeneration thanks to an adrenaline shot. BF6 clearly labels which guns work best for each class, and leveling up is a straightforward affair. Killing with specific guns levels them up and unlocks slots for attachments, while raising the overall level of the player unlocks more weapons. There are also class-specific assignments that unlock gadgets and secondary items ranging from simple feats like getting kills with a shotgun, or something more specific like getting kills while on adrenaline. 

I like the progression here, as everything is telegraphed clearly, and I’m always working towards something — even bad matches that end in a loss feel like they get me closer to my overall goals. I do wish that leveling up were a bit faster, though — it does feel like a slight grind when it comes to reaching the next level, but it didn’t impact my enjoyment of multiplayer. 

At launch, there’s a lot to love, and I was especially surprised by how smooth the experience has been. I had no major connection issues to impede progress, and I was unaffected by long server queue wait times. Connectivity has been stable, and being able to squad up with friends via crossplay is nice.

Playing Battlefield 6, I was transported back to a time when I enjoyed online multiplayer. I hopped off the competitive shooter train a while ago, trading my regular Call of Duty sessions in for sports and racing titles. However, in the last couple of weeks, I’ve spent all my free time here, and as dangerous as this might be to a full-time student with a demanding full-time job, the quality of that time spent rests heavily on the fact that I’m going to stick with it after my review is complete. While the campaign might be little more than a glorified tutorial, this remains a war worth fighting.

Rating: 8.5  out of 10

Buy Battlefield 6 – PC – PS – XB 

Disclosures: This game is published by EA and developed by Battlefield Studios. It is available on PC, XBX/S, and PS5. This copy was obtained via publisher and was reviewed on PS5. Approximately 30 hours were spent across the single-player and multiplayer.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated M for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, and Strong Language. According to the site: Battlefield 6 is rated M for Mature 17+ by the ESRB with Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, and Strong Language. Also includes Users Interact and In-Game Purchases. This is a first-person shooter in which players command a NATO squad against a private military faction during a war. Players engage in military missions, firefights, and battle mode with enemy soldiers/other players. Players use pistols, machine guns, sniper rifles, and explosives to kill enemies in frenetic combat. Battles are highlighted by blood-splatter effects, realistic gunfire, cries of pain, and large explosions. Players can perform stealth attacks on enemies, using knives to stab them from behind. One cutscene depicts a character getting his thumb cut off close-up. The word “f**k” appears in the game.

Colorblind Modes: Colorblind modes are present in the options menu.

Deaf and Hard of Hearing Gamers: There are plenty of visual cues during gameplay, in the form of markers and map icons. All of these can be adjusted in the menu. Subtitles are present and can be resized. As no audio cues are needed for gameplay, I’d say this is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: The controls can be remapped.

The post Battlefield 6 Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Call of Duty has never been more player-driven, and I’m here for it.

LOW A grindy zombies mode with permadeath and ridiculous internet speed demands!

WTF People complaining about a campaign being replayable?!

None of us anticipated the 2019 Modern Warfare reboot turning the Call of Duty franchise into an Marvel-esque interconnected patchwork universe. Developer Treyarch sticks to the past, Infinity Ward to the present, and Sledgehammer — once again — are left to pick up the pieces while hoping that at some point they’ll stop being crunched to fill the release schedule. 

A game’s merits should stand on their own no matter what, but the sheer battle of ambition versus limited time and resources is increasingly apparent here. Still, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy Modern Warfare 3, much like Sledgehammer’s very first game… Modern Warfare 3 (2011). Except this time they’re not finishing a trilogy, but updating a live service juggernaut. This is a title that clearly wants to be bigger, bolder, and better than its predecessor in every way — if only it’d had the time to deliver on everything.

The story of this first-person shooter picks up directly after the events of Modern Warfare 2’s… err… multiplayer story events. Sadly, just like its predecessor, the insistence that the narrative has to be woven into Warzone and other modes is going to leave some utterly baffled. Why is Graves still alive? It’s all explained in a cutscene players have to look up online! What’s the significance of Yuri and Makarov’s new roles in this continuity? Great question! Despite solid presentation and Makarov’s plot being smaller ins scale than literally starting World War III, it’s still a baffling time. No story should require this much homework. 

It’s a shame because this is easily one of the most replayable campaigns in series history thanks to the room players have to improvise, and there’s incentive to dive back in thanks to a wealth of hidden gear and perks players can use on repeat playthroughs. It’s not a full-on immersive sim, but there’s clear potential for Call of Duty’s future campaigns to learn from this design. For example, my favorite moment in the campaign was when I managed to use a parachute to glide past an entire onslaught of enemies and quickly extract from an enemy-occupied dam, completely unscripted. 

That same mission throws a curveball where one of the four bombs that need defusing is on a moving truck that, if not intercepted, ends up behind heavily-armed enemies. However, there’s the option of dropping in behind all of them to disable the bomb and sneak away into the nearby water. This freedom of choice is made all the more enjoyable thanks to the ability to customize a loadout, or even bring in one-use killstreaks on repeat runs.

So many missions are flexible in ways that allow for creativity that they kept me coming back to find more permutations in how each mini-sandbox can play out. There are no protracted car chases nor any “defeat a soldier as a child” nonsense missions like we’ve gotten in the past. Instead, this new approach captures the freedom seen in Battlefield 1 & V’s campaigns.

Better yet, this campaign truly feels balanced for Hardened difficulty in a way Infinity Ward’s last two entries struggled to justify because it demands more improvisation. When playing on Easy or Normal, players can shrug off bullets and plow through missions. Most people I’ve seen complaining about the campaign did just this, opting for the least interesting options. Hardened makes equipping armor plates important, every one-time killstreak counts, and all of the assets become that much more vital and no amount of pre-existing knowledge will offset that. It feels designed for it.

As for multiplayer, the return of fan-favorite maps from the original Modern Warfare 2 is great, with some wonderful tune-ups that keep classics like Terminal and Rust as relevant as ever. Also, not only are the large-scale, Battlefield-style Ground War and Invasion modes back, but War mode’s more cinematic, scripted missions makes its way here from Vanguard. These modes are typically more forgiving moshpits, offering guided objectives that aren’t over in ten seconds — Invasion even offers bot enemies alongside human opponents. Meanwhile, the more intimate 2 v 2, 6 v 6, and 10 v 10 modes from Modern Warfare 2 return intact for faster action. Whether it’s a big bombastic fight or tense up close fighting, Modern Warfare 3 delivers in spades.

While customizing multiplayer loadouts is a series staple at this point, things like finetuning everything from gun handling to ability perks are made more welcoming. I particularly appreciate how I can unlock equipment early by doing daily challenges. Want a certain scorestreak, weapon attachment, or grenade? Complete some dailies or score some victories, and it’s unlocked! While players can also unlock gear by exfiltrating with it in the new Zombies mode, I personally found the daily challenges far more reliable. Sadly, the lobby UI is as terrible as ever, but once I finally got the lay of the land, the extent of playstyle personalization proved staggering.

Besides that, the amount of accessibility features here are worth celebrating. While not quite on the level of Sony and Microsoft’s first-party games, Modern Warfare III has a dense suite of options for all kinds of players, whether one wants to adjust keybindings or improve visual clarity to compensate for an inability to rely on audio cues. While it’s unfortunate that certain accessibility perks require unlocking (such as high-contrast footprints from enemies who just passed by) these options are quite welcome.

Movement has also been greatly improved. The slightly longer time to kill isn’t quite as meaningful an improvement – even going up against higher skill players, it rarely tipped the scales for either opponent. That said, the diving, sliding, and mid-range aiming are all wonderful additions that amp up the versatility of each map. It’s become second nature for me to dive out of incoming fire, slide in like a John Woo hero with my P9 blazing, or even sneak up on snipers to shank them from behind. It’s incredible how even fairly condensed maps capture the jungle gym feeling the series has lacked since Black Ops 3.

On the other hand, war against the undead has been turned into a chore. Despite still being helmed by Treyarch, the Zombies mode is now generic extraction with the PvP aspect removed, and the result is that it’s as soulless as the vacant-eyed shamblers waiting to be slaughtered.

All I did for eighteen hours was drop in, fight zombies while playing the same handful of “Contract” missions in a single sandbox map, and eventually bug out when the timer expired. It’s a shame, because there are story missions — they’re just locked behind absurd challenges to grind through. Those wanting to see the story bits will have to rinse and repeat for three “acts” told primarily through audiologs.

Even in the mere months since release, I’m seeing fewer and fewer players bothering with it, and I can’t blame them. This mode reeks of being rushed, made worse because it’s permadeath if someone quits mid-match or gets killed without extracting via helicopter. In fact, one time I was downed while aboard the helicopter, and it still refused to count my extraction as a success! Such stringency actively disincentivizes playing unless someone has a guaranteed uninterrupted hour, which not everyone has on a regular basis.

With Modern Warfare 3, Sledgehammer has tried to offer something both for fans of the classics and those who want to see this series evolve, and like Ghosts, Black Ops 3, and Infinite Warfare before it, I suspect this will be an entry that people will be calling underrated five years from now. I’m not waiting that long to show it some love, though. I’ve had a blast playing Modern Warfare 3, both in the campaign and in multiplayer. The Zombies mode may be lacking, but I can live with that. My only real concern is that I hope Sledgehammer and Treyarch aren’t forced to crunch like this again for the sake of annual release deadlines.

Final Score: 8 out of 10

Disclosures: This game is developed by Sledgehammer Games and Treyarch and published by Activision-Blizzard. It is currently available on PC, PS4/5, XBO/S/X. This copy was obtained via commercial purchase and reviewed on the PC. Approximately 10+ hours were dedicated to the single-player campaign, and it was completed twice. Approximately 18 hours were dedicated to the zombies campaign, and it was not completed. It also features an extensive suite of competitive multiplayer modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated M for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, and Use of Drugs. It’s a modern military shooter with graphic violence, swearing, morally ambiguous characters, and vividly depicts a terrorist attack from the first person perspective of a victim with a bomb vest forced upon them. Despite marketing depicting a thirteen year-old ‘squadding up’, parents should be very hesitant to let anyone under seventeen from playing the campaign or zombies mode. The more traditional multiplayer modes downplay the more serious tone, but still feature gore and viscera when explosive weapons are used. There are Microtransactions.

Colorblind modes: There are colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles, as well as indicating incoming fire and being in enemy line of sight with an orange flash in the direction of enemies. Multiple settings can be adjusted, from stick sensitivity for those with motor function limitations, to heightened visual contrast in the campaign that highlights allies in blue and enemies in red. Every relevant piece of information is transmitted visually. However, in competitive multiplayer, there is still somewhat of a disadvantage until you unlock a perk that shows enemy footprints when they’ve recently passed through. This is distinctly less of an issue in the zombies mode, as there are few ranged enemies. Regardless, it’s a reasonable experience to play without sound.

Remappable controls: Yes, this game offers fully remappable controls.

The post Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2023) Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH The weighty feel of the weapons. Fantastic sound design.

LOW The two-day odyssey of installation.

WTF Captain Price without a moustache.

This review is for the campaign mode only.

I’ve recently been making my way through the Call of Duty series. With World War 2 feeling like a high point, I was eager to play the next iteration, Modern Warfare – a reboot of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. I would argue that CoD4 is still the best in the series, and one of the top games of its generation, so I was naturally excited to play Modern Warfare.

This entry is a military-style first-person shooter set in a contemporary setting. Created by Infinity Ward, the original CoD developers, the campaign sees the player take control of two characters – a CIA operative and a SAS soldier. They’re tasked with tracking down the source of a terrorist attack and assisted by the rebels of a fictional country, Urzikstan, in exchange for helping combat a Russian invasion.

Despite looking forward to digging in, my excitement died quickly, and initially due solely to technical issues.

First there was the wait for the game to install at 35GB, taking around an hour, and then another 100GB installation (which took around three hours) for Warzone, a battle royale component. I have no interest in multiplayer, much less a battle royale mode, but I could not play the Modern Warfare campaign without it installed. I don’t like being forced to download something I shouldn’t need to, but I had no choice other than to let Activision shove Warzone in my face.

I thought I’d be good to go at this point, but it didn’t end there. No, then I was required to download data packs which were “unavailable.” I tried some online fixes, and even deleted and tried reinstalling, but still no luck. Almost at random, I solved the problem by registering an Activision account.

I hate registering these kinds of accounts and resent being forced to. I also resent jumping through multiple hoops like this just to install a console game when consoles are supposed to have a convenience factor above PCs. So much for that!

With all excitement gone and feeling somewhat annoyed, I was hoping that Modern Warfare would be a great game and make all of the hassle worthwhile.

The opening level recovered some of my lost spark. Set at night, players are tasked with recovering chemical weapons from an enemy compound. It looks like the sequence took inspiration from the film Zero Dark Thirty and was full of atmosphere thanks to crisp visuals, well-placed flashes of light from enemy and player weapons, and excellent use of color and mist. A sense of tension gradually built, culminating when I entered a pitch-black warehouse. Suddenly, Modern Warfare was like a horror title, brimming with unseen enemies scurrying around the player. Jump scares are almost unheard of in this series, but they got me here.

Further impressions were also high. Excellent gunplay has always been a feature of Call of Duty, but Modern Warfare is a series best. The guns feel weighty, shooting is snappy and responsive, and the appropriately loud gunshots sound like they actually whiz past the player’s head. Added weight is also applied to movement – it’s slower, but seems more realistic as a result. I was beginning to forget my installation woes! However, problems started to appear in the second level, an area set in London.

In response to a terrorist strike, I found myself exchanging gunfire in the middle of a crowded street. As a Brit, this felt close to home, and brought back images of actual terrorist attacks – a clear evocation of real events, and I was reminded of other eye-rolling attempts in the series to shock the player. Maybe with Modern Warfare going for a grittier feel, there would a legitimate point in referencing these attacks?

Modern Warfare does attempt to tell a story with themes around the messiness of war, the blurry lines between “good” and “bad” guys, and how this distinction is dependent on the whims of government. Some moments illustrate this well, but Modern Warfare also undercuts these themes in several ways.

One particular level sees the player controlling a prominent character, Farah Karim, a Urzikstani rebel leader. I found her to be a well-written, well-acted and engaging character. However, in this section we take control of her as a child and see her village attacked by Russians from her perspective. I found this to be egregious, as the anger and passion she demonstrates throughout the game is more than enough to illustrate her feelings. No, instead of legitimately adding to her development, this bit seemed to exist only to be shocking or controversial.

Speaking of controversy, this brings me to the “Highway of Death.” As CJ points out in his excellent review of Cold War, the series has always had dodgy politics, and I would argue it reaches the nadir in this level.

Here is a more direct reference to a real-life atrocity of the same name, committed by American forces. In Modern Warfare, this is instead attributed to Russia – a cheap way of increasing their villainy and contradicting its themes around the blurred lines between “good” and “bad.” It literally takes a real, horrific event and uses it to reinforce how evil Russia is, while painting the country that actually did it as heroes!

As a rule, I don’t have high expectations for the Call of Duty series – I generally see them as enjoyable (but shallow) experiences that deliver a consistent level of competency that’s bolstered by impressive setpieces and settings. It’s a low bar to clear, but Modern Warfare fails to get over. Past the impressive first level, it leads to an experience that is only memorable for its “shocking” moments, undercutting its own themes and a torturous installation process.

Disclosures: This game is developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision. It is currently available on XBO/X, PC and PS4/5. This copy of the game was obtained via retail store and reviewed on the PS4 Pro. Approximately 6 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. No time was spent in multiplayer modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated M and contains Blood, Intense Violence and Strong Language. The official description reads as follows: This is a first-person shooter in which players join an elite army squadron on missions to hunt terrorists. Players navigate battlefields in the Middle East and Russia/Ukraine engaging in firefights, stealth missions, and rescue operations. Players use machine guns, sniper rifles, grenades, and missiles to kill enemy soldiers or destroy enemy vehicles/targets. Combat is frequent and fast-paced, highlighted by realistic gunfire, explosions, and cries of pain. Soldiers emit large splashes of blood when shot or stabbed, and some scenes depict corpses lying in pools of blood. Cut scenes include further instances of intense violence: a prisoner of war beaten, then shot in the head; a man shooting himself in the head, depicted in slow-motion. The words “f**k” and “sh*t” appear in the dialogue.

Colorblind Modes: Colorblind modes are present.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles. The subtitles cannot be altered and/or resized. Overall, Modern Warfare can be played without sound without any problems, as most of the gameplay is based around shooting what you can see. There are instances in the stealthier section where being able to hear the location of enemies could be an advantage. However, these can still be completed without the use of sound. I’d say this is fully accessible, but again, please remember this disclaimer is for the campaign mode only. This advisory does not apply to the multiplayer.

Remappable Controls: No, this game’s controls are not remappable.

The post Looking Back – Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Three distinct game modes!

LOW Two of which feel pretty dang stale.

WTF I’ve no idea what they were aiming for with Frank Woods’ dialogue.

For a while now, it’s been an unproven assumption that online first-person shooters live and die by their multiplayer options, and that no one comes to them for the singleplayer narrative. So, In a much-publicized move, the Black Ops 4 team has decided to test this theory by removing the campaign and replacing it with a training mode in which series regular (and world’s most obnoxious man) Frank Woods acts like a complete imbecile as players come to grips with the controls – a task which would be significantly less aggravating without Woods screaming puerile bullshit serving as the introductory tutorial. We’re not just learning how to use a flamethrower – we’re teaching ourselves to roast those motherfuckers into a three course meal or whatever garbage he spews instead, yo!

There are three main multiplayer choices – the classic Call of Duty multiplayer including modes like Team Deathmatch or Kill Confirmed, the long running Zombies mode where players have to survive an undead onslaught for as long as they can, and the new Blackout mode — it’s Call of Duty‘s take on the inexplicably popular Battle Royale genre.

Let’s talk about Blackout first. The core premise is that up to a hundred players head into each game either solo or grouped up, launch themselves out of a helicopter and parachute into a huge map littered with supplies and buildings to hide in. Everyone has a single life with no respawns, so death means getting shunted back to the lobby. That said, downed players on a team can be revived if not finished off, and dead players can choose to spectate. Stopping players from camping for the next ten hours is a circle of death that closes in on everyone periodically, so most players will at least move when forced to.

It’s fair to say that I’m not keen on this genre as a whole given that I’d much rather get stuck into firefights. I find the downtime associated with Battle Royale matches soulcrushingly boring, but I will say that Blackout’s probably the best of the lot. Given CoD‘s legacy as a shooter, the gunplay feels more satisfying than PUBG or Fortnite — it’s punchier and more intense, and there are no loathsome building mechanics stinking the place up. The vehicles are fine, the loot is plentiful, and it’s a slightly better Battle Royale experience than most.

The second of the three game types, the ever-popular Zombies mode, has up to four players slaughtering the undead in a bid to survive for as long as possible. Killing enemies nets points that can be used to open up new areas in each map, or to purchase guns and assorted powerups from vendors. This simple loop continues until the horde finally overcomes the warm, fleshy humans.

There’s a standalone story behind this mode but it’s fairly throwaway and filled with cheesy, overwrought dialogue, so we’ll ignore that and talk about the enemies instead — they’re zombies. The normal zombies shuffle around trying to kill players, but are only a threat when grouped up in huge numbers. There are also larger enemies that take much more damage before dying, and special enemies (zombie tigers!) to spice things up alongside a bunch of map-specific traps and such.

Honestly, this mode’s alright in small doses. It doesn’t have the hooks to keep me coming back for more, but it works as intended and provides a ton of slaughter in a short amount of time. There are already several maps available at launch, and it’s possible to opt for a ‘rush’ mode without the slower escalation of the main version, so… yeah, it’s okay. Not my thing, admittedly, but it’s a decent showing for fans of zombie slaughter, even if it is a little too one-note to maintain my interest.

Then, of course, there’s the mode which shot Call of Duty into the big leagues — the now-classic multiplayer. They’ve removed the wallrunning and aerial jumping from recent Black Ops titles, which is kind of a shame but their implementation always felt tacked-on and lacked fluidity anyway, so it’s not as huge a loss as it could have been.

With those Titanfall-inspired moves gone, this mode feels much the same as in past titles – a feeling bolstered by the disturbing amount of recycled maps popping up during matchmaking. Players select from a group of available classes (here called specialists) with their own unique loadout. For example, Torque is defensive and armed with barricades and razor wire, while the lunatic Firebreak walks around with nuclear cores to roast nearby opponents, damaging them and removing their ability to self heal. Oh, that’s the other new thing added into the mix – players choose when to heal by using a syringe that’s on a short timer. The rest of it, namely killing enemies, capturing points and confirming kills by collecting medals from downed enemies… it’s all still here.

Honestly, I had a mediocre time with this mode. Partly because I’m awful at it, but a larger part is due to the haphazard pacing, the lack of mobility options, the surprising amount of campers, the bunny hoppers, frequently one-sided killstreak bonuses, recycled maps, spawn-killing and other issues that just kicked the legs out from under the experience. Of course, times like these are when I’d retreat into the campaign when this sort of multiplayer nonsense became too much to handle, but that’s gone now, so…

I spent a lot of time in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 waiting for it to click with me so I could see why so many players come back year after year, and it never did. It never even came close. It’s not that I can’t respect it — it seems to offer decent value in that it’s essentially three different types of shooter in one package, but aside from the new Blackout mode, I’ve had significantly better experiences from many of its competitors. And honestly, Blackout’s main competition is a free-to-play game. It may be better than Fortnite in my opinion, but sixty dollars better? I’m not entirely convinced about that, and without a decent singleplayer campaign attached, it’s a pretty hard sell for anyone who isn’t already a fan. Rating: 5 out of 10

Disclosures: This game is developed by Treyarch and published by Activision. It is currently available on PS4, Xbox One and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PS4 Pro. Approximately 18 hours of play were spent in multiplayer modes. There are no significant single player options.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated M and contains Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Intense Violence and Strong Language. People get blown up in-game or have their jaws shot open in the brief cutscenes, so while most of the game’s pretty tame, it does have aspects that aren’t for kids, not to mention that James Woods is pretty much the worst role model they could have.

Colorblind Modes: There are colorblind modes available in the options, with several options to choose from.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: Situational awareness through audio is a key part of playing Black Ops IIII effectively. There are some subtitles available and numerous on screen prompts to try and help out, but it’s not enough. Anyone unable to hear things around them is at a steep disadvantage, no doubt about it.

Remappable Controls: Certain functions are remappable. There are plenty of presets to choose from, but they can’t be freely reassigned.

The post Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.