Call of Duty: Black Ops 4’s multiplayer beta brings back fierce duels

It’s like the holidays in August. Activision and Treyarch are in the midst of giving players their first broadly available taste of multiplayer combat in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, and I’ve been diving into the core Team Deathmatch and Control modes on the PlayStation 4.

The Black Ops 4 multiplayer beta test continues until 10 a.m. Pacific time on Monday August 6, and it has six maps, 10 Specialists, and a familiar Pick 10 system where you can customize your loadout. The full game will debut on October 12 without a single-player campaign, but it will have multiplayer, three Zombies episodes, and a new battle royale map dubbed Blackout. Treyarch isn’t showing off battle royale yet.