Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 review — A fresh experience for those with an open mind (updated)

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 could have been a disaster. Battle royale games from rivals came out at a very inconvenient time: during the middle of development of Black Ops 4. Fan expectations changed completely. Activision’s Treyarch studio responded by dropping the Black Ops 4 single-player campaign, tripling the Zombies co-op experience, and adding the Blackout battle royale mode to satisfy the fans heading to Fortnite and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. It might have been a rush job.

But the game debuts today on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC with a delightfully solid multiplayer experience that will be fun for both veteran Call of Duty fans and battle royale loyalists. Treyarch has pulled off a hat trick, finding a space for Blackout squarely in between the free-to-play craziness of Fortnite and the military sim experience of PUBG. I think Blackout will be huge.