I know it’s easy to look at Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 as “another year, another Call of Duty game,” but they took major steps this year. Yes, they did cut a single player campaign out, but what they added makes up for it. As much as I’ve enjoyed the campaigns over the years, the money has been with the multiplayer. That’s why they sell a season pass, and it's the main reason people dump hundreds of hours into these games every year.
This year they added Blackout, which is their answer to Battle Royale. It’s blowing up Twitch at the moment! I’ve never been a big zombies person, but I know people love that mode. This year they have three different zombie campaigns right off the bat and one more if you have the season pass.
So with the changes they’ve made this year, that means that there is a slew of awesome things you can do in the game. I don’t want this to be so much a guide to things, but more of an arrow pointed in the direction of cool things you can do. Cause there are 10 specialists in multiplayer with different abilities, and Blackout can be a bit intimidating at first. Zombies can be very confusing if you haven’t played that mode before, and there are a lot of weapons to unlock! I want to go over some of the coolest things I’ve seen in Black Ops 4 since I started playing it... so let’s get it!
25 Use Specialists' Abilities
There are 10 specialists you play as in multiplayer, and they all have different abilities. I know it seems obvious, but it’s different for a CoD game to have character abilities so it can take a minute to get used to.
They make the game feel a bit like Destiny.
The cool thing about them, though, is some can literally take out an entire team in a single use. If the whole team is on a capture point, then Battery’s War Machine or Ruin’s Grav Slam can take them all out and it’s awesome to do!
24 The Right Way To Heal
A new addition to Black Ops 4 is that there is a healing mechanic in the game. That means there is no health re-gen. So since that’s a thing, you have a make sure and heal in between gunfights. It really becomes a thing in Blackout, but every other BR game has healing as well, so it’s not as big there as it is in multiplayer. It is a cool feeling when you take out someone, go behind cover and heal up, then take out someone else! It feels good and different enough to keep the game fresh.
23 Nomad’s Dog Can Guard Points
Nomad has a dog as his special, and it can be used more than just as a roaming fighter for you. If you want the dog to follow you around or guide you in the direction of enemies then you don’t need to do anything. It can guard a control point, though, and it’s a nice surprise for the enemy!
Press LB and RB or L1 and R1 to have the dog guard an area.
The armor the dog has is very good, so people won’t be able to take it down easy.
22 Play The Zombies Tutorial
I know that playing a tutorial can seem like a waste, but they made the tutorial for zombies this year pretty ridiculous. It starts by putting a zombie in front of you and saying to shoot it, then tells you good job. They added a really funny tone to it this year, and it’s worth playing through, in my opinion. You do get an achievement/trophy out of it as well. If you’re like me and haven’t done much with this mode over the years, then you’ll actually learn things and not just laugh at the stupid humor.
21 Take Advantage Of Perk Greeds
A part of the pick - 10 system in multiplayer is the perk greed cards. They have been in past games, but I don’t think everyone takes advantage of them and I’m not sure why.
Having a fully loaded weapon can be more useful than a secondary weapon.
If you play like me, then you don’t use your secondary weapon much, so why even have one! Its cooler to me to have a decked out primary that you can do work with! I get that ammo can be a problem, but there are perks for that as well.
20 Play Rush Mode
A new mode was added to zombies this year and it’s called Rush! Zombies in the Call of Duty games can be very complicated, and I think that’s why they added this mode, so people could just play and not deal with all that. It’s the same maps and weapon layouts, but all the puzzle solving is taken out and you just take out waves of zombies! It sounds simple because it is, but it’s really fun and a welcome addition when you just want to chill and not play a 2-hour long thing!
19 Play Who You Want In Blackout
The customization in Blackout could honestly be better, but it’s pretty solid for the game just coming out. A cool thing they have is that you can choose to make a custom character, play as one of the current multiplayer characters, play a current zombies character, or play as some classic characters.
There are things in the game you can do to unlock all these characters, and it’s pretty cool that they included as many as they did. I imagine the custom characters will have more stuff to buy at some point, but as of now, running around as Mason from the first two games will have to do!
18 Take Out UAVs/Counter UAVs
You know how I suggested to not bring a secondary weapon earlier? Well, if you want to take down UAVs, then you may want to. UAV and counter UAVs can be the most annoying things in the game and taking them down is always satisfying!
Launchers take them down the easiest.
You can shoot them with regular guns, but it takes a while and you give your position away! One shot with a launcher takes them down, and it’s amazing how many people don’t have a loadout with one.
17 Ajax’s Shield Is Op
If you come across a guy walking around with a shield in multiplayer, don’t worry, that’s just Ajax and his OP shield! His special weapon is a shield, and man that thing can take some damage! If you play as him, though, it’s so fun to run around a map with it. He can free aim with a pistol or he can hold the shield closer and shoot through a hole in the front. Shooting through the hole in front is so overpowered, but man it’s fun!
16 Hiding Until The End Of A Game In Blackout
Alright, look. I get that hiding until the end of a Blackout match might not be for everyone, but it was pretty fun when I did it. It’s set up like all the other BR games so as long as you’re in the circle, then you can chill in a house till the end if you want.
Or you can chill in a bathroom, your choice.
I’ll fully admit that I came in second the game I did this, cause when the guy found me he destroyed me. It was a fun experiment, though!
15 Get The Ray Gun
The ray gun has kind of become a staple of the zombie mode in the past CoD zombies modes, but it’s not just there this time around! You can get this gun in Blackout and it’s crazy! It’s a one-shot deal and you’re almost guaranteed a top 5 finish unless you get caught from behind. The beams of light on the map have zombies there, and if you take them all out you get a mystery weapon. It’s possible to get the ray gun.
14 Take Out An Entire Team With Ruin
Ruin’s Grav Slam is his special weapon, and it works kinda like a Titan slam in Destiny. If an entire team is around a control point, then unleash it and you can take them all out and it’s amazing!
If you want to be fancy, you can use the grapple hook before.
I’m not saying you only need to use it when there are a bunch of people around, but it is satisfying when it happens. If you play enough Hardpoint or Control then it’ll eventually happen.
13 Battery’s Cluster Grenade Can Stick To Anything
Battery is the only specialist that comes with a grenade as part of her standard equipment and it's a sticky cluster grenade! It’s super useful in objective type modes or just sticking to someone! It being sticky is important cause you cane stick it to a wall, and when the enemy team comes out the grenades go everywhere! You can get this grenade in Blackout, by the way, and sticking it to vehicles can be amazing! You can eventually unlock this for all specialists, but Battery is your girl if you want to use it before then!
12 Helicopters Are Too Fun To Not Use In Blackout
I’m so glad that Blackout has vehicles in it and the way they handle is perfect to have fun with them. If you are playing in Duos or Quads, then finding a helicopter is a must and you can own the map with it!
It has turret guns on the sides.
You can use it when playing solo and you can get creative then! Like finding someone, jumping out with the wingsuit, and trying to take them out! Or ya know… you could just try and take them out with the chopper. That’s probably more interesting!
11 Recon’s Vision Pulse Is Necessary
If you’re familiar with Overwatch, then you’ll know Widowmaker’s super is her revealing where everyone is on the map. Well, Recon’s special weapon works the same! Vision Pulse reveals where everyone is at and gives points for spots and takedowns. It works very well in Team Deathmatch or Confirmed matches, but it’s honestly always useful. It is fun to use when a team has a counter UAV up so its effects are basically null. His sensor dart is just as useful with just a smaller range.
10 Play Specialists HQ
Even though the single-player campaign was cut they did include an extensive tutorial mode that has a story wrapped around it. It lets you play as each specialist in a certain game mode with cutscene before and after.
The cutscenes might be some of the best in the series.
You by no means have to play these if you just want to play Blackout and multiplayer, but the story they tell is interesting. It reminded me of Overwatch and I came away impressed!
9 Ride The Line In Blackout
You know that Metallica album Ride The Lighting… that’s a great album! Anyway, riding the line is a very common thing in BR games, and Blackout is no exception. To me, it’s a fun way to play that ensures you are relatively safe but always in the action. Even if you get caught outside of the circle it doesn’t hurt you too bad so it’s not a deal. It really feels great to ride the line the whole time and come away with a win, or you could take my waiting in the bathroom advice earlier…your choice!
8 Zombies = Destiny Raid Lair
If you have been a Zombies player for the past several years then you know how stupidly complicated they can get! It’s a big reason that I’ve never gotten into the mode but they remind me of the Raid Lairs in Destiny 2.
Lairs are smaller than a normal Raid.
The key difference is that Zombies has matchmaking and the Raid Lairs do not! The cool thing is that you can actually have a shot at finishing a zombies game and not have to gather people up for it!
7 Clear A Control Point With Battery
My personal favorite specialist is Battery and it’s because she’s good in all game modes to me. When people are playing Control, people have a tendency to group up. Her War Machine grenade launcher can clean house! One of the most fun I’ve had in a game so far has been taking out an entire team with one use of the War Machine! I just went in to point B and emptied the clip and it was glorious! So many medals and things popping up on screen!
6 Use The Mystery Box In Blackout
Like I’ve mentioned before, when you see a beam of light in Blackout that means that area has zombies and a mystery box there. You clear out all the zombies and you can open the box and get a random weapon.
The Ray Gun can be in one.
It can be chaos around those as well! If you’re there shooting the zombies then that’s going to attract other players and you might have to deal with zombies and other players! It’s fun chaos though with high-end rewards!