Call of Duty critics finally warm to ‘masterpiece’ Black Ops 4
It only took six years, but Call of Duty critics are finally warming to Black Ops 4.
16th Sep 2024 13:08
Images via Activision
Call of Duty critics finally warm to ‘masterpiece’ Black Ops 4
It only took six years, but Call of Duty critics are finally warming to Black Ops 4.
16th Sep 2024 13:08
Images via Activision
It's nearly that time of year again, and like clockwork, 2024's Call of Duty isn't far away. After the idea that we'd get a bit of a break from the CoDverse fell through and we got the somewhat rushed Modern Warfare 3, Treyarch is back in the saddle for a sequel to 2020's Black Ops Cold War.
Having been attached to CoD since 2005's Call of Duty 2: Big Red One, Treyarch is one of the franchise's most famous developers, most notably for introducing us to the beloved Zombies mode. It's not all been plain sailing, though, and no Treyarch history would be complete without mentioning 2018's Black Ops 4.
Call of Duty critics are finally appreciating Black Ops 4
Black Ops 4 gets something of a bad reputation, notably for its lack of campaign and boldly pitching itself as a multiplayer-only CoD. Still, with it getting in early on the battle royale trend with the beloved Blackout, there was a lot to love. When X account DETONATED referred to Black Ops 4 as a masterpiece, it opened a can of worms from fandom.
With high TTK and paper-thin character development for the game's Specialists, Black Ops 4 remains one of the series' most divisive outings. Responding to the OP tweet, one said, "Now hold on. I've always defended bo4 as a decent cod but a masterpiece is absolutely untrue. Definitely was crazy flawed especially compared to what we got on bo3. Bo4 has a special place in my heart but not a top 5 cod."
One supporter agreed it was a masterpiece and added, "It was, Blackout was awesome, iconic maps, well balanced, way better Easter eggs and unlockable characters via challenges that make you play the game instead of pay of those impossible challenges like win x amount of games in a row the best zombies, way more balanced and zc2."
A third concluded, "But at the time the microtransactions were some of if not the worst we had ever seen in CoD. Plus getting rid of campaign for the sake of a copy-paste battle royale mode just screamed cash grab. It’s a great game at its core but the hate was justified to an extent."
Someone said that Black Ops 4 was the "last good COD," claiming that "SBMM match manipulation" has taken over. While some good points are made, most won't be able to forgive Black Ops 4 for its rushed production to compete with Battlefield V and THAT buggy Zombies mode.
While opinions might've softened toward Black Ops 4, we doubt it's making many lists of people's favourite CoD game. Treyarch can hopefully avoid the mistakes of the past and get back on top with Black Ops 6. From what we've seen so far, we're pleasantly optimistic.
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Tom Chapman
Tom is Trending News Editor at GGRecon, with an NCTJ qualification in Broadcast Journalism and over seven years of experience writing about film, gaming, and television. With bylines at IGN, Digital Spy, Den of Geek, and more, Tom’s love of horror means he's well-versed in all things Resident Evil, with aspirations to be the next Chris Redfield.