I got to escape the suffocating humidity of the buckeye state, thanks to Activision of course, to fly to picturesque Los Angeles. I got to relax in a very nice hotel and mingle with Twitch players, Youtubers and, of course, other journalists. I was fortunate enough to meet Tanner Pierce of DualShockers and Nick Leon of Gaming Nexus. Nick, Tanner and I got to share our Call Of Duty memories in addition our expectations for Black Ops 4. Much like the staff here at GiN, we all had a long history with the franchise. People from all over the world were in attendance. While waiting for the shuttle we met people from Spain, France, South Korea and many more countries.

I was on the first shuttle to the location, a small airport, and was greeted by breakfast and some of the development team hanging out. Unfortunately, I was unable to grab one for a formal interview. However, a couple of them stood with us and talked just general Call Of Duty. Two of them were developers for Call Of Duty: World At War, which ended up being what we talked about most. The three of us talked with them for at least a half an hour. They were very down to earth people and it was hard to believe these people were getting ready to see their project debuted; I would have been shaking with nerves.

AC/DC signaled the start of the event when the doors to the hanger parted like the great sea. Most of were caught off guard because we were unaware of the doors being there. Classic rock blared through gigantic speakers as all of us press gremlins took our seats. There were multiple speakers coming out to talk, including the head of the studio. They talked us through their philosophy behind Black Ops 4. They showed us all sorts of videos, including a montage covering past Black Ops titles. Below is a couple of the things I learned about Black Ops 4. 

Conventional single player does not exist: Treyarch mentioned that there would not be a single player campaign. Instead, there would be short challenge missions associated with each specialist. Honestly, I don’t know how I feel about this. I grew up poor and remained financially tight into adulthood. Because of this, and a lack of friends, I usually just played solo and ignored multiplayer. However, if I can get a good group of people to play with then maybe this won’t bother me as much. Treyarch has decided to innovate and not just leave typical multiplayer by introducing… 

Blackout Mode: With games like Fortnite and PUBG growing in popularity, Treyarch has responded by introducing Blackout. Blackout is a survival mode where you can choose pretty much any character from any Black Ops title. In addition, the map is literally every Black Ops multiplayer map connected into one giant, Far Cry-sized map. In addition, land, sea and air vehicles will be available. 

Zombies get a massive overhaul: Everyone’s favorite bonus mode is getting new life, or rather, unlife. Four new characters and three new day one levels were previewed in beautiful cinematic fashion. Quick side note, all of these videos were played on a movie theatre size screen with the best sound system ever. That said, I’m like eighty percent sure I have tinnitus right now. Back to angry zombies, one level takes place in a gladiatorial arena and one takes place on the, wait for it, RMS Titanic. In addition to new characters and levels, there will be over one hundred customizable options for your zombie experience. A mode called Zombie Rush was announced, but no details were given. 

Guns up! No, we don’t go to Texas Tech: One of the major talking points was the guns up play. This allows players to fire while using grenades, special abilities or activating objects. Maintaining the ability to fire while utilizing the rest of your arsenal allows you to better defend yourself from other players. This allows fast paced combat and interesting combos when you get enough practice. Hell, this game is almost what Brink wanted to be, if Brink could have just done literally everything else right. Black Ops 4 embraces the chaos and doesn’t try to be Tom Clancy, literally the opposite.

To wrap this up, I have high hopes for Black Ops 4. It seems like Treyarch went all out with this installment of Black Ops. As more news drops we can get a better idea on what to expect. I will also be writing a review of my experiences playing the game very soon. I say, before people get militant about the single player, that we give the game a chance to prove to us that unconventional multiplayer can be viable.