Cover Up

“Pain or damage don't end the world. Or despair or fucking beatings. The world ends when you're dead. Until then, you got more punishment in store. Stand it like a man... and give some back.”

            For years I’ve walked the earth with (essentially) those words scribbled on my arm. When I first heard the line I was mesmerized by it, the way it was written (presumably by David Milch), and the way it was spoken on screen by Ian McShane lit some type of fire in me. It was relatable, tough, steeped in self-reliance and organic.

             

            I tried to defend the existence of these words on my body via the thoughts in my head. I oft repeated to myself that believing in this ostentatious line from a short-lived (yet brilliant) TV Western was justified.

Not THAT Justified

                                                           

            I would tell myself that if approached from the perspective of doling out pain to those that have hurt others, it was somehow okay. I don’t think I believe that, maybe I never did. It’s also interesting that I have tried searching for a photo of this tattoo and I have come up empty. Could it be that even when I got it I immediately knew it wasn’t me?

            At any rate, in the ensuing times I feel I have realized that there is enough  pain in the world, and adding to that (even concerning those that “deserved” it) wasn’t necessarily the only available, or even best option.

            As of yesterday I began the process to erase that statement from my flesh. I suppose, overwrite is a better description. In its place will be an ominous black and grey clock tower representing that everyone’s own personal Doomsday clock is ticking away, a reminder to carpe those diems, or YOLO or whatever the hell people say now. A not-so subtle cue to try as much as we can to stop those clock arms in their tracks, or reverse them if we can - or maybe it’s just a new fuckin’ tattoo.

Fog of War: Black Ops 4 Beta

            I would argue that a large piece of player satisfaction in video games is balancing challenge with success.

            Personally, I believe that the Black Ops 4 Multiplayer Beta does this extremely well. Overall, the game play is quick, the map design is fluid and well structured and the enemy encounters seem balanced (for the most part).

            That being said, let’s dive in a bit on some of the topics that have cropped up during this beta that many (including myself) feel need addressed, or that I have enjoyed. I should note that although I have logged several hours on the beta, I have only played TDM – I attempted twice to enter into both Control and Domination, but the lobbies did not fill up rapidly enough to begin a game it seemed.

Gun Balance

                The core of any COD game is the gun play, and for the BO4 Beta I am a happy camper (not literally). That’s because typically I run with an SMG (MX9 I’ll call you later ;) ), and they have been outperforming all other categories of weaponry in the lobbies I’ve been a part of. It seems you can ADS with a SMG and get a better mid to long range kill easier than you can with most of the ARs.

                In recent hours of game play I have also noticed a sudden emergence of quickscopers. This annoys me as we really haven’t seen this mechanic in any Treyarch COD game, other than BO2. Of course, I’ll concede that the main reason why this annoys me is that I am not a sniper.  I will also mention that it is nowhere near as annoyingly OP as the COD WWII snipers (yet).

Assist = EKIA

                I for one love this feature although I can see it padding player’s K/D ratio across the board. That being said, that +100 score popping up on the screen as my teammate finishes off the guy that killed me is extremely satisfying.

Body Armor / Extra Health

                Concerning the armor, it’s still early, but I am going to go out on a limb and say I don’t mind this addition. I see lobbies full of players using this equipment, but overused doesn’t necessarily mean overpowered. Besides, you can use a weapon with AP rounds and neutralize the effects of the armor. To me it’s no different than running flak jacket in BO1 while people are spamming noob tubes on Nuketown.  

                 As far as the added health, I think this plays into Treyarch's goal of making this a more tactical game. This coupled with the stem shot make engagements more dynamic and gives you a chance to turn the tide if you get ambushed. 

Specialists

                I don’t feel that any of these are disgustingly strong or being abused. In fact, for me I have been more willing to jump around and utilize different specialists and have been pleased by the results, almost across the board.

            I would even go as far to say as the requirement to fill your specialist weapon (not special issue) meter needs to be lowered- not by a great deal though, maybe 5-10%.  

            Also, beef up the Nomad’s dog- day 1 he was Cujo, day 2 he was Scooby Doo!
          

Load Time / Frame rate

               Both of these need work- but in a beta you can almost guarantee that these will require adjustments right out of the gate due to player count/demand. It hasn’t been overly frustrating to me, but I would expect that they are tightened up for the official launch, or even for the 'Blackout' beta.

Fog of War

              I see many complaining about this. Again, it is one of those things that is supposec to make you play more tactically. After learning the maps and discovering common areas where players rush, congregate, hold choke points etc, it has no impact on the overall game play. Basically, I could take it or leave it.

Normal COD Sticking Points

·        Spawns – I was spawn killed *maybe* one time so far. Also it seems the map designers built in protection against this, as if you notice the maps we’ve been given for the beta have strategically crafted barriers at opposite ends of the map to curb this practice.

·         Team Balancing – This has not been an issue during the beta for me personally. That is not to say that it won’t become one at launch. Note to Treyarch- I do not want to backpack a bunch of scrubs, nor do I want to have to play conservatively just because I am up against a party full of master prestige COD experts.

·         Campers – It seems the ‘Torque’ specialist is a camper’s wet dream, rather than a tactician’s fantasy. Build in something that motivates these players to move rather than set up shop in one of the many rooms/corridors on each of these maps.

·         Is it fun? – HELL YES! I have been having a blast during the beta! Since we do not have a campaign this year I have the utmost confidence that Treyarch will take the community’s feedback and fine tune this game to the point of near perfection.

           

                 Now from what I’ve seen they raised the max level to 35, so I can’t sit here and gossip about this game any longer- I gotta get back out there!