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!

Infinitely Entertained

                “In time, you will know what it's like to lose. To feel so desperately that you're right. Yet to fail all the same.” – Thanos

Rights to Disney/Marvel

The Review           

            To be a proper hero you need a great villain. Someone who is powerful, intelligent, persuasive, maybe some can even be sympathetic to the cause. To sum it up; heroes need a substantial threat, especially the super-powered kind. The viewer (see also reader or player) needs to feel as though there is some sense of danger and suspense surrounding the protagonist for which they are rooting. Avengers: Infinity War accomplishes that in this writer’s view.

            So it’s here I want to write about my experience with Avengers: Infinity War. Now that I have completed enough therapy sessions after watching it to feel that I can discuss it and not need a safe space.

            I won’t go into spoilers here, even though I imagine if you are interested in the MCU you’ve likely already ventured to the theater or at least uncovered details of the plot elsewhere. It’s safe to say,  it was full every emotion;  action on many different fronts, touches of great humor between the characters (Bucky and Rocket to name just one), love, respect, and much, much more.

            You may have guessed by now overall, I loved the movie. I grew up with these heroes in nothing but comic book form and the imagination of a teenager to power them. There is something deeply appealing to me about seeing these heroes literally come to life. It is even greater to see them come together in order to overcome the impossible. It motivates me to press on in the face of adversity. That quite simply is the highest compliment you can pay to any art form (Yes I just referred to a genre where the main characters wear tights as an “art form”), is that it pushes you to be a better human being.

The Haters

            What’s odd to me is I continue to see people on social media express their disdain for the super hero genre as overdone, childish or predictable. And to those people, I would say it is. It’s based on fictional characters that have incredible otherworldly powers, also there’s a guy that shoots arrows. All of them are equally interesting to me because of what they stand for, even the villains. So if you don’t like super hero films I have two pieces of advice: 1) Go back to watching Downton Abbey, and 2) Fuck right off because no one asked for your opinion (Somewhat ironic coming from a blogger, no?).

Where I’d Like to See the Next Movie Go

      I enjoy the Avengers (and many DC characters as well). However, my favorite team is the X-Men, specifically Wolverine. As such, it is my hope that at least in the post credit scene of Avengers 4 we get a sneak peek of the X-Men and/or the Fantastic Four. Although, if Disney/Marvel really wants this writer (and many other fanboys and girls) to completely geek out, a full crossover and meeting of these teams fighting side-by-side with the Avengers would be epic (And trust me I’m not the type of guy to throw around the word epic very often)!

            For now, the opening day for the yet untitled Avengers 4 is slated for May 3, 2019. In the meantime, I’ll keep snapping my fingers in anticipation.

Rights to Disney/Marvel