I was a able to secure a few codes for the ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, Blackout’ private beta that happened over the past weekend, and my initial thoughts are that it is a faster less janky PUBG. There are some things that set it apart: instead of artillery zones there are zombies, the map is smaller, the times between circles are shorter and there is a lot more loot out there, so supply drops are a lot less interesting, but other than that, it is a lot like PUBG.
The rounds start off a lot faster in Blackout with eighty-eight people dropping in to a map that is probably a quarter of the size of either of the two larger PUBG maps, so there are less empty places to hide right off the bat. Generally you will be shooting at someone when your boots hit the ground, or you will be the one getting shot at. However, if you can survive the drop and the initial chaos, the familiar hide and seek gameplay that PUBG is known for starts to materialize.
Though just because Blackout is more PUBG than Fortnite doesn’t mean it should be skipped. It runs at a much higher framerate than PUBG, it looks a lot better, still not great, but better, and if you prefer the shooting mechanics of Call of Duty over those of PUBG, this will feel better. It just feels more polished over all.
The question is will I be shelling out $60 for Call of Duty: Black Ops 4? I don’t think so. It isn’t that much better than PUBG, and I personally don’t like Call of Duty’s zero recoil tinny sounding gunplay. Plus, I am not a fan the standard Call of Duty multiplayer, or do I need to play the latest zombie mode, and you know future Blackout maps will be stuck behind a DLC paywall. Which is something about big budget shooters that I have always hated. In other words, there is still too much Call of Duty attached to Blackout for me to switch. So for the time being I will be hunting down my chicken dinners in the jank-filled swamps of PUBG.