Treyarch has released the first meaty gameplay trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 battle royale mode Blackout. In line with previous blurbs about the mode, the trailer reveals a frantic affair packed with action, explosions, and as expected lots of vehicles ranging from helicopters, pickup trucks, ATVs, and motor boats.
Blackouts appears to regroup numerous iconic features from the Call of Duty series into one compact, mouth-sized experience. Familiar locales such as Nuketown form part of the map, which Treyarch unveiled earlier this week on Twitter. Zombies will roam the map, and an array of weaponry and gear from deployable shields, barbed wire defenses, grenade launches, an arsenal of assault rifles, and monkey bombs promise serious firepower. With the occasionally airdrop, intense scuffles for ownership of that sweet, sweet loot are sure to erupt.
The map itself – coined Call of Duty’s largest to date – is seemingly diverse with forests, snaking waterways, vegetation-free arid patches, derelict buildings, extravagant villas, and a creepy looking asylum. Interestingly, and in a move going against established battle royale tradition, the map isn’t an island, rather a coastal area that spreads inwards rather considerably. We’ve yet to know the feel of the map and we expect some tweaks following the Blackout beta next week.
Wingsuits make an appearance with very much the same function as gliders in Fortnite, except rather than being dropped from a bus, players ostensibly jump from a chopper. There is, however, no indication whether the wing-suits will be deployable beyond the opening segment of each match or not.
The trailer makes one thing clear and that is an innumerable number of ways to achieve the coveted spot of last man/squad standing. We are in for not only a fast paced battle royale, but one marked by the breadth of raucous destruction at our fingertips. It seems Treyarch have delivered on offering a unique Call of Duty-esque take on the tried and tested format.
The trailer was released ahead of next week’s private Blackout beta, which goes live for PlayStation 4 on September 10th, before opening up to other platforms from September 14th. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 releases on October 12th for the big three, PlayStation 4, PC, and Xbox One.
