Black Ops 4 Will Make Your Base Consoles Sweat

While there is a minority of Call of Duty fans who are seriously bummed out about the lack of a single-player campaign, it seems that most people are perfectly happy with the move away from the cinematic storytelling. And if you absolutely can’t stand playing with others online, at least you can grind through some zombies with a handful of bots.

On our sister site IGN, the review team decided to review each individual component of the game as well as the game on the whole. While Miranda Sanchez gave the overall package a Great score of 8.5/10, there are three other reviews available that dive deep into each gameplay mode.

The classic Call of Duty multiplayer scored a Good 7.8/10, the Battle Royale “Blackout” mode scores an Amazing 9/10, and the four-player cooperative zombie mode earned a Great 8.5/10. All told, each reviewer found a lot to love in this campaign-free installment.

With 62 reviews logged on the PS4 Metacritic page, Black Ops 4 is sitting at an 85/100 average. While outlets like Game Informer and The Telegraph gave the game top marks, the majority of reviews are hovering in the low-to-mid 80s.

Meanwhile, one of the lowest scores comes from The Daily Dot with a lukewarm 3.5/5. Reviewer AJ Moser wasn’t particularly fond of the user interface, but it seems like his biggest issue is how separated the modes are. As the multiple IGN reviews indicate, they might as well be their own individual releases that just happen to be bundled together for sale.

The Digital Foundry folks have given the extremely ambitious Blackout mode a look-see, and the results vary pretty wildly on the consoles. While the 60fps target is something we love, the resolutions are a bit problematic. The base Xbox One can drop all the way down to 1024×768, and the vanilla PS4 sees the native resolution fall to 960×1080 during stress points. Reportedly, the Xbox One X mostly stays around 2240×1800 while the PS4 Pro is typically at 1920×1800. Sadly, the Pro does occasionally drop below a native 1080p.

The Pro and X are capable of hitting the 60fps cap during most moments, but the base consoles have a hard time keeping up. And unsurprisingly, the standard Xbox One is both the most pixelated and the worst-performing. If you really want to be competitive on consoles, you’re going to want to use the half-step machines.

[Image credit: Activision]

Continue reading

Report: Microsoft Plans ‘Sweeping Visual Rejuvenation’ of Windows 10

A recent (and now edited) job ad published by Microsoft implies that the company is planning a major UI overhaul this year.

The Semiconductor Shortage Comes for Qualcomm, Sweeps Phone Industry

The 2021 semiconductor shortage is the gift that keeps on giving!

More Mysterious Fast Radio Bursts Detected, With Possible Answer in Sight

These anomalous pulses of energy were discovered in 2007, and a new data set covering hundreds of FRBs is being made available. This could be the advancement that helps us understand FRBs once and for all.

Apple Swears Governments Can’t Co-Opt Its Child Abuse Detection Tools for Surveillance

Apple recently confirmed a report that claimed it was planning to go hunting for illegal materials on iPhones. This, from a company that has long promoted its privacy protections. Condemnation was swift from civil liberties groups, but many have withheld judgment because of Apple's intended target: images of child sexual abuse.