Worldwide Blackout Sweeps Nations met by Cheers of Joy from Gamers. COD BLOPS4 Review.

Black Ops 4 Blackout was released earlier this month to much applause, but here is our review….

I fucking love it!

It was the first Call of Duty game to be released without a single player mode and it’s the highest selling day one digital download launch across all platforms; Xbox PlayStation 4 and PC ever.

 

That’s right you don’t even need single player!

 

When they took out single player it enable them to include way more multiplayer modes, so many modes in fact that I typically only play one a night for about 2 or 3 hours and still have not played all of them!

 

Obviously the big draw for this year is going to be Blackout, the Battle Royale mode that we have all been wanting since Pubg launched its small Studio, independent, buggy, lag issue riddled game with hackers; or as I like to call it Forever Beta.

 

That game was followed by Fortnite which gained a massive following, overtook the market and the world in a way that none of us ever saw coming. Fortnite was produced by Epic Games the makers of the Unreal Engine, the same engine that is behind Pubg, except they know how to actually use it.

 

If you’re reading this then you probably already know most of this however I am covering it for those that don’t.

The cartoon feel of Fortnite and need to build put off a lot of mature gamer who would stick to the bug ridden Pubg.

This article however is not a history of Battle Royale (BR) this is just showing why Treyarch a AAA Studio coming out with a BR Mode was so important to all of us.

It plays the exact same as all the other Battle Royale; you are thrown out of a plane, you glide down to your destination grab all the loot you can, kill everyone else on the server and be the last one sanding victorious to claim victory. 

The first difference, a huge difference is that you fall fast! Your parachute is fast, your wing suit is faster and your descent is quick, so pick your spot before you jump cause you’re going to get there sooner than later

One major difference I’ve noticed, I’m not saying whether it’s good or bad I just personally don’t prefer it; is that on PC whenever you go to loot a large bag that has multiple items in it the inventory displays for you to quickly grab and drop what you need, however on Console you have to scroll quickly through the list of the items that are available one at a time. I am not a fan of the click through.

The net coding seems to be good,  I don’t notice any lag issues and most of the game still plays like Call of Duty so there are still slides, still double jumps and there is still all the quick Fast Pace crisp Graphics that you’ve come to expect from Treyarch.

It’s Battle Royale I don’t know what else you want me to tell you? It looks good,  it plays good, it feels good, you’re going to have a good time. Treyarch even included vaulting for those of you from the early Pubg games that had to figure out the Crouch jump method, (or binded your keys for it, whatever)

It’s a common sense Battle Royale that it just took more money and time to create the right way. Good Job Treyarch!

 

Now My favorite part and everybody knew it was coming…

ZOMBIES!!!

COD has always been great for its Zombies, BLOPS4 is no exception. Zombies plays the same however they really stepped it up this time around for the sheer amount of modes available for zombies! There is IX which takes place in a Gladiator battle arena of the eighth Century, Voyage of Despair which takes place on a sinking ship and everyones favorite squad returns for Blood of the Dead which is the Continuing Story line from Black Ops 3 and World War II.

If you have ever play zombie mode there’s not too much to talk about here it’s more of the same just updated graphics on new levels.

Basically you pay for everything from weapons, to perks, to abilities, by spending points and beakers that you earn from killing Zombies, to upgrade your character so you can kill more Zombies.

I love that that we can select from multiple crews, as always though you can create what they call the custom mutation to set up your own zombie game with play with your friends

There’s also the new Rush mode in which you just stand back to back as wave after wave of zombie Rush you (hence the title) to see how high you can go. There is no level unlock on this one, there is no objective, it’s just to kill as many zombies as you can before you’re over run.

Zombie mode is my absolute favorite so if anything I will go ahead and leave that subject alone for now to come back to you with walk through later. 

 

On to  multiplayer

 

Multiplayer as is always is an extremely rich environment bringing us different game modes including; Control, Free For All, Chaos Team Death Match and Heist

Each day COD features a new multiplayer mode  and so for some reason I decided my first game was going to be the promoted Heist.

I enjoy it immensely. Heist is just a simple capture the flag with a bag of money being the flag. However everyone starts with no equipment and you have to purchase your new equipment based off the money that you earn each round.

SPOILER: Don’t spend an hour creating a class if you’re going to play Heist all night. There are no custom classes allowed in Heist

It’s a fun fast pace little mode

 

Control would be my second most played mode  in which you’re giving objective to either capture or defend then switch teams and go the other way. Each team has a minute and 30 seconds on the clock that clock stops while you’re capturing or defending an objective.  It runs pretty quick on you so keep an eye on it and each team also starts with 30 lives lose all your lives, lose the round. 

First team to eliminate the other team or captured/defend both points wins the round, each match ends at 3 rounds won. 

 

Another standout mode for this game was the specialist HQ.  Several of our old specialist have returned but there’s many more new faces other ones are missing but it is what it is. Here you play through to learn how to play each specialist as well as get multiple cut scenes, that I am sure the single players boys will realize come from the game mode that never was. It still great to watch and play through and even kinda makes me slightly miss the single player option. 

 

Spoiler alert you won’t get any sick bow kill streaks.

 

Call of Duty BlackOps 4 broke the mold by focusing on their strengths and the longevity  of multiplayer and excluding single-player for capitalizing on the desperate need for better Battle Royale games. This is what they promised. 

Treyarch delivered.

Expect to see Call of Duty Black Ops 4 as one of the top three selling games of this year. Their predecessor Black Ops 3 is still the most sold game for PlayStation 4 with 11 millions copies to date and I don’t see Black Ops 4 coming up short.

Turn on Twitch on any given night to see the truth for yourself as Fortnite and Blackout battle it out for first place, in a constant state of switching places.

Look for the new CODE RED tournaments to quickly unseat the behemoth cartoon build a bear titan, but don’t lose faith oh mighty builders. Fortnite success did diminish PUBG’s numbers taking the BR from 3 million to 1 million average players on steam, but 1 million is nothing to sniff at. Besides Fortnite still has a free to play model which its two biggest competitors cant touch.

Looks like Chucky E. Cheese is here to stay.

So catch me in a fierce round of zombies, or maybe screaming at a squad in Blackout cause I’m giving up my seat in the ball pit.

Tango Down!

Hoarding for Hordes; The true Undead in this never ending cycle of spawn violence is you.

Telltale Games may be long dead but just like most of the titular characters of their popular intellectual properties their games will live on far past the grave.

Developer FunPimps has already promised everyone that 7 Days to Die will continue on even though Telltale is no more.

This is the zombie that we will be discussing today.

7 Days to Die is like Ark with something to do every 7 days.

Unfortunately that is a zombie horde coming for you.

You can hide at night, you can hide during the day, however on the 7th day all the zombies know exactly where you are (zombies are slower during the day) and a new zombie is introduced.
You start the game like any other, naked, starving, no weapons, no clothes, no guns and only a slim chance to survive.

You have 7 days to find shelter, build an Arsenal and prepare your base for a full-on gory zombie Onslaught and only in 7 days.
Technically it’s only 3.5 days because you really don’t want to go out at night early on. Between not being able to see anything and fast-moving Zombies, by the time you hear the loathsome moan of a nearby corpse they’re already on top of you.

Couple that with the horde running at you every 7 Days; coming to tear down everything you’ve worked so hard to build every 7 days, all your food supplies used to survive one night every 7 Days, every bullet you crafted expended every 7 Days, every fortification you’ve made tore down, tested, pushed to its Gory limits every 7 days. and you have a great formula to constantly push to succeed through sheer tension and time management.

Initially released in 2013 on pc and then a poorly received console release in 2016, the game hit every platform in alpha though many felt it was more in beta, but after 16 patches the game in 2018 is still a blast.

The game does run on Unity which gives a dated look (again released in 2013) However the fun far outweighs it, and in the tradition of Silent Hill its graphical limitation provides for greater tension as sight is extremely limited via darkness, fog and snow effects.

Make no mistake if crafting survival sandbox games are not your thing (Ark, minecraft, rust) then this is probably not your game. However loading up on ammo and taking this first person shooter to its limits still provides a good chunk of zombie Gore fun. Add your friends and playability shoots this game through the roof.

This game brings what so many sandbox games lack……

TENSION

Craft, build and explore all while the clock is constantly running. The daytime clock before that moan comes screaming at you, the 7 day clock before the horde rushes you, the food clock, the water clock…all ticking down to how you are going to die.

Make no mistakes you are going to die.

Console brings us Couch co-op a great feature to blow off some steam with significant others, best friends or just plan crap roommates.

FPS mayhem abound and Zombies are just a room away as you scrounge, stab and survive only to do it all over again in the next 7 days.

The game for me is most rewarding on the eighth day where (and this is just my inner loot monster that still demands marathon sessions of Diablo 3) after the murder buffet of the 7th night ends, getting to come out and loot the piles of bodies to find that sweet sweet ammo with some loot you didn’t even know existed.

After 5 years this game is far from dead and its rabid fan base (including myself ) are all doomsday prepping for the MEGA Alpha 17 patch, so get in get blooded, get prepped and get ready, and you better hurry cause you only got…

7 days to die.

Inside The Political Cult

If you’ve ever been on the internet and if you’re seeing this I’m assuming you have been online at least twice, you may have seen political discussions taking place in various forums from Facebook threads to tweets and sometimes unfortunately even on Instagram. Hell even most Twitch channels have a section that says no political discussions in the comments.

Anywhere on the internet people will bring up politics because people want to discuss politics.

They rarely get that discussion.

Typically almost immediately everything devolves into name calling, nasty memes and some pretty good memes too. While I’m all about the meme if we have social media shouldn’t there be a space for political discourse, shouldn’t there be the ability to have some sort of civil conversation.

While it’s easy to point fingers to one party or the other party I really blame both sides, all the sides, in fact I blame Humanity in general.

I’m a strong proponent of be the change you want to see in the world so when I received the following text I thought this is my chance and I took it.

While at work Karen reached out to me with this startling information!!

So obviously I hadn’t signed up for anything, that’s why they were texting me. I thought well that’s interesting so I read the little blurb that they have.

It made me think for a second why did they assume my political affiliation and why did they assume that I agreed with their political diagnostic of the current situation? It intrigued me and I responded.

I quickly responded letting her know that I was okay financially, but was genuinely mystified by this SUDDEN turn of events. HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN!?

Now for full disclosure I do make a base $12 an hour however I am on commission sales.

I love sales.

The point is this text makes a huge assumption that we the reader are presented a President who is not bright being able to rig an entire economic system in under 2 years. That’s an impressive feat compare to how long it took for Bush and Obama to set up the tarp bailouts (and if anybody could rig entire economy it would have to have been during the tarp bailout so between billions of dollars being paid out to private businesses and massive regulations being Rewritten that’s probably where I would point my finger.)

All the same being open-minded and very intrigued to this fact especially in light of the constant narrative of having a child like monkey in the White House, a narrative that I’m constantly having presented to me, I was very baffled by how this monkey was able to set this up.

So I waited with bated breath.

I didn’t have to wait long.

This text came back almost immediately.

Alas my questioning mind was found unworthy under the guiding light of greater endowed beings…I was cast out to live once more among the uninformed dregs 😦

To be honest I wasn’t entirely surprised. I was however greatly concerned with the greater implications of this text.

Just to be removed from a list because I asked a question, well specifically two questions.

What sort of organization wants people to join in just for the sake of joining in without asking any questions?

A cult.

Have politics become the new cults?

Do We the People swear our allegiance to a political party and not to the country itself and at which point we have to just blindly take whatever they give us as spoon fed gospel truth in some sort of Kool-Aid drinking Jim Jones following sandal wearing Kumbaya singing Folk?

For the record I’m very Pro sandal wearing Kumbaya singing Folk.

However not at the expense of intelligent thought or for that matter any thought.

During the great gay marriage debate I recieved multiple phone calls from people asking my opinion should gay people be allowed to be married? They always wanted a yes or no but the fact is I don’t care if two gay people want to be married get married. I don’t care that’s their business.

An easier and better question would have been to ask me do you think the government should have say in who should and shouldn’t get married.

No I don’t.

I think despite what everyone wants to tell us that all people are just people. Just like us everyone just wants to be happy, everyone wants to do what they feel is best for themselves and the people they care about and I am all for that.

That’s neither here nor there.

It is a simple question of being presented this picture and me asking how did this happen?

Their reply was…

No response needed you have been removed from the conversation all together.

It reminded me of a other terrible incident that occurred recently online.

Alex jones.

Last month Alex Jones, a conspiracy theorist that makes the Cadbury egg connection to secret funding of Nazi operations under the ocean look like a choirboy theorist, had all of his social media accounts and platforms removed or banned. Now even PayPal has turned against him.

He is what they call in the Old Country a moron.

That being said he was hands down singled out and sacrificed on the altar of mass hysteria and MOB mentality.

I didn’t even realize he was going to come into this discussion until I begin writing this article.

That is because the question came up time and time again in every thread, what happens when the social media Elite and giant corporate owners decide that they don’t like your opinion?

Even here now what if WordPress decides this article is a little too risque for us and shuts it down.

The internet hasn’t lost his next William Shakespeare by any means but the fact is this is just my opinion about an event that happened to me in my life. What would stop them from doing that to me and what would make someone say hey that’s not okay?

This can get a little murky pretty quick cuz obviously I don’t want government intervention on saying who can and can’t say what, but I don’t want government intervention on who can and can’t say what either.

So do we acknowledge that private businesses are able to set their own terms of service and that they are able to at will shut down a voice or opinion even if it is a moronic one?

In today’s day and age they have effectively on the digital platform cast this man out of society. Whether for society’s betterment or not is a judgement call that I leave to someone much more intelligent than myself, I can only acknowledge that it happened and that it will happen again.

This is where our massive tangent comes full circle.

Back to the organization that said thanks no thanks, you ask questions.

Who’d want to be part of that?

People think that the Branch Davidians of this world are gone, that the David Koresh’s are gone, that the Jim Jones suicide packs are gone but even in the late 90s we had a massive cult in Japan that launched a poison attack on the subway. Don’t forget about the Heaven’s Gate cult where everybody committed suicide when a regularly scheduled Comet came back through the solar system again like it does on a cycle on a regular basis.

They killed themselves based off of a natural phenomenon that happens on a regular basis.

Imagine if just one person had said doesn’t that comet come through like every 125 years?

Questions are important.

Questions challenge beliefs, questions expand our own beliefs, I still have questions about most of the things that I talk to you about here that’s one reasons I wrote about them.

Are political discussions a thing of the past? Do we just drop some spicy new Meme and move on whenever were presented with a dissenting opinion?

If so how did we form that opinion in the first place?

Steel sharpens steel, Diamond need pressure, how are we firing the Kindle of our mind if we’re not presented with new ideas and challenged with new beliefs?

I challenge you the next time somebody says something you don’t like to ask them why would you say that?

You might learn something you never knew.

I was reading a tweet online and the thread was about immigration and there were several people that were immigrants commenting in the thread.

They were the people that I wanted to talk to the most since they had actually experienced something I have not. I was able to ask them questions, get answers and learn something new about it from A New Perspective. A perspective that was not my own from an experience that was one I had not had.

What was their political affiliation? I don’t know, I can only tell you that the human I am is not the human that they are, but that we are both human.

Be the change you want to see in the world.

Ask questions don’t be a blind follower.

And for Gods sake look at the calendar for astrological events!

SMITE: Achilles before the nerf.

 Hirez’s newest over the top sex god (complete with removalable wardrobe) has  everyone talking about how OP he is, but is he really?

 I got a chance to play Achilles I for one want to say first and foremost that it’s nice to have an OP God release again! *COUGH *COUGH* Cerebus. However after seeing multiple videos with everyone wanting to nerf him I thought instead of jumping on the band wagon , I could offer my two cents on what I’ve noticed so far as a lower division guy.

Shield Of Achilles

Achilles punches forward with the edge of his Shield, inflicting massive damage and stunning enemy targets hit by the impact. The force of his punch continues to radiate past his initial target area, dealing 80% damage to targets farther away.

Damage : 100/160/220/280/340 + 90% of your Physical Power
Stun Duration : 1.1/1.2/1.3/1.4/1.5s

Cooldown : 15s
Cost : 60/65/70/75/80

His ONE  :  I like warriors and I love the range of the one. That shield bash just goes man!! Think of Bellona’s three marrying Thantos’ One and you get the idea. If the nerfs come for him (as I’m sure it will) I hope that they keep the range and nerf the damage. *Post nerf Higher cooldown and lower damage but the RANGE I HERE TO STAY !!! 

Radiant Glory

Achilles is blessed by the gods, giving him bonus Physical Power, Protections, and Crowd Control Reduction for 6 seconds. While this blessing is active, Achilles will heal himself upon successfully damaging enemies with abilities.

Heal : 23/26/29/32/35 + 10% of your Physical Power
Max Heals per Ability : 2/2/3/3/4
Bonus Physical Power : 15%
Bonus Protections : 15%
Bonus Crowd Control Reduction : 20%

Cooldown : 10s
Cost : 40/45/50/55/60

The two  I was originally using it mid-fight to for the extra sustain, but figured out that it sustained better for the whole kit  and so now I’m switching over to using it to  before I initiate for a combo of  2/3 –  activate  dash in in and hit one,  having that power  in case I get turned on the three is pretty cool.

I like it.

Combat Dodge

Achilles dodges his enemies’ attacks before striking them in swift response. If Achilles successfully hits an enemy god with this strike, Achilles can use this ability once more before it goes on Cooldown.

Damage : 65/105/145/185/225 + 50% of your Physical Power

Cooldown : 10s
Cost : 24/28/32/36/40

The Three I feel like  you could build a little cool down then you should be able to dash in with it  land it and drop your kit before dashing back out. Maybe some Jotuns or breastplate of valor? *Post Nerf notes they added to the cool down times so Jotuns is probably gonna be recommended or maybe ninja tabi. 

Fatal Strike

Achilles winds up a large attack and dashes forward. While dashing, Achilles will pass through minions, stop and hit the first enemy god he encounters, dealing damage to all he hits. If the god is below 30% Health they are Executed. If Achilles successfully Executes a god with this ability, he can use it again, up to 5 times.

As Achilles successfully Executes his enemies, he becomes more reckless in combat and leaves his heel exposed. Achilles will become more susceptible to damage, stacking up to 5 times.

Damage : 180/270/360/450/540 + 100% of your Physical Power
Execute Threshold : 30%
Damage Taken increase : 10%

Cooldown : 90s
Cost : 80/85/90/95/100

ULTIMATE  I know it’s supposed to do 500 points of damage I don’t really feel like I use it too much unless I’m actually executing someone. It does have CC immune and can you give you a dash to get away really quick.

I really like the Ultimate just because I feel like it works but with this kit.  You use your 2 dash in with your 3 smackem land the 1 for a quick stun and then hit him with your 3 again.  That rotation ( 2313 )  should burst them down to 1/3 of their health so you can just execute right out and so that is kind of nice…..it feels fast and even with predicted pattern of 23134 is actually hard to predict. Achilles just moves SO GOOD!

I don’t know how much of a Nerf he’s going to see or if he even really needs that much of one. The damage on the one is pretty much the only thing that I’m seeing right now, but I mean even then it’s just like guys he’s a new guy and people are really only getting to play him in casuals. I assure you that Loki’s is extremely OP in Arena matches especially if he gets in Early Head Start, but that doesn’t mean that he needs a nerf. (I say this before I got a string of Loki in every role in my ranked matches)  It comes down viability, Hirez is going to be looking at how Achilles performs on a conquest map before they decide to do anything so nobody cares if he’s going to get a Penta in Arena.

  I could see how it could be considered crazy taking someone down to 1/3 of their health off one rotation of a warrior’s kit but at the same time HE BO.

This is a warrior that has an assassin’s stance and a warrior stance so we need to try not cry if he gets played like a burst Mage,  he’s not super crazy as an assassin and while  I would rather have Achilles in Assassin’s stance for the damage and speed people see that as unfair or bursty but its really not.  You could say the same thing for Osiris being stuck to you just basic attacking you down or Bellona  at level 6 just hitting a quick double kill from her kit while healing back up on her 3.  Anytime anybody’s going to stick to you for an extended period of time They Are Going To Do Damage . You’re going to feel the wrath 

He brings “something” to the Game for everyone. 

Final judgment on Achilles is as of right now I think he’s a pretty cool guy I think they gave him a pretty nice kit with some things that made it feel good to be a warrior, i.e. speed.  His kit just feels fast and unpredictable

As long as they keep his abilities the way that they are I don’t think the numbers behind those abilities changing are going affect my opinion of him.  He’ll still be fun and unpredictable with the speed that guarantees I never play Zeus.