Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 controversially debuted without a single player campaign. How do you feel about a version without the Zombies game mode?

I feel great about it.

And the price is right, too: Until January 6, when the price jumps to $40, you can buy the new Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Battle Edition for just $30. The only downside? This special edition of BO4 is only for the PC: It’s not available on Xbox One or PlayStation 4.

“Since launch, the response on Black Ops 4 from the PC community has been fantastic, and the game has continued to drive strong engagement with players,” Activision senior vice president Rob Schonfeld said in a prepared statement. “The Black Ops 4 Battle Edition is a great way to bring even more new players into the game and allow them to jump into the incredibly fun Multiplayer and Blackout modes which fans have loved so much since day one.”

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Battle Edition provides the two gameplay experiences that fans are actually playing: Multiplayer and Blackout, the battle royale-style mode inspired by games like Fortnite.

And before anyone claims that this special new packaging is somehow indicative of declining sales for the well-established game franchise, think again: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 was the best-selling video game of October and is already the best-selling game of all of 2018. It just needed to be available for a few weeks to beat out every other game that was released this year.

No, I see this move as pragmatic. When the game debuted sans single-player, I applauded the move: The COD single-player campaigns had gotten tedious and uninteresting, and they add literally zero to any COD game’s replayability. The other game modes, however, allow gamers to compete with and against other gamers. And because they are updated with new content throughout the year after each game’s release, they do add to replayability.

Cutting the Zombies cooperative game mode from the game tells me that this is the least popular of the remaining game modes. And that doesn’t surprise me: I’ve never enjoyed the Zombies game modes in any COD title, and I’ve still not even looked at the version in Black Ops 4 even once. Apparently, I’m not alone.

$30 is a great price for the very best multiplayer shooter and battle royale game on the market right now. So if you’ve not already jumped into BO4, you could give Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Battle Edition a look. And if you regret the decision, you’ll be able to buy a paid upgrade that adds the Zombies experience plus 1,100 Call of Duty Points and other bonus items.

Tagged with Call of Duty