During the reveal event for Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, Activision skirted around the subject of the traditional single player campaign, emphasising that the focus this time around is squarely on multiplayer.
Instead, story elements will be introduced into the other modes, in particular the various Zombies maps. There will also be some narrative stuff to discover within the regular multiplayer, too; if you're playing alone, you can get to grips with this mode's various specialists via combat trials, and these will reveal some lore relating to the characters.
It's also worth mentioning that Black Ops 4 is to be set in a "narrative world" between Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 3. It remains to be seen just how prominent the story segments will be throughout the regular multiplayer, Zombies, and Blackout -- this game's spin on the Battle Royale phenomenon. It's disappointing to see the campaign take a bullet to the head, but with most Call of Duty players ignoring that aspect of previous titles, it was an inevitability.
Are you disappointed by the lack of a traditional campaign mode? Empty your clip into the sky in the comments below.
Comments 59
Completely disappointed!!!
Well looks like i wont be picking this up. No single-player no purchase for me. I am one of the few who really enjoyed CoD's single-player campaign over the years.
Which part of COD makes us the least money? Single player you say. Ditch it and we’ll make more money from the saps who waste money on microtransactions.
This is how I imagine the conversation went.
This means the "mind-blowing-series-shaking" announcement for the new Battlefield will be the exact same thing i.e. no single player, but a battle royale mode.
I've purchased every copy of COD goin back from the first on OG xbox to last yrs CODWWll. ( in most cases a copy for the playstation and xbox) this is the first I won't be buying since 2003.
One less game I'll buy then. Fine by me. I have tons of other games I'm looking forward to anyway. Wolfenstein 2 kind of already gave me my single player FPS fix.
My interest just got lost. I was thinking of buying it with a single player campaign, but nope. Also, does anyone else absolutely not trust Activision to do good environmental storytelling like they’re claiming? Bloodborne, this will not be. There won’t be a story in the multiplayer better than Destiny 1 without the lore.
Will be picking up for PC first time in a many years
@Deadlyblack its been confirmed battlefield V will have a campaign similar to battlefield 1.
Urgh, if they had to replace something to add in Battle Royale it should have been Zombies.
Dunno if I'll bother picking this one up : / I still kind of want it but not at full price if it doesn't have a campaign...
@RoyalGuard Well, I give Battlefield's devs credit for keeping a campaign mode.
John Price and his glorious tash would be turning in his grave (if he was dead, the immortal bugger)
@RoyalGuard So, not a campaign then.
Is it that big a deal really?...are there actually people out there that pay £45 for call of duty just to play the smallest part of it(SP)?
don't know what's worse,the fact that they ditched SP in general or because battle royale takes it's place.
can we just kill this battle royale trend already? just typing and reading that word makes me roll my eyes.
No campaign, zero chance of getting this. Hopefully this isn't a trend other single player game series follow.
@jdv95 Not as long as it's profitable.
No sale for me. That's me done with call of duty. Sorry activision.
It makes perfect sense. The amount of people who buy the game just for campaign is miniscule compared to multiplayer. Even the head of Respawn Entertainment acknowledged that years ago when Titanfall had no campaign.
@Enigk I imagine that Treyarch - whose last campaign was a mess but at least could be played in co-op - where making a 'Destiny' style campaign (or another that didn't resonate with play-testers) but as the numbers have dwindled in Destiny 2, with PUBG and Fortnite being successful, Activision said to stop where they were on the campaign and make a Battle Royale mode to cash in on the current #trend.
I can't see anything in this that isn't a 'cut and paste' job - certainly not a 3yr development. Its basically BO3 with the exo-movement removed - All they had to do was basically design 12 (or so) maps - something they do in less than a year with the DLC season. The game looks like its been put together in a year at best...
@Tasuki And look at the outcry that caused when it was launched - especially as the MP was incredibly 'light' on modes, customisation, weapons etc. CoD has always been about the sum of its parts and a LOT of peoples memories of CoD also include the campaign and 'epic' missions - like all Ghillied up for example.
The Black Ops series also was known for its campaign too - although 3 less so as that was a mess but certainly 1 and 2. CoD is a package - some may buy for the MP or even just the Zombies - but there are also a LOT that enjoy the campaign.
Guess I won't be picking this up in 2 years time on a whim for 8 quid then.
@BAMozzy You are likely right. They saw someone else making money and figure they can copy someone else but leave enough COD staples in there to fool the masses. Maybe the series has finally had its day. Wasn’t there a bit of an outcry when the last iteration on last gen ditched the campaign? It’s like they learned nothing.
@BAMozzy Overwatch doesn't have a single.player campaign, neither does PUBG or Fortnite and they doing just fine.
@Tasuki Except Titanfall 2 was more well reviewed partially because it included a solid single-player campaign.
@Tasuki
you don't get it.
those games never had a SP in the first place.
cod however did. it started as a ww2 SP series that indeed developed into a MP series BUT the SP was always a part of it no matter how small.
there are still lot's of people who mention SP characters on a daily basis especially from the modern warfare series.
it's the fact that they cut a small but long lasting part of the series in favour for the latest trend (an awfull one at that) that makes people angry.
Pass!
What happened to that MW2 remaster?
I`m not surprised, this is one of the biggest affronts to me and gamers which just plays single player. I can`t believe some of the gamers are defending this situation. games like overwatch or other MMO games don't sell like 20 million! Many gamers play COD and company should pay respect to that. you can`t cut a big part of it and look at it as an option.
I'm not really a COD player, but that is a mild letdown. Not everybody wants to play online, even though it's the core audience of the series.
Single player's dead/dying, folks.
Whats the point of getting CoD now since it's just carbon copying all other games without a single player? It's less engaging and creative compared to the rest anyway so this just kills it overall.
@UKBattlefront what part of a campaign "similar" to battlefield 1 dont you understand?......
Hard pass! Couldn't care less about this now...the quality of the multiplayer has been going downhill since Blops 2, last year's game mp was just as bad as infinite warfare...lazy maps, boring and not even fun!
Why would I want a COD with no campaign now? I don't believe the multiplayer will reach the heights of Blops or MW, so yeah...hard pass! The golden days of the excelent blops campaign are long gone
Not surprised tbh. Just not worth the effort since the majority buy and continue to play CoD for the multiplayer. Regardless of what's said on here by the miniority.
The last BO campaign was laughably bad in my opinion too, but hey.
This'll do big numbers as usual.
@jdv95 your opinion, which you are perfectly entitled to, just doesn't align with the majority of the gaming public. If it did, CoD would have single player. Developers and publishers don't make choices like this on a whim.
@kyleforrester87
oh but they do.
they just see what the trend is these days and add that.
they make decisions as they please not thinking enough about the possible outcome.
these decisions are made much faster than you think.
it was just easier for them to scrap SP (more work goes into that) and add the popular thing instead. not caring if the fans actually want that popular stuff into their games. they just look,copy and make the assumption that it will be a success.
that's why they tought that they could get away with the very poor advanced warfare. they thought that they where on a roll and just went with it. the only reason they came up with ww2 was because of battlefield one.
it was not a decision that they thought hard about ,but they indeed made it on a whim.
@jdv95 CoD has always followed the biggest trend. That's how it's stayed super popular. This just happens to be one you don't like.
So people complain it's the same old CoD every year do something new. Then they do and people complain. Make up your minds people or do you just like to whine for the sake of if?
I still remember Black Ops 2's campaign having multiple endings, true player choice, and those cool (optional) Strike Force missions.
To go from that to no campaign at all is hugely disappointing.
So it will be the GOTY according the gaming media!
@Tasuki PUGB not for me, Fortnite also boring, Overwatch even the events cant get me back in to the game.
Yeah these games without the singleplayer should be €30 at the most. Because we know BO4 is going to have a seasonpass, microtransactions, lootboxes ofcourse. Overwatch is overpriced as well great fun but light on the content. 😆😁
And dont come with the free updates because they make tons of cash with the microtransactions.
I only ever play CoD for the single player story. I dont do first person shooter multi player. I am crap at them.
So it's a no buy. But i have not brought a CoD game for a few years. I pick up the older games at some point.
I've always played the campaigns of COD and haven't played multiplayer since Modern Warfare 2. I was super excited to see what they did since all of the Black Ops instalments have had great campaigns. Sad to say Black Ops IIII just isn't for me. I'll be stuck in RDR2 for months anyway so I'm not majorly disappointed.
A pretty risky move, but besides the BR hype, I would imagine Activision probably have some statistics of their own where they know this will be more of a profitable move than including a single player campaign.
wont be buying this crap then battlefield here we come
They shouldnt sell it for full price but i know they will.
Also! Isnt battle royale just deathmatch with out respawn?!?!? So stupid
Disappointed but not surprised. If anything I'm surprised it took Activision this many entries to make the decision to drop the campaign.
grabs popcorn off to the COD subreddit we go. This should be fun...
I think I'm just going to ignore games with battle royale modes, if I want to be bored around 90 strangers I'll buy some groceries.
@jdv95 Without a single-player mode, we can say that this game "microsofted".
@kyleforrester87 Ah yes the hardcore COD fan will defend a stripped down package to. 😁
But we get 3 zombiemaps and ofcourse a seasonpass, microtransactions, lootboxes, liveservice maybe? Nothing for free its Activision ofcourse. 😉
They probably could not finish the campaign before RDR 2 thats probably the real reason. 😜
@sonicmeerkat 😂
@LaNooch1978 The same reason Konami used the MGS brandname. 😜
I like games like COD to have both single player and Multiplayer. I enjoy the single player campaigns it's like a good warm up before you go into the Multiplayer mode, the only prob for multiplayer is that you cannot pause the game when the family needs your full attention, which in my case is quite a lot
Further to what I said earlier I do like the Division/Destiny type of multiplayer where you all join together to get a mission done
@Flaming_Kaiser nah never been a fan of CoD really! Played MWF1 and BO3.
I think the other concern here will be how will they justify the yearly cycle?
The likes of PUBG, Fortnight BR and Overwatch are/will be games that will/have grown over a couple of years and are developed accordingly, without a single player specifically with it, even Fortnight: Save the World is a seperate entity by all intents and purposes.
I dont see Activision allowing this to happen, so a yearly update looks to continue or at best a two year cycle seems unlikely given Acti's track record, so i imagine they will champion the "return of single player campaign" in the next year or so...
Overall, I cant say i'm surprised, Acti / EA et al, love chasing the cash cow and milking its golden teets dry with a typical feast and famine approach, but as I dont play COD or BF, i just hope those that do, dont get screwed by this change.
@RoyalGuard Probably the bit where you used the phrase "campaign"
@UKBattlefront good......
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