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‘Call of Duty: Black Ops 4’ patch brings back fan-favorite Gun Game mode

Official Call of Duty®: Black Ops 4 – Launch Gameplay Trailer

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is a great first-person shooter across all three of its modes, but there was one glaring omission compared to past titles: Gun Game. The weapon-swapping multiplayer mode was missing in action at launch, but developer Treyarch has since fixed that.

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In a post on Reddit, Treyarch laid out all of the changes and additions introduced with the update and they include several different multiplayer modes. Aside from Gun Game, the update also adds “Chaos Domination,” which drastically reduces the amount of time you need to spend before capturing a zone, increases the score limit, and pumps up the player count to six per team.

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Spawns have also been adjusted to be “safer” for those coming back after a death, with Treyarch saying it “adjusted spawn logic and spawn placement across the board.” At launch, you could occasionally spawn just feet from an enemy player, effectively leaving you defenseless.

The game’s battle royale mode Blackout has also undergone some changes in the update. There is now a 100-player solos playlist, after the limit for the mode was capped at 88, and armor has been weakened. It will now have more damage pass-through for areas with “damage multipliers” like the head or chest, which should cut down on the frustration of ambushing someone who then manages to escape.

Official Call of Duty®: Black Ops 4 – Blackout Battle Royale Trailer

Audio plays a crucial role in your battle royale success, and this has also be adjusted for Blackout. Your teammates’ footsteps will now be quieter than those on the enemy team, so it will be clearer when you’re about to get into a firefight and when you just have friends nearby. To make it easier to find a team, you can now also invite players who are online but not currently playing the game into your party.

These continued updates are crucial to maintaining player interest in Blackout, something rival battle royale games have often struggled to do. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 puts particular focus on the mode, as it is included in the game in the place normally occupied by a campaign.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is now available for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.

Gabe Gurwin
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…
The best Wildcards in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Kill Order gameplay in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.

The concept of a Wildcard might sound like a risky endeavor in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, but this part of your loadout isn't random at all. We haven't seen this system since Cold War, and even those who remember it from that game will need to learn all the new cards there are in Black Ops 6. You can only equip a single Wildcard on your loadout, but they are powerful enough to completely redefine your playstyle. So far, there are only six to unlock while grinding through the levels with your friends, but picking just one is still a tough choice, especially if you want to use a permanent unlock on one after hitting Prestige. We've ranked all the Wildcards in Black Ops 6 so you can always have the winning hand.
All Black Ops 6 Wildcards, ranked

There is a level of personal preference in which Wildcard you will find better than others, but in most cases, the ones we've ranked as the best will help every player gain an edge in online matches. Here's our ranking of each Wildcard from best to worst, along with what level you unlock them at.
Perk Greed - Level 54
The last Wildcard you unlock is easily the most powerful. Perk Greed lets you unlock a fourth Perk to your loadout instead of being limited to three, which can borderline break the game if you choose the right set of Perks. It is also the most versatile of the Wildcards since it gives you the most options to play with instead of a specific bonus you may not find useful. It can also more easily unlock the special bonus buff you get for equipping three Perks from the same category.
Gunfighter - Level 33
Right in the middle of the unlock list, Gunfighter is one Wildcard you could easily make a case for over Perk Greed in some situations. This one increases your attachment points for your primary weapon by three. If you're rocking a top-tier weapon already, this Wildcard can let you tweak its stats even higher. We rank it second because it only applies to one weapon and thus is a bit more limiting.
Overkill - Level 24
For such an early Wildcard, Overkill is quite a powerful choice. This card lets you equip any weapon (except melee weapons) in your Primary and Secondary slots instead of the ones typically reserved for each. That means you can build a loadout with two Primary weapons and be far more versatile on the battlefield. Instead of having to trade off range, damage, rate of fire, mobility, or any other aspect of your game, you can cover almost all your bases by picking two Primary weapons that cover each other's weaknesses.
Prepper - Level 45
Field upgrades are powerful, don't get us wrong, but having two instead of one isn't always that much of a game-changer. It's a bit less useful than Gunfighter only because field upgrades are more situational and require more attention to use to their full potential. If that's you, then this is a great choice.
Danger Close - Level 38
Who doesn't want another grenade, Molotov, or combat axe? Is getting a second Lethal worth the Wildcard slot, though? Not in our opinion. Most of the time, Lethals are used in desperation or as a way to deny enemy movement for a time, and even then, they are risky because of how vulnerable you are while using them.
Tactical Expert - Level 15
The first Wildcard you get is better than nothing, but only just. It's exactly like Danger Close, only you can hold two Tacticals instead of Lethals. This is, by nature, a little worse since Tacticals don't have the ability to kill an enemy (unless you get super lucky and you directly hit an enemy with one who is on low HP). You can get some use out of them, but you're better off upgrading as soon as you have another option.

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The best Perk-A-Colas in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
A screenshot from Call of Duty: Black Ops 6's zombies mode.

There's nothing more refreshing than taking a nice big swig of a Perk-A-Cola during an intense Zombies match with your pals in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. Besides tasting great (we assume), these colas empower you with buffs that will keep you alive until the later rounds. These bonuses are just as important as the Pack-A-Punch, but come in a wider range of flavors. It is possible to stack them all, but that gets expensive very fast so you need to be thrifty about choosing which ones are most valuable early on. These colas come in eight different types that may or may not be worth your Essence to chug. If you want to know which ones are the best in Black Ops 6, check out our ranking.
Best Perk-A-Colas in Black Ops 6

We're ranking these Perk-A-Colas based on their base bonuses, not any additional effects you can get if you Augment them, from best to worst.
Jugger-Nog
You can never go wrong with the classic Jugger-Nog. Increasing your health by 100 is useful for the entire duration of a Zombies mode, but especially in the early rounds. Going down is at best a major setback and at worst a cascade into defeat. This extra health allows you to get out of a bad situation that would otherwise end your run.
Quick Revive
This Perk has two components, with the less useful one being the ability to revive teammates 50% faster. Ideally, that shouldn't be needed but is nice. However, what makes it rank so high is the 50% shorter delay on health regen. Your health will come back over time in Zombies but at a dreadful pace. Starting to heal faster means less time running and kiting zombies around and more time in the action helping the team.
Speed Cola
The best early guns for Zombies mode have a large magazine, fast reload, or both. Running out of ammo at the wrong time and not being able to get more rounds in the chamber fast enough has ended many a run, but Speed Cola is the solution. It will speed up your reloads and armor plating by 30%. That's not a massive number, but fast enough to make the difference.
Stamin-Up
These zombies aren't the shambling types. They will chase you down like sprinters, and some of the monstrous ones can outpace you even at full tilt. Stamin-Up sounds like it would let you run for longer, but actually just lets you run faster since you have no limit on sprint in Black Ops 6. Positioning is everything in Zombies so being able to get where you need to be faster is never a bad thing, especially if it's a downed teammate bleeding out.
Deadshot Daiquiri
Every zombie has a weak spot, which is most often the head. Deadshot Daiquiri makes a critical hit hurt even more than normal, plus increases your auto-aim on those weak points when you aim down sights (ADS). That second part shouldn't factor much if you've got good aim, which is why this is only a decent Perk-A-Cola.
PhD Flopper
Not being able to hurt yourself is situationally useful, and the ability to cause an explosion by diving is a risky move. Yes, it's cool, but you don't want to be lying prone surrounded by zombies. This is a cool gimmick, but save yourself the Essence and skip it.
Elemental Pop
When Elemental Pop works, it's great. The problem with it is that you can't rely on it. It gives a small chance on every shot you take to add a random ammo mod effect, which is cool but impractical. If you have spare Essence on you, sure, it won't hurt you to have, but it isn't something that will turn the tide for you or your team.
Melee Macchiato
Finally, Melee Macchiato bottoms out the list. It is fine in the early game when the hordes are small and you're better off meleeing enemies since it will smack enemies away with each hit, but quickly drops off in usefulness. When the zombies get too strong and too numerous, you will need a lot more than a strong punch to deal with them and end up forgetting you even have it.

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War is hell, but Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 makes it a carnival game
Zombies shambling in Black Ops 6.

There are two kinds of people in this world: those who play Call of Duty and those who don’t. For three glorious hours, I was finally part of the former. Then it all came crashing down in a hail of gunfire.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is out now and it's being hailed as a return to greatness for the struggling series. Critics have praised features like its game-changing Omnimovement and welcomed the return of round-based Zombies mode. The star attraction, though, is this installment’s campaign. After years of experimental failures, Black Ops 6 delivers a straightforward political thriller full of eclectic missions. It’s a great premise, one that allows developer Raven to goof around with a “gone rogue” story featuring characters like Russel Adler.

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