‘Call of Duty: Black Ops 4’ adds Signature Weapons for dedicated players

By Gabe Gurwin August 29, 2018

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 won’t have a traditional campaign mode, but Treyarch and Activision want you to spend as much time as possible shooting up your opponents in competitive multiplayer. To encourage dedicated play, the game will introduce “Signature Weapons,” special versions of guns to help you stand out from the crowd.

“Signature Weapons are the most badass-looking weapons in Black Ops 4, and a badge of honor for the battle-hardened players that have invested the time to achieve the Mastercraft versions,” said Activision editorial manager Kevin Kelly in a blog post.

You won’t get a competitive advantage with Signature Weapons in Black Ops 4 so as to not throw off the balance in multiplayer, but their cosmetic changes might be enough to throw your enemies off their rhythm. The MX-9 Signature Weapon, for instance — which you get if you buy the Digital Deluxe, Digital Deluxe Enhanced, Pro, or Mystery Box versions of the game — features a bald eagle across the side with an enormous wing extending to the muzzle. We wouldn’t want to be on the business end of that thing.

In order to turn your Signature Weapons into their Mastercraft versions, you’ll have to complete special challenges. As you do so, you’ll unlock additional cosmetic changes to the weapon until you’re ultimately awarded the Mastercraft version. The difference between the two is pretty staggering. The pre-order bonus Divinity pistol, for instance, transforms from an olive drab and gray weapon into a gold and white gun that looks like it was pulled from Destiny 2.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 has a lot more going for it than just standard multiplayer. The game includes three separate cooperative zombie campaigns at launch, and for the first time in the series, it includes a battle royale mode. Dubbed “Blackout,” the mode features air, land, and sea vehicles, which have typically been limited to kill-streak rewards in the series’ other games. Only time will tell if the mode is substantial enough to compete with the likes of Fortnite and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 releases for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC on October 12.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

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…

Gaming

You can get Call of Duty and Alan Wake with PS Plus in July

Sony has confirmed the three PS4 and PS5 games PlayStation Plus Essential subscribers will receive this July, and it's actually the best lineup the service has seen in a while. It features one of the best Call of Duty games from recent years, a cult classic that needs to be played before its sequel launches next year, and an overlooked 2022 indie.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War was first released in 2020 and, as its title suggests, is set in the 1980s during the Cold War. It features one of the most creative Call of Duty campaigns since Modern Warfare 2 and makes excellent use of DualSense's haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. The multiplayer and zombie modes are good fun too. Next up is Alan Wake Remastered, a remaster of an excellent 2010 horror-thriller from Control developer Remedy Entertainment. It's an experience best played unspoiled, so I'll simply recommend you go and play this. Its PS Plus addition is timed well, too, as Alan Wake II is set to release and continue the story this October.
Finally, Endling - Extinction is Forever is available this month. This 2022 indie game follows a mother fox as she tries to protect her cubs in a forest continuously getting ravaged by humans. It's a chilling, staunchly harrowing adventure that clearly displays the negative effects of deforestation, pollution, and environmental exploitation. You might have missed this game last year, as it came out on the same day as Stray, so definitely give it a shot now if you haven't yet.
This lineup of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Cross-Gen Bundle, Alan Wake Remastered, and Endling - Extinction is Forever is one of the best lineups PS Plus Essential has seen in months, so definitely pick up these games when they are available between July 4 and July 31. Make sure you download June's titles before July 4 as well.

Gaming

Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0’s new update just nerfed the game’s best weapons

Characters on Ashika Island in Warzone 2.0.

Activision has released a new Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 update that nerfs the game's best long-range weapons: the Cronen Squall and the ISO Hemlock. Specifically, the damage across both weapons has been reduced, making them both less effective in all situations.

The news comes from the battle royale game's latest round of patch notes, which outlines the new changes to the weapons. There are some major implications to those changes, though the updates aren't as devastating as they might initially seem. Here's every tweak that was implemented in the new patch.

Gaming

6 months after launch, is Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 worth playing?

is warzone 20 worth playing six months after launch 2 0

Six months after its initial release, Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 has evolved tremendously, with many new features added as part of major updates. Despite this, the game still feels slightly unfinished in ways, lacking some of the features that made the original so great. Warzone 2.0 is a complex beast that may steer newcomers away, but if players can learn to master it, the battle royale can be a lot of fun, especially with a team.

But with so much competition in the battle royale space, is Warzone 2.0 worth your time six months later? Here's the current state of the popular shooter after a lot of retooling from Activision.
Slow trickle