Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII - ROLLOVER

Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII's supply stream has me back on the treadmill again, checking in every day to play a couple of games, earn a win and get that reserve skip. That's the appeal really, you don't have to learn any new systems or even set aside a significant amount of your time, you can just drop in, rack up the kills then go and do something else. It's relief valve gaming.

Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII - TIGERSHARK

Looted Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII's latest supply stream weapon off a big spender - the Tigershark LMG - and went on a mini-tear. Considering how terrible the last couple of unlock guns turned out to be (the Switchblade sub-machine gun in particular was a massive disappointment, hitmarkers for days), at least this pig handles like something worth chasing. It's a good job really, it's pretty obvious Treyarch and pals have re-adjusted the grind bars to fill significantly slower since the latest patch, that coupled with a shorter event window points to yet another spend prompt in a game absolutely lousy with them.

Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII - FULLA LEAD

Hey! I don't just like to sneak around in Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII's Blackout mode, you know? I'm quite happy to stand very still in multiplayer too, blasting anyone unlucky enough to stumble into my general vicinity.

Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII - SCOTT KELLY

Finally scored another Quads win on Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII's Blackout mode. I've checked with the two guys I usually play with and they have assured me that rather than pick up that clutch final kill, they were instead cowering in a nearby windmill waiting for everybody else to die off in the gas cloud. Given that I finish this game crawling around on my hands and knees pissing blood, it looks like it was our assigned rando, xenonillume, who snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.

Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII - TACTICAL ESPIONAGE

When not avoiding having to write up my favourite films of 2018 list, I do like to slowly circle the out-of-bounds gas in Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII's Blackout mode. Whereas everyone I watch on YouTube likes to steamroll around, obliterating everyone they come across with pinpoint accuracy, I prefer to get my belly on the ground, waiting for people to turn their dampened, distant crunches into full-blown, impatient mistakes.

Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII - SNEAKING MISSION

The sound mix isn't quite perfect yet but it's amazing how many clues you can get to someone's location in Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII's Blackout mode if you just stop moving for a second and listen. So, you know, I'm not camping, I'm playing tactically.

Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII - PUSHING LUCK

I'm not sure if waiting for a vulnerable enemy to get to cover before opening fire on them, then immediately making myself vulnerable by hurling a concussion grenade (while charging forward and reloading), demonstrates the ice in my veins or the complete inability to correctly assess a safe path forward. Given that I cannibalised an Operator Outlaw sniper rifle to buff my herky-jerky DMR, I'm leaning towards the latter.

Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII - BASE

My second solo victory in Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII's Blackout mode involved lots of crouching and staring at doors that no-one wanted to open. Turns out that's a valid strategy. Since that video is incredibly boring, here's another two clips of me killing a good chunk of people while either hiding in tall grass or running around like a headless maniac.

Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII - SKULK

Skulking around and ignoring enemy loot as I commando crawl my way into first place on Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII's Solo Blackout mode. Stick around to the end to see how close the game was (thank you desiccated tree) and how bad a sportsman I am.

Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII - OUTGUNNING

It's that time of the year again! Posting at 20XX slows to a crawl thanks to all the Christmas season games coming out. Even with a generation best multiplayer suite, the jewel in Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII's crown is the Blackout survival mode. Like PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and Fortnite before it, this battle royale game type forces players to cope with rapidly shrinking safe zones and dozens of other contestants, each armed to the teeth and out for blood. Death can arrive swiftly, starting areas are swarming with panicked users desperately trying to locate any advantage - get your hands on an assault rifle and suddenly everyone around you is in deep shit. The above gameplay clip memorialises my team's first Blackout victory, arriving at the end of a long night spent failing miserably.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 - OUT OF BOUNDS

Thanks to the lack of campaign I'd pretty much written off Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. Although Call of Duty: Black Ops III's single-player was well below par for the series, the threat of an increased focus on the obtuse meta of Nazi Zombies and other, reheated survival gameplay wasn't really registering as fair compensation. Based on this clip though, Treyarch and Raven Software's new Blackout mode could be something special, combining polished, series standard shooting mechanics and frame-rate stability with en vogue battle royale gameplay.