Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 from 2018 was a turning point for the series, mainly because it was the first numbered entry to completely drop the classic linear single-player campaign. Treyarch replaced it with a set of standalone Specialist Headquarters missions that develop the backstories of individual multiplayer characters, and shifted the game's focus to live modes - multiplayer, cooperative Zombies, and the brand-new Blackout battle royale arena. Multiplayer also returned to more grounded movement without vertical boost jumps or wall-running compared to the previous Black Ops 3, a deliberate response by Treyarch to criticism of earlier entries for being too fast-paced and chaotic. The game launched simultaneously for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

In terms of content, all three versions were identical at launch: the same multiplayer maps, the same three Zombies chapters, and the same Blackout map, assembled from locations familiar from previous entries in the series. The differences were again mainly technical - the console versions targeted a stable 60 frames per second at a resolution matching that hardware generation, while the PC version allowed higher resolutions, unlimited frame rates, and more precise mouse aiming, which was especially appreciated by competitive multiplayer and Blackout players. Zombies also offered, for the first time in the series, three separate maps right at launch simultaneously on all three platforms, instead of the gradual content rollout players were used to from previous entries.

Xbox One offered the same scope of content as the other platforms, only with a delay for new maps and items due to the aforementioned timed-exclusivity deal in favor of PlayStation 4. The game on Xbox One ran at the same 60 frames-per-second target as on PS4, though period reviews noted a slightly lower native resolution in some modes. The controls and the scope of the base game - multiplayer, Zombies, and Blackout - remained completely identical to the sibling console version at launch.

Why play it: Aside from later access to new maps due to the exclusivity deal with Sony, the Xbox One version offers the same scope of content and the same 60 frames-per-second target as the competing platform - multiplayer, Zombies, and Blackout unchanged.