The ESRB has now rated Treyarch’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 which will be out on major platforms later this year. The details should give us information about the level of violence fans can expect to see.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 has been rated M for mature players over the age of 17. The content descriptors say the game has “Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Strong Language“.
The rating summary says: “This is a first-person shooter in which players compete in multiplayer matches within military and fantasy settings. Players use pistols, machine guns, shotguns, and rocket launchers to kill enemy soldiers and waves of zombies in frenetic combat. Some weapon attacks can result in decapitation and/or dismemberment, leaving large bloodstains and body parts on the ground; several environments depict mutilated corpses with exposed entrails/viscera. Cutscenes can also depict intense acts of violence: zombies mauling victims from a close-up perspective; warriors dismembering and beheading zombies; a creature emerging from a man’s body, ripping his chest apart. A handful of environments depict packets of drugs and white powder. The words “f**k” and “sh*t” are heard in the game.”
This year’s game will only have Zombies, Multiplayer and the Battle Royale mode called Blackout. Sadly this year, there will be no single player campaign. The single player mode had to be sacrificed in order for Treyarch to concentrate more fully on the Blackout mode.
While there were some criticisms over the lack of a single player mode, this has not stopped Black Ops 4 staying on top of the pre-order charts. Pre-order sales for the game is still very strong as it’s outselling EA’s Battlefield V by a big margin.
Adding a Battle Royale mode is a smart move since the genre exploded last year thanks to both PUBG and Fortnite. A beta for the Blackout mode in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 will be happening sometime later this year.
