Watch today’s ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops 4’ reveal event here

By Gabe Gurwin May 17, 2018

Activision and Treyarch will finally show off Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 to the world on Thursday, May 17, and you can watch it all right here.

The stream will begin at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET, and we’ll be hosting a feed through the Digital Trends Twitch channel, which you can view at the top of this post. We expect to hear details about the various modes in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, as well as get a look at gameplay from the shooter for the first time.

The pressure is certainly on Activision to deliver with this announcement, as reports claim Black Ops 4 will have one major change from other games in the series: No campaign mode. A staple of Call of Duty since the original game released in 2003, the campaigns have also been crucial components of the first three Black Ops games, as well as World at War, all of which share a continuity.

The publisher announced Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 in March, along with an October release date — the series typically launches each November. The teaser told fans to “forget what [they] know” about the series alongside footage of the earlier Black Ops games. If the reports surrounding the lack of a campaign are true, this seems to be an accurate statement.

In the campaign’s place could be the Call of Duty series’ take on the popular battle royale mode we’ve seen in games like PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and Fortnite. Alongside that rumored mode, the game will apparently include a traditional multiplayer component, as well as a zombies mode, first introduced in 2008’s World at War.

Call of Duty’s main competitor, the Battlefield series, is also rumored to be developing a battle royale mode for its game this year, but the latter series won’t be doing it at the expense of a campaign. The unannounced game will be revealed on May 23 — about a week after Black Ops 4 — and is rumored to be returning to the series’ World War II roots.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 releases October 12. No platforms have been announced as of yet, but past games have released on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.

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Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…

Gaming

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III trailer teases a No Russian reimagining

No Russian's reimagining in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III

Activision Blizzard has fully pulled back the curtain on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III following an in-game event in its predecessor. This came alongside new gameplay that concludes by teasing a rebooted version of the series' infamous No Russian mission.
The gameplay trailer focuses on the campaign missions, which got a lot more detail in a post on the game's website. It affirms that the game follows Task Force 141 as they take on Vladimir Makarov and will feature some "Open Combat Missions" that give players multiple ways to complete objectives. The gameplay seems to mainly feature a stealthy run to one of these levels. Of course, the trailer's most shocking moment comes at the end.
Gameplay Reveal Trailer | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III
We see Makarov text someone "No Russian," before they pull out a gun on a crowded plane. If you don't remember, No Russian was one of the original Modern Warfare II's most infamous missions, as it had players partake in a mass shooting terrorist attack at an airport with Russians. The level has influenced the tone of this rebooted Modern Warfare series, and it now looks like Modern Warfare III is set to reimagine this mission in some way, following up the Modern Warfare II post-credit scene that referenced it.

While the trailer focused on the campaign mainly, that post confirmed a lot of new info on multiplayer and Modern Warfare Zombies too. Its multiplayer features all 16 launch maps from 2009's Modern Warfare II, two larger Battle maps for Ground War and Invasion, and an even bigger War map for the return of the War Mode introduced in Call of Duty: WWII. Map voting returns, so you can have a say in where you want to play a match. Finally, Activision says Modern Warfare Zombies takes place in a new open world where players will fight Dark Aether Zombies, complete missions, and incorporate Extraction game elements.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III launches on PC, PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on November 10.

Gaming

Activision teases Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III’s biggest improvements

Activision has just teased lots of new details about Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, which launches this November. That includes the fact that the game will contain a Zombies mode, more open-ended campaign missions, and introduce a new "Call of Duty HQ" that will serve as a hub for all future Call of Duty games.

These details were all revealed in a new blog post posted on the series' website ahead of the in-game event that will give us our first in-depth look at Modern Warfare II. In it, Activision clears up a lot of rumors about the game to try and show that Modern Warfare III is still an "incredible, premium annual game experience across Campaign, Multiplayer and Co-operative modes" despite reportedly starting development as a Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II expansion.
Some of the features listed we already knew about, like the fact that this year's campaign features Makarov as a villain and that players can carry over their progression and inventory from Modern Warfare II. Others are new, though, like the fact that the campaign will feature new "Open Combat" missions. That seems to imply that Modern Warfare III's campaign levels will offer more freedom than is typical in a Call of Duty level. When it comes to multiplayer, the post states that players can expect new combat vest, perk, tac-stance movement, and after-market parts systems in addition to some Riochet Anti-Cheat Improvements.
More importantly, it's finally officially confirmed that this year's game will feature a Zombies mode. Titled Modern Warfare Zombies, Activision calls it the "largest Zombies offering to date." Finally, Activision made it clear that it plans on keeping all Call of Duty content closely bundled together going forward. After Modern Warfare III launches, Call of Duty HQ will be introduced and serve as "one access point for your future Call of Duty content."
While there aren't many specifics on all of these things, we at least now have a broader picture of what to expect from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III when it launches on November 10.

Gaming

Does Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 have Hardcore mode?

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 guy with a gun

In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, players have access to a wide variety of multiplayer game modes including Team Deathmatch, Search and Destroy, and the new Prisoner Capture. One of the most popular modes in the series is Hardcore, which has been in the series for years. This intense mode removes the HUD and increases damage across the board. But does this mode appear in the new Modern Warfare 2?

Here's what you need to know about the Hardcore mode in Modern Warfare 2.
Does Modern Warfare 2 have a Hardcore mode?
When Modern Warfare 2 first launched, it didn't have a Hardcode mode, much to the disappointment of fans. Instead, the game had a mode called Tier 1, which was basically a rudimentary version of Hardcore mode, with some missing features. For instance, there's no HUD, whatsoever, no hitmarkers, and no killfeed, which made the mode hard to actually play in some cases. Thankfully, Activision finally did add Hardcore more at the start of 2023, replacing the Tier 1 mode from before.
What is Hardcore mode?