Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is preparing to kick off its open beta later this week. If you're planning to jump in, now is the time to make sure your PC is up to snuff. To that end, Activision has revealed the minimum and recommended specs for the open beta, though it's careful to note these specs are for the beta only--which means they may change slightly before the final game release. The beta will be handled through Battle.net, so first and foremost, make sure you have an account ready. The multiplayer beta will cover six modes: team deathmatch, domination, hardpoint, kill confirmed, search and destroy, and control. Six maps will be available, including two that haven't been available in previous previews--Gridlock and Hacienda. The private beta will be open to anyone who pre-ordered Black Ops 4, starting at 10 AM PT / 7 AM ET on Friday, August 10. The next day on August 11 at the same time, it will open to all users. If you're still looking to pre-order, Activision is offering a lovely (and expensive) $200 collector's edition. At the conclusion, Activision will send an optional survey for players to gather data and feedback on the game. Black Ops 4 will launch on PC, PS4, and Xbox One on October 12. Minimum: OS: Windows 7 64-Bit or later Windows 7 64-Bit or later CPU: Intel Core i5 2500k or AMD equivalent Intel Core i5 2500k or AMD equivalent RAM: 8GB RAM 8GB RAM HDD: 25GB HD space 25GB HD space Video: Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 2 GB / GTX 1050 2GB or AMD Radeon HD 7850 Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 2 GB / GTX 1050 2GB or AMD Radeon HD 7850 DirectX: Version 11.0 compatible video card or equivalent Version 11.0 compatible video card or equivalent Network: Broadband Internet connection Broadband Internet connection Sound Card: DirectX Compatible Recommended:<doc-sep>Activision and Treyarch will give Call of Duty fans two opportunities to play Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 before the game launches. A multiplayer beta for the game’s traditional competitive modes will kick off in August, while a second beta, for the game’s battle royale-style Blackout mode, will start in September. PlayStation 4 owners will get first crack at Black Ops 4’s multiplayer beta on Aug. 3 through Aug. 6. The following week, on Aug. 10, the Black Ops 4 beta will be available on PS4, Xbox One and Windows PC through Battle.net. Here’s the full schedule for the game’s first beta, via Treyarch: PlayStation 4 (Starts: August 3 at 10am/PT – Ends: August 6 at 10am/PT) PlayStation 4 and Xbox One (Starts: August 10 at 10am/PT – Ends: August 13 at 10am/PT) PC Beta Early Access (Starts: August 10 at 10am/PT) *PC exclusively on Battle.Net PC Open Beta (Starts: August 11 at 10am/PT – Ends: August 13 at 10am/PT) The multiplayer beta will include access to six maps and multiple Specialists, the game’s hero archetypes. Five game modes — Team Deathmatch, Domination, Hardpoint, Control and Search & Destroy — will be available. Details on when and how players will get access to the Blackout beta are still forthcoming, Activision and Treyarch said. Activision and Treyarch call the multiplayer beta “private” and players who pre-order Black Ops 4 will unlock access to it. The PC open beta will be open to everyone on Battle.net. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 will be released Oct. 12.<doc-sep>Elevate your enterprise data technology and strategy at Transform 2021. Treyarch unveiled a new Heist mode in its second beta test for Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 multiplayer. I’ve played it a number of times on the PlayStation 4, and here’s my hands-on report. The Black Ops 4 multiplayer beta test continues until 10 a.m. Pacific time on Monday, August 13. With Heist mode, five human players compete against five human rivals. You have to locate a bag of cash and then take it to the extraction point. It’s reminiscent of similar modes in Counter-Strike and Battlefield Hardline, and it almost always ends with some kind of dramatic struggle. Each battle has as many as seven rounds, but the team that gets to four victories wins the match. You start out with a pistol. The more rounds you win and the more cash your team collects, the more you can purchase upgrades in a store. Typically, I was able to upgrade to a light machine gun within a couple of rounds. You also have to pick up a health pack and ammo on the map. The bag of cash is a magnet for combat. It pays to get to it first and then spread out as you await the inevitable enemy rush. You’re exposed when you grab the cash, so you have to make sure your comrades are covering you. Once you get the cash, you have to run around and avoid being shot. Meanwhile, an extraction point appears on the map. If you’ve got the bag, you have to make it to the extraction point and survive the timer. If you do, your team wins the battle. You can also win the round by killing all the enemies, as you can’t respawn. One of the interesting features is that you can revive your teammates who get shot. When you get shot once, you have to crawl around until someone revives you. But if you get shot a second time while crawling, you’re out for good, and you have to spectate the rest of the match. One of my colleagues was kindly reviving me, but then, he got shot. So, it’s best to crawl to cover where it’s safer to be revived. Picking up your health on the battlefield, rather than just having it come back on a timer, forces you to think about your health more, as you can’t take the health revivals for granted. Of course, the object is to make the other team die or crawl. It’s a fun mode, and it feels good to earn your favorite weapons and buy them in the store. It reminds you that shooting it out with pistols in the first round is a real test of skill and teamwork. Heist may be a copy of other games, but it’s nice that Treyarch added its own twists to the gameplay that make it more exciting. Check out what Heist looks like in the videos that I’ve embedded in this post. I’m enjoying Heist mode, but I prefer other familiar modes like Team Deathmatch and Domination. But it’s nice to see Treyarch doing a lot of experimentation. The big mode we’re all waiting to try is the battle royale mode on a big map, dubbed Blackout.<doc-sep>
Developer Treyarch has unveiled Heist, a brand-new mode for Call of Duty Black Ops 4, which will be making its debut as part of the game's latest beta on Xbox One, PC, and PS4. As it happens, there's very little time to wait until Black Ops 4's latest beta gets underway. This, the second beta weekend for PS4 players, and the first on Xbox One and PC, kicks off today, August 10th, at 6pm BST/10am PT on all platforms. It comes to an end on August 13th at 6pm BST/10am PT. On consoles, you'll need a pre-order to play. Do note, however, that things are operating a bit differently on PC; those that have pre-ordered the game get a 24-hour head start and can play from today, while absolutely anyone can participate from tomorrow, August 11th at 6pm BST/10am PT, as part of the battle.net open beta. More details on how to get involved can be found on Activision's blog. Black Ops 4's latest beta will include Team Deathmatch, Domination, Hardpoint, Search and Destroy, and Control modes. So far, so familiar, but new this week is Heist, which Treyarch describes as a balance between a party game and a deeper, more tactical competitive experience. It sets two teams of five players the task of locating a single bag of cash then transporting it to an extraction point, and lasts multiple rounds. In Heist, health and ammo are limited, players only have one life (although they can be revived when initially downed, as in Black Ops 4's new battle-royale-style Blackout mode), and existing loads-out are forbidden from play. Instead, all participants begin with a lowly pistol, and can use the cash they rake in to purchase more powerful gear, weapons, and perks during a game - which should offer some tactical flexibility. Treyarch's second beta will also introduce a raft of tweaks and changes across all areas of play - including spawns, movement mechanics, and weapons - based on feedback from last week's PS4 beta, as is more thoroughly discussed in the developer's latest livestream above. You'll also find some Heist footage around the 21-minute mark. And if you need a reminder, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 launches on October 12th on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.