Treyarch’s take on its ever-popular Zombies mode is back in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. It may feel familiar, but a lot has changed. Arm yourself with these seven tips to stay on the right side of dead in your never-ending battle against the zombie hordes.
ORIENTEERING ORIENTATION
There are a handful of maps to choose from at launch. New to Zombies? Start with IX. It’s the smallest of the bunch and easiest to learn the ropes.
If it’s been a long time between dead-head drinks, try Blood of the Dead. This one’s a remake of the incredibly popular Mob of the Dead map from Black Ops 2.
Got the Black Ops Pass? Sink your teeth into Classified, which is a 2.0 take on the classic confined Five map.
Seasoned undead slayers should dive straight into Voyage of Despair. It’s the trickiest and most involved with a mountainous iceberg of challenges across the board.
NEW ZOMBIES, OLD TRICKS
Some of the old Zombies strategies are alive and well in Black Ops 4. Grab green pick-ups when they’re flashing unless you desperately need them immediately. The light in the sky points to the Mystery Box. And the Mystery Box has the best chance of gifting the best weapons.
When playing with a squad, split the cost of opening new pathways. It’s worth spending the first round or few in the starting area to stack easy points. On the topic of points, knife kills reap bonus points. So do headshots. You’ll need to master headshots to survive the later levels.
STRINGING ZOMBIE KITES
Lining up biters (aka “kiting them”) biters is a smidge trickier in Black Ops 4 because of the stacks of chokepoints, corridors, and solid objects.
Doing this is best saved for open areas. Use the “Now You See Me Elixir” to instantly get their attention.
For breathing space, kite the last surviving zombie. This requires communication but lets the rest of your team hunt for parts, solve Easter eggs and tool up. Let the last-remaining zombie hit you once or twice to keep them alive for longer.
BULLET SPEWING
Some guns are personal preference in Zombies. For everyone else, the higher the fire rate, the better. Snag an SMG like the Spitfire or MX9. The Maddox RFB and Hitchcock M9 assault rifles offer the fast-food equivalents of lead sandwiches. And the Hades LMG brings hellfire to the hellish undead.
Make it deep into the roamer rounds and these bullet spewers turn absolutely epic after you put them through the Pack-a-Punch machine. Remember, max ammo automagically reloads all empty weapons, so mag dump your arsenal before snagging it.
BUILD-A-CLASS
In Call of Duty, classes are generally made after you’ve stacked on some levels. Not in Zombies. All-new Elixirs are your best friends. “Anywhere But Here!” is a get-out-of-death-free card that teleports you to a random location. Get downed a lot? Chug “Aftertaste” beforehand to keep all your hard-earned Perks.
Speaking of Perks, you can personalise where they’re accessible on each map. This means you can frontload your fave ones to the earliest collection points. Save the one with the biggest modifier for the final slot.
NEW RES-OLUTION
Reviving players isn’t as speedy as it used to be. That’s why it’s worth investing in the “Quick Revive” Perk. For the maps where it’s available, the Scepter of Ra special weapon is as good at resurrecting fallen friendlies as it is frying foes.
The other trick is to lure the bulk of the horde away from your incapacitated comrades, then chug the “Nowhere But There” Elixir. This will teleport you to your downed teammate to get them back in the fight.
AGENTS OF SHIELD
Every map has hidden Easter eggs. Some are powerful, map-specific weapons. The common one is a shield that works well on defence and offence. You’ll have to find the parts scattered randomly around each map, then build it at a specific bench.
Thankfully, collected parts are shared between players. And there are only three of them to sniff out. Unequipped, the shield protects your back. Equipped, it blocks hits up front. It also has an insanely powerful melee attack and strong ranged attack. Rebuild it once it’s smashed.
Apply these tips to your next Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Zombies session, which is available right now on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
