Black Ops 4 Has New Weapons, But They're Trapped Inside Loot Boxes

Normally, the addition of new weapons inside a Call of Duty game would be cause for celebration. In Black Ops 4, however, it's a grim reminder of how microtransactions have infiltrated the series.

According to Eurogamer, the latest Days of Summer update for Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 adds a number of new toys, including a Ballistic Knife, a deadly sounding Vendetta sniper rifle, a Peacekeeper assault rifle, and more. Unfortunately, just one — the Vendetta sniper rifle — can be obtained by simply playing and grinding away at the game. All of the other weapons are trapped inside Black Ops 4's loot boxes, which are called Reserves, and that just doesn't feel right in a Call of Duty title.

In fact, as Eurogamer's Emma Kent so rightly put it, the act of putting weapons in loot boxes veers dangerously close to having 'pay to win' in Black Ops 4.

It's certainly possible to obtain the game's Reserves through other means; grinding tiers in Black Ops 4's take on the battle pass can reward them, for example. But there's a reason plenty of other games stuff their loot boxes full of cosmetics: the entire point of loot boxes is their randomness. They offer players a turn on a slot machine, so to speak, with higher-tier items showing up far less than lower-tier items. And like a slot machine, if you keep dumping money in, your luck can get better. If you can spend more money than the next person, you'll have more shots at getting something good.

That's fine for items like emotes. That's not so great for guns in a shooting game, where some weapons are clearly meant to be better than others.

There's a lot to like in the Days of Summer update for those who are playing Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 religiously. There's a new multiplayer map, for instance, and there's reportedly some new Zombies stuff to check out, as well. But don't expect to enjoy the majority of Black Ops 4's new weapons in these modes. Activision has made it clear that it would rather rake in loot box cash than offer a truly balanced shooting experience, and that's not a good sign for future Call of Duty titles.