Black Ops 4 Alcatraz changes have been detailed by Treyarch game design director David Vonderhaar. Vonderhaar made the comments shortly after the release of the game’s second Blackout map last week. “The Collapse,” Black Ops 4’s take on the encircling threat featured in battle royale games, was the primary concern.
The first potential changes highlighted by Vonderhaar were related to the “Coward’s Way Out” mechanic. The mechanic allows players to choose to die faster when downed, enabling them to respawn quicker. Vonderhaar states that not being able to use this mechanic in Alcatraz when you have no chance of being revived is something that he “will fix asap.” However, he clarifies “please don’t hang me over what asap means. I don’t have that kind of power.” The director then moves on to “The Collapse.” Vonderhaar believes the purpose of the collapse should be to “push engagements,” as opposed to being “your primary enemy.” To fix this Vonderhaar would like to slow down the advance of “The Collapse.”
Vonderhaar later followed up on the progress of “The Collapse” changes. He states the final collapse currently kills two out of three players left alive towards the end of the game. In an attempt to fix this, Treyarch has “doubled the time (slowed it down) it will take to collapse. Just need to get it playtested & integrated.” Vonderhaar closes by stating he is “turning up the pressure a little bit to get this one done.”
If you are yet to jump into Call of Duty: Black Ops 4’s latest battle royale map, we have a guide explaining the in and outs of Alcatraz before you give it a go. April is a great time to start as well. Treyarch recently announced that, for almost the entire month, you can play Blackout for free. For those a bit more ingrained in the Blackout experience already, we gave our thoughts on what weapons should be added to the battle royale mode.