Treyarch Explains How Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Doesn't Have 'Baggage' From Previous Stories

Even though Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 looks more alluring than ever thanks to its awesome triple threat of Zombies campaigns (and traditional multiplayer of course), there are still a few fans out there that are sore it doesn't include a traditional story mode like previous releases in the series. But it turns out there's actually a pretty interesting reason for that.

Treyarch executive producer Jason Blundell and lead writer Craig Houston recently had a chance to speak with Variety about the changes to the game and the focus on the Zombies chapters. They indicated that they didn't want to repeat anything that was done in the past and wanted Chaos to create a full-fledged story in its own right.

Blundell explained, "Each time we start designing one of these maps we treat it like we're doing it for the first time. We don't want anything to be generalized across modes. The design layout of each map is incredibly different, the Titanic has all sorts of chokepoint hallways while the Coliseum in IX is far more than a typical arena, we've shown that in trailers."

But then Houston made an interesting comment. "We've never tried to do the same thing twice. We're able to tell a story without the baggage of the previous games, we're not continuing with what happened after Aether."

So from what it sounds like, the team didn't add a traditional campaign to the game because they didn't want it to detract from what it was doing with the Zombies experience. That still may not be the most suitable answer to die-hard fans, but it does make sense from a development point of view.

And another thing to consider is that Voyage of Despair, IX and Blood of the Dead are just the beginning of what the team has planned for its Zombies campaigns. Over the next few months, we could see entirely different chapters introduced that will keep players coming back for more, each with their own interesting story twists. That could certainly have some value compared to a traditional campaign that can be blown through in a few hours. Treyarch just might be onto something here.

We'll find out when Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 releases on October 12 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC. In the meantime, be sure to check out this incredible-looking Mystery Box edition of the game!