Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 gets 10 free digital comics to flesh out its specialists

The news that Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 won't have a single player campaign was met with a mixed response, so Treyarch was eager to assure people that "there's a story, but it's being told inside of the multiplayer universe." It turns out some of that story is also being told outside of the game, via a series of 10 digital comics featuring Black Ops 4's main characters. You can read or download the comics here

The first three comics are now available, starring Donnie "Ruin" Walsh, David "Prophet" Wilkes, and Jarrah "Crash" Bazley, respectively. Judging from these initial issues, the comics are all around 20 pages long and centered around backstory and origin stories - whatever it is these people were doing before Black Ops 4 happened. Crash, for instance, was apparently an Australian doctor with a penchant for back-alley gun fights. 

If nothing else, it's nice to have names and faces for the 10 different characters. The remaining seven issues will focus on Torque, Firebreak, Nomad, Recon, Seraph, Ajax, and Battery. Treyarch previously said Black Ops 4 will feature a series of solo missions that "give players the ability to learn and master each of the specialists," while experiencing a story "that takes place between Black Ops 2 and Black Ops 3." That makes me wonder if specialists' in-game abilities will reflect their comic book stories, which would be a nice touch. 

Catch up on Black Ops 4 beta dates, season pass details and everything else you need to know in our full breakdown. 

Austin Wood

Austin freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree, and he's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize that his position as a senior writer is just a cover up for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a focus on news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.