Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Operation Spectre Rising arrives with free and paid-for content

Available today on PS4, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4’s new season, Operation Spectre Rising, introduces new maps, game modes, cosmetics and more.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4’s new season of content is upon us with today’s arrival of Operation Spectre Rising. Activision gave us a sneak peek at the new content in a brief trailer yesterday, highlighting some of the exciting additions to the game, but now the publisher has fully detailed what has arrived.

The new assassin-themed update introduces a new Specialist, three Multiplayer maps (one of which is a remastered classic), an exclusive Blackout character and other changes to the battle royale mode, the return of a special summer-themed event and so much more. Unfortunately, not all of this content is available for everyone as Operation Spectre Rising is divided into content that is free as well as locked behind the Black Ops 4 Season Pass.

Available for all players is the Spectre, an assassin Specialist who wields a unique Shadow Blade melee weapon. This deadly new character focuses on skillfully targeted strikes for quick and stealthy kills and is aided by the use of a smoke grenade that provides cover and allows him to move undetected while also revealing enemies.

It seems Spectre has also brought some chaos to Blackout, where the assassin has ruptured the Hydro Dam, resulting in a massive flood that has altered the surrounding landscape. You might also notice some changes made to Alcatraz which Activision says should improve “gameplay flow and layout.” Additional weapons and vehicles will also be arriving in Blackout at a later date.

Zombies mode also received new content, some of which is available today while some will be coming in a little while. The “Super Blood Wolf” gauntlet and the Classic Elixir Restock feature are both available today, as are some new weapons. Coming at a later date is another gauntlet, “Labours of Hercules,” Gauntlet leaderboards and a hard mode.

The Black Market has been updated with weapons appropriately themed for this update. You can unlock through the Contraband Tiers. Also returning later on down the line in this season is Capture the Flag among other modes.

Gated behind the Black Ops 4 Season Pass are the three new Multiplayer maps and the new Blackout character Uncle Frank, an older version of Frank Woods from Black Ops 2. Masquerade and Artifact are both completely new the series, while WMD is remastered from the original Call of Duty: Black Ops.

Below is an infographic to help see all of the new content that has arrived in Operation Spectre Rising, as well as content still to come. You’ll notice the Call of Duty Days of Summer community event is shown; it will return in June with new game modes, seasonal themed customizations and accessories.

A full detailed log of new content is available from Treyarch in the patch notes, found here.

Operation Spectre Rising is only available on PlayStation 4 at this time, thanks to a week-long exclusivity period.  There are still two more Operations planned, containing a total of five multiplayer maps and two Zombies experiences. One can assume that new weapons, Blackout characters and modes will also be included.

With Operation 6 releasing in fall, there should be enough content over the next few months to get us to the release of Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty for 2019, which is heavily rumored to be Modern Warfare 4.