The game combines the various modes we've all become familiar with---a single player campaign; a competitive multiplayer mode; cooperative zombie mode---and expands on each in a big way---especially the campaign. We'll start there.
Campaign Mode
I've already explained why I enjoy the campaign in Black Ops III so much. I'll run over the main points again here, without spoiling the story, which really deserves to be played on its own without me giving anything away.
- In Call of Duty: Black Ops III players have more choice than ever about how to approach each mission, from customized loadouts to more open-ended corridors in the levels themselves. This isn't open-world, but the missions are often bigger, with more avenues.
- Adding to this variety, players have a whole suite of Cybernetic Core powers that give you magic-like abilities on the battlefield. As much as the game feels like near science-fiction, it sometimes feels a bit like fantasy, too.
- The campaign itself is longer than recent Call of Duty solo experiences, though not by a lot. Of course, this will depend to some degree on skill level, difficulty setting and so forth.
- When you've finished the campaign, a new Nightmares mode opens up, allowing you to play the entire campaign again only with an entirely new story, in a completely new order, against zombies.
- The story this time around is easily the trippiest, most intriguing Call of Duty story I've played, with a somewhat traditional opening act, a confusing second act where things start to get weird, and an absolutely bizarre finale. I get the feeling it's going to be controversial---some people will probably dislike it as much as I enjoyed it, finding it too far out or too science-fantasy.
- This time around, you can play the entire campaign either in split-screen on the couch (locally) or in online multiplayer with up to four total players. Naturally, you can also just play it on your own in single-player.
- You can play as either a male or a female main character, and you can swap back and forth and change your face between missions. And it doesn't make a difference other than voice-acting. (I prefer the female voice actor here, like it's Mass Effect all over again.)
All told, the single-player experience is a step up for the series, at least over recent titles. I'll write a separate, spoiler-filled post to talk about the story in more depth and make some comparisons to other recent major video game launches, but for now I don't want to give anything away.
Suffice to say, I enjoyed it a lot, both for its breadth and quality. Yes, it drags at times and the acting feels a bit uneven, but overall I finished the campaign feeling satisfied and ready to dive into multiplayer. I'm all for Activision taking it further and further each year in terms of how "outside the box" the campaign can go, and I'm just happy to see Treyarch try a bunch of new things this year.
The game isn't always as pretty as last year's Advanced Warfare, which made much ado about its incredible facial animation tech, and the voice-acting talent isn't as high caliber---Chris Meloni is great, but Kevin Spacey is Kevin Spacey.
Still, the story itself is much more intriguing and less predictable than the usual Call of Duty. And while it's as far-fetched as every other campaign in the franchise---more so, really---it has an intimacy that grounds it even in its most outrageous moments.
Better yet, the game allows you a great deal of freedom over how you want to play. You aren't given a gun or gadget in one scenario only to never see or use it again. (Well, for the most part.) You have choice over your loadouts, outfits, appearance, and Cybertronic powers.
This sort of freedom to tackle a Call of Duty campaign however you best see fit, stripped of most of its worst gimmicks, is exactly what the franchise needs. I'd like to see a more traditional Modern Warfare style game, minus all the super powers, that gave players as much choice and freedom.
I'd like to see Call of Duty take the "multiple avenues of approach" concept even further---not abandoning the linear, mission-based structure in favor of open world, but expanding on the philosophy of linear freedom.
One thing Call of Duty does well, and Black Ops III is no exception, is set a really good pace. Where open-world games can meander aimlessly, Call of Duty's campaign pushes you forward relentlessly. I wouldn't want to lose this, but at the same time I'd like to see more problem-solving enter the equation.
It's one thing to keep reaching doors to hack by holding down a button; it's another if you have to fight your way through a building to reach a terminal, then fight your way back to reach the door before it closes. Asking players to use their brains occasionally isn't the worst idea in the world.
Little things like this can add depth and variety to a campaign without disrupting the basic, linear structure of the game.
Zombie Mode
Zombie mode, Treyarch's signature co-op mode, is back and most of the basics are intact. A bit more "weird horror" is present this time around. You can transform your character into tentacled Lovecraftian monsters this time around.
"Shadow of Evil," as this zombie foray is titled, features four unique players---The Magician, The Femme Fatale, The Cop, and The Boxer. You'll recognize the voice talent of Jeff Goldblum and Ron Perlman, among other Hollywood stars.
The story takes place in a glorious 1940's film noir setting which is just as challenging (and potentially frustrating) as ever, as players progress through the dark, zombie-infested streets, jazz music sifting through the still air.
It's a fun new take on a familiar mode, though I haven't played it all the way through at this point. To be honest, it's grueling enough I doubt anyone will play it all the way through for at least a little while.
Competitive Multiplayer
For many players, PvP is the entire point of playing Call of Duty in the first place. For me, it's often a lesson in humility (and sometimes sweet, sweet redemption or revenge.)
Multiplayer has changed plenty this year, even while many of its core components remain the same.
There are still most of the game modes that we've all come to know and love (or hate) from Domination to Hardpoint to Gun Game and Ground War. They all play exactly how you'd expect.
The new addition here is Safeguard which tasks one team with escorting a robot from one side of the map to the other while the opposing team does its best to stop it. It's pretty fun, actually, especially since it has a way of focusing all the action around the robot, leading to some seriously chaotic gunfights.
There's quite a few maps to choose from, and while none jump out at me as truly exceptional, for the most part they feel balanced and well-designed. There's a good mix of smaller, more close-quarters maps and slightly more open, less in-your-face ones.
Players also have tons of options over how they want to play multiplayer. You can set up custom games, play locally in split-screen with bots and so forth.
From what I've played both prior to launch and afterward, things seem to be running fairly well. I haven't experienced connection issues since the game went live, though if problems do occur we'll be sure to cover them here at Forbes Games.
Black Ops III vs Advanced Warfare (etc)
The multiplayer is generally slowed down from last year's Advanced Warfare, and its future-tech is dialed back quite a lot, at least in terms of traversal. This is offset to some degree by the new Specialist classes, which bring a huge suite of special powers to the game. There are nine Specialists in total, each with their own powers to choose from, ranging from rolling exploding spike bombs to a powerful high-tech bow.
So while traversal powers may not be as vital to the core game experience, utilizing Specialist powers to your advantage has become much more central to the game. Once again, lots of choices, tremendous replay value, and options to suit myriad playstyles.
On the other hand, a part of me wishes we could dial things back even further. I do enjoy the thrust-jumping, which gives you a slightly maneuverable double-jump, and wall-running is good fun that doesn't really impact gameplay all that much. Both of these are entertaining additions to the core Call of Duty experience. But the Specialist classes, as fun as they can be to play, are almost too much. I miss the more straightforward multiplayer of years past, when everyone on the field was just a soldier, not a super-hero.
That's not to say what's here is bad. It's quite a lot of fun, and for many people going back to regular jumping and standard gunfights without all the magic tech would probably seem like a giant double-jump backwards. Personally, I love the variety. I love that this year we get high-tech and super-powerful. I would like it if next year we could go back to a more traditional multiplayer. The year after that, something different altogether.
Ultimately, I think Black Ops III will be one of those games you either love or you hate. There's certainly something here for everyone, from the robust single-player options, to both local and online PvP and Co-op.
There's even a hidden mini-game---the twin-stick shooter Dead Ops II Arcade, which is a lot of fun in its own right. (Like the Nightmares mode, this is also a zombie game, bringing the total to three.)
Tack on the Safe House's combat simulation mode, which pits you against waves of enemies, and the Freerun parkour time-trial mode, and Black Ops III is a veritable buffet of content. Two campaigns, co-op Zombie mode, Dead Ops II Arcade, Free-run, combat simulation, and PvP and all its various modes. That's pretty solid bang for your buck, especially since it's all polished and entertaining.
While both the story and the multiplayer will likely be divisive---we're a long, long ways from Modern Warfare or the original Black Ops here---I'm glad to see Treyarch taking risks, trying something different, and impressed that even with all the changes, the core game still feels very much like Call of Duty.
I give the game a Buy on my Buy/Hold/Sell scale. If you're mostly interested in the solo campaign, waiting for a sale might make sense. But if you want to get in on the multiplayer you may as well make the leap now, when everyone is relatively new and the servers are nice and busy.
(P.S. This review covers the PS4 version of the game only. PC players are reporting issues, but I have yet to play the game on PC to experience any of those issues for myself. The PS4 version runs very well, offline and online.)
Call of Duty: Black Ops III
Platform: PS4, Xbox One, PC (Also on Xbox 360 and PS3 without campaign)
Developer: Treyarch
Publisher: Activision
Released: November 6th, 2015
Price: $59.99
Score: 9/10
A review copy of the game was provided by the publisher ahead of the game's release.
