Geekscape Games Reviews: ‘Call Of Duty: Black Ops III’
I’m going to have to be honest here. I haven’t really dived into a Call Of Duty game since Modern Warfare blew us away so many years ago. Sure, I’ve dabbled in the various sequels over the years, but I rarely felt compelled to give it too much time since I never felt that subsequent games changed things up enough to keep this never ending war interesting. Yet somehow, when Black Ops III was shown off during E3, Activision and Treyarch caught me by surprise with the wide open areas, high tech upgrades, and increased mobility that I would have never expected from the long running FPS. It was almost as if it wasn’t Call Of Duty at all! I couldn’t help but be intrigued (or dare I say excited), for how these new, potentially bold steps forward would shape the popular franchise. After spending an extended time with the game however, it’s clear that while some positive strides are definitely present, it doesn’t do enough to shed its decade old mechanics, for better and for worse.
Taking place several decades after the last Black Ops game, it’s clear that despite what Ron Perlman might try to tell you, war has changed quite a bit between games. With a greater emphasis on technology, ground warfare is dominated by mechanically augmented soldiers, as well as a machine army that serves fortunate enough to be their buyers. After a rescue mission with your team goes horribly wrong, your character, (which can be customized with a few limited options,) must literally be rebuilt to stay alive. Now with a new body equipped with a variety of advanced abilities, you and your team are tasked with unraveling a conspiracy that’s seemingly headed by one of your own.
Considering the premise revolves around becoming a killing machine, it’s safe to assume that this would come with a ton of awesome ways to wipe out your enemies as you traverse through each of the game’s 11 campaign missions. In this aspect, Black Ops III delivers well enough. Featuring its own level up system that’s separate from the multiplayer modes of the game, killing enemies, completing special tasks and playing on higher difficulties rewards soldiers with upgrades that they can take with them into battle. Moves like double jumping, wall running and machine hacking join up with some more unconventional abilities like summoning incendiary insects to help make the experience your own. This is aside from the abilities you start with, like built in night vision and tactical vision, which lets you see enemies behind cover as long as any one of your allies has eyes on them. These advancements are further highlighted by a by the numbers story that’s brought to life with the help of some incredible looking scripted events, not to mention Hollywood talent like Christopher Meloni of Law and Order: SVU fame.
But while these abilities are all well and good, the campaign experience falls apart somewhat due to the fact that most of these abilities are either impractical when it comes to picking off enemies in the much improved open environments, or are so situational that you rarely have a use for them. In fact, aside from the tactical vision, (my personal favorite,) it felt like the most efficient way to progress was by taking cover until you heal, (a nifty android power that you had before your robot transformation for some reason,) shoot, rinse and repeat. If that sounds familiar, it’s because this is essentially what you have had to do in every COD game for the last 10 years. The robotic enemies go down almost as easily as the humans, and aside from the occasional mech or vehicle fight, the combat feels pretty standard. Despite offering custom load outs, all those awesome new powers, and a variety of new movement options, none of them really matter when there’s no point in using them.
Despite these abilities largely falling flat, one area where Black Ops III really shines is the amount of content it features. Aside from the campaign and multiplayer, Treyarch’s latest also features not one, but two zombie modes to delve into. The first one is the Zombie Mode you may be familiar with from past games. Except this time around, the experience is anchored to its own story, featuring four *really* awful people who are locked in a 1940’s era city that’s swarming with the undead. Tasked with finding artifacts that unlock even bigger secrets, this mode is about as crazy as we’ve come to expect. Being able to spend points earned through combat to transform into tentacle monsters, gather bubble gum that gives players additional perks, materialize weapons, and set traps, all while conversing with a disembodied voice, is the norm when exploring this feature. Zombies is a nice break from the standard modes, as a much more lighthearted, arcade style mode compared to the proper story.
Speaking of the story, the undead have finally been introduced into the game’s narrative, so to speak! Featuring a new Nightmare Mode, this second zombie focused mode acts as an alternate version of the campaign, where a new character fights alongside the soldiers in the main game across the same maps, except each one is swarming with monsters. Since this character is pre-established, she comes with many of the powers you had to unlock originally, receiving improved mobility from the start. Easily the most “video game” part of the package, the floating weapons, breakable crates, floating over hordes of enemies, and possessed teddy bears feel like a call back to games of old, when things didn’t have to make sense! Still, by reusing the maps from campaign, Nightmare ends up feeling like a bit of a chore to get through if you finished the main story first, since all of it is just a retread with different enemies. Still, it’s a fun distraction that helps the game get a lot more mileage, especially with friends.
And friends are what really make Black Ops III stand out. Even more than the new abilities or the expanded modes, the most enjoyable part of the overall package to me was the ability to team up with friends in every mode in both online on local modes. Sometimes, it’s the simple things that make a game most enjoyable, and considering how it seems like games these days are going to war against split screen, it was so refreshing to be able to plug in the second control and run through all these modes with the wife or friends and just go crazy. So what if the graphics take a huge hit? All I know is that those bland fights that I was talking about earlier were a lot more enjoyable when we could tackle them from different angles as a team. Couple that with the tactical vision I mentioned, and the strategic possibilities increase quite a bit. And if the dip in visuals bothers you that much, online has you covered! The only mode that makes little sense to include co op is in multiplayer, where preset loadouts don’t really work when you can see what you’re opponent’s doing in the corner of the screen.
Speaking of multiplayer, you can’t talk COD without talking about the online modes, which is essentially why people keep coming back for more. This time around, in addition to customize your loadouts, weapon appearances and perks, players can pick one of nine Specialists, each of which have a special weapon or ability that’s unique to that character. Much like the campaign, movement has been improved quite a bit, with the wall run, slide and double jump abilities all being available from the start. But unfortunately, again, like the campaign, none of these added moves feel like they give you any real advantage. After all, why wall run into a double jump over a balcony when you can just as easily get killed by a sharpshooter or a nearby camper? Considering COD is somewhat notorious for quick deaths, it doesn’t take much for all of that effort to go to waste.
Aside from these new features, nothing much has changed in terms on online multiplayer. Kill streaks still net extra abilities, most matches are still a mad rush to the middle where everyone drops dead, only to start it all over again, and you’re more than likely to hear a bunch of strangers screaming in your ear. The maps were fairly small considering how many movement options you have, but my biggest issue was the lack of players in each mode. While not necessarily a fault of the game, it’s annoying when I would really want to play one of the capture, escort or defend modes, only to get constantly booted out because everyone’s in Team Deathmatch.
When it comes down to it, the most frustrating part about Call Of Duty Black Ops III is that it takes so many positive steps forward that give us glimpses of what the series can become, but ends up falling back on its tried and true conventions. For those who still love the formula, I’m happy to say that you’ll find an enjoyable, yet safe experience. For the rest of us, the improvements made don’t make enough of a difference to change the minds of those who have tired of the series years ago. Yet, its numerous bonus modes and two campaigns, all of which are playable in both single and multiplayer co-op, help breathe new life into what feels like the same old song and dance when you’re by yourself. If you have a bunch of buddies to go to war with, still love the multiplayer, or haven’t tired of the campaign, Black Ops III is a great way to spend a few evenings, but it won’t change any minds either.
Final Score: 3/5
