http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/7656 ... ded/311210
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In 2007, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was released, bringing a fresh, new concept that would bring the franchise from its WWII roots into modern-day combat. 7 years later, Sledgehammer Games introduces the Exo-Movement system into their debut title Advanced Warfare, once again changing the tables for Call of Duty. Call of Duty: Black Ops III, Treyarch’s fourth and final installment in the Black Ops Series, takes players into a dark, futuristic world where cybernetic implants have changed the face of combat.
Having played through all Call of Duty titles since 3, I’ve enjoyed looking at how the basic gameplay mechanics have evolved. Black Ops III manages to take successful elements of previous games, as well as adding in new mechanics to the formula to keep gameplay interesting. The new momentum-based movement is a perfect example of this; where I found Advanced Warfare’s exo-jumps clunky and frustrating, I found movement in Black Ops III smooth, stylized, and fluid. Replacing Black Ops II’s dive-to-prone with the sliding mechanic also helped gameplay.
The campaign segment of the title may actually be the weakest part. Taking place 40 years after the drone attacks from Black Ops II, players play as “The Player” (creative name, right?), a soldier who nearly died and has been saved with cybernetic implants, giving him superior powers throughout the game. Treyarch uses the same formula of “clear room, move to checkpoint, take out fresh batch of enemies, repeat” as in past Call of Duty titles. However, Treyarch added several new elements, like large robot battles and heavy infantry units, both of which I found extremely frustrating. They didn’t add anything other than an enemy that had to be shot more than other enemies.
As the story goes, I felt that it was very convoluted and basic. The major plot twist towards the end of the game can be easily predicted after the first three missions, and didn’t give any shock factors like Treyarch’s previous titles did. The characters of the campaign were very dull, bland, and predictable. Every time I heard Hendricks, your companion on every mission, open his mouth to say some generic line I wanted to vomit. Black Ops III also failed to deliver as a conclusion to the Black Ops franchise. After playing the campaign, I noted only 2 connections: a brief mention of the Drone Swarm attacks, and a philosophical element. Black Ops I’s thriller about brainwashing represents man controlling man, where Black Ops II’s advanced weaponry symbolizes man controlling technology, and Black Ops III’s emphasis on technology controlling man could all be seen throughout the franchise. But still, Black Ops III wasn’t the epic conclusion I had hoped for.
However, the campaign did have some positive new elements. The addition of the 4-player co-op really does change the game; I often found myself with engaging teammates, creating a scenario where we could all use our individual skills towards a team effort. This was even more exciting with the more open-ended maps, giving way for several different ways to finish a mission. Also, the new tech-based powers added another layer to keep the campaign interesting. With three different sets of abilities and being able to only choose one, I was eager to decide if I was ready to hack, smash, or burn my way through each mission.
The new leveling up progression system was a huge success for the game. Through all three segments, Campaign, Multiplayer, and Zombies, you could unlock new skins, calling cards, and level up between the different modes. I also enjoyed being able to create a class for both Campaign and Multiplayer, as well as a degree of weapon customization in Zombies. The new Paintshop and Gunsmith both proved to be great additions also, taking customization to your weapons yet another step further. Black Ops III is definitely the most customizable Call of Duty to date.
Black Ops III’s Multiplayer, where I have spent the majority of my 50 hours in, is a perfect blend of past Call of Duty titles, giving the most enjoyable Multiplayer experience I’ve ever had from the franchise yet. Advanced Warfare’s clunky movement system has been refined to a sophisticated and smooth way to battle. It feels like you are playing Black Ops II with a more fluid way of travel. Black Ops III’s Multiplayer highlight is the new Specialist system, which lets players have another layer of strategy, skill, and customization to fit their own playstyle. I felt that all of the specialists were balanced. No one was not enjoyable to play as, whether I was getting quadra kills with Ruin’s ground slam ability or taking out enemies one-by-one with the flamethrower, and the Specialists were a very successful addition to the game. All of the guns had a perfect feel to them, with just the right amount of kick and spray and so on, giving a realistic and immersive experience.
Treyarch’s signature Zombies mode returns with yet another 2 maps: The Giant and Shadows of Evil. The Giant, being a near-identical remake of Der Riese, was a very enjoyable map. I felt that it was a great, basic zombie-killing adventure that I could relax with after playing the complicated and challenging Shadows of Evil. The latter is a very interesting map, continuing Treyarch’s theme of risky, not quite what you would expect, but yet successful maps. Set in the fictional “Morg City”, you will have to find artifacts throughout the city to begin a Ritual, a moment where each character faces up to one of their sins. I enjoyed the voicing from Ron Pearlman and Jurassic Park’s Jeff Goldblum. Both maps were great to play on, but I really wish Treyarch would have added the ability to play Zombies offline, as well as only 1 starting map (The Giant is DLC).
The graphics of the game were not cutting edge, but felt very realistic, especially for a Call of Duty (not for you 360 and PS3 users, sorry). I enjoyed seeing World at War’s brutal carnage system, where I could shoot the legs off of an enemy and blow them to smithereens. The motion capture technology continues to improve, giving some really realistic faces. On the flip side, I saw several textures, mainly during the campaign, that were sloppy and distracted me from what was at hand. Unfortunately, the game is very poorly optimized on PC. It has been getting better with every patch, but it’s not a lot for the power it takes. I am running an i5 4690k overclocked at 4.1ghz, with a MSI GTX 970 and 16 GB of DDR3, and managed to get the game running at High-ultra settings at 60 FPS. However, I was surprised to see that it ate up nearly all my VRAM on my graphics card.
The sound was great, giving a crisp, clean feel to the weapons. The satisfying tick of landing a hitmarker was perfect. In addition, Avenged Sevenfold’s guitars playing in the background music was awesome, and really got me in the mood to shoot some virtual soldiers.
Overall, Tryearch’s Black Ops II isn’t a bad game. In fact, its strong multiplayer may be the best to date, and accompanied with another fun Zombies mode makes for a great game. However, I felt that the Campaign was less than stellar and, quite frankly, disappointing. Black Ops III is a fresh entry for the Call of Duty franchise, taking the best from previous games, but is still haunted by the franchise’s usual errors and hollow campaign.
Overall rating: 7.5/10
Pros:
- Strong Multiplayer
- New movement system
- Great feel on weapons
- Customization
- Avenged Sevenfold’s Soundtrack
Cons:
- Poorly optimized
- Weak campaign
- Hollow characters
- Unsatisfactory ending of both game and franchise
This is my first game review, please feel free to leave some feedback
Also, I would recommend you purchase the game from www . cdkeys . com, and save 25 bucks
