By:Conner Williams
Editor-in-Chief
After more than two dreadfully long months since the “Call of Duty: Black Ops 3” beta ended, the full game finally became available to play at 9 p.m. PST on Nov. 5, 2015.
And yes, I did count down the minutes until I was able to dive into the newest “Call of Duty” (COD) collaboration between Activision and Treyarch, the series’ saving grace.
Last year, when the yearly COD game was developed by Sledgehammer Games, whom had never worked on the series before, it received widespread criticism from the fan base over its new movement system, which involved jetpack boosters, speedy power slides, unlimited sprint, and the infamous exo-suit.
The production studios heard the outcry and adjusted the gameplay accordingly.
The first best thing that was done was getting Sledgehammer out of the picture, because let’s face it, “Advanced Warfare” was mediocre at best.
“Call of Duty: Black Ops 3” (BO3) offers gamers that traditional COD feeling that’s been missing since “Black Ops 2” (BO2), plus some welcome upgrades, of course.
The new movement system was designed to keep players on the run throughout the course of the map. This COD felt like it was designed to discourage camping, which is just fine with most players.
Players can now sprint for an unlimited amount of time, run on walls, quickly power slide long distances, and boost a short amount – similar to a double jump. The system was designed to chain different movements together in order to travel around the maps quickly and tactically.
To me, BO3 feels like BO2 mixed with “Advanced Warfare” without the exo suits that everyone disliked. Players can’t jetpack forever, nor can they become invisible, as was the case with some of the exo abilities from “Advanced Warfare.”
Zombies
Ah, yes. The triumphant return of the fan-favorite zombies mode. Personally, I think zombies mode is enough reason to purchase the entire game. I typically spend about five hours with a couple of friends attempting to decipher the endless clues, puzzles, and easter eggs hidden throughout the new zombies maps when they are first released.
The best part about it is that zombies is no longer about hitting the mystery box until you get a ray gun so that you can camp in a corner and blast away; there are intricate riddles that require a significant amount of time and trial-and-error in order to figure them out and advance throughout the story.
I don’t want to reveal too much, so I will leave it up to you to figure out how to handle the Beast (if you’ve played, you’ll get the reference).
Multiplayer
After the release of the beta back in August, the game developers made some serious adjustments to the infrastructure of the game to make this the smoothest multiplayer experience to date for a COD title. I have experienced zero lag or matchmaking trouble from the BO3 multiplayer servers.
The game introduced a new “Specialist” system, in which players pick one of nine Specialists to use as their class character.
Different Specialists are unlocked with increases in level. These Specialists have different abilities unique to their character. Each has a weapons class, which range from a war machine, to an explosive bow and arrow, and even a flamethrower.
Each Specialist also has an ability class that employs lethal abilities to give players the edge over others.
For example, the Rejack ability grants players the ability to respawn in the same area upon death without losing scorestreak progress, the Vision Pulse ability allows players to see every enemy on the map for a short duration, and Overdrive allows players to move lightning-quick for a short amount of time. However, players can only pick a weapon or an ability from their chosen Specialists, not both.
There is a solid array of weapons and perks to choose from, using the familiar ten-slot system for classes.
In addition, a new game mode has been added. Safeguard enlists players to escort a walking robot across the map and into enemy territory within a certain time limit.
The opposing team must stop the robot from being escorted, and can disable the robot for short amounts of time by shooting it, blowing it up, knifing it, and using any other method to inflict damage.
Safeguard is, by far, my favorite game mode. I posted a 68-14 match record on my favorite map of Redwood, in which players get to run around in the treetops of the Redwood Forest.
Campaign
BO3 brought back a feature that I have personally been missing and that has not been present since “World at War”: cooperative campaign.
Players can team up with a buddy to take on the campaign that is set in the year 2054. BO3 also added a new difficulty called “realistic” in which players and enemies take lethal damage from just a few shots. It is similar to playing in Hardcore mode.
After taking a brutal beating from an enemy robot, the protagonist undergoes surgery and becomes half human, half machine. The player receives an implant in the brain that allows him or her to perform certain cybernetic abilities, such as hacking enemy machinery and blowing up robots.
The campaign also has its own level-up system in which players can customize classes to use during levels. I have not finished the campaign yet, but it has been great so far, and the added ability to play with a friend makes it that much more enjoyable.
4 out of 4 paws.
Check out some video clips of me playing the BO3 multiplayer on our website, and add my gamertag (Cdubinite) if you want to play with me.
