Game Review: Call Of Duty – Black Ops 3 (Playstation 4)
This story takes place 40 years after the events of Black Ops 2, in a world facing upheaval from climate change and new technologies. In response to the drone assaults of Black Ops 2, several countries around the world have developed high-tech air defenses that render conventional air forces virtually useless. As such, most of the warfare between countries is done by covert operatives fighting behind enemy lines. Military technology has progressed to the point where robotics play a major role in combat, and both fully robotic humanoid drones and cyborg supersoldiers have been developed to fight in the battlefield. As a result, there is speculation and fear about an eventual robotic takeover.
Call Of Duty storylines have evolved immensely over the years. There was a moment with the franchise where I took a bit of a break because it just felt like there wasn’t anything new going on with it but now things seem to be getting a bit more interesting. They seemed to have moved their storytelling in a more cinematic sense recently and this entry is equally as great as Advanced Warfare. Robotics and A.I are topics that have always interested me so as the story played out it got my attention more and more. The story has some of the same plot elements and predictability as the previous entries such as some people not entirely who you think they are but the actors in the game really do make it fresh. There are some moments in there that I absolutely loved. During the story you are taken to a chapter that takes place during World War 2 and felt great to go back in time for a bit and play in a scenario that was nostalgic. The other moment was the inclusion of the COD Zombies in a small portion of the story. It was a great little element that I don’t understand why it wasn’t utilized way before this.
The graphics seem to be more or less around the same quality as Advanced Warfare but what I did notice was the way that cutscenes and actual gameplay seemed to have blended in fairly seamlessly to the point where it feels like that game doesn’t really stop. Surprisingly enough, during my gameplay I experienced little to no glitches at all. The ones that I did come across were very small (and funny) like a random floating hand and things like that. Nothing that would distract nor ruin the experience. The facial capture of the actors involved is fantastic. Much like Advanced Warfare you really get to see emotion on the characters’ faces during cutscenes which adds so much to the experience. Seeing the familiar faces of Christopher Meloni and Katee Sackhoff doesn’t hurt either.
The one thing that I did appreciate when starting the game up for the first time was the fact that it initially gives you the option to play as a woman and to customize your own character. There aren’t a lot of games that offer that kind of option so it was kind of nice for my wife to have that kind of choice. The Co-op campaign feature is pretty interesting and a great way to not just go the multiplayer route with your friends online. It’s always fun to be able to experience the story with your friends even if they aren’t sitting next to you. Having the ability to have up to 4 friends join in gives you the option to approach the game in different strategic ways as well as asking your friends the age old question: What the hell are you doing?! The only thing that I didn’t like was the fact that the game automatically connects you online. There’s no way to back out of it or cancel it once it tries to connect and when there are server issues it’ll just sit there until it times out. It’s a bit annoying but it’s a minor issue. I really dug the inclusion of Cyber Cores and Cyber Rigs. Being able to hack and control drones was probably one of my favorite part of the Cores and the Rigs really do come in handy during battle as a part of your defensive maneuvers. The Safe House in between levels is a cool feature that’s an actual place to roam and upgrade or unlock weapons as well as checking out some of the medals/achievements you’ve earned. I like that it’s a place rather than just a simple, boring menu.
Then of course there’s Zombies. I loved the idea of zombies in a Call Of Duty game since its inception but after a while it became stale to me and it felt like the same scenarios over and over. As I started this one it felt a lot like I was playing it for the first time again. The characters are great and the main “Shadows Of Evil” story was something that had me wanting to play again and again to find out more about the narrative.
Bottom line: It’s definitely a fun game with some great new features that has an intriguing story wrapping it all up. If you’ve lost touch with that series then this will most likely bring you back to it and if you’re a COD fan then you’ll have fun tinkering with the new features in the game as well as being able to master this new and interesting version of Zombies. 8/10
