Call of Duty: Black Ops III Reviews
Where Treyarch's single-player struggles, the deftly tuned multiplayer soars, delivering a Call of Duty that's rich with options.
The graphics get a little prettier, the story gets a little darker, and another Call of Duty counts time as we march together toward death.
From its four-player co-op campaign to the brand-new powers and a fleshed-out Zombies mode, Black Ops 3 meaningfully pushes the Call of Duty series forward on several fronts. Even where it doesn't innovate, it still meets the high bar Call of Duty fans should expect. Black Ops 3 isn't the best Call of Duty game ever, but it's the biggest and most feature-packed game we've seen out of the series yet.
This massive, wonderfully diverse Call of Duty theme park is best enjoyed with a friend (or three). Going alone dampens the fun, but either way it's still worth the price of admission.
Call Of Duty's most concerted effort to break the usual formula is unfortunately the most unsatisfying sequel in years, especially the badly flawed story campaign.
What begins as a mundane campaign pleasantly diverts into wild territory. While the campaign elements are the weakest of what Black Ops III offers, the amount and quality of non-campaign offerings carry the title beyond the finish line
Black Ops 3 doesn't meaningfully move the series forward
Black Ops III presents fine-tuned multiplayer, engaging fights against the undead, and a boring campaign.
The campaign is great. The multiplayer is good. The zombie mode is lovely.
You'd think a game with this many modes and features would be more exciting than it is.
Call of Duty: Black Ops III continues the evolution that began in last year's Advanced Warfare. The current-generation of the mega popular war shooter series impresses with (some) freedom of choice and fun abilities. So much so that most of the time, the rather pedestrian visuals and unmemorable story won't be a deal breaker. Especially, when you consider all the extra content like a second zombie themed campaign.
While the campaign could certainly be a lot stronger, Black Ops III is living proof of that concept.
Blackout is a great addition to the formula, and the game has the best multiplayer in years, with some elements from "hero shooters", but the engine is getting old and we miss the solo campaign.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
There's a lot going on in Black Ops 3, and all of it is a blast to play.
From the big marquee features to the small touches and hidden modes, Black Ops 3 features an awful lot of content, and every aspect of it is designed with cooperative play in mind. It can feel a bit disjointed in places, but it's a broad and expansive game with plenty to enjoy, especially so when playing with friends.
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.
Treyarch has clearly packed a lot of effort into Black Ops 3 and while not all of it necessarily hits, there's enough to keep both solo players and social butterflies active. While the campaign story itself feels silly, co-op is a marvelous addition and a far better way to experience the narrative for those that don't feel like killing zombies. Meanwhile, multiplayer feels like a huge difference from previous CoD games and much of it is for the better. With a faster pace, more fluid movement, and cool Specialist ablities, it feels like a refreshing twist on the CoD multiplayer formula.
Call of Duty: Black Ops III is a good third chapter for the Black Ops series and features a long story mode that could have been just a little better in details. The game offers a lot of content, but suffers from the balancing of weapons, abilities and specialists across all the game modes.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Call of Duty: Black Ops III offers few surprises, but even so, it's a great package. The campaign sometimes feels like it's trying too hard, but is ultimately solid and enjoyable. Zombies mode is a nice bonus. But really, it's the multiplayer that steals the show. It doesn't stray far from the usual formula, but it's been honed and polished to perfection to deliver seriously brilliant multiplayer competition.
A phenomenal multiplayer along with a larger, improved zombies mode mean that, although the solo campaign is a slight misstep, Black Ops is the best call of Duty on the current gen consoles.