Call of Duty: Black Ops III Reviews
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 proves why Activision's three-year development cycle for Call of Duty is necessary. Black Ops 3 packs a huge amount of new content and feature innovations, along with keeping the core features that everyone knows and respects.
Compared to past entries, keep in mind that Black Ops III falls squarely in the middle of the series in terms of overall quality.
Call of Duty: Black Ops III tries to do several things, and does so with differing degrees of success. It all boils down to what you look for in the series. I put most of my eggs in the multiplayer basket and it delivers, but your mileage may vary.
Call of Duty: Black Ops III is the most content-filled game in the entire series. While that would normally be a good thing, the problem is that none of the content is particularly interesting. From the underwhelming campaign to the disappointing multiplayer, there isn't much to really recommend playing over last year's game. Call of Duty: Black Ops III is just okay, but being just okay isn't enough to keep players entertained when there are so many better offerings available from the same series.
If Activision's goal was to get people excited about the prospect of a prime-grade multiplayer experience, then their mission is a success. It's hard to imagine what else they could have done to make this a great multiplayer game, but that's not in dispute. Treyarch still knows how to make things happen.
In the end, Call of Duty: Black Ops III is a good shooter that falls somewhere between "safe" and "chancy." It gives you great maps, awesome Specialists, a truly challenging and interesting Zombies mode, and a solid and more dynamic control mechanic. It also has a convoluted and uninteresting story and a co-op mode that doesn't consist of much more than extra enemies.
If they tried to give us something fresh and if it weren't for such a ruthlessly steep learning curve in the game's competitive multiplayer, I'd actually see this as Game of the Year material. Disregarding these drawbacks, Treyarch's shooter is still a product that offers quite a lot for the standard price tag. It's a solid and well-polished shooter.
Treyarch has shoehorned an almost overwhelming amount of content into Black Ops III, with two sizable co-op capable campaigns, a gothic horror-flavoured zombie mode and an e-sports-driven multiplayer component that should keep fans of the franchise occupied for quite some time. Constantly getting humiliated at the hands of superior players has never been so much fun (note to self: get good!).
The addition of online co-op gives the campaign mode a great boost. There are some irritating connectivity issues in co-op and zombies though. The competitive multiplayer is much smoother and reliably packed with maps, modes and a dizzying array of unlocks. You'll struggle to find a shooter with more value than this year's Call of Duty.
I see little reason why longtime fans of the franchise would be disappointed with Black Ops 3. It may not draw in many new fans, or convert those who've never been big Call of Duty fans. But there's more than enough here to keep the game's existing community locked in digital combat for another twelve months.
Black Ops 3 is a well-rounded game that doesn't take the series forward. Its packed with a solid multiplayer experience, an okay campaign but loaded with a ton of content that'll surely keep its fans busy and happy.
While the campaign is lacklustre and Zombies is over-designed, Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 succeeds thanks to the multiplayer's perfect mix of structured maps, diverse specialists and liberating movement.
Messing with the core 'Call of Duty' gameplay is tricky work, but Treyarch has delivered a AAA beast with 'Call of Duty: Black Ops III.' On the one hand, there is an accessible speed and mobility that keeps everything moving in a guns up way. On the other hand, new abilities will make even the least adept player feel like a powerful part of a team. No doubt, the performance on the PS4 will spoil players. With robust options ranging from a slick co-op campaign to a moody underworld trip into zombie purgatory, playing 'Call of Duty' "just for the multiplayer" has new meaning.
Treyarch Knocks another one out of the park. The fast faced gameplay brings a fresh new element to this annual title. The zombie mode is bigger than ever. Plus, the new direction they have taken with the campaign mode is a warm welcome.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 is here with its latest year instalment, but what promises to be the most action packed game yet; does this series have enough ammunition to remain on top of the FPS mountain?
Black Ops III's story doesn't support the campaign in any way. It tells a story that makes no sense, and while that's mildly amusing at points, it wears thin real fast. Furthermore, I'm not entirely sure that this should've been Black Ops III. There's no Woods or Mason here, the only link you remotely get is a passing mention of Black Ops II's Raul Menendez and a confronation with Dr.Salim. So, don't play the story. Skip straight to the multiplayer and zombies modes,and you'll do just fine…for a few hours.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 ist überraschend gut geworden und liefert den aktuell besten Multiplayer Titel des Jahres. Die Kampagne leidet zwar etwas unter die Integration des Koop-Modus und auch die diversen Connection Errors im Singleplayer hätten nicht unbedingt sein müssen, aber dafür bekommt ihr eine zusätzliche Zombie Kampagne, den beliebten Zombie Modus mit einer eigenen Geschichte und den wohl interessantesten Call of Duty Multiplayer Modus seit Modern Warfare 2. Von uns gibts eine klare Empfehlung!
Review in German | Read full review
Black Ops 3 might be a package of things I love and hate, but it's mostly good.
Black Ops III really is a mixed bag. On one hand you have possibly the best multiplayer experience since Call of Duty 4, with a strong set of maps and a hugely immersive Zombies campaign to go with it. It's just a shame that it's been let down by a campaign that has some great ideas, but doesn't know where to run with them. I'm sad to say that I think the days of the good Call of Duty campaign are behind us, with last year's decent outing being the exception. Still, there's a lot of content here. In terms of a multiplayer shooter, Black Ops III is easily the best that Activision has published in a long time. After being roped back on board the Call of Duty train last year, I think I might as well buy an Oyster Card at this point, because it has its hooks in me once again. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to play Call of Duty 4's campaign again.