Call of Duty Black Ops 3 is a 2015 first-person shooter video game, developed by Treyarch and published by Activision. It is the twelfth entry in the Call of Duty series and the sequel to the 2012 video game Call of Duty: Black Ops II. It was released on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on November 6, 2015. A feature-limited version developed by Beenox and Mercenary Technology that only supports multiplayer modes was released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and was also the final Call of Duty title released on those platforms.
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Black Ops III takes place in 2065, 40 years after the events of Black Ops II, in a world facing upheaval from climate change and new technologies. Similar to its predecessors, the story follows a group of black ops soldiers. The game’s campaign is designed to support 4-player cooperative gameplay, allowing for bigger, more open level design and less corridor shooting. As the player character is cybernetically enhanced, players have access to various special activities. The game also features a standalone Zombies campaign mode, and a “Nightmares” mode which replaces all enemies as zombies.
Announced on April 26, 2015, the game is the first Call of Duty video game released after Activision parted with Microsoft Studios and partnered with Sony Computer Entertainment, which secured the timed exclusivity of the game’s downloadable content. Upon release, the game received generally positive reviews from critics, praising the gameplay, Zombies mode, and amount of content. However, it was also criticized for its story, absence of fan favorite story mode characters, the slow pacing of the campaign and lack of innovation. The seventh-generation console versions in particular were singled-out for their lack of a campaign and numerous features, as well as them being online-only. It was a commercial success, with it becoming the top-selling retail game in the US in 2015, and one of the most successful titles released for the eighth generation of video game consoles.
A sequel, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, was released in October 2018.
Gameplay
Campaign
The campaign in Black Ops III is designed to support 4-player cooperative gameplay, allowing for bigger, more open level design and less corridor shooting. In addition, the player can customize their character’s appearance and clothing. The campaign features its own progression system, featuring unlock tokens which must be used to acquire different weapons and gears as they progress through the campaign.[2] The game features a “realistic” difficulty mode, in which players will get defeated if they are hit by one bullet.[3] Finishing all campaign missions will also unlock “Nightmares” mode, where players can replay the entire campaign with a new narrative, as well as zombies replacing most of the normal enemies.
Multiplayer
The multiplayer introduces a new momentum based movement system, which utilizes thruster packs to allow players to perform slow boosts into the air, as well as perform wall running and sliding, all the while giving players complete gun control.[4] In addition to the Pick 10 class system from Black Ops II, Treyarch implemented a character system called “Specialists”, where players can pick from 9 different soldiers, each with either a special weapon or ability unique to them. In a later update, a tenth specialist named Blackjack was added to the game. Blackjack is able to mimic the abilities of other specialists, and is only playable for a short amount of time upon completing a set of challenges.[5][6] A new “Gunsmith” feature offers aesthetic variations in weapon attachments, allowing various weapon customization combinations.[7] The Paintshop feature allows players to create their own custom prints onto specific portions of a gun, further emphasizing the depth of customization in the game.[8]
Zombies
Zombies features a new XP progression system, which allows players to unlock items in a similar fashion to multiplayer and campaign. Unlockable items include “Gobblegums”, which grant players with temporary bonuses, and weapon kits that allow players to modify the appearance and attributes of the guns with various camos and attachments. Shadows of Evil was revealed as a new map for the Zombies mode on July 9, 2015 at San Diego Comic-Con International 2015.[9] The map features four brand new characters: Nero the Magician, Jessica the Femme Fatale, Vincent the Cop and Campbell the Boxer as the main cast, and takes place in a new setting called Morg City.[10] “The Giant” includes the original characters, Tank Dempsey, Edward Richtofen, Nikolai Belinski and Takeo Masaki. These characters return from the Black Ops II map “Origins”, in their alternate timeline versions. They reappear in the DLC maps “The Giant”, “Der Eisendrache”, “Zetsubou no Shima”, “Gorod Krovi” and “Revelations”. The zombies gamemode involves a story, which links with every DLC. On May 16, 2017 Treyarch released a fifth DLC including the remastered versions of Zombies maps from their previous Call of Duty games, called “Zombies Chronicles”. These maps are “Nacht der Untoten”, “Verrückt”, “Shi No Numa”, “Kino der Toten”, “Ascension”, “Shangri La”, “Moon” and “Origins”. These maps retain most of the original aesthetics updated with Black Ops III’s graphics engine, while also adding to the gameplay elements of Black Ops III, with the introduction of new Gobblegums, Weapons and Sound Design. [11]
Plot
Single-player campaign
Setting and characters
Call of Duty: Black Ops III takes place in 2065, 40 years after the events of Black Ops II, in a world facing upheaval from conflicts, climate change and new technologies. A Third Cold War is ongoing between two global alliances, known as Winslow Accord and Common Defense Pact. In response to the drone assaults caused by the Nicaraguan narco-terrorist Raul Menendez in 2025, several countries around the world have developed Directed Energy Air Defense systems 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. There is speculation and fear about an eventual robotic takeover.
Like previous installments in the Black Ops series, the campaign follows a team of black ops soldiers,[12] who work for Winslow Accord. The player character (voiced by Ben Browder if male and Abby Brammell if female) and Jacob Hendricks (Sean Douglas) are members of the faction’s wetwork team, while Commander John Taylor (Christopher Meloni) and his team Sebastian Diaz (Reynaldo Gallegos), Sarah Hall (Katee Sackhoff), and Peter Maretti (Ary Katz), compose the faction’s cybernetics division.[13][14] Rachel Kimsey voices CIA agent Rachel Kane, Robert Picardo voices the Coalescence Corporation CEO Sebastian Krueger, Tony Amendola voices the therapist Dr. Yousef Salim, and Lynn Chen voices the 54 Immortals criminal organization leader, Goh Xiulan. NFL running back Marshawn Lynch makes a cameo appearance in the game as a 54 Immortals mercenary.
Included in the game is the “Nightmares” campaign mode, which is a retelling of the main campaign with the plot changed to incorporate zombies and other supernatural beings. In this campaign, the lethal Virus 61-15 is released in various cities around the world, turning whoever it infects into zombies. In response, the governments of the world seal off the worst infected areas into Quarantine Zones and form the Deadkillers, cybernetic soldiers trained to exterminate zombies.
