Call of Duty: Black Ops III

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 sexual 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. The game features a "realistic" difficulty mode, in which players will get defeated if they are hit by one bullet. 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. 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. A new "Gunsmith" feature offers aesthetic variations in weapon attachments, allowing various weapon customization combinations. 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.

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 of the guns in each game. Shadows of Evil was revealed as a new map for the Zombies mode on July 9, 2015 at San Diego Comic-Con International 2015. 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. "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.

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 a Third Cold War, climate change and new technologies. In response to the drone assaults caused by 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, the 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 (Reynoldo Gallegos), Sarah Hall (Katee Sackhoff), and Peter Maretti (Ary Katz), comprise the faction's cybernetics division. Rachel Kimsey voices CIA agent Rachel Kane, Robert Picardo voices Sebastian Krueger, Tony Amendola voices Dr. Yousef Salim, and Lynn Chen voices Goh Xiulan, leader of the Singaporean criminal organization, the 54 Immortals.

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.

Story

On October 27, 2065, the Winslow Accord initiate a successful mission in Ethiopia to rescue hostages from the tyrannical Nile River Coalition. However, the Player is critically wounded by a combat robot. Rescued by Taylor, the Player undergoes cybernetic surgery to save their life, being installed with a direct neural interface (DNI) and receiving virtual training from Taylor and his team during surgery. Hendricks also undergoes surgery.

After five years of wetwork, the Player and Hendricks are put under the command of Rachel Kane and tasked with investigating a CIA black site in Singapore that has gone quiet. They find the site attacked by the 54 Immortals and the site's data stolen. Kane concludes that Taylor and his team defected and murdered the staff. The Player and Hendricks investigate their last location, the Coalescence Corporation in Singapore (destroyed ten years prior in a mysterious explosion that killed 300,000 people), finding a secret CIA lab.

The pair find Diaz leaking CIA information and are forced to kill him. Interfacing with Diaz's DNI, Hendricks discovers Taylor is trying to find the survivors of the explosion: Sebastian Krueger and Dr. Yousef Salim. The leaked information allows the Immortals to capture Kane. The Player disobeys Kane's orders to leave and rescues her by killing Immortals' leader, Goh Xiulan. The trio then head to Egypt and find Salim, who reveals that he performed secret DNI experiments involving comforting humans via a calming exercise involving imagining a frozen forest.

Salim is then interrogated and executed by Taylor. The Player, Hendricks and Kane pursue Taylor with assistance from the Egyptian Army. After killing Hall, the Player connects to her DNI and encounters Corvus, a gestalt intelligence created during the experiments to monitor thoughts of DNI users which malfunctioned, causing the explosion. Infecting Taylor and his team, Corvus made them obsessed with finding the forest, with the Player and Hendricks also becoming infected after interfacing with Hall and Diaz.

After killing Maretti, the pair track down Taylor in Cairo. After wounding the Player, Taylor manages to resist Corvus and tear his DNI out, sparing the Player. However, Hendricks then succumbs to Corvus and kills Taylor before abandoning the Player, leaving for Zürich to find Krueger. The Player races to Zürich with Kane to stop him. Reaching Zürich's Coalescence Corporation, the pair find Corvus caused the explosion with the gas Nova 6. Kane attempts to contain it, but Corvus locks her in the compound room, leaking the gas to kill her in front of a helpless Player.

Continuing on, the Player finds Hendricks holding Krueger hostage. After Hendricks kills Krueger, the Player kills him in turn. The Player then tries to kill themselves to end Corvus' infection, but ends up in a simulated frozen forest, created by Corvus to retain the consciousness of dead DNI users. Taylor, still alive after becoming a glitch in the forest, reunites with the Player, stating that they must purge their DNI to end Corvus. With Taylor's help, the Player resists Corvus' last-ditch manipulation and purges their DNI, erasing the virus. Stumbling out of the Zurich headquarters, the Player identifies themselves to ZSF forces as "Taylor".

Taylor's mission reports reveal that the Player actually died during their cybernetics surgery due to complications. The resulting events until Taylor's death occur in a simulation deviating from Taylor and Hendricks's experience of hunting down Dylan Stone and his team (Javier Ramirez, Alice Conrad, and Joseph Fierro), their teammates who defected after finding the CIA black site. The Player's consciousness is shown living in Taylor's mind throughout the simulation, indicating that the Player manages to take over Taylor's body after his death until the DNI purge saw Corvus erased and Taylor regain control.

Nightmares

The Player wakes up only to be told by Dr. Salim that they are dead, and that the Player must recount their memories. The Player tells Dr. Salim that they are a Deadkiller who was sent to investigate the disappearance of Taylor's Deadkiller team. However, upon investigating, the Player and Hendricks discover that Taylor's team has used their DNI connections to disable the Quarantine Zone defenses all over the world. Teaming up with Rachel Kane, the Player and Hendricks chase Taylor's team all from Singapore to Egypt, eventually being forced to kill the entire team. However, Hendricks is infected by the same virus that turned Taylor and his team mad, and heads for Zurich. The Player discovers that Dr. Salim is in fact Deimos, the demigod responsible for unleashing the undead plague on humanity. Deimos had entered the Player's mind when they interfaced with Hall, and attempts to manipulate them into opening a portal to his home dimension, Malus. The Player is then contacted by another demigod, Dolos, who is sympathetic to humanity and seeks to kill Deimos, her brother. Dolos transports both the Player and Deimos to Malus, where Deimos is vulnerable. Under Dolos' guidance, the Player kills Deimos, ending the undead plague on Earth, but trapping the Player in Malus. Dolos then explains to the Player that her true plans are to kill every other demigod and supernatural being that can challenge her, and the Player agrees to help her.

Settings and characters

Like in previous games, the Zombies storyline in Call of Duty: Black Ops III is told in an episodic format, with one map, "Shadows of Evil", available at launch, and the rest to follow in the downloadable content season. "Shadows of Evil" focuses on a new group of characters: Nero Blackstone (Jeff Goldblum), Jessica Rose (Heather Graham), Jack Vincent (Neal McDonough) and Floyd Campbell (Ron Perlman), who reside in the fictional Morg City. Treyarch describes the new characters as "troubled individuals" with "a long and sordid history of past misdeeds". The four characters are thrown into a twisted version of the city, overrun by zombies, and are guided by a mysterious, unreliable figure called the Shadowman (Robert Picardo).

"Shadows of Evil" acts as a prologue that leads into the core storyline, focusing on the Origins universe's version of the original characters: "Tank" Dempsey (Steven Blum), Nikolai Belinski (Fred Tatasciore), Takeo Masaki (Tom Kane) and Edward Richtofen (Nolan North), who were introduced in the Black Ops II map "Origins". Their story continues from where "Origins" left off, as they attempt to prevent the events of the original timeline from ever occurring across the multiverse. Other characters include the leader of Group 935, Doctor Ludvig Maxis (also voiced by Tatasciore), and his daughter Samantha. The downloadable content maps reintroduce various minor characters mentioned/featured in previous games, including Group 935 scientist Doctor Groph (also voiced by Blum), the OSS spy Peter McCain, Dr. Maxis' assistant Sophia, the Ascension Group scientist Gersh, as well as introduces the mysterious omnipotent being Doctor Monty (Malcolm McDowell). Robert Picardo also briefly reprises his role from Call of Duty: Black Ops as United States Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara.

Story

Following the battle against the undead outbreak in Northern France, Doctor Ludvig Maxis directed Doctor Edward Richtofen to go on a quest to learn about the concept of alternate timelines and the existence of different worlds. After acquiring an ancient book known as the Kronorium, Richtofen learns of the Summoning Key, a powerful artifact that can fix their world back to its original state, and of the Keepers, an ancient race who act as the wards of all universes. Maxis instructs Richtofen to seek out specific versions of his three former allies: Corporal Tank Dempsey, Sergeant Nikolai Belinski, and Captain Takeo Masaki. Richtofen must also kill an alternate version of himself and acquire the souls of all four, using the Key once it is found. Richtofen travels to the 63rd dimension and arrives in Morg City in the 1940s, where the Apothicons, former Keepers who were corrupted and mutated by the dark energy of the Aether, manipulated four individuals: Jessica Rose, a burlesque dancer; Jack Vincent, a corrupt cop; Floyd Campbell, an up-and-coming boxer; and Nero Blackstone, a washed-up magician. Mislead into doing the biddings of an Apothicon named the Shadowman, the four opened a rift beneath the city using the Summoning Key, thereby freeing an ancient Apothicon beast. With the Keepers' aid, the four manage to trap the Shadowman inside the Key, and banish the beast from their dimension. Before they could retrieve the Summoning Key from the Keepers, however, Richtofen appears out of a portal and grabs the Key from them, thanking them for their effort and leaving through the portal.

Dempsey, Nikolai, and Takeo, who have been tracking down Richtofen for two years, learn of his travels and pursue him through various dimensions. They arrive in the Der Riese facility during an altered version of the original timeline, only moments after Maxis and his daughter Samantha were teleported away by the alternate Richtofen. Dempsey, Nikolai, and Takeo attempt to convince him to awaken their other selves, but are interrupted by the Origins timeline's Richtofen, who appears out of the teleporter and kills his other self. The four then band together to fend off the zombie horde once more, finding themselves affected by Element 115; the personalities and memories of their original incarnations begin to bleed into theirs. Eventually, the group activates a beacon within the facility, allowing Dr. Maxis to locate them from another dimension. In pursuit of the alternate Dempsey, the four then travel to Griffin Castle, Group 935's fortress in Austria. As Dempsey is being sent to the Moon base, the four send his capsule crash-landing back onto the castle's courtyard. However, Group 935 member Doctor Groph activates a failsafe, preventing the group from tampering with the capsule. Richtofen uses the Summoning Key to override the defense system, sending a barrage of missiles at the Moon, destroying it along with Groph and all other Group 935 members operating on it. As the four retrieve the alternate Dempsey, Richtofen reveals his plan to prevent their other incarnations from wreaking havoc upon the universe. After bidding farewell, Dempsey shuts down the capsule's life support to his other self, allowing Richtofen to use the Key and absorb the soul.

Afterwards, the group attempts to teleport to a new timeline to locate an alternate Takeo, who is held prisoner at a Pacific island by the Japanese research group Division 9. The four discover that Division 9 has been experimenting on the animal and plant life using Element 115, resulting in various monstrous mutations. The four later travel down to a Division 9 bunker where they find the alternate Takeo mutated beyond recognition as well. After they manage to release him from the mutation, the young Takeo is shocked to learn that it was the Emperor himself who betrayed his alternate self and sent him to this island, out of petty jealousy. The young Takeo is finally resolved with himself, and allows his older self to commit seppuku. After using the Summoning Key to absorb the alternate Takeo's soul, the crew later teleports to another timeline and lands in a war-torn World War II-era Stalingrad. Russia has employed Group 935's technology to create their own giant robots and mechanical soldiers, while Germany is aided by ancient dragons resurrected and bred by Division 9. As the crew traverses across the city, they are forced to help Sophia, Dr. Maxis' former assistant who has been transformed into a machine, to initiate the Ascension Protocol, allowing her to gain knowledge of interdimensional travel. They also hear the voice of Doctor Monty, an omnipotent being who reveals the true nature of the universe and its current state. Amidst the chaos, the alternate Nikolai has taken control of a modified Manticore drone unit, and teams up with the group to destroy the alpha dragon. However, upon the dragon's death, Nikolai refuses to surrender, forcing the four destroy his Manticore. After defeating him, the young Nikolai approaches his older self and reminds him of the loss they suffered and buried beneath their drinking habit. The alternate Nikolai attempts to shoot his younger self, causing young Nikolai to kill him in retaliation. With all souls collected, Richtofen calls out to Dr. Maxis to summon a portal, and release the souls into it. Afterwards, Monty contacts the four and promises to explain everything to them once they get to "The House".

"The House" is revealed to be part of a perfect world created by Monty to prevent all forces of evil from infecting it, ensuring the safety of the children: Samantha, Eddie (a child version of Richtofen), as well as child versions of Dempsey, Nikolai, and Takeo, who exist there as a result of Richtofen sending the souls into it. Maxis, due to the lack of his soul, is given a new body to contain his brain instead. As Richtofen and the crew return to the House, he gives Maxis the Summoning Key, and then proceeds to destroy the teleporter, preventing access to other dimensions and locking off the House from the rest of the universe. However, later, Maxis would be manipulated by the voice of the Shadowman, who is set free accidentally by Maxis upon his contact with the Summoning Key. The Shadowman then uses his power to merge various other dimensions, including the Aether, allowing the Apothicons to enter and wreak havoc. While traveling throughout a fractured world, revisiting various locations that they and their other selves have been to, Richtofen and the crew manage to uncover the truth behind Sophia's transformation, and help her enter the dimension. With her assistance, they manage to retrieve the Summoning Key and the Kronorium, and confront the Shadowman, defeating him once and for all using the combined power of the two artifacts. Maxis, who still resides within the Key, then absorbs the souls of the children into the Key, and joins Sophia as they fly toward the Apothicon sun, sending it and all Apothicon presence away from the House. As Monty ponders the future of his perfect world, he notices that Richtofen and the crew are somehow able to remain in the dimension without fading from existence, thanks to the blood vials they retrieved from the Purgatory dimension before heading to Stalingrad. Richtofen suggests that Monty send them away to a place they have never been to, however Monty decides to just wipe them out of existence. The blood vials, however, allow the four to restart their cycle, sending their consciousness to ancient medieval times, where they find themselves as crusader warriors wielding powerful elemental staffs. Thus, they would be remembered as "Primis", heroes who aided the Keepers in sealing away the Apothicons in the Great War, effectively "completing the cycle" of the universe.

Development

Call of Duty: Black Ops III is the twelfth game in the Call of Duty franchise, and the fourth entry in the Black Ops series. The game was the second to benefit under publisher Activision's three-year development cycle, the first being Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. The cycle allows each of the development teams of the Call of Duty series (Infinity Ward, Treyarch, and Sledgehammer Games) to develop games in a three-year timespan, as opposed to the two allowed previously. Black Ops III uses a heavily modified version of the IW engine used previously in Black Ops II.

On June 9, 2015, versions for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 were confirmed to be under development by Beenox and Mercenary Technology. These versions lack some features available on other platforms, such as the game's campaign mode. On June 15, 2015, it was announced that as part of a new exclusivity deal with Sony Computer Entertainment, all downloadable content for future Call of Duty games, beginning with Black Ops III, would be released first on PlayStation platforms as timed exclusives. This ends a similar exclusivity deal with Microsoft dating back to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.

A multiplayer beta was released for the PlayStation 4 on August 18, 2015, and was released for the Xbox One and Microsoft Windows on August 26, 2015. All versions of the multiplayer beta ran for six days.

Music

Jack Wall, who previously composed the score for Call of Duty: Black Ops II, returned along with Brian Tuey providing some tracks. The game also featured an instrumental score entitled "Jade Helm", provided by Avenged Sevenfold. Additionally, Treyarch's Sound Designer Kevin Sherwood contributed to the composition of the Zombies mode's soundtrack, including several new songs performed by Elena Siegman and Malukah for each of the maps.

Reveal

Teasers have been released beginning with Snapchat links appearing in the gameplay of Black Ops II as well as a teaser video released by Treyarch. On April 26, 2015, the first reveal trailer for the game was released and revealed the return of the Zombies mode and beta access for people that pre-order the game for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. The full game was released on November 6, 2015.

Controversy

On September 29, 2015, the official Twitter account of Call of Duty was temporarily renamed to "Current Events Aggregate". It then began tweeting messages about real-life fashion, movies and a terrorist attack that takes place in Singapore. Activision later revealed that these tweets are fake, and served to promote the game's story campaign. This marketing campaign was strongly criticized for faking news, and publisher Activision was blamed for being "irresponsible". The game's director Jason Blundell said that the team was "shocked" by the negative reaction of the marketing campaign, and offered an apology.

Pre-order

Call of Duty: Black Ops III and the Digital Deluxe Edition counterpart were available to pre-order on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. The Digital Deluxe Edition comes with the season pass, which can also be ordered separately. Pre-ordering provided access to the Call of Duty: Black Ops III multiplayer beta and in-game items for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, such as custom reticles, an emblem, a calling card, and Advanced Supply Drops. Sony also announced that the Black Ops III beta would come to the PS4 first on August 19 through August 23, 2015. The beta for the PS4 went live on August 18, 2015, several hours earlier than originally announced. After the beta period ended, it was announced that all pre-orders would include the bonus multiplayer map "NUK3TOWN", a remake of the original "Nuketown" map, featured in Call of Duty: Black Ops, and in Call of Duty: Black Ops II as "Nuketown 2025". Owing to the lack of the campaign mode, the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions included a digital copy of Black Ops as an added bonus, as well as having their price reduced by 10 dollars compared to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions.

Comics tie-in

A comic book titled Call of Duty: Black Ops III was announced on July 1, 2015. Serving as a prequel to the game, the first issue was released worldwide on November 4, 2015 and was published by Dark Horse Comics. The story is written by Larry Hama, while Marcelo Ferreira served as the artist for the comic book. The story takes place several years prior to the main events of the game, and stars Jacob Hendricks and John Taylor along with their black ops squadmates in an attempt to stop a Russian terrorist plot. Subsequent issues were released throughout 2016.

On July 11, 2016, Treyarch announced a new comic book series titled Call of Duty: Zombies, to expand upon the story of the Zombies mode. The story features the return of the TranZit team: Abigail "Misty" Briarton, Marlton Johnson, Russman and Samuel Stuhlinger, previously the main protagonists of Call of Duty: Black Ops II, as they embark on a search for an artifact known as the Kronorium, while discovering the truth behind Edward Richtofen's reappearance. The miniseries, also published by Dark Horse, features Justin Jordan as the writer and Jonathan Wayshak as the main artist, while Simon Bisley draws the cover art of each issue. The first issue was released on October 28, 2016, with subsequent issues set to be released throughout 2017.

Special editions and downloadable content

In addition to the Digital Deluxe Edition, other special editions include the Hardened Edition and the Juggernog Edition. The Juggernog Edition includes a mini-refrigerator, a season pass and multiple in-game content. A Collector's Edition bonus map for the Zombie mode, The Giant was announced. It is a remake of the Call of Duty: World at War map Der Riese, and features the original characters, Dempsey, Nikolai, Takeo, and Richtofen. A multiplayer-only starter pack for Microsoft Windows was announced and released on February 16, 2016. It features the multiplayer mode's core mechanics, though certain features, such as the Zombie mode and the Nightmare mode, were excluded. This version of the game is available for players to purchase until the end of February.

In December 2015, during Sony's PlayStation Experience event, Activision announced the first downloadable content map pack for Black Ops III, titled Awakening, and was released first on PlayStation 4 on February 2, 2016. Releases for Xbox One and Microsoft Windows happened in March 2016. The map pack contains four new multiplayer maps: Skyjacked, Rise, Splashed, and Gauntlet, a new Zombies map, Der Eisendrache, and several new gumballs for the Zombie mode. In March 2016, Treyarch revealed the second Map Pack, titled "Eclipse". The map pack has four new multiplayer maps, including a remake of the World at War map "Bonzai" and a new Zombies map, "Zetsubou no Shima". The map pack was released on April 19 for PlayStation 4 and May 19 for Xbox One and PC.

The third map pack, Descent, was revealed on June 28, 2016, featuring four new MP maps, including a remake of the Black Ops II map "Raid" and a new Zombies map, "Gorod Krovi". The map pack was released on July 12 for PlayStation 4 and August 11 for Xbox One and PC. The PC release of Descent received controversy, for Activision and Treyarch announced that the map packs would no longer be sold separately, and PC players must purchase the season pass to receive all map packs, while owners of Awakening and/or Eclipse would receive discounts upon purchasing the season pass. The fourth and final map pack, Salvation, was revealed on August 25, 2016, with remakes of the MP maps "Standoff" from Black Ops II and "Outskirt" from World at War, along with the final Zombies map, "Revelations". The map pack was released on September 6 for PlayStation 4, and October 6 for Xbox One and PC.

Critical response

According to review aggregator Metacritic, Call of Duty: Black Ops III received "generally favorable" critic reviews for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and "mixed or average" critic reviews for PC. GameSpot awarded it a score of 7 out of 10, saying, "Black Ops III doesn't offer anything remarkable to the series, but does just enough to maintain the Call of Duty status quo. The franchise, however slowly, continues its inexorable march." Polygon also gave the game a score of 7 out of 10, saying "Black Ops III's biggest point of recommendation may be the breadth of content there, and that's a valid point of view. But Treyarch doesn't meaningfully move the series forward here." IGN awarded it a score of 9.2 out of 10, saying "With fun 4-player co-op, new powers, and a fleshed out Zombies mode, Black Ops 3 is the biggest Call of Duty game yet."

Sales

Black Ops III sold 'significantly' better than Advanced Warfare and Ghosts, the two previous video game titles in the Call of Duty franchise, with Black Ops III making more than $550 million in sales during its first three days of release. In the United Kingdom, Black Ops III beat Halo 5: Guardians to become the top selling game. In November, Black Ops III was the top best selling game according to NPD's figures. Black Ops III later became the top selling game of 2015. According to Activision, Black Ops III was one of the best-selling games released for the eighth generation of video game consoles, and that its financial performance is significantly better than its predecessor, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.