Home Gaming Call of Duty: Black Ops III Multiplayer Hands-On–A sleight of a bionic hand

Call of Duty: Black Ops III Multiplayer Hands-On–A sleight of a bionic hand

3 min read
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There is one simple fact that everyone needs to come to terms with. Every year there’s a new Call of Duty, and for the most part they’re actually all really good games. Aside from one or two hiccups recently (I’m looking at you Ghosts), Call of Duty has managed to tweak their winning online formula with some incredible success. It keeps the game feeling fresh, the pros and public alike on their toes, and is a way to stand out from the franchise’s illustrious lineage.

There is no better way to describe Black Ops IIIs multiplayer without adding it to that growing list.

Stepping into an extended play sessions of some game modes in the multiplayer portion of the game, I had a slight idea of what to expect, Black Ops III had learnt a few things from Advanced Warfare – offering all players a small little thruster which opened up boost jumps, rocket propelling slides and some really familiar wall running. That was the change Sledgehammer brought to the series, and it fits in right at home with Black Ops III.

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It also goes hand in had with some truly smooth animations around the board. Vaulting out of a window carries a lot more weight to it now, and overall the interactions your character have with the world around him seem far more intuitive. Again not typically unique, but an improvement nonetheless.

This extends to class creation, which is fairly standard fare ever since Black Ops II introduced the tweaked and changed points system. You’ll be able to equip whatever combination of weaponry your heart desires, as long as a certain limit is adhered to. What was curious this time around though was the inclusion of a tactical knife – which bestowed the now stripped ability of murdering your foes with a single melee button press should they find themselves without the sharp end of the stick.

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What was different (and what makes up the biggest shift in Black Ops III multiplayer) was Specialists. Being set in the not too distant future, soldiers of this time are hyped up on all sorts of bionic enhancements and improvements. Picking a Specialist not only changes things like gender, appearance, voice and more, it also changes the way you approach class creation, enemy engagements or just harmless fun.

Each Specialist comes with a perk that charges over time in game. These rewards are then bestowed upon the player – either in the form of lower Killstreak scores, a HIVE weapon that shot what looked like bee hive mines and one particularly useful Blink-like ability. These dramatically change the tide of the battle, with a single player rocking a bionic minigun arm able to mow down enemies with complete ease.

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What surprised me was how well they integrated into the near perfect close quarters formula of multiplayer Call of Duty has had for so many year. Running into a enemy that can literally reverse your last few seconds of damage is jarring at first, but it becomes a much more enjoyable experience when you start messing around with abilities of your own. On of my personal favourites was a Bow and Arrow belonging to a Hunter-like female Specialist. With the arrows primed with explosives, it was easy to take out massive groups of enemies at a time – something my assault rifle a few seconds ago would struggle with.

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Couple that with the neat little movement enhancements, and Black Ops III was a faster, just as chaotic experience that you’ve probably already played. there’s nothing wrong with that either too, since it’s going to take much more than a few passive/aggressive abilities to sway them back into the franchise. At this point, I don’t think that’s even really important to Treyacrh – who are simply trying to do their past prestige justice with some long standing Call of Duty revolutions.

Just how much more there is to see aside from this short demo remains to be seen though.

Last Updated: August 7, 2015

25 Comments

  1. Been a while since i have had a COD, and I’m pretty keen to see how this one shapes up! **ahhh bring on the hate, i can handle it this morning, the long weekend is only 7 hours away

    Reply

    • SkittelZA

      August 7, 2015 at 09:48

      I made the mistake of recently purchasing CoD: AW because I got it for 60% off, and found out that the local community is non-existent. And as a result, I cannot even play MP 😛

      I suppose that serves me right for buying it just before the next one’s release, but still, I am surprised that no one is even playing the latest CoD locally on PC. It makes me scared to buy the new one if the community disappears so quickly. I remember playing CoD MW and MW2 for ages after release with full games all the time :/ *weep*

      Reply

      • BurninZ

        August 7, 2015 at 10:33

        oh gees seriously! Would not have though the community support for such a new game would drop off so quickly. I really hope that does not set the trend for this release.

        Reply

        • Axon1988

          August 7, 2015 at 11:12

          The Black Ops 2 community is still very much alive. Treyarch know they have a classic on their hands. Blops 2 did great. So I am honestly excited about 3.

          Reply

          • SkittelZA

            August 7, 2015 at 11:29

            Oh ok cool, that is interesting. Well then I hope that Blops 3 will be the same. I NEED to have a good CoD game for the epic MP! (The netcode fail in BF makes me so sad every time I play it 🙁 )

          • Axon1988

            August 7, 2015 at 11:37

            I’m not much of a multiplayer fan though. I stick to games like Payday 2 for the coop. That’s what I live for.

          • SkittelZA

            August 7, 2015 at 11:39

            I can relate, co-op is definitely the best. PayDay 2 was amazing. My one problem with it is that the guns didn’t feel all that great / powerful.

            But I like being able to hop onto MP and play a few quick rounds because my gaming time is usually limited to just 0.5 – 1 hour at a time.

          • Axon1988

            August 7, 2015 at 11:48

            Okay then I would highly suggest you get Insurgency. The weapon mechanics are great, with custom loadouts. The community is fantastic with local dedicated servers. And it caters for both coop (which I love) and PVP. It’s not even a very expensive game, but the community is what keep drawing me back into it. So really, give them a try.

          • SkittelZA

            August 7, 2015 at 11:49

            That is great news… I have Insurgency 🙂 Although when I bought it there were no local servers, so I was playing with a ping of 150 – 200 on UK servers. I would gladly play it on local servers 😀 Will re-install now, shot!

          • Axon1988

            August 7, 2015 at 11:56

            Hook me up on steam and I’ll help you out where I can: bolgoniusmaximus is my steam name.

            Otherwise if you just want a fun coop game with some of the best weapon mechanics in the business, then I recommend Killing Floor 2. It’s not quite finished yet, but it’s already a super solid shooter.

          • SkittelZA

            August 7, 2015 at 12:05

            I don’t find bolgoniusmaximus 🙁 I played Killing Floor 1, was awesome. I might grab 2 as well, but I was hoping for it to leave Early Access first.

          • Axon1988

            August 7, 2015 at 12:33

            KF2 might be worth it already… but then it is up to you. Bologniusmaximus / jason_voorhees707 , don’t judge me.

          • SkittelZA

            August 7, 2015 at 12:36

            Shot, found you. Was the typo in the original 🙂

      • Mossel

        August 7, 2015 at 12:12

        Black Ops 2 still has the biggest online community on steam. It really is sad because I also like CoD:AW. But I’m forced to play BO2, because no one is online.

        Reply

  2. Dutch Matrix

    August 7, 2015 at 08:17

    Call of Dooty! I am hoping for a single player campaign an par with Modern Warfare 2’s.

    Reply

  3. WitWolfy

    August 7, 2015 at 08:32

    So its official, next year COD is going to be 1:1 carbon copy of Titanfall! They similarities are almost insulting!

    Reply

  4. oVg Up for a game of Gwent?

    August 7, 2015 at 08:46

    Call of Doody has multiplayer?

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      August 7, 2015 at 08:50

      haha

      Reply

      • oVg Up for a game of Gwent?

        August 7, 2015 at 08:58

        This is what my brain has been seeing the past 8 years every time a COD article is posted.

        Reply

        • Dutch Matrix

          August 7, 2015 at 09:00

          You have a brain? IT’S A MIRACLE!

          Reply

          • oVg Up for a game of Gwent?

            August 7, 2015 at 09:14

            I need to beat your ass at a game of Gwent, you ploughing peasant 😛

          • Dutch Matrix

            August 7, 2015 at 09:17

            I played one hand of Gwent! Got murdered. So beating me at Gwent isn’t going to do much for your ego I am afraid.

          • oVg Up for a game of Gwent?

            August 7, 2015 at 09:56

            I might win a frost card from your shit deck?… pass

          • Dutch Matrix

            August 7, 2015 at 10:03

            If you say so…

        • Hammersteyn

          August 7, 2015 at 09:03

          Yeah, I just change the channel

          Reply

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