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E3 2015 Preview: Call of Duty: Black Ops III

At E3 this year, Stevivor took part in Call of Duty: Black Ops III campaign and multiplayer briefings, along with some hands-on time with the game’s multiplayer.

Campaign-wise, journalists were shown a fifteen minute sequence that was basically an extended version of the gameplay shown as Microsoft Sony’s E3 press conference. Essentially, a team of four co-op players mowed down enemies and eventually teamed up to take down a huge tank-like vehicle.

A rather short video briefing ahead of the action promised much, but explained very little. A Treyarch developer promised a campaign plot that “explores the deep mysteries of human curiosity”, adding that “your actions will keep or tip the balance of power”. Well, okay then.

The game’s four-player co-op campaign can be played either locally or online, and each player will be able to customise their own character. No matter what your protagonist ends up looking like, he or she will possess special abilities thanks to brain grafts; these were the cybercore-driven functions seen in the gameplay demo, including drone takeover, a firefly swarm and more.

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While the gameplay demo did show off some other abilities, including a Titanfall-like wall run, the nature of the presentation meant no one in the room could ask any questions about it.

Multiplayer was a different beast, and clearly what Treyarch was itching to show off.

Sure, the wall-run is like Titanfall, but comparisons faded quickly when other new abilities were added in. Sprinting is now unlimited, which makes sense, really; it wouldn’t work to run out of gas running up the side of a structure. Tied into that is the idea of automatic mantling; you don’t need to press a button any longer to climb over an object in your way. The functionality makes perfect sense, but it does take some getting used to – those with Call of Duty muscle memory will find themselves mashing buttons for no reason.

Exosuit-less, you still have manoeuvrability that mimics that of Advanced Warfare. You’ve a double jump, of sorts, that’s tied to a moon-shaped meter on-screen. As you initially jump, the meter will tell you how much double-jump you have left, essentially; you can hold it to float as if with a jetpack, or tap it for short, controlled bursts. Like a jetpack too, I guess, but of a different sort.

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The other really big change to the whole experience is Treyarch’s new philosophy of ‘weapons up’, meaning you’re constantly in a position to shoot, no matter if you’re on the side of a wall, double-jumping or automatically clambering over windowsills.

While core CoD elements still exist – loadouts, killstreaks and the like – new multiplayer characters come with their own special skills and weaponry, exclusive to the characters themselves. Highlighted at E3 were Prophet and Nomad.

Prophet – not to mistaken with Crysis’ protagonist – carries something akin to an arc weapon. It can be used to connect with single enemies, or arc its lighting-based fire across multiple, clustered enemies.

Prophet’s special ability is galled Glitch, which is a teleport of sorts. Shown how it works, Prophet threw a Glitch grenade near a doorway, ran off… and as an enemy followed behind him, Prophet was teleported back to the grenade. That positioned him behind the enemy, letting him take out his opponent easily from behind.

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If Prophet isn’t your guy, you could use Nomad instead. He carries a grenade launcher equipped with something more like proximity mines. As enemies trigger the projectiles, they fire out nanobots that swarm and attack ruthlessly.

Nomad has the Rejack special ability, again using nanobots, but this time healing the character after near-death enounters

All up, Call of Duty: Black Ops III has the fast-paced multiplayer you expect with a franchise, combined with the same types of innovative enhancements that made Advanced Warfare’s multiplayer so fun to play.

As for campaign? Treyarch promised we’d hear more about it very soon.

Call of Duty: Black Ops III will be available on Windows PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One from 6 November. Black Ops III marks Call of Duty‘s move from Xbox to PlayStation as its primary console.


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About the author

Steve Wright

Steve's the owner of this very site and an active games journalist nearing twenty (TWENTY!?!) years. He's a Canadian-Australian gay gaming geek, ice hockey player and fan. Husband to Matt and cat dad to Wally and Quinn.