At the time of this writing I’ve put quite a few hours into Call of Duty: Black Ops 3‘s competitive multiplayer component, playing on its online servers alongside others who have received the game slightly before its release date.
So what’s different in Treyarch’s return to the series? Is Black Ops 3 the game that will see those suffering from so-called “CoD fatigue” finally able to shake it off and fall back in love with a series that, despite still being an unflappable cash cow, has suffered from a lack of innovation over the past few years?
Let’s take a look at the good, the bad and the ugly of Call of Duty: Black Ops 3‘s multiplayer:
The Good
Increased mobility
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare saw the series focusing more upon players’ freedom of movement, allowing for double jumps and wall-climbing in order to add an extra layer of verticality to its maps. Black Ops 3 significantly ups the ante in this regard, now introducing wall-running that can see players traverse their way through maps faster than ever before, an improved jet pack that lets players perform an even more impressive double jump and a new sliding maneuver, which is perfect for evading enemy fire or swiftly moving into cover.
While Advanced Warfare snagged a few ideas from Titanfall, Black Ops 3 borrows them wholesale and implements them in a way that actually stands to complement the action quite well. The more diehard Call of Duty fans may not welcome this significant change of pace, but it certainly keeps things fresh and is very befitting of the twitch shooter gameplay that CoD exemplifies. It isn’t as finely tuned as it was in Titanfall (we’ll get to that later), but it’s certainly a much more impactful addition to multiplayer than it was in AW.
Good-looking maps
Since the original Modern Warfare, Call of Duty has always been earmarked as a relentlessly grey shooter. This is no longer the case in Black Ops 3, with the game’s maps each being immediately distinguishable from one another thanks to them being injected with an unparalleled level of color for the series. Don’t get me wrong, you’re not going to feel like you’re playing Splatoon, but this is most certainly the best-looking Call of Duty to take (from a multiplayer perspective, at least) in terms of art direction.
Key examples of this are Redwood, a lush, green map set in the North Californian forests, Aquarium, an… er… aquarium-based map located Singapore, and my current favorite Fringe, which takes place in an abandoned farm. Each are nice to look at and, from a purely aesthetic level, among the best the series has had to offer.
Customization
Since Modern Warfare, Call of Duty has placed an emphasis upon equipping your soldier with tools that will make both your teammates and opponents jealous, and this has never been more apparent than in Black Ops 3. Along with the typical array of custom emblems, calling cards and personalized weaponry, this time around you’ll also be able to comprehensively customize your player-character, equipping them with new armor and even post-game taunts that other players will be able to see if you manage to top the leaderboard.
Call of Duty has always been very good at pleasing its target audience, and with these new customization options players now have even more stuff to show off to their rivals, which will certainly go down well with them.
The Bad
Not as much fun as Titanfall
Call of Duty fans will likely attempt to crucify me for making such a sacrilegious statement, but I maintain that Call of Duty is still playing catch-up to Titanfall after Respawn Entertainment’s shooter revitalized the FPS genre. Sure, Titanfall may not have been as content-packed or as popular as your typical CoD, and its player base dissipated far too swiftly, but in terms of twitch-shooter gameplay Titanfall was second to none.
Since Titanfall, Call of Duty has clearly tried to produce its own spin on the free-running formula, and while they have certainly had more success with it in Black Ops 3 than in Advanced Warfare, it still feels somewhat derivative. I maintain my opinion that if Titanfall 2 goes multi-platform, which I’m almost certain it will do, Call of Duty will have to do a lot more than just throw wall-running into the mix if it wants to compete.
Class-specific abilities
Maybe this is something that will become more apparent as time passes and people grow more accustomed to the different classes, but throughout the beta and now in the full game, the class abilities still seem relatively useless. Yes, they may contribute to a few kills along the way, but in comparison with class-specific abilities in other games they seem almost throwaway.
While there are YouTube videos highlighting how abilities such as the Prophet’s Glitch can be utilized successfully, it seems that the vast majority of the time you’re better off sticking to running around and shooting your enemies in the face rather than trying to strategically take them out with your character’s special ability. Maybe I’ll eventually be proven wrong on this one, but right now it doesn’t feel these classes are the revolutionary additions to Call of Duty multiplayer that they were touted as being.
Map design doesn’t particularly incorporate free-running
Black Ops 3‘s added mobility is fun and all, but it seems like Treyarch struggled to actually incorporate it into the game’s map design in any meaningful way. A few maps feature the odd wall hanging in mid-air that is clearly intended to be traversed across, but other than that your new-found wall-running ability will largely go wasted. This is an unfortunate oversight, given that wall-running is a very fun new addition but only exists in Black Ops 3‘s competitive multiplayer in order for you to travel through the map faster.
It would’ve been much more preferable had Treyarch decided to include maps that actively encouraged wall-running, allowing for intense shootouts between teams as they jumped between the walls of buildings. As it stands, this new mechanic can be avoided altogether and, considering that it puts you at a tactical disadvantage if an enemy decides to shoot you while you’re wall-running, avoiding it is often the preferable option.
The Ugly
Lack of party games
Don’t get me wrong, Black Ops 3 is packed with content – between its campaign, competitive multiplayer, zombie mode and tons of game types, there’s plenty to do here – but one glaring omission is the significant lack of party game types.
One of the most enjoyable aspects of the Black Ops series has always been its more laid-back game types such as Sticks and Stones, One in the Chamber et al. This year there are only three “bonus” game types, with Gun Game being the only mode from previous generations to have made the cut. While custom game types are available and have more robust options than ever before, it’s a shame that players won’t be able to experience some of their favorite game modes of previous iterations in the series this time around.
Maybe they’ll be included in future DLC, but at the moment the dearth of options for those who want to take a break from the staunchly competitive main multiplayer modes have little to do outside of TDM, Domination, Capture the Flag and the like.
Conclusion
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3‘s multiplayer component is the best the series has had to offer since Modern Warfare 3. It’s more fast-paced, with an added focus upon mobility that incorporates a new strategic element into its gameplay.
While Call of Duty has lingered in the doldrums over the course of its past few releases, meaning that the above statement is therefore not as bold it once may have been when the series was at its peak, this is still a very fun shooter that doesn’t exactly reinvent the wheel for the series, but is a breath of fresh air following the disappointment of Advanced Warfare, Ghosts and Black Ops II. Treyarch haven’t managed to match the quality of the original Black Ops‘ multiplayer, but they’re certainly back on the right path.
