Welcome folks, to the first review on this blog. This time we are covering a very polarising game franchise indeed - Call of Duty. Its no surprise that most call every new release the same as the last with a new lick of paint - releasing yearly will do that to you - c'mon Activision, stop it already. In any case, that isn't strictly true. While many laud CoD 4 as the top dog, three stand out to me as being innovative. Modern Warfare 3, for its Strike Packages (why did they get rid of these? They were awesome. Score streaks are almost as good so its not a *huge* deal), Black Ops 2 for the 'Pick' system, and Advanced Warfare for the Exo mechanics. These are proof that Call of Duty ISN'T the same every year, and the main reason I get so peeved when people try to say it is.
Now, I realise a lot of people were put off from Call of Duty after the horrific mess that was Ghosts (Seriously what were they thinking? IT HAS A DOG GUYS. GAME OF THE YEAR) and the futuristic setting of Advanced Warfare - I have some good news and some bad. It isn't a shit heap like Ghosts, but it does still push the future spin. It retains the Exo mechanics somewhat, stripping away the abilities from it but still letting you boost jump and power slide, while also letting you wall run - it removed a lot of the upwards mobility but let you use the new features to attack from unexpected angles - its so fantastic to come blitzing around a corner on a wall and taking someone by complete surprise. It does take a bit of getting used to though if, like me the last Call of Duty game you played was Black Ops 2, so I do recommend hopping into single player first unless you don't mind getting stomped on for the early part of your multiplayer career.
Does Black Ops 3 pull Call of Duty back from the depths of despair? I think it just might.
I will start with covering the single player experience. You do get the choice of playing any mission right from the get go if you like, but I played through from the start, on Veteran, in co-op with my younger brother (Yes! Treyarch have brought back the co-op campaign, letting you smash through it with up to three buddies). It took us maybe an hour and a half to complete each mission, we weren't rushing particularly (he is a bit of a hoarder so we took the time to get most of the collectibles) but we didn't dally either. The single player game has a levelling feature similar to multiplayer now, letting you unlock different guns for you load-out in the pre-mission 'hub', along with new abilities for each of the three different cores available pretty early in the game. Each one focuses on a different aspect of combat, and these are explained in the second mission when you get access to them. Along with that you do get to customise your character with different armor and headpieces awarded after each mission as well as its gender (which you can change whenever you like by the way). The survival 'mini-game' has been included in the campaign hub too, accessible from the terminal with four seats near to the deployment area - I will be honest and say I didn't touch this but I figure it does what it says on the tin. Good for testing your new weapons and abilities I suppose if that's your jam.
Mechanics and systems aside, lets talk story quality. Personally? I think it is one of the best Call of Duty campaigns to date. It is nice and self contained, with plenty of twists - I thought I knew who the baddie was fairly early on - needless to say I was wrong. Kinda. Twists guys. It was a pretty emotional ride as you plow through, especially around halfway through the campaign - once you start getting to what you assume is the main plot point. Its hard to say more without spoilers but trust me - you really do start to feel pretty shitty. There were two missions that stood out as good fun for me - the first is about half way through the game. It contained a sequence where you have the option of going in guns blazing, or with provided suppressed sniper rifle, you can take everyone out stealthily and walk through without a care in the world. The other mission is towards the end of the game where you fight through an imagined World War 2 setting complete with American and Nazi soldiers, Tiger II's and giant dire wolves (wait what?). They also throw in a short Zombie sequence in here too - I must admit it did feel a bit tedious with how long that seemed to drag on for but it didn't really detract too much - and it *did* fit in with the narrative so I guess I will let them off. But yeah. The ending? Very good, and certainly not what I was expecting only hours before. And that's not to mention the nods to the past Treyarch entries - Nova 6, a poster of Mason, a nod to Menendez all lead to a nice and cohesive timeline throughout. Props Treyarch!
Speaking of Zombies, it wouldn't be a Treyarch game without a Zombies mode! Now now, you didn't think the Nightmares mode was all you were getting did you? Oh no. You get the same Zombies mode you know and love, barricades, mystery box et-al. The map you get on ship is set in a prohibition era Midwest America from what I can tell, with very unique characters - all with excellent VO lines, again as ever. This is by far the hardest launch map yet, with tight corridors, a handful of new enemies, new mechanics and a tough easter egg. What makes it special this time around? Well, the addition of gobblegum is nice, giving you pseudo-perks (depending on the color - some last for 3 rounds for example, some on a timer and some take action when you die or respawn) that do really change how you play in the later rounds. You start out with five unlocked, and you unlock more as you level up in the Zombies mode (yep, you level up in Zombies too!) as well as being able to gamble for single use 'mega' gobblegum which offer much more powerful and unique effects with a resource you get for playing - you can change your pack of five gobblegum from the lobby and activate them from machines in game for 500 points - the activation is random however so you don't quite know which of the five you are getting! Aside from the gobblegum unlocking as you level up, you do also get the option to customise the weapons you pick up from the wall or the box at different levels - starting with camo but later being able to add various attachments. Some might complain it makes the game easier but honestly, later waves get very tedious so a little extra in the early game isn't too bad. Again, a nice feature in my opinion - besides haven't we all wanted golden guns in Zombies?
And with that we come to the meat and potatoes - the main reason a lot of people purchase Call of Duty. The fast paced multiplayer arena spectacle combat. I used to hear so many complain about people camping - well the good news is that its pretty much GONE. At least, I haven't noticed any in the couple of hours I have put in - there is a much bigger focus on moving all the time what with the exo 2.0 as it were. It feels a lot faster than Black Ops 2 did, and definitely has a bigger skill gap - being able to snap shot someone while doing a thrust jump or a wall run is pretty difficult if you haven't used these mechanics before but when you master them you will feel great and your scores will really sky-rocket. The maps also have a much bigger vertical aspect to them than previously, gone are the days of Modern Warfare's flat, rectangular obstacle strewn maps, replaced by the pitfall laden up-and-down cluster fucks of Black Ops 3. Its really hard to put it into words, but essentially I'm telling you it is VASTLY different to the Call of Duty you know and love (or hate!) while still retaining a lot of the familiarity.
It does away with Advanced Warfare's character customisation in favor of tying an ability and signature weapon to each character - there is a huge selection (half unlocked at the onset, the others unlock as you level up) of characters, men, women, a robot... each have their own VO too which is nice to hear. I have played with Battery pretty much exclusively, as my first unlock token went towards unlocking her Kinetic Armor - an ability that deflects bullets from her torso but still leaves her vulnerable to head shots and non-bullet damage (Semtex will mess up your day). I did unlock the Gravity Spikes for Ruin, a rather gruff looking fellow - the Spikes do a ground pound style attack where you leap forward and slam down for often devastating damage which increases for the distance you travel before hitting the ground (both vertical and horizontal). Sadly I didn't really enjoy that too much so promptly switched back to Battery for a bit before unlocking Outriders Vision Pulse. This is a short range radial burst that highlights enemies through walls and obstacles - very handy indeed.
All in all the multiplayer feels pretty new and exciting to me, with a lot of depth, customisation, and opportunity for a high skill ceiling. All great stuff! Couple that with a fantastic campaign experience, stellar zombies mode and the reintroduction of mod tools for PC - something we haven't seen for a while and honestly a dearly missed feature, this will definitely keep the Zombies mode alive for plenty of time to come. All things considered you get a fantastic complete game with plenty of new and interesting content to keep you occupied for at least the next year when we find out whether or not the next instalment is worth your money - because honestly this one definitely is. My only criticisms of the game are the aforementioned tedious zombies sequence in the main campaign, the complete switch to futuristic weapons (I miss my AK and SCAR dammit) and while it doesn't particularly affect me, the last generation releases (PS3 and Xbox 360) are VERY bare-bones, launching with no campaign, nightmares campaign, vast amounts of missing multiplayer features and a lack of split screen in addition to a very downgraded visual quality have led to some people questioning why they even bothered. To note however, Treyarch didn't have any hands on with this version, it was developed jointly by Beenox (of Skylanders fame) and Mercenary Technology. Either way it is still inexcusable when compared to previous instalments on those consoles.
Overall I would say the PC version is very much deserving of a solid 8 out of 10, thanks to its solid features, narrative and the inclusion of mod tools.
The current console generation releases getting a 7 out of 10 because of the lack of mod support.
Finally, the last generation version earns its self a disgusting 5 out 10 because honestly there was no need for it. Nobody asked for it, especially not in that state.
I hope you enjoyed the review, if you did (or didn't!) I would appreciate some feedback! Next week we will try and get around to Fallout 4 if I can pry it away from my brother for a while. Otherwise look forward to a Battlefront review as I did just pick that up on Origin. Take care guys!
No comments:
Post a Comment