Call Of Duty: Black Ops 3
Discussion
http://www.gamesradar.com/call-duty-black-ops-3-re...
Worth getting excited about, I'd say. I thought Advanced Warfare was an unlikely return to form for the series which had been looking pretty s
t after Ghosts. Black Ops II was amazing, but it seems like so long ago.
Rejoice, then, as Treyarch are back at the helm which means all the IW fanbois will be bhing, but we'll get a more characterful and fun shooter out of it. I'm glad to see current generation consoles are the only ones being supported here, as it was about time the old hardware was left to rot (and will this brave step have a knock on for other big titles like the next Destiny?). Looks fast, fun and fking fantastic.
I've already pre-ordered a copy though I must admit, the idea of beta access isn't what swayed me. I doubt I'll use it, as I love COD for it's super polished online experience. I've been to midnight launches for the last couple of COD games but I must admit, I can't be fking arsed this time. I'll have it on my doormat this this time, I think. Hopefully this will be enough to bring my brother back to the game, as he didn't bother with AW and I always enjoyed party gaming with him on COD.
Just six months to wait then, best get on with Bloodborne...
Worth getting excited about, I'd say. I thought Advanced Warfare was an unlikely return to form for the series which had been looking pretty s
t after Ghosts. Black Ops II was amazing, but it seems like so long ago.Rejoice, then, as Treyarch are back at the helm which means all the IW fanbois will be b
hing, but we'll get a more characterful and fun shooter out of it. I'm glad to see current generation consoles are the only ones being supported here, as it was about time the old hardware was left to rot (and will this brave step have a knock on for other big titles like the next Destiny?). Looks fast, fun and fking fantastic. I've already pre-ordered a copy though I must admit, the idea of beta access isn't what swayed me. I doubt I'll use it, as I love COD for it's super polished online experience. I've been to midnight launches for the last couple of COD games but I must admit, I can't be f
king arsed this time. I'll have it on my doormat this this time, I think. Hopefully this will be enough to bring my brother back to the game, as he didn't bother with AW and I always enjoyed party gaming with him on COD.Just six months to wait then, best get on with Bloodborne...
Mastodon2 said:
Wall running? Jump packs? Sounds like fking Titanfall, which was st.
If it's anything like AW it'll be good. Titanfall lacked a bit of balance and the best thing a it was playing on foot, that was certainly more fun than piloting a Titan. I didn't think AW was spoiled for it's inclusion of jump packs, so I look forward to this. Indeed. AW was surprisingly good after the shockingly bad Ghosts.king Titanfall, which was st.I've just decided not to bother with the beta this time around, on Xbox or PS4. I've already got the game on order, but I won't be going to a midnight launch this year. I went to the Ghosts launch at the Metro Centre, which was good. Only three people there, in and out very quickly. Last year, I went to one in town after finishing work. Took 20 minutes just to get to the till, I'll stay in this year.
I've ordered it from Amazon this year. I went to midnight launches for last two and won't do so again. I got Ghosts at the Metro Centre, which was fine. Only three of us there, out the door with the game at 00:03 and got to see the Metro Centre at night, when it's empty. Last year I went to Grainger Games in Byker, as I rode over on my motorbike after finishing work at 22:30. The place was rammed, it reeked to high heaven and the queue was so long I didn't get served until about 00:20. I'd sooner stay at home and just get it in the post.
iphonedyou said:
As do I! Although I don't much like zombies.
No Nuk3town on the Amazon pre-order. Such an odd decision.
Yeah, what the fNo Nuk3town on the Amazon pre-order. Such an odd decision.
k is all that about? Surely Amazon must be selling thousands of fking copies today? I presume you can purchase the map in game? I'm loathe to spend any more on the game than I already have but I'll shell out for that map as I love the constant scorestreak it produces. I couldn't get any of my Monster codes to work on the site, so I've given up on that. It's Double XP for the Zombies mode anyway, but that mode looks pretty f
king good this time around so I'll just have to work hard and play it for longer. The server performance tonight has been absolutely dreadful. Can't get a team game on Zombies. Had a good run solo, netted loads of XP and then got disconnected before the totting up screen, so all the XP I'd accumulated didn't bank. MP performance is pretty fking crap too, I'm getting dropped into French games FFS.
king crap too, I'm getting dropped into French games FFS.Adamantium84 said:
There are dedicated servers. Console has had them since at least advanced warfare, possibly ghosts. Advanced warfare used a hybrid system where it connected you to a server or via p2p based on what would be best for each user.
Also, lag compensation is necessary in all online games and has always been there. It seems to have become a term people band about without actually knowing what it is.
The problem with COD is not lag comp or whatever, but rather the fact it never feels like an even playing field. You're either benefiting from a big host advantage or suffering from the same. I used to think that sometimes, I was just tired and that was what made me feel like I was behind the action, but the truth became evident as time went on when I'd find that some games, I was almost always beaten to the punch whilst in others I'd usually have a massive advantage in gunfights and trading shots. The kill cams aren't 100% accurate but they're a good enough guide when you feel like you've been iced in a split second, only to look back and see the enemy shooting at you for a second or two. The difference in experience is palpable, and was never more evident than when the game had that cinema editing mode, which really showed the difference in what was happening, and what you thought was happening when compared against player footage from the same game. If they could be bothered to just make the game feel more fair, I'd be very happy. I still enjoy it for what it is, but there are still thousands of players online at any one time, I don't see why they struggle to give good matches. Also, lag compensation is necessary in all online games and has always been there. It seems to have become a term people band about without actually knowing what it is.
FWIW, I'm quite enjoying this new COD but then, Treyarch's games games have always been the best of the lot. It's a shame that singleplayer has been removed from the last gen versions, but then whoever is still playing an Xbox 360 really needs to get with the times. The single player mode is pretty fun, the levels are a bit more smartly designed and the recharging core abilities are fun. Much like with AW, it feels like a lot of hard work and care has gone into making a better single player experience which many will just skip. Zombies is also a lot better this time around, though it's very tough. I expect it'll be softened as time goes by.
The MP remains as finely crafted as ever, netcode issues aside. However, the most compelling MP map so far is set in some trippy WW2 style setting - take the f
king series back to a proper war! Black Ops 3 is probably as good as future war is going to get, especially since they've toned down the boost jumps. But really, just set the next fking game in Vietnam. I've finished the campaign now, and I'm at mid 20's on the MP. A few thoughts below, in no particular order.
1) Whilst the campaign is clearly a crafted product that has had some care lavished on it, it's clear that it's becoming increasingly irrelevant in COD. It used to be the meat and potatos, and the MP was just a side dish! Some of my earlier Veteran battles seem like ancient history now. The whole experience has become a bit identikit now. The only thing that Black Ops 3 does to shake the mix up is the WW2 flashback, which is by far the best part of the single player campaign.
2) Christopher Meloni does a good part in the single player. I wonder how good an idea it was though, to have such an extensive back story buried in the codex system on the computer in your bunk. I couldn't be arsed with reading most of that, because you're clicking links and often reading content that isn't relevant at your stage in the story. The story itself is decent by COD standards, but it's not as good as previous Black Ops efforts. It keeps you going through some rather dull levels, at least.
3) Always use the hacker core, I didn't realise until after I'd finished the game that you can hack the four legged missile platforms, making some of the game's toughest fights far easier and far shorter.
4) I'll go back and probably finish it on Veteran but I won't bother with realistic, even with team mates. I just didn't love the experience enough to suffer it for that much longer, but it's certainly welcome that veteran achievements are dished out by the level now, rather than just for finishing the whole game. That's like WaW, where some levels were doable on veteran but two, I never finished. The last level of BO3 has a big, Reichstag style battle at the start with infinitely respawning enemies. It's a bit of a pain in the arse but it reminds you of the old COD, when a lucky headlong charge was often essential for progress.
5) I had a fantastic connection on MP last night and was hammering Kill Confirmed. That Vesper sub is just incredible up close. Some big points were scored.
6) I'm glad the boost jump has been toned down from AW, that was too much. It's still here, but at least now the boost jump and wall running aren't a big deal. However, it's a bit samey to see so many of the MP maps being the 'rooftop garden' or 'rooftop construction site'. That is a COD trope that has been done to death.
7) It's nice to see that killstreaks have been toned right down. Taking away cumulative scoring and weakening the strikes is definitely a good move. Now it's really back to what you can do with your shooting, although having no one hit melee attack feels strange. I'll not bother with the combat knife, but was that really necessary to do away with the juggernaut builds of the past?
Anyway, I had came to this COD thinking that it was time for COD to go back to a realistic, historical conflict and give the players what they want. However, after playing this one quite a lot since release, I've reached the conclusion that it's time for COD to take a break. It needs to go away for a while and refresh itself, and come back to the party with something new in a few years time. A new engine, new mechanics. It needs to sit back and observe how the competition looks, rather than just looking inward as it has for so many years now. When [i]Ghosts[/] turned out to be a load of st, I figured it was just the usual Infinity Ward rubbish and that COD would get back on it's feet. AW wasn't bad either, but if anyone was going to pull a quality COD out of the bag, it was Treyarch. So to find they've made a perfectly competent but rather uninspiring game has forced me to rethink my position; I thought I was waiting for another amazing COD game, but the fact is it just seems to have run out of steam.
I'll wrap this one up by getting to prestige once, and then it'll be going for trade in.
1) Whilst the campaign is clearly a crafted product that has had some care lavished on it, it's clear that it's becoming increasingly irrelevant in COD. It used to be the meat and potatos, and the MP was just a side dish! Some of my earlier Veteran battles seem like ancient history now. The whole experience has become a bit identikit now. The only thing that Black Ops 3 does to shake the mix up is the WW2 flashback, which is by far the best part of the single player campaign.
2) Christopher Meloni does a good part in the single player. I wonder how good an idea it was though, to have such an extensive back story buried in the codex system on the computer in your bunk. I couldn't be arsed with reading most of that, because you're clicking links and often reading content that isn't relevant at your stage in the story. The story itself is decent by COD standards, but it's not as good as previous Black Ops efforts. It keeps you going through some rather dull levels, at least.
3) Always use the hacker core, I didn't realise until after I'd finished the game that you can hack the four legged missile platforms, making some of the game's toughest fights far easier and far shorter.
4) I'll go back and probably finish it on Veteran but I won't bother with realistic, even with team mates. I just didn't love the experience enough to suffer it for that much longer, but it's certainly welcome that veteran achievements are dished out by the level now, rather than just for finishing the whole game. That's like WaW, where some levels were doable on veteran but two, I never finished. The last level of BO3 has a big, Reichstag style battle at the start with infinitely respawning enemies. It's a bit of a pain in the arse but it reminds you of the old COD, when a lucky headlong charge was often essential for progress.
5) I had a fantastic connection on MP last night and was hammering Kill Confirmed. That Vesper sub is just incredible up close. Some big points were scored.
6) I'm glad the boost jump has been toned down from AW, that was too much. It's still here, but at least now the boost jump and wall running aren't a big deal. However, it's a bit samey to see so many of the MP maps being the 'rooftop garden' or 'rooftop construction site'. That is a COD trope that has been done to death.
7) It's nice to see that killstreaks have been toned right down. Taking away cumulative scoring and weakening the strikes is definitely a good move. Now it's really back to what you can do with your shooting, although having no one hit melee attack feels strange. I'll not bother with the combat knife, but was that really necessary to do away with the juggernaut builds of the past?
Anyway, I had came to this COD thinking that it was time for COD to go back to a realistic, historical conflict and give the players what they want. However, after playing this one quite a lot since release, I've reached the conclusion that it's time for COD to take a break. It needs to go away for a while and refresh itself, and come back to the party with something new in a few years time. A new engine, new mechanics. It needs to sit back and observe how the competition looks, rather than just looking inward as it has for so many years now. When [i]Ghosts[/] turned out to be a load of s
t, I figured it was just the usual Infinity Ward rubbish and that COD would get back on it's feet. AW wasn't bad either, but if anyone was going to pull a quality COD out of the bag, it was Treyarch. So to find they've made a perfectly competent but rather uninspiring game has forced me to rethink my position; I thought I was waiting for another amazing COD game, but the fact is it just seems to have run out of steam. I'll wrap this one up by getting to prestige once, and then it'll be going for trade in.
TonyTony said:
Guy in the game store before was telling the people next to me buying it that it only has zombies and online and no campaign mode. 
The Xbox 360 and PS3 versions don't have the campaign mode at all, due to technical limitations. The scale of the some of the battles would probably have been too much for them to handle.There is also a hidden game I missed in the computer system in your room. Access the screen and click on the icon on the top left corner and it takes you to a hidden top down arcade shooter.
BaronVonVaderham said:
I have read several reviews but none mentioned all the campaign specific stuff you have re: last mission, character puzzles, revisiting certain historical times etc etc. I'm one of the few that value the campaign over the mp and you post let many cats out of the bag. Spoiler tags would have been appropriate or failing that a one line warning at the top of the post to read no further unless you have completed the campaign.
Yes I know it's not like it's FO4 but I do like some surprises to be left and most professional reviewers are adept at communicating their views about a game without ruining it for others who are yet to play, and haven't geeked out on every bit of pre released press.
FWIW...
I think the plot device of a corrupted AI forming through collective conciousness of some neural interface test subjects is interesting enough, but it doesn't get enough air time to really develop into something that has meaning to the player. I quite liked the frozen forest and raven imagery around the end of the game and the last level is quite interesting, once it starts getting trippy. The pace of the story sags badly in the middle though, as the Cairo levels are poor and the Hypodrome level is just plain boring and could have easily been skipped out. The whole Corvus thing is sort of dropped on you near the end when you suspect that some entity has corrupted the people who connected to it, that could have went a bit better.
As for the much talked about return to the WW2 battlefield, that was a massive let down and could have been handled so much better. It's too short, and the game doesn't take away your modern weapons or abilities, and it lets you use your tactical view to highlight enemies in cover. In short, you always feel like a Terminator and the German soldiers are torn to shreds with ease. This oversight completely saps that short section of any punch because you're not drawn into the conflict, you're just fighting poorly equipped enemy soldiers and a tank you can take the piss out of. I mean, come on, you can set the German soldiers on fire with a mental ability, whilst they're in cover, at a rate of about two every twenty seconds if you just let the skill recharge.
Treyarch should also have spread the achievements out a bit more. There is too much weighted towards crappy skills in the campaign which force you to pick a certain ability just to bum rush five enemies in three seconds or whatever, or use a rubbish melee combo that you'd never otherwise use. Then there are three achievements for levelling up in MP, despite that being where about 80% of game time will be spent. Which is to say nothing of Nightmares mode - the campaign re-run with zombie enemies. There are no achievements at all in that mode, and apparently no incentive to play it either!
The Zombies mode loses it's shine quite quickly, not least because the matchmaking is terrible. I'd say I get about one game with other players for every seven or eight times I try, and when it fails to find you a game it doesn't restart matchmaking, it just idles and sits you on the menu doing nothing. The zombies mode itself is pretty poorly balanced too, with the zombies being absolute terminators and the guns feeling a bit crappy. It's a shame because there has obviously been a lot of care lavished on the production and art design for it, but the core mechanics are a bit naff. It's pretty buggy too, with numerous clumsy glitches showing. I suppose it shows that for the whole package, Treyarch have tried to do so much and cram so much in that it's perhaps led to the whole package seeming a little mediocre.
Connection was dreadful this afternoon. Lobbies were struggling to fill up, and hosts were getting migrated all over the place. However, I did find myself on the better end of the connection for a few games and scored a 26/4 K
Kill Confirmed game earlier. I even got a kill that crap dart killstreak.
Kill Confirmed game earlier. I even got a kill that crap dart killstreak.Infinity Ward engine? You may be surprised to discover it's a Quake engine! It's older than a lot of the people playing it!
As for the story content, it's a bit of a missed opportunity. The Black Ops storyline was by far the strongest we'd seen in a COD game, so it's a shame to see this has fk all to do with it other than one passing name drop reference. This is more like a better take on what AW tried to do, but it's still as tired as fk.
As for the story content, it's a bit of a missed opportunity. The Black Ops storyline was by far the strongest we'd seen in a COD game, so it's a shame to see this has f
k all to do with it other than one passing name drop reference. This is more like a better take on what AW tried to do, but it's still as tired as fk. Gassing Station | Video Games | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff