Call of Duty: Black Ops III's Live Action PS4 Ad Treads Familiar Ground

Stop us if you've seen this one before

by Sammy Barker Sun 1st Nov 2015

Activision's marketing department appears to have been working part-time this year, as Call of Duty: Black Ops III's latest live action advertisement is the same as all of the others. In it we see American actor Michael B. Jordan talking up 'Kevin' – a gamer fuel-powered everyman living out his ultimate power fantasy through the DualShock 4.

While it's a little lacking in the celebrity department this time, British socialite Cara Delevingne does pop up to check the 'cute girl' box. Oh, and if you're already sick of hearing The Rolling Stones, we recommend avoiding the embedded video like the bubonic plague. Paint It Black never was a good song to begin with…

[source youtube.com]

As the Editor of Push Square, Sammy has over 15 years of experience analysing the world of PlayStation, from PS3 through PS5 and everything in between. He’s an expert on PS Studios and industry matters, as well as sports games and simulators. He also enjoys RPGs when he has the time to dedicate to them, and is a bit of a gacha whale.

1
teknium_
Sun 1st Nov 2015

Whaaaaaaat??!?.... Paint it black is a great rolling stones song!!!

2
stevie85
Sun 1st Nov 2015

I hate paint it black

3
Luigi_Skywalker
Sun 1st Nov 2015

Ive played every call of duty online and off, black ops ii was my favorite multiplayer entry in the series. As it turns out, I have lost interest in the series. I hear about this game and it does nothing for me. Call of Duty, we had a good run, but Im cashing out.

4
Boerewors
Sun 1st Nov 2015

Every effing year! Every effing year I decide to pick up CoD later because I just play it for the single player anyway (yeah, I know :S), but then they put out a commercial like this and I go ahead and buy it day 1. I'm such a sucker for these things...what's wrong with me?!

5
Jaz007
Sun 1st Nov 2015

That is so stupid. Bring back The Replacer, now those were some great ads.

6
jonny_aces
Sun 1st Nov 2015

I love paint it black!! makes every advert 100× better and with the oh so stunning -soon to be Enchantress- Delevingne also in it, what's not to like??

7
WARDIE
Mon 2nd Nov 2015

Yet again I find myself disagreeing with Push Square. Top song and a pretty good trailer. Im no fan of the COD series but, this trailer got me a little pumped. Hell, theres a soldier in all of us, right? Haha

8
JaxonH
Mon 2nd Nov 2015

Great advertisement.

Guess just showing gameplay and letting the player decide isn't enough anymore.

Gaming truly has gone mainstream.

9
Luigi_Skywalker
Mon 2nd Nov 2015

@SkanetWasTaken Great movie. I saw it on Netflix.

10
AD-80
Mon 2nd Nov 2015

@JaxonH You need to see gameplay of BO3? Just take a look at the last 8 games of COD and there's your gameplay

11
AyanamiReign
Mon 2nd Nov 2015

I always liked these trailers, still do.

12
Dodoo
Mon 2nd Nov 2015

"Paint It Black never was a good song to begin with…"

Dafuq! What would you have put on there Sammy, Taylor Swift?!

13
BAMozzy
Mon 2nd Nov 2015

Paint it Black is an absolute classic!! An iconic 'Stones' track!!

As for the video itself, It may not be truly original but it's in keeping with the traditional Call of Duty live action and keeps the same tagline as those too - 'There's a soldier in all of us'

If anything its more comedic than some of the previous entries with 'Kevin' pulling off some of the new movement mechanics although the 'noob' videos were also funny. I don;t generally like 'live-action' videos as the technology has moved on significantly that game-play and graphics are more than sufficient to sell a game.