Call of Duty: Black Ops III is out – but reviews are only just popping up around the web. Chances are you already knew whether you were going to buy the first-person shooter beforehand, but if you have been waiting for some critical opinion, we've included a slew of appraisals for your perusal pleasure below. Our review is still forthcoming – Activision didn't send us it yet.
Game Informer - 9/10
Despite a campaign that struggles with occasional mundane shootouts that bring the out-of-this-world story down to earth, the overall Call of Duty: Black Ops III package is incredibly strong, with something for everyone. Whether you're into traditional multiplayer mayhem or zombie survival, you've got lots of choices that are fun solo and even better with friends.
GameSpot - 7/10
In its undead modes, and the first 10 hours of multiplayer, it excels. But in its campaign, it merely crawls forward. Black Ops III doesn't offer anything remarkable to the series, but does just enough to maintain the Call of Duty status quo. The franchise, however slowly, continues its inexorable march.
Polygon - 7/10
At its heart, Black Ops 3's multiplayer is still very much Treyarch's take on Call of Duty. This means it's fun — Call of Duty and Black Ops found a basis for solid, competitive multiplayer that worked almost a decade ago, and it still resonates here and there. But I'm surprised by how familiar, how recognizable it all feels, which is even more disappointingly the case with its campaign. Black Ops 3's biggest point of recommendation may be the breadth of content there, and that's a valid point of view. But Treyarch doesn't meaningfully move the series forward here.
Giant Bomb - 3/5
Stuff. This game has a ton of stuff in it. The modes are there, they're many, and they're relatively diverse for a Call of Duty game. On paper, it might be the biggest Call of Duty package yet. But the devil's in the details here, and various changes made to multiplayer feel like more wheel-spinning from a series that's had a little too much wheel-spinning over the last few years. The movement options are nice, but I'd rather play this game with the movement controls found in last year's game. Perhaps some pockets of the still-large Call of Duty fanbase will enjoy different parts of it more than I did, but as I add it all up, Black Ops III is a pretty even mix of positive and negatives. It's OK.
Will you be painting your PS4 black this weekend, or is Call of Duty: Black Ops III not looking like your cup of tea? Launch your UAV in the comments section below.
Comments (36)
If Sticks and Stones, One in the Chamber and the Gun Game are back I will be playing this non-stop.
I had one of my pre-order copies arrive yesterday so spent a few hours playing the 3 various modes. I only played the first campaign mission and only played it Solo too so I can't comment - I also haven't unlocked the 'Nightmare' campaign mode either.
The Zombies map is 'huge' and adds a few more things to the experience of past games. It still retains the essence and the new movement isn'tt a part of this experience thankfully!
The MP is much more like the traditional CoD MP experience rather than last years 'mess' that was Advanced Warfare. Maps flow much better as a result and it 'feels' like CoD even with the Specialists and new movement mechanics. The movement is used to get around quicker, to get to the action and objectives but not as impactful and influential over the experience as AW which for me is great.
For me, I really didn't like Advanced Warfare overall. It had a good campaign but Zombies didn't feel right and the MP was a chaotic mess with a big emphasis on movement over gun skill.
I do think this is a better CoD than the previous 2 (Ghosts and AW) with more options and more to do with friends too. I can't comment on its campaign and consequently its nightmare mode as I haven't yet completed these. I did enjoy the previous 2 CoD campaigns though.
Game Informer took some money from Activision is a big difference from others reviews
I'm still getting this today. I do wonder with a long running franchise if they are reviewed based on their individual merit or as a collective with concern to fatigue for the franchise. I'm sure I'll have a blast with it and it's huge breadth of game modes. here's hoping for dual machine pistols
I knew it
@wmmbus Or... Maybe they liked it?
@get2sammyb yea... just they 😜
Mixed opinions but getting a good number of 8s and 9s from what I've seen. Two missions into the campaign so far and it's pretty damn fun.
@wmmbus a glance at Metacritic shows that a looooot of reviews so far have been in the 8/9 bracket, so clearly they're not alone.
Obviously this isn't going to mean much to people who simply can't stand the genre / franchise, but early indicators are that for what it is it's at least a pretty decent game.
@get2sammyb @wmmbus I typically tend to trust game informer more than some of the other sites listed. Gamespot have given some notoriously low reviews in the past.
@wmmbus It makes me cringe so hard, when people actually suggest this, that people think that reviewers accept money for a good review, if that was true then why would he have said that the campaign kinda sucked? If he was paid he would have said "best game ever. Amazing story, etc,etc, 10/10".
I'll see what turns up next year, I liked ghosts.
I like the multiplayer, AW was fun but way too hectic to feel like it was 'fair' (people jumping all over the place, no way to cover all the sight lines).
BO3 still has double jumping and adds in wall-running but the pace of the game is a lot more controlled, like the older games.
I think they found a good balance of the old style but with new mechanics.
Oh, the whole "paid review" fallacy again. If someone can say "they were paid to give this game a high score" what's to stop someone else from saying "the competition paid to give this game a low score". Complete nonsense.
Anyway, I rarely play CoD. "World at War" and "Advanced Warfare" were really the only ones I played heavily. The campaign for this (in splitscreen no less) has been entertaining so far and supposedly they remix the whole thing as a zombie mode, which is nice replayability for the campaign alone. Havent even touched online MP or zombie horde mode (will be in a few hours) and I'm happy with the package so far.
Hmmmm, this or fallout 4? I think we all know the answer to that. If I want an FPS to play till fallout I'll pip in Wolfenstein (new order or old blood, they are both good) or either of the Metros. Really though, it's all just killing time till midnight on Monday my friends.
@wmmbus
What your not seeing here are the other reviews that have also gave BO3 9/10, in fact so far only a hand full have gave it around a 7.
Who knows when the nuk3town map is available to all? Preordered my steel book from Amazon as I thought special editions came with it and it doesn't. Proper annoyed!!!!
Giant bomb are pathetic...just imagine for a second that blops3 didnt have call of duty in front of it(because people will always jump on the bash cod bandwagon)...its absolutely stuffed with content compared to battlefront(the other big fps this year) which has multiplayer and...? If you dont like cod then blops3 wont change your mind, if you're knocking it without playing it just because its cod then its your loss...easily the strongest call of duty this generation and stronger than a couple from last gen..playing it and loving it
I don't care about campaign anyway, zombies and multiplayer is where my time will be spent. I'll go through the campaign later for trophy purposes.
Ok AW(the WORST CoD to date) is not better than Black Ops 3 and the fact Giant Bomb, GameSpot, and Polygon all rated AW higher just shows how worthless their reviews are for CoD games and any reviews they do in the future for the franchise. Ask any real CoD fan and they will say the same thing about AW(it is the worst ever released with the CoD name).
Language -Tasuki-
I'm enjoying myself with Blops 3 I must say, I'm glad I'm not working today. But there is this nagging feeling I had with AW too: Titanfall is still the better CoD and this is their second shot at reclaiming the title. Titanfall is the only one that managed to flip the table, but still feels very much like the CoD we come to love.
I think the series is in desperate need of a reset and there is one perfect way to do that and make some sweet money while you're at it: remake MW2. Every old fan will go nuts, new kids will like it just the same and it can be one final goodbye before a new engine is used and preferably a new setting is chosen.
I have to decide if I want this or Assassin's Creed for free tomorrow. I'm leaning this way but haven't 100% decided.
Piqued my interest a bit this time around but very much on fence and have not really bothered before.
All the commentors saying how amazing it is already.. Can ya come back in a fortnight / three weeks and tell us your opinion, i'd be more interested to hear that than anything now.
Not trying to antagonize anyone, just I know that with that "wonderful" new game smell, judgements are a little hastier whether good or bad!
@vegeta11
I'm liking Black Ops 3 but I'd have to say Syndicate is probably the better game, depending on how important multiplayer is to you. AC only has singleplayer but it's real good. Can't believe it only scored a 6/10 here.
Surprisingly low for cod, I'm actually shocked. I guess reviewers are tired of the genre
@gingerfrog thats the issue it should never be compared to others in the franchise a review is of this game not what its missing from the others but the game its self . but this review is made by a moron it seemed like he is one of those clowns were they cry we want something new in cod and then they get this epic game way better than the past decade of trash and they cry why change. this site is so pathetic of late.
also what can any child write a review because i swear there is one by a 12 year old and sorry a 12 year old does not know jack let alone to write a review on a game that is on subjects he has no bloody clue about so hire some professionals or at least have people who finished grade school
@Gamer83 syndicate is horrible its so boring and it feels like another AC game just tweaked combat but the city LOL feels no different in my opinion. also you know that syndicate has the worst release sales out of any AC games and i bet its because of unity it really was a disgrace and long time AC fans i know passed until they heard more on syndicate so it was not a unity clone of bugs and boring game , but then all the better games started coming out so most just passed it up until it goes on sale for $20 and AC games go on sale insanely fast
3-year cycles and they are getting WORSE... What the hell!
@godslayer1975
Really don't give a sh*t. I'm playing it and liking it.
I can't imagine going back to call of duty for multiplayer I get my fps fix from titanfall when I need it these days
I had/have COD fatigue after Black Ops 2 and haven't played any since. I was considering this one if my friends were actively playing but even they, who are self proclaimed COD hardcores, didn't play much after Black Ops 2 themselves... I'm still on the fence as I really don't like the "cyborg" direction they try here either.... Zombies though has me wanting to dive in ...
@wmmbus
Saved me saying the same thing.
This is my first CoD. I'm having some mixed feelings about it. I like visually and I like the codex and all the extra info. The hub thing is nice, as is all the customisation and levelling of things. The grittiness of the more sci-fi elements makes it feel more like Ghost in the Shell than something a bit more camp like Star Trek, which is nice.
Thing is, the first two missions were incredibly unpleasant slogs. I had no damn idea at all what was going on in the first mission, I felt like I'd come into a movie halfway through. It was confusingly difficult at points, I'd often die and have no idea at all why. The 2nd mission had more purpose narratively but still seemed quite confusing to me. It's basically a lot of people shouting at you - or at others, it's hard to tell - while small, distant enemies make odd cracking noises that don't sound like guns that sometimes make you die and sometimes don't. It makes me feel like my dad must feel when playing a game.
To put an even worse spin on it all, it crashed after a few hours and seemingly deleted my save data. I reloaded the game up and everything was reset, the only campaign option was to start anew, all my progress had gone. I restarted the game again and it managed to find its own save data again this time. Over all, not all that impressed. Hopefully co-op with my friend can save it.
@MrMustardMan It makes me cringe so hard, when people actually suggest this, that people think that reviewers accept money for a good review, if that was true then why would he have said that the campaign kinda sucked?
Maybe in this instance, but if you don't think reviews, coverage and web space on gaming sites is coveted by games publishers you are naive. I would if I owned a publishing company, my pr team would get up close and personal with Eurogamer, Polygon, Kotaku and Gamespot. But regardless of what happens behind the scenes I'm no protester - it doesn't stop me reading reviews, quite the contrary. I laugh at them more when the obligatory positives come out of the blue and apologist writing for crazy inclusions in a release is justified. Will I buy blops 3? No. I may pick up ghosts for a tenner and will enjoy it regardless.
@wmmbus Not to mention the fact that GameStop own Game Informer and they'll probably have them give out these scores to boost sales.
the game is nothing short but amazing, and a major improvement over AW
I have it since saturday and played it all day long in coop
The campaign starts good so far, the zombies mode is an absolute blast (best zombie mode in cod) and the online multiplayer is as we all know excellent as well (especially the new classes/characters).
There were some annoying connection/server/host problems though, really hope they fix this asap
Id easily give this a 9/10, easily, extremely good overall package
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