Black Ops 3

We Sit Down And Review Call Of Duty: Black Ops 3's campaign mode. Does it advance the overall franchise or does it leave us all wanting more? Here's our review of Call Of Duty: Black Ops 3 [Campaign Mode]

Another year down and another installment to the Call Of Duty franchise in the way of Call Of Duty: Black Ops 3. The big difference this time around is that Treyarch has tried to make this year's game more than just a multiplayer and campaign only title. We get so much in Black Ops 3 that it can't all be covered in one review but in multiple. That is why we are starting off with the original campaign mode where one version of Black Ops 3's story is told and we get to try out some of the new abilities and combat that is in store for us all. Here is our review of Call Of Duty: Black Ops 3's campaign mode.

Story

As with every other Call Of Duty title out there, in Black Ops 3 we get to see our player character go through a bunch of terrible shit as we enter into the horrible world that 2065. This is a time where if you don't have cybernetic implants you are not part of the cool kids club and most likely not working with the CIA. Due to circumstances you need to get said implants and alterations to join the world of Black Ops 3. This is where the rabbit hole starts and the rest is a long journey down where you can't tell if you are dreaming or if you are really seeing what you are seeing. LSD powers activate…

Hated

The story that was placed in the Black Ops 3's campaign mode feels a little predictable for the franchise. I won't spoil anything but to me it felt like many other stories out there that follow the same "does technology really help" kind of path. I know that Treyarch has never been known for the over the top storytelling process as other developers but they have a pretty decent track record and the Black Ops 3 story just wasn't all that engaging and I never felt like I should care about who or what is currently dying. Would another one have fit into the new mechanics? Sure; but what we received just seemed like it was an afterthought in the way of the basic story progression.

Speaking of some of the new mechanics in Call Of Duty: Black Ops 3, we were introduced to a new style of play in the way of Cybercore abilities. This was a mixed blessing so expect to see more below. None the less, this addition made the game a little unbalanced once you were able to unlock a few key abilities in Black Ops 3 where you could actually end a mission without firing a single shot. For that matter I also found the Chaos tree to be much more powerful than any of the others I never deviated from it. Why would I want to use abilities that still make me work when I can just make people explode or catch fire at a distance behind cover? Challenges in Black Ops 3 were bypassed with ease because of this.

This also seemed to bleed into the weapons that we were given the options to load out in Call Of Duty: Black Ops 3. During my gameplay I never swapped out from the starting gear as new items were not given until I felt like mastered the starter gear and why would I want to go through the learning curve again when I could kill everything in Black Ops 3 with what I knew already? There were even jokes in the dialog of the game that stated I would have more fun by changing it up but when I did I felt like I was starting from zero again and why would I want to do that to get through the campaign on Veteran mode? That being the second to hardest difficulty for those not in the know.

Lastly, and it feels odd to gripe on this, but where were all of the optional modes of gameplay here? Call Of Duty: Black Ops 3 is a first person shooter but in all of the other games out there, including Treyarch's other titles, we have other styles of missions that give us a little bit of a different play style from running and gunning. There was only one in Black Ops 3 and even it was only a small Flight Simulator in between other running and gunning sections. It is an FPS but why not stick with what we have been given before in terms of stealth missions and other "Overwatch" missions? I kept hoping but they never came.

Loved

I mentioned the Cybercore abilities above but I will not deny that they were fun to play with in Call Of Duty: Black Ops 3. Even if I stuck to only one for the majority of the campaign mode it, it really was a whole lot of fun to try and target the right guy to blow up multiple other enemies in the area. Or watching everyone do the "fire dance" as they were swarmed by my mini-drones of flaming doom. This only escalated as we got into some of the weirder levels where enemies just didn't fall down and die. I won't spoil that part of the story but even if it was a bit overpowered it did what Black Ops 3 was supposed to do and that was to add fun to the game. Video games are supposed to be fun after all.

Also, whoever was in charge of level design in Black Ops 3 over at Treyarch deserves a huge pat on the back. Hells, the whole team does when it comes to the level designs as they were truly something to look at and try to use to your advantage. Nothing felt recycled at all and each area was new. Even when replaying a few missions I was finding other ways to tackle the mission because of the openness of the level design. Of course you here open and you'd think you might get lost at times but not the case here in Black Ops 3 as the flow of the world gave you a great sense of where to go. You were just given multiple options along the way to give the map "life." Top notch!

On top of the level design being over the top the basic visuals added in to help emphasis things in the game's world were a perfect touch and sometimes told the story better than the characters yelling at each other. Again I won't go into spoiler country for this but in certain sections of Black Ops 3 if you were to strip away the combat and just go with what was on screen and spoken it would have made for a spectacular storytelling mechanic. This is where the overpowered nature of the Chaos Cybercore came in handy as I was able to rain down flaming death on the enemies in the world while enjoying all of the artistry and everything else Treyarch had mixed into the combat. Let's just say it was most of the portion that includes Sarah Hall and leave it at that.

Overall

Should you pick up Call Of Duty: Black Ops 3 based on just the campaign mode? If this was all that was packaged here I would give you the little "be hesitant" talk before telling you to pick it up. The campaign can be fun and has a whole lot of great levels mixed in but it is as FPS as an FPS can be. The story wasn't over the top amazing but still worth a play. If you are looking to have the Call Of Duty: Black Ops 3 experience on your own it can be worth your time for sure but as it comes with many other modes of play I think that is the true saving grace for the campaign here. If you are planning on getting Black Ops 3 just for the multiplayer I will say that the campaign is worth a play through to mix things up.

This is one point towards purchasing a at the end of the day but not if it was a standalone game. We'll get into the rest of Call Of Duty: Black Ops 3to flesh out the other reasons you may want to purchase it if the campaign mode is just not for you. So stay tuned.

Call Of Duty: Black Ops 3 was developed by Treyarch and published by Activision for the PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PC. Call Of Duty: Black Ops 3 released on November 6^th, 2015. A PS4 copy of the game was provided by the publisher for reviewing purposes.