Call of Duty®: Black Ops III

I've put time into most of the Black Ops catalogue, and III sits in that awkward spot where two-thirds of the game are genuinely great and one-third feels like it was written by a committee that had watched too many sci-fi films back-to-back. Set in 2065 and built around a momentum-chained movement system, the core feel of shooting in this game is excellent. Wall runs, thrust jumps, ground slides, and mantling chain together fluidly, and the maps are clearly designed around that verticality. Guns pop and crack with real weight behind them. If you just want to run and gun at speed, very few shooters from its era match it for sheer feel. Multiplayer is where Treyarch earns its keep. The Specialists system gives you eight character classes, each with a unique power weapon or active ability. The Outrider carries a Sparrow compound bow that fires exploding arrows; Seraph rocks the single-shot Annihilator handgun. You pick between the power weapon or the ability at loadout, which forces a genuine decision rather than letting you stack everything. Unlock Tokens let you customise your 10-slot loadout from early on, and the progression loop holds up well for the first stretch of playtime. Map design is a high point, full of competing sightlines, elevated positions, and tight choke points that reward learning the layout. For fast-paced CoD multiplayer, this era represents the formula close to its ceiling. Zombies is the second win. The mode ships with its own distinct storyline, a full XP-based progression system, and enough mechanical depth to keep dedicated players busy long after the multiplayer novelty fades. The Zombies Chronicles expansion (included in the Zombies Chronicles Edition) adds classic remastered maps from earlier games, which is a serious value add for anyone who remembers grinding those original runs. Dead Ops Arcade and Freerun round out the bonus content, and while neither is a main event, they are solid palette cleansers. Now for the honest part. The campaign is a structural mess. It runs around seven hours on hardened difficulty and the whole thing can be played solo or with up to four players online co-op, which sounds ideal until you hit the save system: co-op missions cannot be saved mid-session, meaning you commit to finishing each one in a single sitting or you restart from scratch. Unskippable cutscenes compound this. The story itself is ambitious but loses the thread badly by the midpoint. On PC specifically, local split-screen tops out at two players rather than the four available on console, which is genuinely disappointing for couch co-op situations. Split-screen on PC can also be inconsistent to set up, requiring controllers and some patience. Online co-op for the campaign and Zombies supports four players and works well, but the sofa crowd gets a downgraded experience compared to the console version. The supply drop system for bonus weapons is worth flagging too. Cosmetic and weapon variants are locked behind randomised drops, and completionists will find the system quietly maddening. It does not affect core gameplay balance in a way that breaks the experience, but it is a persistent irritant. At a Metacritic score of 73, the professional consensus reflects that split verdict: multiplayer and Zombies land, campaign stumbles. If your primary reason for buying is the online competitive modes and wave-based co-op with friends, you will get plenty of hours out of this. If you are buying for the story, temper expectations hard.

Riley · Scout Team

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