Call Of Duty: Black Ops III Beta Review

Official cover art for the game

Official cover art for the game

Rachel Soto, Staff Writer

Another CoD?
Congratulations! You’ve made it another year to see yet another Call Of Duty. The CoD franchise is known for their “originality,” releasing new weapons and maps all for the low price of $60! (Can you detect my sarcasm?) In all seriousness, the beta that was released earlier this month which featured a new “parkour” animation, that mimics Titanfall’s, could hold potential for a quality game.

So now into the bread and butter of this artfully crafted game

 

GRAPHICS:
Honestly, compared to Treyarch’s last game, Advanced Warfare, Black Ops 3 is a huge step down. The graphics aren’t there to amaze. They’re very simplistic and not as detailed as their previous work. I played the beta on PC and tried maxing out all settings to get the best picture for the game but it was a letdown. I would say that it probably would have the same graphic quality as playing it on consoles like PS4 or XBOX ONE, which I find to be a rip-off. To clarify, the game does not look bad – it actually is what you would expect from a large franchise – but it could and should have been better.

 

Gameplay is shown above which features a futuristic setting. Black Ops III will be release in November 6 across all gaming platforms.
Gameplay is shown above which features a futuristic setting. Black Ops III will be release in November 6 across all gaming platforms.

MAPS:
So far within the beta the maps work great with the tactical style that it’s going for. Now in-game you can do wall-running and super jumps like in other parkour style games, such as Titanfall. As far as originality goes, Treyarch does its own take on futuristic fighting. It almost mimics Titanfall to the grit with the exception of giant robots – because that would seem too obvious.
Maps are mainly horizontally oriented, with lots of buildings and other architecture that allow you to test out your new ability to glide off walls.

 

GAMEPLAY:
As far as gameplay goes, it’s basically the same crap you’ve been fed in past years, although it is a bit more challenging. The game requires more tactical skills rather than just quickscoping your enemies. Using the sniper is close to impossible. I’m not a sniper elite but I’d like to kill someone without having to spray with an SMG.
On the subject of playability, though I have not had the issue on multiplayer, many other players have complained about lagging, freezing, and bugs that make it irritable to play.  Like any beta, there are going to be issues with servers and just playing the game in general, so this could be fixed once the game is released.

 

OVERALL:
The game looks good. It looks like it has potential to become a great game to play with friends, but just that. It still is the same game you’ve been playing since you were 12 and it has become a trend to just have the new CoD that comes out every year, I would like to see Treyarch bring the series back to its original idea instead of this futuristic fighting style, but it is still an OK game. I’d give the beta an A for effort.