Black Ops 3 (BETA)

I didn’t know about this beta until it was nearly over, so I only put in about 6 hours of play, and the first of those was spent trying to make the game not look like total shit. The default graphic and control settings of this beta made it look like a blurry, washed out mess and handle like utter ass. Not exactly the best first impressions.

The graphic options are limited. Not terrible, but limited. But once I’d tweaked everything, I got the game running pretty smoothly and looking…okay. It’s not a bad looking game, but it’s not exactly going to blow you away either. Technical performance seems solid, however. I never noticed any frame drops and I only experienced one crash.

I’m not sure if I’ve written about my history with the CoD franchise. Well, there’s not much to say. I played and enjoyed the original CoD 1 & 2, but the only other game I’ve played in the series is MW2. I liked that game, mostly for its co-op mode, but I found the MP a bit of a mess. Fun, but a mess.

 

Jumping into the BOPS3 beta, it was interesting how instantly familiar it felt. I’ve not actually played MW2 for a long while, but this didn’t really feel any different. Movement, thanks to the wall running, boost jump and slide, feels far more zippy, but aside from that, it doesn’t seem like much has changed.

Which I guess is what people like. I mean, it’s not like CoD games don’t sell so it’s not surprising they take a ‘if it ain’t broke’ approach. Just like MW2, this is a very fast paced MP where you’re quick to die and quick to kill. It’s really a game of who shoots first, or rather, who spots who first. One short burst, and you’re dead. But you repsawn nearly instantly, and you’re never more than a few seconds away from the action.

Weapon recoil is non-existent. A lot of the time you can fire from the hip, even at mid-range, and still maintain a decent level of accuracy. Matches last anywhere from 5-10 minutes. They go by in a flash, the screen popping out with all sorts of different badges and shit whenever you seem to do anything. It’s not too distracting, but I’d rather they shove all that stuff into the post-match analysis.

It’s all very flashy, slick and fast paced and undeniably addictive and fun, at least for the few hours I put into it. But am I interested in buying it? Well…probably not. Like MW2, the combat has a system of rewarding those playing well by giving them weapons and abilities that can result in a complete domination.

 

In one game I racked up a few quick kills and unlocked my ‘special’ weapon for my chosen class. This is essentially a ‘one-shot’ weapon that racked me up even more kills and allowed me to unlock another killstreak – a missile barrage. The map I was playing on was mostly outdoors and my missiles killed the entire enemy team.

There’s no great skill to it. It’s a ‘rich get richer’ system and it can make matches become very one sided very quickly. I guess it’s part of the formula though, and people like it. And yeah, it’s kind of fun raining death down on everyone, but it still feels a bit cheap to me. So the combat isn’t quite to my taste. I don’t hate it. I had fun with it. But it’s hard to take it too seriously.

In terms of modes, I tried everything on offer, but not to an extensive degree. You have the standard team deathmatch, a domination mode, capture the flag etc. It’s pretty much what you’d expect. The only really interesting modes were an ‘escort the robot’ thing, which I had some fun with, and a ‘satellite uplink’ thing, which actually involves grabbing a ‘ball’ and trying to score in your opponents ‘goal’. That was pretty hectic, but fun. As you’d expect, the majority of players just stick to Team DM though, so all the other modes weren’t very active.

The game has a level system for each weapon which allows you to unlock different attachments. I really hate this, because it means whenever you want to try out a new weapon you have to grind out all the different sights and shit all over again. I don’t mind progression based systems in shooters and unlocking different weapons, classes, abilities or killstreaks is okay with me. But attachments? For every gun? Couldn’t they at least limit it to weapon classes? And in terms of weapons, the selection is solid but not particularly inspired. Like I said, if it ain’t broke…

 

My main issue with this beta is the maps. The maps are small and bland. Their design is fine, but aesthetically they’re just so generic and dull. Actually, their design isn’t quite fine, because none of those on offer in the beta feel suited to the wall running and boost jump abilities. There are only limited places where you can use these abilities. In a game like Titanfall, its maps were designed around its movement system. Here, they feel like an afterthought.

Several times when trying to boost onto a rooftop I found myself hitting an invisible wall, even though I had sufficient height. There are also many places when you think you can boost over some rocks or a low wall but instead hit an invisible barrier that knocks you back. It’s bloody ridiculous. The slide ability seems like a great addition…until you completely lose momentum at the end of it. The movement isn’t fluid enough, and trying to chain together wall runs (in the few places where it’s possible) just feels awkward.

So, what are we left with? A game with uninspired weapons. Uninspired maps. A bland, generic aesthetic. Basic, repetitive combat that lacks any serious skill or strategy. An irritatingly tedious unlock system that makes you repeatedly grind for the same equipment. And a movement system that feels out of place in a game not appropriately designed for it.

I still had some fun with it though, I must admit, but it doesn’t look like BOPS3 will be the CoD to bring me back to the series. It must seem like I’m shitting on it a bit, and I must say that I really don’t think it’s bad, just…very by the numbers. I think that’s the best way to describe it. It plays it safe with its formula, doesn’t take any risks and just ends up being rather mundane and forgettable.