2024 video game
2024 video game
Call of Duty: Black Ops III is a 2024 first-person shooter game developed by Treyarch and 📉 published by Activision. It is the twelfth entry in the Call of Duty series and the sequel to the 2012 📉 video game Call of Duty: Black Ops II. It was released on PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One on November 📉 6, 2024. A feature-limited version developed by Beenox and Mercenary Technology that only supports multiplayer modes was released on PlayStation 📉 3 and Xbox 360 and was also the final Call of Duty title released on those platforms.
Black Ops III takes 📉 place in 2065, 40 years after the events of Black Ops II, in a world facing upheaval from climate change 📉 and new technologies. Similar to its predecessors, the story follows a group of black ops soldiers. The game's campaign is 📉 designed to support 4-player cooperative gameplay, allowing for bigger, more open level design and less corridor shooting. As the player 📉 character is cybernetically enhanced, players have access to various special activities. The game also features a standalone Zombies campaign mode, 📉 and a "Nightmares" mode which replaces all enemies as zombies.
Announced in April 2024, the game is the first Call of 📉 Duty video game released after Activision ended its partnership with Microsoft Studios and instead partnered with Sony Computer Entertainment, which 📉 secured the timed exclusivity of the game's downloadable content. Upon release, the game received generally positive reviews from critics, praising 📉 the gameplay, Zombies mode, and amount of content. However, it was also criticized for its story and lack of innovation. 📉 The seventh-generation console versions in particular were singled-out for their lack of a campaign and numerous features, as well as 📉 them being online-only. It was a commercial success, with it becoming the top-selling retail game in the US in 2024, 📉 and one of the most successful titles released for the eighth generation of video game consoles.
Following the years after its 📉 release, Black Ops III has gained a cult following and the online modes still remain active, with an average of 📉 over 10,000 players a month.[2][3][4][5] A sequel, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, was released on October 12, 2024.
Gameplay [ 📉 edit ]
Campaign [ edit ]
The campaign in Black Ops III is designed to support 4-player cooperative gameplay, allowing for bigger, 📉 more open level design and less corridor shooting. In addition, the player can customize their character's appearance and clothing. The 📉 campaign features its own progression system, featuring unlock tokens which must be used to acquire different weapons and gears as 📉 they progress through the campaign.[6] The game features a "realistic" difficulty mode, in which players will get defeated if they 📉 are hit by one bullet.[7] Finishing all campaign missions will also unlock "Nightmares" mode, where players can replay the entire 📉 campaign with a new narrative, as well as zombies replacing most of the normal enemies.
Multiplayer [ edit ]
The multiplayer introduces 📉 a new momentum based movement system, which utilizes thruster packs to allow players to perform slow boosts into the air, 📉 as well as perform wall running and sliding, all the while giving players complete gun control.[8] In addition to the 📉 Pick 10 class system from Black Ops II, Treyarch implemented a character system called "Specialists", where players can pick from 📉 9 different soldiers, each with either a special weapon or ability unique to them.[9] In a later update, a tenth 📉 specialist named Blackjack was added to the game. Blackjack is able to mimic the abilities of other specialists, and is 📉 only playable for a short amount of time upon completing a set of challenges.[citation needed] A new "Gunsmith" feature offers 📉 aesthetic variations in weapon attachments, allowing various weapon customization combinations.[10] The Paintshop feature allows players to create their own custom 📉 prints onto specific portions of a gun, further emphasizing the depth of customization in the game.[11]
Zombies [ edit ]
Call of 📉 Duty: Black Ops 3 Zombies takes place over a variety of different locations as well as different points in time. 📉 Zombies features a new XP progression system, which allows players to unlock items in a similar fashion to multiplayer and 📉 campaign. Unlockable items include "Gobblegums", which grant players with temporary bonuses, and weapon kits that allow players to modify the 📉 appearance and attributes of the guns with various camos and attachments. Shadows of Evil was revealed as a new map 📉 for the Zombies mode on July 9, 2024, at San Diego Comic-Con International 2024.[12] The map features four brand new 📉 characters: Nero the Magician, Jessica Rose the Femme Fatale, Jackie Vincent the Cop and Floyd Campbell the Boxer as the 📉 main cast, and takes place in a new setting called Morg City.[13] "The Giant" bonus map includes the original characters, 📉 Tank Dempsey, Edward Richtofen, Nikolai Belinski and Takeo Masaki. These characters return from the Black Ops II map "Origins", in 📉 their alternate timeline versions. They reappear in the DLC maps, "Der Eisendrache", "Zetsubou no Shima", "Gorod Krovi" and "Revelations". The 📉 zombies gamemode involves a story, which links with every DLC. On May 16, 2024, Treyarch released a fifth DLC including 📉 the remastered versions of Zombies maps from their previous Call of Duty games, called "Zombies Chronicles". These maps are "Nacht 📉 der Untoten", "Verrückt", "Shi No Numa", "Kino Der Toten", "Ascension", "Shangri La", "Moon" and "Origins". These maps retain most of 📉 the original aesthetics updated with Black Ops III's graphics engine, while also adding to the gameplay elements of Black Ops 📉 III, with the introduction of new Gobblegums, Weapons and Sound Design.[14]
Plot [ edit ]
Single-player campaign [ edit ]
Setting and characters 📉 [ edit ]
Call of Duty: Black Ops III takes place in 2065, 40 years after the events of Black Ops 📉 II, in a world facing upheaval from conflicts, climate change and new technologies. A Third Cold War is ongoing between 📉 two global alliances, known as the Winslow Accord and the Common Defense Pact. In response to the drone assaults caused 📉 by the Nicaraguan narco-terrorist Raul Menendez on June 19, 2025, several countries around the world have developed Directed Energy Air 📉 Defense systems that render conventional air forces virtually useless. As such, most of the warfare between countries is done by 📉 covert operatives fighting behind enemy lines. Military technology has progressed to the point where robotics play a major role in 📉 combat, and both fully robotic humanoid drones and cyborg supersoldiers have been developed to fight in the battlefield. There is 📉 speculation and fear about an eventual robotic takeover.
Like previous installments in the Black Ops series, the campaign follows a team 📉 of black ops soldiers,[15] who work for Winslow Accord. The player character (voiced by Ben Browder if male and Abby 📉 Brammell if female) and Jacob Hendricks (Sean Douglas) are members of the faction's wetwork team, while Commander John Taylor (Christopher 📉 Meloni) and his team Sebastian Diaz (Reynaldo Gallegos), Sarah Hall (Katee Sackhoff), and Peter Maretti (Ary Katz), compose the faction's 📉 cybernetics division.[16][17] Rachel Kimsey voices CIA agent Rachel Kane, Robert Picardo voices the Coalescence Corporation CEO Sebastian Krueger, Tony Amendola 📉 voices the therapist Dr. Yousef Salim, and Lynn Chen voices the 54 Immortals criminal organization leader, Goh Xiulan. NFL running 📉 back Marshawn Lynch makes a cameo appearance in the game as a 54 Immortals mercenary.
Included in the game is the 📉 "Nightmares" campaign mode, which is a retelling of the main campaign with the plot changed to incorporate zombies and other 📉 supernatural beings. In this campaign, the lethal Virus 61-15 is released in various cities around the world, turning whoever it 📉 infects into zombies. In response, the governments of the world seal off the worst infected areas into Quarantine Zones and 📉 form the Deadkillers, cybernetic soldiers trained to exterminate zombies.
Story [ edit ]
On October 27, 2065, the Winslow Accord black ops 📉 initiate a successful mission in Ethiopia to rescue hostages from the tyrannical Nile River Coalition. However, the Player is critically 📉 wounded by a combat robot. Rescued by Taylor, the Player undergoes cybernetic surgery to save their life, being installed with 📉 a direct neural interface (DNI) and receiving virtual training from Taylor and his team during surgery. Hendricks also undergoes surgery.
After 📉 five years of wetwork, the Player and Hendricks are put under the command of Rachel Kane and tasked with investigating 📉 a CIA black site in Singapore that has gone quiet. They find the area attacked by the paramilitary crime syndicate 📉 54 Immortals and the site's data stolen. Kane concludes that Taylor and his team defected and murdered the staff. The 📉 Player and Hendricks then disguise themselves as arms dealers and meet with the 54 Immortals. The mission goes awry when 📉 their cover is blown, causing the death of one of the 54i's leaders, Goh Min. They manage to recover data 📉 regarding Taylor's last known location, a facility of the Coalescence Corporation in Singapore (destroyed ten years prior in a mysterious 📉 explosion that killed 300,000 people and turned most of the island's east inhospitable).
The Player and Hendricks travel to the facility 📉 and discover a hidden CIA research laboratory. The pair find Diaz leaking CIA information and are forced to kill him. 📉 Interfacing with Diaz's DNI, Hendricks discovers Taylor is trying to find the survivors of the explosion: Sebastian Krueger and Dr. 📉 Yousef Salim. The leaked information allows the Immortals to capture Kane. The Player disobeys Kane's orders to leave and rescues 📉 her by killing the Immortals' other leader, Goh Min's sister Xiulan. The trio then heads to Egypt and finds Salim, 📉 who reveals that he performed secret DNI experiments involving comforting humans via a calming exercise involving imagining a frozen forest.
Salim 📉 is then interrogated and executed by Taylor. The Player, Hendricks, and Kane pursue Taylor with assistance from the Egyptian Army. 📉 After killing Hall, the Player connects to her DNI and encounters Corvus, a gestalt intelligence created during the experiments to 📉 monitor thoughts of DNI users, which malfunctioned, causing the explosion. Infecting Taylor and his team, Corvus made them obsessed with 📉 finding the forest, with the Player and Hendricks also becoming infected after interfacing with Hall and Diaz.
After killing Maretti, the 📉 pair track down Taylor in Cairo. After wounding the Player, Taylor manages to resist Corvus and tear his DNI out, 📉 sparing the Player. However, Hendricks succumbs to Corvus and kills Taylor before abandoning the Player, leaving for Zürich to find 📉 Krueger. The Player races to Zürich with Kane to stop him. Reaching Zürich's Coalescence Corporation, the pair discover Corvus caused 📉 the explosion in Singapore with the Nova 6 gas. Kane attempts to contain it, but Corvus locks her in the 📉 compound room, leaking the gas to kill her in front of a helpless Player.
Continuing on, the Player finds Hendricks holding 📉 Krueger hostage. After Hendricks kills Krueger, the Player kills him in turn. The Player then tries to kill themselves to 📉 end Corvus' infection, but ends up in a simulated frozen forest created by Corvus to retain the consciousness of dead 📉 DNI users. Still alive after becoming a glitch in the forest, Taylor reunites with the Player, stating that they must 📉 purge their DNI to end Corvus. With Taylor's help, the Player resists Corvus' last-ditch manipulation and purges their DNI, erasing 📉 the virus. Stumbling out of the Zurich headquarters, the Player identifies themselves to Zürich Security Forces as "Taylor."
Reality [ edit 📉 ]
Taylor's mission reports reveal that the Player actually died during their cybernetics surgery during the mission New World, due to 📉 complications. The resulting events until Taylor's death occur in a simulation deviating from Taylor's and Hendricks's experience of hunting down 📉 Dylan Stone and his team (Javier Ramirez, Alice Conrad, and Joseph Fierro), their teammates who defected after finding the CIA 📉 black site. The Player's consciousness is shown living in Taylor's mind throughout the simulation, indicating that the Player manages to 📉 take over Taylor's body after his simulated death until the DNI purge sees Corvus and the Player erased as Taylor 📉 regains control.
Nightmares [ edit ]
The Player wakes up only to be told by Dr. Salim that they are dead, and 📉 that the Player must recount their memories. The Player tells Dr. Salim that they are a Deadkiller who was sent 📉 to investigate the disappearance of Taylor's Deadkiller team. However, upon investigating, the Player and Hendricks discover that Taylor's team has 📉 used their DNI connections to disable the Quarantine Zone defenses all over the world. Teaming up with Rachel Kane, the 📉 Player and Hendricks chase Taylor's team all from Singapore to Egypt, eventually being forced to kill the entire team. However, 📉 Hendricks is infected by the same virus that turned Taylor and his team mad, and heads for Zurich. The Player 📉 discovers that Dr. Salim is in fact Deimos, the demigod responsible for unleashing the undead plague on humanity. Deimos had 📉 entered the Player's mind when they interfaced with Hall, and attempts to manipulate them into opening a portal to his 📉 home dimension, Malus. The Player is then contacted by another demigod, Dolos, who is sympathetic to humanity and seeks to 📉 kill Deimos, her brother. Dolos transports both the Player and Deimos to Malus, where Deimos is vulnerable. Under Dolos' guidance, 📉 the Player kills Deimos, ending the undead plague on Earth, but trapping the Player in Malus. Dolos then explains to 📉 the Player that her true plans are to kill every other demigod and supernatural being that can challenge her, and 📉 the Player agrees to help her.
Multiplayer [ edit ]
The Multiplayer mode of Black Ops III features a shared narrative setting 📉 with the campaign, in which players battle in virtual simulations across a variety of battlefields, while wielding the avatars of 📉 nine elite soldiers, referred to collectively as "Specialists": infantry grunt Donnie "Ruin" Walsh; scoutswoman Alessandra "Outrider" Castillo; engineer David "Prophet" 📉 Wilkes; demolitions expert Erin "Battery" Baker; 54 Immortals enforcer He "Seraph" Zhen-Zhen; survivalist Tavo "Nomad" Rojas; specialized combat robot "Reaper"; 📉 assassin "Spectre"; and arsonist Krystof "Firebreak" Hejek.
Through progression of each Specialist, players can unlock audio logs that provide backstories of 📉 each of the soldiers. Full progression of all Specialists unlocks a final audio log, in which an unknown informant reports 📉 to their superior about keeping tabs on "eight other soldiers", implying that one of the Specialists is not a simulated 📉 avatar, but the real person injecting themselves into the simulation to monitor the others.
Zombies [ edit ]
Characters and setting [ 📉 edit ]
Like in previous games, the Zombies storyline in Call of Duty: Black Ops III is told in an episodic 📉 format, with one map, "Shadows of Evil", available at launch, and the rest to follow in the downloadable content season. 📉 "Shadows of Evil" focuses on a new group of characters: Nero Blackstone (Jeff Goldblum), Jessica Rose (Heather Graham), Jack Vincent 📉 (Neal McDonough) and Floyd Campbell (Ron Perlman), who reside in the fictional Morg City. Treyarch describes the new characters as 📉 "troubled individuals" with "a long and sordid history of past misdeeds". The four characters are thrown into a twisted version 📉 of the city, overrun by zombies, and are guided by a mysterious, unreliable figure called the Shadowman (Robert Picardo).[13]
"Shadows of 📉 Evil" acts as a prologue that leads into the core storyline, focusing on the Dimension 63 version of the original 📉 characters: "Tank" Dempsey (Steven Blum), Nikolai Belinski (Fred Tatasciore), Takeo Masaki (Tom Kane) and Edward Richtofen (Nolan North), who were 📉 introduced in the Black Ops II map "Origins", referred to collectively as Primis.[d] Their story continues from where "Origins" left 📉 off, as they attempt to prevent the events of the original timeline from ever occurring across the multiverse. Other characters 📉 include the leader of Group 935, Doctor Ludvig Maxis (also voiced by Tatasciore), and his daughter Samantha.[18] The downloadable content 📉 maps feature the original versions of Primis, referred to as Ultimis,[e] and reintroduce various minor characters mentioned/featured in previous games, 📉 including Group 935 scientist Doctor Groph (also voiced by Blum), the OSS spy Peter McCain, Dr. Maxis' assistant Sophia (Christa 📉 Lewis),[19] the Ascension Group scientist Gersh, as well as introduces the mysterious omnipotent being Doctor Monty (Malcolm McDowell). Robert Picardo 📉 also briefly reprises his role from Call of Duty: Black Ops as United States Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara.
Storyline [ 📉 edit ]
Following the undead outbreak in 1918, Northern France of Dimension 63, Doctor Ludvig Maxis, whose brain resided in a 📉 mechanical drone at the time, arrives at Agartha and is given a new body by Doctor Monty, a self-proclaimed omnipotent 📉 being and member of the Order of the Keepers. After helping to cleanse the soul of his daughter Samantha from 📉 the original timeline, Monty instructs Maxis to retrieve an artifact called the Summoning Key, a powerful artifact that can fix 📉 their world back to its original state. To do so, Maxis instructs his friend Doctor Edward Richtofen to retrieve the 📉 Kronorium, an ancient book detailing the events of every universe and dimension, which contains the location of the Key.
After learning 📉 of the Key's location, Richtofen travels to Dimension 63 and arrives in Morg City in 1934, where the Apothicons, former 📉 Keepers who were corrupted and mutated by the dark energy of the Aether, manipulated four individuals: Jessica Rose, a burlesque 📉 dancer; Jack Vincent, a corrupt cop; Floyd Campbell, an up-and-coming boxer; and Nero Blackstone, a washed-up magician. Misled into doing 📉 the bidding of the head Apothicon named the Shadowman, the four opened a rift beneath the city using the Summoning 📉 Key, thereby freeing an ancient Apothicon beast. With the Keepers' aid, the four manage to trap the Shadowman inside the 📉 Key, and banish the beast from their dimension. Before they could retrieve the Summoning Key from the Keepers, however, Richtofen 📉 snags the Key from them, thanks them for their effort and exits through a portal, leaving the four and the 📉 rest of Dimension 63 to be doomed by the Apothicons.
The Dimension 63 versions of "Tank" Dempsey, Nikolai Belinski, and Takeo 📉 Masaki pursue Richtofen in his interdimensional journey, and arrive in the Der Riese facility in the original timeline, only moments 📉 after Maxis and Samantha were teleported away by the original Richtofen. The three attempt to convince him to awaken their 📉 original selves, but are interrupted by the Dimension 63 Richtofen, who appears out of the teleporter and kills his counterpart, 📉 triggering various timeline fractures. The four then band together to fend off the zombie horde once more; eventually, they activate 📉 a beacon within the facility, allowing Maxis to locate them from Agartha.
In pursuit of the original Dempsey, the four then 📉 travel to Der Eisendrache, Group 935's fortress in Austria. Despite Group 935 member Doctor Groph's attempt at preventing the group 📉 from retrieving the test subject, he ultimately fails and perishes when Richtofen overrides the castle's defense system and sends a 📉 barrage of missiles to destroy the moon and Group 935's base on it. As the four retrieve the original Dempsey, 📉 Richtofen reveals his plan to prevent their original incarnations from wreaking havoc upon the universe. Dimension 63 Dempsey then volunteers 📉 to kill his own counterpart before allowing Richtofen to absorb his soul with the Key.
Afterwards, the group attempts to teleport 📉 to a new fractured timeline to locate the original Takeo, who is held prisoner at a Pacific island by the 📉 Japanese research group Division 9. They discover that Division 9 had been experimenting with plant life mutation using Element 115, 📉 with the original Takeo also a victim of the experimentation. After they manage to release him from the mutation, Dimension 📉 63 Takeo is shocked to learn that the Emperor of Japan betrayed his original self and sent him to this 📉 island out of petty jealousy. The original Takeo proceeds to commit seppuku, with his Dimension 63 self decapitating him. After 📉 absorbing the original Takeo's soul with the Key, Richtofen takes the crew to Alcatraz in Dimension 63, where they retrieve 📉 several blood vials, the purpose of which he refuses to explain at the time.
The crew then teleports to another fractured 📉 timeline and lands in a war-torn Stalingrad in 1945, where the Soviet Union has stolen Group 935's technology to create 📉 their own giant robots and mechanical soldiers, while Nazi Germany is aided by ancient dragons resurrected and bred by Division 📉 9. As the crew traverses across the city, they are forced to help Sophia, Maxis' former assistant who has been 📉 transformed into a machine, to initiate the Ascension Protocol, allowing her to gain knowledge of interdimensional travel. Monty also introduces 📉 himself to the crew, as he informs them of the state of the multiverse. Amidst the chaos, the original Nikolai, 📉 who has taken control of a modified drone unit, teams up with the group to destroy the alpha dragon. However, 📉 upon the dragon's death, Nikolai refuses to surrender, forcing the four to take out his drone. The original Nikolai is 📉 angered by his Dimension 63 self as he mentions their deceased wife, and attempts to shoot him, only to be 📉 killed in retaliation. With all souls collected, Richtofen calls out to Maxis to summon a portal, and release the souls 📉 into it.
The group returns to Agartha and arrives in "The House", a place built by Monty to prevent all forces 📉 of evil from infecting it, ensuring the safety of the children (Samantha and cleansed versions of the original souls in 📉 child form). After sealing off the House from the rest of the multiverse, Maxis is manipulated by the voice of 📉 the Shadowman into releasing him upon contact with the Summoning Key. The Shadowman then uses his power to merge various 📉 other dimensions, including the Dark Aether, allowing the Apothicons to enter and wreak havoc. Richtofen and the crew manage to 📉 help Sophia enter the dimension, and with her assistance, retrieve the Summoning Key and the Kronorium. They then confront the 📉 Shadowman together, and defeat him once and for all using the combined power of the two artifacts. Maxis, who still 📉 resides within the Key, then absorbs the souls of the children into the Key, and joins Sophia as they fly 📉 toward the Apothicon sun, banishing all Apothicon presences from Agartha. Richtofen and the crew are able to remain in the 📉 dimension without fading from existence, thanks to the blood vials they retrieved earlier. Monty, worried about the four becoming a 📉 paradox in his perfect world, contemplates between erasing their existence and sending them to a distant corner of the universe. 📉 In a moment, the four begin to fade away, then reappear in ancient medieval times, where they would be remembered 📉 as "Primis", heroes who aided the Keepers in sealing away the Apothicons in the Great War, effectively "completing the cycle" 📉 of the universe.
Development [ edit ]
Call of Duty: Black Ops III is the twelfth game in the Call of Duty 📉 franchise, and the fourth entry in the Black Ops series. The game was the second to benefit under publisher Activision's 📉 three-year development cycle, the first being Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. The cycle allows each of the development teams of 📉 the Call of Duty series (Infinity Ward, Treyarch, and Sledgehammer Games) to develop games in a three-year timespan, as opposed 📉 to the two allowed previously. Black Ops III uses a heavily modified version of the IW engine used previously in 📉 Black Ops II.[20]
On June 9, 2024, versions for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 were confirmed to be under development 📉 by Beenox and Mercenary Technology. These versions lack some features available on other platforms, such as the game's campaign mode 📉 and the remaining DLC contents.[21][22] On June 15, 2024, it was announced that as part of a new exclusivity deal 📉 with Sony Computer Entertainment, all downloadable content for future Call of Duty games, beginning with Black Ops III, would be 📉 released first on PlayStation platforms as timed exclusives. This ends a similar exclusivity deal with Microsoft dating back to Call 📉 of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.[23]
According to gaming journalist Jason Schreier, Call of Duty: Black Ops III was initially intended to 📉 include an open-world campaign, but was scrapped during development, resulting in a period of crunch for employees.[24]
A multiplayer beta was 📉 released for the PlayStation 4 on August 18, 2024,[25] and was released for Windows and the Xbox One on August 📉 26, 2024.[26][27] All versions of the multiplayer beta ran for six days.
Music [ edit ]
Jack Wall, who previously composed the 📉 score for Call of Duty: Black Ops II, returned along with Treyarch's Audio Director Brian Tuey to compose the score 📉 for the game. The game also featured an instrumental score entitled "Jade Helm", provided by Avenged Sevenfold, for use in 📉 the multiplayer mode.[28] Additionally, both Wall, Tuey and Treyarch's Sound Designer Kevin Sherwood contributed to the composition of the Zombies 📉 mode's soundtrack, including several new songs performed by Elena Siegman and Malukah for each of the maps.
To promote, the DJ 📉 and producer Afrojack did a song for the game, called "Unstoppable".
Marketing [ edit ]
Reveal [ edit ]
Teasers were released beginning 📉 with Snapchat links[29] appearing in the gameplay of Black Ops II as well as a teaser video released by Treyarch.[30] 📉 On April 26, 2024, the first reveal trailer for the game was released and revealed the return of the Zombies 📉 mode and beta access for people that pre-order the game for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. The full game 📉 was released on November 6, 2024.[26]
Controversy [ edit ]
On September 29, 2024, the official Twitter account of Call of Duty 📉 was temporarily renamed to "Current Events Aggregate". It then began tweeting messages about real-life fashion, movies and a terrorist attack 📉 that takes place in Singapore. Activision later revealed that these tweets are fake, and served to promote the game's story 📉 campaign.[31] This marketing campaign was strongly criticized for faking news, and publisher Activision was blamed for being "irresponsible".[32][33] The game's 📉 director Jason Blundell said that the team was "shocked" by the negative reaction of the marketing campaign,[31] and offered an 📉 apology.[34]
Seize Glory [ edit ]
Seize Glory is an official live action trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 that 📉 was directed by Wayne McClammy and starring Michael B. Jordan, Cara Delevingne and Marshawn Lynch.[35][36] The trailer features Michael B. 📉 Jordan following a man named Kevin as he runs through warfare while destroying zombies and robots.[37] The trailer first aired 📉 during November 2024.[38]
The trailer begins with “Paint It Black” by The Rolling Stones as the background music. The setting is 📉 a war zone of explosions, soldiers, and a demolished city. Michael B. Jordan standing on a tower, watching over the 📉 battle, looks at the camera and says, “What? Y’all don't know about Kevin?” Kevin, a younger man, explodes onto the 📉 battle field with a large assault rifle. Kevin runs through the chaotic city enjoying himself as he shoots at everything 📉 and Michael B. Jordan builds up Kevin's character. Kevin performs exciting moves like sliding down stairs and running on walls. 📉 Kevin even eats a sandwich while setting off explosives on enemies. Then, Marshawn Lynch, a star running back in the 📉 National Football League, fully geared with weapons and armor slides in, ready to take out a whole room of zombies. 📉 Kevin flies in and steals Marshawn's glory. Kevin makes the classic cool guy move by setting of explosives behind him 📉 without looking while he walks away. Suddenly, a girl that Michael B. Jordan introduces as Cara, jumps down from the 📉 sky and sends Kevin off the screen. Cara, a young woman, takes Kevin's spotlight and starts wreaking havoc on the 📉 battle field. Cara, smiling, throws her handguns to the side while walking away from explosions in the background. In the 📉 middle of the screen, in bold white letters, appears the slogan, “There's a Soldier in All of Us.”
Activision hired Wayne 📉 McClammy as the director. Wayne has been the director of many Call of Duty advertisements.[39] According to Activision Publishing CMO 📉 Tim Ellis, the trailer's intent was to show that “The gaming population is so much bigger and more diverse than 📉 people may think".[40] Actors Michael B. Jordan and Cara Delevingne were chosen to star in the trailer as both were 📉 known by Activision to be fans of the Call of Duty series.[41]
Call of Duty: Black Ops III and the Digital 📉 Deluxe Edition counterpart were available to pre-order on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. The Digital Deluxe Edition comes with 📉 the season pass, which can also be ordered separately. Pre-ordering provided access to the Call of Duty: Black Ops III 📉 multiplayer beta and in-game items for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, such as custom reticles, an emblem, a calling card, 📉 and Advanced Supply Drops.[42] Sony also announced that the Black Ops III beta would come to the PS4 first on 📉 August 19 through August 23, 2024.[43] The beta for the PS4 went live on August 18, 2024, several hours earlier 📉 than originally announced.[25] After the beta period ended, it was announced that all pre-orders would include the bonus multiplayer map 📉 "NUK3TOWN", a remake of the original "Nuketown" map, featured in Call of Duty: Black Ops, and in Call of Duty: 📉 Black Ops II as "Nuketown 2025". Owing to the lack of the campaign mode, the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 📉 versions included a digital copy of Black Ops as an added bonus, as well as having their price reduced by 📉 10 dollars compared to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions.[44]
Comics tie-in [ edit ]
A comic book titled Call of 📉 Duty: Black Ops III was announced on July 1, 2024. Serving as a prequel to the game, the first issue 📉 was released worldwide on November 4, 2024, and was published by Dark Horse Comics. The story is written by Larry 📉 Hama, while Marcelo Ferreira served as the artist for the comic book.[45] The story takes place several years prior to 📉 the main events of the game, and stars Jacob Hendricks and John Taylor along with their black ops squadmates in 📉 an attempt to stop a Russian terrorist plot. Subsequent issues were released throughout 2024.
On July 11, 2024, Treyarch announced a 📉 new comic book series titled Call of Duty: Zombies, to expand upon the story of the Zombies mode. The story 📉 features the return of the TranZit team: Abigail "Misty" Briarton, Marlton Johnson, Russman and Samuel Stuhlinger, previously the main protagonists 📉 of Call of Duty: Black Ops II, as they embark on a search for an artifact known as the Kronorium, 📉 while discovering the truth behind Edward Richtofen's reappearance. The miniseries, also published by Dark Horse, features Justin Jordan as the 📉 writer and Jonathan Wayshak as the main artist, while Simon Bisley draws the cover art of each issue. The first 📉 issue was released on October 28, 2024, and subsequent issues were released throughout 2024.
Special editions and downloadable content [ edit 📉 ]
In addition to the Digital Deluxe Edition, other special editions include the Hardened Edition and the Juggernog Edition.[46] The Juggernog 📉 Edition includes a mini-refrigerator, a season pass and multiple in-game content.[47] A Collector's Edition bonus map for the Zombie mode, 📉 "The Giant" was announced. It is a remake of the Call of Duty: World at War map "Der Riese", and 📉 features the original characters, Dempsey, Nikolai, Takeo, and Richtofen.[18] A multiplayer-only starter pack for Windows was announced and released on 📉 February 16, 2024. It features the multiplayer mode's core mechanics, though certain features, such as the Zombie mode and the 📉 Nightmare mode, were excluded. This version of the game is available for players to purchase until the end of February 📉 2024, though it has been made available permanently since.[48]
In December 2024, during Sony's PlayStation Experience event, Activision announced the first 📉 downloadable content map pack for Black Ops III, titled "Awakening", and was released first on PlayStation 4 on February 2, 📉 2024. Releases for Windows and Xbox One happened in March 2024. The map pack contains four new multiplayer maps: "Skyjacked" 📉 (a remake of the Black Ops II multiplayer map "Hijacked"), "Rise", "Splash", and "Gauntlet", a new Zombies map, Der Eisendrache, 📉 and several new gumballs for the Zombie mode.[49] In March 2024, Treyarch revealed the second map pack, titled "Eclipse". The 📉 map pack has four new multiplayer maps, including a remake of the World at War map "Bonzai" and a new 📉 Zombies map, "Zetsubou no Shima".[50] The map pack was released on April 19 for PlayStation 4 and May 19 for 📉 Xbox One and PC.
The third map pack, Descent, was revealed on June 28, 2024, featuring four new MP maps, including 📉 a remake of the Black Ops II map "Raid" and a new Zombies map, "Gorod Krovi". The map pack was 📉 released on July 12 for PlayStation 4 and August 11 for Xbox One and PC. The PC release of Descent 📉 received controversy, for Activision and Treyarch announced that the map packs would no longer be sold separately, and PC players 📉 must purchase the season pass to receive all map packs, while owners of Awakening and/or Eclipse would receive discounts upon 📉 purchasing the season pass. The fourth map pack, Salvation, was revealed on August 25, 2024, with remakes of the MP 📉 maps "Standoff" from Black Ops II and "Outskirt" from World at War, along with the final Zombies map, "Revelations". The 📉 map pack was released on September 6 for PlayStation 4, and October 6 for Xbox One and PC.
A fifth and 📉 final map pack, Zombies Chronicles, contains remastered versions of 8 Zombies maps from previous games: "Nacht Der Untoten", "Verrückt", and 📉 "Shi no Numa" from World at War, "Kino Der Toten", "Ascension", "Shangri-La", and "Moon" from Black Ops, and "Origins" from 📉 Black Ops II, and is not included in the season pass of the game. The map pack was released on 📉 May 16, 2024, for PlayStation 4, and June 16 for Xbox One and PC.[51]
On May 24, 2024, Activision and Treyarch 📉 announced a Multiplayer DLC Trial Pack for the PC version of Black Ops III, allowing all players to play on 📉 all multiplayer maps from the four map packs for free for a limited time, while also offering XP bonuses to 📉 players who previously owned the map packs and/or the season pass.[52] On March 20, 2024, the Zombies maps from the 📉 four map packs were made available for separate purchase on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, with PC to follow on 📉 May 2.[53] On June 11, 2024, Activision and Treyarch announced the "Back in Black" map pack, which contains four remastered 📉 versions of fan-favorite multiplayer maps from Black Ops and Black Ops II: "Summit", "Jungle", "Firing Range", and "Slums". These four 📉 maps, which are also included in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 at launch, are offered exclusively to the PlayStation 📉 4 version of the game for players who pre-order Black Ops 4 on the aforementioned platform.
Reception [ edit ]
Critical response 📉 [ edit ]
According to review aggregator Metacritic, Call of Duty: Black Ops III received "generally favorable" critic reviews for PlayStation 📉 4 and Xbox One, and "mixed or average" critic reviews for PC.[54][55][57] GameSpot awarded it a score of 7 out 📉 of 10, saying, "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."[59] Polygon also gave the game a score 📉 of 7 out of 10, saying "Black Ops III'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."[64] IGN awarded it a 📉 score of 9.2 out of 10, saying "With fun 4-player co-op, new powers, and a fleshed out Zombies mode, Black 📉 Ops 3 is the biggest Call of Duty game yet."[62] Stuart Andrews of Trusted Reviews criticized the setting and narrative, 📉 writing "Black Ops 3 is a solid installment that will please the series' hardcore fans, but it's not a mainstream 📉 crowd-pleaser in the way that last year's Advanced Warfare was", and unfavorably compared it to its predecessors, disparaging that it 📉 "focuses entirely on the sci-fi stuff, loses most of its conspiracy theory trappings and brings augmented super-soldiers in. The result 📉 sometimes feels less like a third Black Ops game than Call of Duty: Even More Advanced Warfare."[65]
The PS3 and Xbox 📉 360 versions received less praise than the other versions. IGN's Brian Albert criticised the lack of the campaign in these 📉 versions, as well as the poor graphics and long waiting times, but concluded that despite these versions issues, they were 📉 still very fun to play.[63]
Sales [ edit ]
Black Ops III sold over 6.6 million copies in its first week of 📉 sales (not including digital) and grossed overR$550 million in sales during its first three days of release.[66][67] In the United 📉 Kingdom, the game bested Halo 5: Guardians to become the top selling game.[68] Black Ops III was the top best 📉 selling game in the US according to NPD's figures.[69] Black Ops III later became the top selling game of 2024.[70] 📉 According to Activision, Black Ops III was one of the best-selling games released for the eighth generation of video game 📉 consoles, and that its financial performance is significantly better than its predecessor, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.[71][72]
Awards [ edit ]
List 📉 of awards and nominations Award Category Result Ref. The Game Award Best Shooter Nominated [73] Best Multiplayer Nominated
References [ edit 📉 ]
Notes
^ The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game were developed by Beenox and Mercenary Technology, and Raven 📉 Software assisted development on the multiplayer map, Redwood. ^ [1] Brian Tuey and Kevin Sherwood composed additional tracks for the 📉 main and multiplayer menu theme and the Zombies mode. ^ The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game 📉 are multiplayer only. ^ Latin for "The First" ^ Latin for "The Last"
