Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII Review

I don’t get to review games as much as I would like on this site, but I am an avid gamer, especially when it comes to the super reliable franchises like Call of Duty. I have been playing the majority of Call of Duty games as long as I can remember and I have yet to really be disappointed. So now that I have some time into the newest entry, Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII, I have to say the game makers continue to step up the quality of their offerings, but in this case, they may have missed an opportunity they aren’t even aware is important.

First things first, Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII looks fantastic and plays smooth and fast. The environments (which are HUGE) look phenomenal and feel real, they have great detail and depth and really give a great sense of space. The action is very fast and frantic with some really kick ass weaponry and a seemingly endless space to run and fight in. The game has some great new options in creating your character with more options than you can count, lots of visuals and weapon choices, and about as much customization as you can imagine. The gameplay is very fluid and well rendered with a definite feeling of being in the middle of the action. There is also a massive zombie mode, the biggest ever created in the series, and a gigantic Blackout mode, which is essentially a Call of Duty greatest hits Battle Royale mode, which is outrageous fun.

The area I really had issue with was the fact that for the first time in the franchises’ history, Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII is multiplayer only. I am typically not a big multiplayer fan. I play more than the average person, but definitely not nearly as much as die hard gamers. So when I play online, I always feel significantly outgunned and outperformed by players who obviously are logging hundreds of hours of gameplay. And I just can’t compete with that. I love single player campaigns. I love having a story instead of just running around seeing how many opponents I can kill. I get bored pretty quick doing that. I miss the characters, the storyline and the fact that I can set the game to settings I prefer and take my time to explore and enjoy it. And while I get that game developers can track multiplayer stats and it has become a huge part of gaming, it is harder for them to track how many people enjoy single player campaigns. I can honestly say if game makers eventually abandoned campaigns, I would abandon gaming.

Bottom line for Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII is that it is a step up in quality and craftsmanship for the series, and for multiplayer fans out there, this is undoubtedly a massive experience that you will get your money’s worth out of many times over with every aspect of multiplayer improved and upgraded with the biggest maps I have ever seen. But it very disappointing to be a single player campaign guy left out of the experience.