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Black Ops 3: Thoughts and impressions

jorgejjvr

Gold Member
I want to make this mostly about you.

What are your thoughts and impressions from the game/beta so far?

As of now, most people have had a chance to play and hopefully gather their thoughts, so I am very interested as to what those are.

In my case, I have dreaded these past two years of Cod. Ghosts was absolutely horrible, and AW while better, was ultimately a disappointment too.

I found myself until this day, still going to Bo2, that game was extremely fun. Going to Bo3 I honestly had my concerns, and this beta was going to make or break my decision.

I am happy to say, I sincerely love what I got to play. The movement worked, it is not as fast as AW, it is just right. The wall running is a nice option, I found myself surprising many enemies by using it. The weapons felt right, and so did the three lane maps. The game was beautiful and fluid, and the specialists were a blast to play with and try all their specials. And no, I did not mind rejack, although it even got more nerfed now. I also felt the spawns felt right, I knew were people were coming from and when spawn switched, and I didn't feel like I was constantly getting killed on the back as soon as I spawned. I should note that I mostly played Domination.

The one thing that did bother me a bit was the flinch, but I feel that could be easily remedied.

As a whole, I love this game, waiting for November has now become very hard. I wish I had an Xbox one to play 5 more days of the beta haha. I have not felt like this for a Cod game in a long time. It's a nice feeling to be excited about Cod again.

November can't come soon enough

A couple of my highlights:

One of my best scores:
FB_IMG_1440465862792.jpg


Favorite set up thus far:
FB_IMG_1440481240340.jpg


One of my gameplay, more on my channel:
https://youtu.be/cR5LPLFBSd0

Looking forward to reading your opinions.
 

dcelw540

Junior Member
Not a huge fan of it to be honest. This is coming from a guy who loved black ops 1 and 2 muiltplayer. When people said this played like black ops 1 thought man this is gonna be great.... not so much. You die way to quick once again, just like ghosts you die in a second. I do like the running on the walls it's very neat but once again didn't impress me due to titan fall did it better. The more and more I played of it the less I liked it. It just feels like a mash up of crysis, titan fall and destiny all mixed together. Doesn't feel to much like cod. Overall I'm going to get it for zombies and story but i'm hoping they do changes because I like advanced warfare muiltplayer way more.
 

Jarrod38

Member
It a fun and if everything goes your way the game is a blast. Just wish they would slow down the player speed to avoid the spawn killing. Also really hope we get a good mix of large maps. I miss those maps. The weapons are great and hope they get them balanced right. Overall still deciding to buy or not.
 

jorgejjvr

Gold Member
Not a huge fan of it to be honest. This is coming from a guy who loved black ops 1 and 2 muiltplayer. When people said this played like black ops 1 thought man this is gonna be great.... not so much. You die way to quick once again, just like ghosts you die in a second. I do like the running on the walls it's very neat but once again didn't impress me due to titan fall did it better. The more and more I played of it the less I liked it. It just feels like a mash up of crysis, titan fall and destiny all mixed together. Doesn't feel to much like cod. Overall I'm going to get it for zombies and story but i'm hoping they do changes because I like advanced warfare muiltplayer way more.
The time to kill could also be improved, agreed. If they do it like Bo2 it would be perfect.
 
Sadly not really interested anymore. Horrible Hitdetection with pseudo Dedicated Servers. Awful designed Maps and a Respawn System from Hell. And dont get me started on the Clunky Wallrunning stuff.
 
Game seemed fun, considering I haven't bought or played a CoD seriously since World at War and everything else has been watching it from a distance with other games.

Wish it wasn't a RAM hog on PC though. Kinda ruined how much fun I was having with it.
 

Tarin02543

Member
Just tried the Beta. Runs great but I don't like the dynamic resolution. My GUI runs at 2556x1440 but the game itself looks like 640x480.

The game itself is fine, it's still COD, nothing spectacular.
 

Noobcraft

Member
Honestly it's a bit too much for me. It doesn't move as well as Titanfall, and it doesn't play as well as earlier Call of Duty titles (COD 4, MW2, Black Ops, Black Ops 2).

I'm going to pass on this one.
 

Dynasty

Member
Needs a higher time to kill. Black Ops II TTK was perfect in my opinion, if they increase the TTK then I will play the multiplayer. Right now the only reason I am getting it is because of Zombies.
 

jem0208

Member
Not feeling it at all.

The movement feels so clunky, wallrunning doesn't feel smooth at all, almost like you have to attach to it before you can start running. You also seem to slow down after every action so there's hardly any sense of momentum.

95% of the time the person who shot first will win any battle, even if they suck because the aim assist is obscenely high. Seriously, I've had my reticule be dragged around by enemies on the other side of a wall.

The game is full of really bullshit weapons. Fuck that lightning gun, your stupid teammate gets shot whilst sprinting around in the open? Let's kill you too because you happen to be standing 5m from him. There's just constant random shit going on, airstrikes and spikey balls rolling around.

The maps seem fairly uninspired with few interesting play spaces. The attempts to make use of the new movement abilities essentially boil down to glorified flanking routes with wall runs, they're just kinda boring.

The menus are fairly slick though, so that's nice.
 

Shadybiz

Member
I definitely like the game itself. Movement feels good, sound was excellent, visuals are nice, etc.

I experienced absolutely terrible lag and interruptions the 3 times I tried it, though (SLIGHTLY improved on the last day), with an Open NAT, wired connection, and a DMZ'd PS4, so until I know that these issues have been sorted, I'm on a "wait and see" hold.
 

jorgejjvr

Gold Member
I definitely like the game itself. Movement feels good, sound was excellent, visuals are nice, etc.

I experienced absolutely terrible lag and interruptions the 3 times I tried it, though (SLIGHTLY improved on the last day), with an Open NAT, wired connection, and a DMZ'd PS4, so until I know that these issues have been sorted, I'm on a "wait and see" hold.
It is a beta you know, I would think it's so that this does not happen in the full version
 

Shadybiz

Member
It is a beta you know, I would think it's so that this does not happen in the full version

I don't want to think, I want to know. Plenty of betas have been done 2 months prior to release, only to have the same issues seen in the beta upon release (Battlefield being a prime example). I know there's a lot of Internet love for Treyarch, but that doesn't mean we should blindly trust that it will be fixed in time.
 
Maybe you're jus missing? Because u die pretty quick

The game is incredibly inconsistent due to the net code. Most of the time, it'll take 1/2 clip+ to kill when shooting from the chest up. Sometimes it'll be normal where they'll die quickly.

Anyway, this feels much better than AW due to some sort of structure in the maps instead of a chaotic highway of dudes boosting or giving you gangnam style.

The worst aspect besides the netcode, is the offensive/weapon specialist abilities. They have no place in CoD and are way too powerful. It's frustrating when you get OHK'd by a guy who goes 5-15 or when you just spawn and get hammerfisted into high heaven.

Other than that, if they iron out the crashes and connection issues, it should be a solid release.
 
I initially preordered for the beta code only but have decided to keep it. Movement system is really nice, it isn't as hectic as AW and the class system is pretty refreshing, too.
 

Recharg3

Member
My Favourite COD is still MW in fact my top 3 would be MW1 BO2 & MW2 the others have been meh but I have tried them all...for some reason every year I think I will try it to give it a go don't know why but I also hope it's going to be good.

I thought I'd try this one especially since I liked the last Black Ops but this one just makes me want to play titanfall a lot more because it feels a lot better and reading around online this opinion does seem to be shared.

They just need to either go back to Modern Warfare style or just do an original call of duty world war style again none of this advanced stuff thats what Halo is for IMO.

I don't see this doing well this year especially when matched with Halo & Battlefront.
 
I hated Black Ops 2 with a passion and I don't really like Black Ops 3. I mainly disliked the time to kill and the menus which are incredibly ugly in its current state. It just doesn't feel like COD to me. The maps design in COD hasn't been great since Black Ops 1.
 
I went into it expecting mediocrity and was surprised it wasn't bad. Still don't think the new gimmicks add that much to gameplay and I'm not that impressed by how iterative it feels given three years of dev time but the mechanics all feel good at least. I don't know if I'll get the game, but it's on my radar now at least.
 

xinek

Member
I had a blast during the beta. The Specialist weapons.... ehh. I'm not a fan of Destiny-style 1-hit kill specials for PvP, but tbh, they weren't any more chaotic than the killstreaks. I found the scorestreaks good -- being on the receiving end wasn't awful (AC-130 ABOVEEE!), and some like the Talon were super fun to run. I liked the booster movement -- it felt slightly enhanced, but not over the top. I honestly don't think I played enough to get a really good feel for how the spawns were. I was never very good at figuring out where the enemy was spawning. :S

Really can't wait for this to be released, especially taking a nice cold Monster out of my Juggernog fridge!!
 
The maps were bad (But it doesnt seem like we get good mp maps this year because somehow they all look boring. In Battlefront, Rainbow Six and CoD)

The netcode was sometimes unacceptable.

But besides these 2 points its the best CoD so far.
 
The matchmaking is terrible.

A friend and I who are around level 6 were getting put against teams filled with level 30+ players. I'm fairly decent with online shooters, and my kill/death was around 5-20 each game.

The aim assist is terrible, making it feel like I'm being killed from around corners. There was a noticeable stutter throughout the few hours I played, even with an average ping of 50ms.

The wall running is super clunky, I ended up not even using it because I died too many times trying to get off.

The respawns are rubbish, towards the end of the round (specially search and destroy) I was getting killed within 10 seconds of leaving.

And lastly, whenever the other side gets a lead...it's over. They have all the UAVs, Guardians, Drones, Airstrikes and it makes it impossible to come back.
 

Izuna

Banned
Gameplay aside, I can't believe how much worse it looks on Xbone than it does on PS4. I feel like I need to wipe my eyes as I'm looking at the screen.
 

jorgejjvr

Gold Member
I'm surprised at all the disappointment, which of course it's fine

I found myself having a blast with this game tho, can't wait for more
 
My only issues with the beta were the vaseline filter on the Xbox One version, and that I could not, in any configuration, connect with my friend to play multiplayer. Every port forwarded, NAT open, and other games working fine. But for some reason the Beta would not allow us to connect to each other at all.
 
I'm surprised at all the disappointment, which of course it's fine

I found myself having a blast with this game tho, can't wait for more

Im not surprised at all gaf has an unwarranted hate for cod, could have been the best shooting game of the decade but it has call of duty in title.

But i agree which zombies had a beta i need to try that it looks so good
 

nowarning

Member
I used to really enjoy COD games, unfortunately the only thing the BO3 beta did was hammer home the idea that these games aren't for me anymore. I got sick of spawning and dying right away after my first game. I'm done, but more power to those that enjoy it.
 

farisr

Member
Played a few matches. Decided to stop. Was not having fun at all. Of course stuff like lag and stuff is there due to it being a beta and all, but something just felt off.

What I was hoping for was something like Black Ops 1 & 2, but it felt like what I got was something like Ghosts (talking about the core gameplay feel here, I know the parkour stuff, some of the perks and what not are different)
 

jem0208

Member
Im not surprised at all gaf has an unwarranted hate for cod, could have been the best shooting game of the decade but it has call of duty in title.

But i agree which zombies had a beta i need to try that it looks so good
It's got nothing to do with the name, the game just isn't particularly good.
 
Kinda liked it after skipping both ghosts and aw.
I still use my old playstyle though, barely using the slide to get to another spot (not even sure if it's faster than sprinting) and the thrust jump is nice I guess to get to higher places.
 
There were some good things, some great things like the movement and gun play and being able to chain it all together, but I'm just going to go into what I didn't like.

The maps were not great, too small. This is my biggest concern, the maps were shit.

Being able to fall off the maps is also not very fun considering the flexibility in player movement. Edge of maps, sure, but random drops in the middle of maps is meh.

Wall running seems like a gimmick since it can hardly be utilized outside of a few areas that do allow it, and in turn those areas seemed like death traps. Seems like a pointless addition just to compete with those other guys.

Spawn killing was pretty common. Matchmaking wasn't balanced as usual. Nothing new with these two points though.

I think I'm just tired of the whole near future thing. Time to take it far into sci-fi land, or better yet, go back and do WW2, Vietnam again, heck even desert storm, just make it simple.
 
All in all, I haven't played a better shooter since Halo 5 beta. Bo3 is fun but the dedicated servers of halo 5 are going to shit on it.

Really wish activision would just on the dedicated servers for all bandwagon
 

dcelw540

Junior Member
Im not surprised at all gaf has an unwarranted hate for cod, could have been the best shooting game of the decade but it has call of duty in title.

But i agree which zombies had a beta i need to try that it looks so good
It's not that. If you go in the xbox or ps4 beta thread people were praising how much better it is then advanced warfare. It's all preference but cod has had some ups and downs lately for sure in these past few instalments.
 

VariantX

Member
Im sort of 50/50 on this game.


-The dolphin dive being replaced by the slide, Its faster, better at getting you to cover and it doesn't put a halt to your movement.
-I like the new movement abilities, but at the same time, I feel like they're not being used to the potential they could be because the maps are relatively flat and small.
-mantling over objects is faster and smoother than ever. I would have liked this movement system with the larger maps of CoD ghosts with a bit more verticality.
-no more panic knifing, melee is now either a punch or a butt with your weapon if you want to knife people, you have to commit to it by giving up your side arm slot for that 1-hit kill potential.
-I like the idea of specialists, but it seems to have killed the awesome player customization aspect that AW had. Maybe the last specialist is fully customizable in terms of appearance?? Wish they had other things that differentiate them besides looks and specialist abilities.
-Specialist offensive abilities are WAY too powerful for something you're guaranteed to get, like more powerful than most killstreaks ive seen in the past. Especially the minigun killstreak, literally chews through anything that is in front of him.
-Taking even one bullet means you'll flinch, and flinch hard, which means its very unlikely that you'll be able to fight back once you get hit, which is bad because you die pretty damn fast as it is. Its basically laser tag rather than a shoot-out.
-I kind of feel wall running dosen't really add much to the game as much as the double jump. It just seems like it just simply lets you take another route rather than add to a players mobility and speed, not that you need speed becuase the maps in the beta are still relatively small.
-Spawns in the beta are god-awful, its not fun to spawn in, take literally 1 step and be back at the kill cam screen. The spawns flip too damn quickly too so you end up getting shot in the back from where you just spawned in a few seconds ago.
 

TheSeks

Blinded by the luminous glory that is David Bowie's physical manifestation.
Maybe you're jus missing? Because u die pretty quick

Or he's shooting from mid/long range where there IS a bullet-damage drop-off. Close-range CoD's typical engagements are going to be quick to kill.

As for me:

User controlled killstreaks = Yeah, no.

Or more expanded: Call of Duty 4 continues to be (despite Frag x 3 and Martyrdom) the best of the series. Less bullshit deaths, less bullshit being thrown at you. Just... less bullshit to deal with. User controlled killstreaks that allow people to just hide in a corner and then rain death down on spawn points once they know where they (terrible) spawns on the maps are is awful. CoD4 got it right in that the airstrike is the ONLY thing you can control and even then it's a UNCONTROLLED strafe-run. You call in the general direction and that's it. The helicopter was AI controlled, the UAV was uncontrolled. None of this camping spawns.
 

BiGBoSSMk23

A company being excited for their new game is a huge slap in the face to all the fans that liked their old games.
With the way the movement has evolved and the maps haven't , the perks are nearly useless.

So I just dumped all the attachments I could onto my SMG and used Ruin Overdrive.

The way this game is meant to be played.
 
I haven't played the beta, but I did play 3-4 rounds at an E3 event and really enjoyed it.

My interest in Call of Duty multiplayer has lessened over the years. I play it a bit, but I mostly just play through the campaigns and then sell them. But I'll likely play a lot more MP this time around.
 
This game is leagues better than Ghosts and Advanced Warfare IMO. The main problems with those games were the maps and spawns, and Black Ops 3 has improved on both. The movement system is leagues better than Advanced Warfare's too.

However, the time to kill is still way too fast. The game reminds me of Ghosts in that regard and I'm not feeling that at all.
 

KDC720

Member
I don't think its bad, but I don't exactly love it either. The wallrunning and double jumping feels half baked, Titanfall did all of the movement stuff better. The super weapons that each character has are cheap, with the possible exception of the bow which at least takes a little effort to use. Scorestreaks were pretty run of the mill, and nothing about the 4 maps in the beta really stood out to me.

The game is solid, and I may pick it up cheap eventually, but I enjoyed AW a lot more. Halo and Battlefront will be sucking up most of my shooter time anyway.
 
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