The Call of Duty: Black Ops III world reveal is upon us!
News from various leaks over the past week is finally being confirmed, there's a nice big reveal video packed with information to enjoy, and the hype has well and truly begun. The general gist of the reveal, as well as all of the important information to be derived from it can be found below. Are you ready for more Black Ops?
NOTE: This article is still being constantly updated throughout Sunday as more information comes to light.
"Call of Duty: Black Ops III is a dark, gritty future where a new breed of black ops soldier emerges and the lines are blurred between our own humanity and the cutting-edge military robotics that define the future of combat."
November 6th is the confirmed release date.
A beta is confirmed for Call of Duty: Black Ops III, available on Xbox One, Playstation 4 and PC.
Beta: A beta is confirmed for Call of Duty: Black Ops III, available on Xbox One, Playstation 4 and PC. Those that pre-order the game are guaranteed to receive a code ahead of launch to provide them with access to the beta when it becomes available. Date is currently yet to be confirmed.
Season Pass: Once again, Black Ops III is set to get a Season Pass with 4 DLC packs currently confirmed to be a part of it.
Previous Gen Dropped: This entry in the Call of Duty series will be exclusively available on Xbox One, Playstation 4 and PC. Say goodbye to Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.
Co-op Campaign: The main campaign is designed with co-operative play and replayability in mind, enabling 4 friends to move through the cinematic style of gameplay Call of Duty is known for together. Open-area arena style gameplay elements are also incorporated.
Campaign Customisation: Seen to a lesser extent in Advanced Warfare, this new entry contains full customisation for all players during the campaign. Weapons, loadouts, abilities and outfits as well as a personal armoury to showcase accomplishments are mentioned.
New Movement: Treyarch is premiering a "new momentum-based chained-movement system", including thrust jumps, wall jumps, slides, and mantling abilities.
Map Design: Maps are designed to allow players success using both traditional movement and the new tactics and maneuvers.
Zombies: Zombies is a full and complete campaign straight out of the box, with a storyline, XP progression, customisation and a heavy emphasis on replayability.
Shooting Underwater: Just because. Swimming included.
Bow: Seems that the crossbow has been replaced with a more traditional recurve bow and arrow with explosive rounds.
Multiplayer Split-Screen: Another returning feature from previous Call of Duty titles.
Scorestreaks: Following on directly from Black Ops II, Treyarch's latest entry will contain score based streaks rather than kill based streaks.
Exos: Call of Duty: Black Ops III does NOT contian exo suits.
PC Specs: As follows.
Umlimited Sprint: Players will have unlimited sprint as a default, but that more extreme options such as wall running would not be unlimited.
The following multiplayer information is provided by TmarTn, one YouTuber that had the chance to play Black Ops III prior to the reveal earlier this week.
Thrust Jump Details: Thrust jump is more controllable than boost jumps, with more analogue input available than simple on/off present in boost jumping. This makes everything more controllable and precise. It is not as important as in Advanced Warfare, being used primarily to navigate the environments.
Sliding: Power slides are a replacement to dolphin diving, and are extremely similar to boost slides from Advanced Warfare.
Specialists: There are 9 different specialist classes with widely different individual capabilities that can be selected before matches, adding further player diversity into the mix. Specialists have access to both Power Abilities and Power Weapons. Once you select a specialist, you're locked in with them for the entirety of the match.
- One specialist has a compound bow with explosive arrows.
- One has a handcannon with the capability for one-shot kills.
- One has ground-slamming abilities.
- One can teleport back to their position 3 seconds prior with the touch of a button.
- One can boost movement speed tremendously for a short period of time.
- One ability enables players to temporarily earn double score.
Donnie Walsh (Ruin) is a brute force infantryman whose special weapon is a pair of Gravity Spikes that can be planted in the ground, causing massive damage to surrounding enemies. His ability is a speed boost to movement for objective play.
Zhen Zhen (Seraph) is part of a futuristic criminal gang, with a one-shit kill hand cannon that can dispatch multiple enemies with a single bullet as her special weapon. Her Power Ability, Combat Focus, enables her to reach scorestreaks quicker for a short period of time.
Alessandra Castillo (Outrider) is a scout from Brazil with an explosive-round bow and arrow and the abilities to scan nearby environments, revealing enemy positions.
Reaper is a robot, with the capability to transform its arm into a chaingun for a short while. On top of this, it posseses the ability to flash 3 second back in time to a previous position.
Reaper is a robot, with the capability to transform its arm into a chaingun
Specialist abilities are charged via a bar over time in-game. Kills and objective play increase charge speed.
Gunsmith: Weapons can be completely customised, including a camo editor and the ability to build your own exclusive weapon variants. Weapons created can be shared with friends.
Guns: As expected, Assault Rifles, SMGs, Sniper Rifles, LMGs and Shotguns are the 5 weapon classes.
Maps: Black Ops III has a heavy 3 lane focus for map design. Combine, Hunted and Stronghold are currently mentioned. Stronghold is the largest map currently available in the multiplayer.
Game Modes: Team Deathmatch, Domination, Hardpoint and Capture the Flag are all confirmed.
Plot: The story takes place immediately after the events of Black Ops II. Two opposing alliances - The Windslow Accord and the Common Defence Pact – and are now fighting over resources as climate change ravages the world. You are a part of a cybernetically enhanced Black Ops squad investigating allied disappearances.
Engine: Treyarch claims to have built an entire engine for the game.
PC Priority: They also noted that PC is a priority this year, with support for high-end rigs and 4K monitors, and scalable options for lower spec machines.
E3: Call of Duty: Black Ops III will be playable at E3, June this year.
The best Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare teams from around the world are set to compete at the Gfinity Spring Masters I, May 8-10th. You can grab tickets to spectate the entire thing live, or read up on additional information here. Keep up to date with all the latest gaming and eSports news via our Twitter: @GfinityOnline.