Call of Duty: Black Ops III

Call of Duty: Black Ops III pushed the series forward to 2065, when soldiers are fitted with cybernetic implants and the battlefield belongs to drones, robots and linked minds. The campaign follows a maimed operative whose life is saved by new technology, which simultaneously starts blurring the line between reality and simulation, so the military action gradually turns into a dark story about who actually owns your own memories. A key novelty was that the entire campaign can be played in co-op by up to four players, which made it a much looser, arena-like experience than previous entries.

Movement gained a new dimension thanks to a jump-jet pack, wall-running and swimming, so fights play out across three dimensions and maps are built around constant repositioning. Multiplayer introduced a system of specialists, heroes with their own ability or unique weapon that can be charged once during a match and used as a trump card. The famous Zombies mode also returns, this time with its own storyline set in a stylized 1930s city, and it ranks among the most elaborate variants of the mode ever made. On Xbox One the game ran smoothly and leaned technically on density of effects, neon colors and readability rather than photorealism.

The music and sound design support a cold cyberpunk edge, the campaign frequently dives into hallucinatory passages, and Zombies instead rides on pulpy B-movie atmosphere with theatrically exaggerated characters. Contemporary reception was mostly positive, praising both the scope of the package and the movement mechanics, with criticism aimed mainly at the confusing campaign story. Its influence on the genre showed in how long character abilities and vertical movement stuck around in the series and among competitors. Today it stands as an interesting document of an era when shooters tried to be action, sci-fi and heroically colorful all at once, and Zombies remains a reason to return. Anyone looking for a campaign for a group of friends will find one of the few big shooters that offers it from start to finish without compromise.