Before I dive into the bulk of the matter, note that I haven’t consistently played any Call of Duty online multiplayer since the first Modern Warfare. After a rough time, I needed something to unwind and I ended up getting serious and improving my online CoD skills by playing at least an hour everyday. However, life got in the way and I missed out on a few play sessions. Which resulting me back to square one with other players, and seeing as I had more fun to be had elsewhere, I just quit. And yes, some of that information will come in handy shortly.
As with latest Call of Duty online multiplayer side of things, you’ll have a selection of match types to choose from. And Black Ops 3 is no different. Although the go-to standard affair are multiplayer matches, there are some interesting variants such as a non-lethal one where you simply have to drive a small robot into the opposing territory; it’s always a good thing to have some variety and new twists on the standard multiplayer components.
Before you get into the heat of things, you’ll be able to choose from one of the game’s specialists:
- Outirder: This class is armed with a bow and explosive arrows resulting in One Hit One Kill. If you can see the arrows coming, you can shoot’em in mid-air. One of her Combat Focus ability allows her to see enemies through walls.
- Battery: This one is equipped with the War Machine grenade launcher and can activate a deflecting shield as a Combat Focus Ability.
- Prophet: This one is interesting as he can fire an electricity charge that electrifies any enemies touching the ground surface covered by the electricity. As a Combat Focus Ability, he can teleport back to a previous location
- Ruin: His weapon of choice is the Gravity spikes. His Combat Focus ability is pretty cool however as he’ll speed up for a short period of time.
Each specialists has two Combat Focus Ability to choose from in order to help you out in combat. So you might need to play a few matches before you figure out the right one for you. Additionally, as you progress through the Beta and level up, players get access to additional classes: Seraph, Nomad, Reaper and Spectre.
Once you’ve chosen your Specialist, you can choose from different loadouts by either choosing one from the five classes or create your own. The existing classes are:
- Vanguard
- Breach
- Sentinel
- Overwatch
- Sharpshooter
Each preset loadout is fully equipped to take over the battleground and is used for those regular players who are comfortable with what’s available. While more intense players can create five custom loadouts with any weapon they have or will unlock.
Obviously, I got a few days late into it, meaning that I’d be mostly surrounded by high level players; which was case. Honestly, I have no idea how matchmaking could be fixed in order to put equal leveled players (or players closer to your rank) together, but again I felt this was a problem. Out of the matches I played, I totally got destroyed in my first attempt (1 kill and 12 deaths), but luckily some other matches went a *bit* better (i.e. 7 kills and 15 deaths). This reminded me why I quit CoD online. Missing a few days of “practice” ensures that you’ll be pretty much be a stain in the match: a bullet sponge for high level players.
There’s a also a feeling of high level players coming out a bit stronger and more powerful. Even if all players have access to the same classes, specialists, weapons (which can be leveled up) and new perks for your toys to be unlocked. Meaning the more you play, the stronger you can become. It was clear to me when I simply got grazed by a few bullets and I ended up dead. I had emptied half a clip into my killer and he was still standing. And another example: at the end of the match, they show up the final Killcam; in a match we lost, we could see the killer’s HUD being completely red; near death; while he simply fired 2 bullets and my teammate was K.I.A.
Through this Beta, I had the chance to only experience two maps. Both of them were huge maps, with some pitfalls, leading to certain death, but it ensured that there wasn’t much close combat and players could find out way to hide or outsmart the opponent. None of the maps, from what I found, had any areas for snipers to camp (thankfully).
That being said, die hard Call of Duty fans will eat up the game’s multiplayer come November 6th. Considering the vast amount of modes available and new gadgets and gizmos for players to play around with, it will surely keep players entertained until Call of Duty 2016. As long as you play regularly and consistently, you’ll be on equal footing with most players and be a killing machine; as the multiplayer rewards players that play often with new perks and weapons giving absolutely no chance whatsoever for casual or newcomer players to stand a chance. If you were expecting a CoD online multiplayer experience which would ease you in, this (still) isn’t it.
Which brings back to my original point: I hadn’t played Call of Duty online since Modern Warfare over 8 years ago, back in 2007, and there’s nothing that changed much. Besides the setting and new gadgets, it’s the same old experience where only regular and hardcore players are rewarded while others serve as bullet sponges.
