BLACK OPS 3 BETA - Conclusion

Well the PS4 beta has finished and the Xbox One version will be up and running from Wednesday 26th August.

Overall it has been good fun and the gameplay has improved over the last six days.

I found the paintshop and tinkered with that and tried out as many weapons as I could and found a weapon in each category that I liked.

So over all there was a kind of comfort in knowing that the multiplayer game is ok. Over the week new perimeters were set enabling new specialists to be unveiled and those that I unlocked I tried out with varying results but only time will tell which will suit the players.

Problems that were encountered up to the last game - players missing from the final scorecard and there is still a maths problem.

The maps are much the same as I have played since Modern Warfare 3 and the gameplay on the Black Ops 3 maps was very much Advanced Warfare with added wall running and underwater combat. I can only compare it to 'comfort zone' gaming. The point is that again there will be criticism that 'Black Ops 3' is another 'Titanfall' clone - but it isn't. I do wonder if this sits at the back of developers minds because they do fall short of a kind of commitment. Yes, these maps and the gameplay should follow in the steps of 'Titanfall'. What is the point of wall running when you can't boost to a higher point? The maps should be opened out to embrace both height and depth. So, too, should the environment for if a player can boost jump onto the roof of a low building then why not onto the low rocks enabling them to climb higher.
The counter-argument is that it would encourage campers - but then they will always find a place to lie down and wait and, therefore, it doesn't really matter.

Detractors will always cry out that 'Call Of Duty' is dead but without a total re-structuring of multiplayer gameplay and maps only the diehards (like me) will be struggling to find a match.

Still there was no hanging around waiting 'for 7 more players' (as in Advanced Warfare) with Black Ops 3. Looks like fun.

BLACK OPS 3 Multiplayer Beta

Black Ops 3 comes via Activision/Treyarch this time around on the Call Of Duty franchise.

Yesterday, 19th August was launch day and considering that the beta is only available for 5 days it was virtually a day lost as it took hours to download on the PS4 (Xbox One and PCs get the Beta next week). Variables gave approximate download times as between 11 and 8 hours. Sometimes switching off and switching back on made it speed up - better with the last 2000 GB which dropped from 5 hours to 57 minutes.

Other problems occurred with other users who experienced various error codes and server problems.

The game looks good and the maps had a realistic feel. The first map I encountered was 'Combine' which is like a farming college/research area. I played my favourite game type - hardpoint - on this map. The less said about that the better (2 kills and 21 deaths) yet I did manage to capture a hardpoint by a fluke of being in the right place at the right time. New maps and gameplay do take me a while to adjust.

Second up was another attempt at hardpoint on the 'Hunted' map - this is a hunting lodge and comes with a waterfall and a lake for a bit of underwater combat. Different weapon and a slight improvement in the score.

There is a third map 'Evac' set on a rooftop evacuation point but I did not see it.

The Beta comes with 7 game modes: Team Deathmatch, Kill Confirmed, Hardpoint, Domination, Capture The Flag, Demolition, and Search and Destroy. I have played the first four of these games and can say that by the end I was close to my average on other Call Of Duty games.

However, the Beta is not without problems. One game of 'Domination' had three (yes 3) halves. A game of 'Kill Confirmed' at the end both my name and score were missing - but both I and my gun leveled up just the same.
Maths is not a strong point in this game for example; 3 double kills, a triple kill and a bloodthirsty (5 kills in a row) do not add up to four kills (a minimum of 7 yes but not 4). And for me to finish in third place in another game is a rarity to savour - not bad when the scorecard said that I had 5 kills. I can only conclude that multiple kills confuses the computer.

Unlike previous 'Call Of Duty' games the opposition seem to have been miniturised and blend in with the scenery. A little more bulk to bring them into line with previous games would be handy.

I couldn't find the 'paint shop' although it doesn't bother me that much now it would have been good to see what was available.

There will be those quick to compare 'Black Ops 3' with 'Titanfall' or believe it to be a trailer for 'Titanfall 2' (such a trailer does exist on YouTube) but it doesn't. The wall running sections need improving and there is no real combined use for wall running and boost jumping. To make full use of the maps I think that this combination is needed and would produce limits that exo suits in 'Advanced Warfare' should have had.

Saying that - as long as I am ranking up and my weaponry is doing the same - I'm happy.