Call of Duty: Black Ops III

Overview

Call of Duty: Black Ops III is a 2015 first-person shooter developed by Treyarch and published by Activision. It is the twelfth entry in the Call of Duty series and the sequel to 2012's Black Ops II. It was released on PlayStation 4, Windows and Xbox One on November 6, 2015. A cut-down version with multiplayer only, made by Beenox and Mercenary Technology, came out on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and was the last Call of Duty on those consoles.

The game is set in 2065, 40 years after Black Ops II, in a world shaped by climate change and advanced technology including cybernetic enhancements. Like earlier Black Ops games it follows a group of black ops soldiers. The campaign is built for four-player co-op, with bigger and more open levels and less corridor shooting, and the player character has cybernetic abilities. A standalone Zombies mode and a Nightmares mode, which replays the campaign with zombies in place of most enemies, are included.

Multiplayer introduced a momentum-based movement system with thruster packs, wall running and sliding, and a Specialist system where players pick one of nine soldiers, each with a special weapon or ability. A tenth, Blackjack, was added later. Gunsmith and Paintshop let players customise weapons, and Zombies has its own progression system with Gobblegums that give temporary bonuses. Dead Ops Arcade and Freerun are bonus modes.

It was the second game on Activision's three-year development cycle and uses a heavily modified version of the IW engine. According to a report by Jason Schreier, the game was first meant to have an open-world campaign, which was scrapped and caused a period of crunch. Jack Wall returned to compose, with Avenged Sevenfold providing an instrumental score called Jade Helm for multiplayer. The multiplayer beta ran on PlayStation 4 from August 18, 2015 and on Windows and Xbox One from August 26.

It was the first Call of Duty released after Activision ended its partnership with Microsoft and partnered with Sony, which got timed exclusivity on the downloadable content. Special editions included the Hardened Edition and the Juggernog Edition, which came with a mini-refrigerator, a season pass and in-game items. Four map packs followed, Awakening, Eclipse, Descent and Salvation, each on PlayStation 4 first and a month or more later on Xbox One, then Zombies Chronicles in 2017.

Reviews were generally positive, with praise for the gameplay, the Zombies mode and the amount of content, and criticism for the story and lack of new ideas. The PS3 and Xbox 360 versions were singled out for performance problems and missing features. It sold more than 6.6 million copies in its first week, grossed over 550 million US dollars in three days, was the top-selling game in the US in 2015 and has sold over 43 million copies. A prequel, Black Ops 4, was released in 2018.

Screenshots

Game details

Genres

First-person shooter

Developer

Treyarch

Publisher

Activision

Series

Call of Duty

Engine

IW (heavily modified)

Composers

Jack Wall

Designers

David Vonderhaar

Writers

Jason Blundell, Craig Houston

Directors

Jason Blundell, Dan Bunting

Modes

Single player

Yes

Local multiplayer

No

Online multiplayer

Yes

Release dates

Editions

Buy this game

Achievements

Achievements98 (1,950G)

Total

98

Gamerscore

1950

1000G without online

No

Online trophies

2

Online note

Welcome to the Club (Sergeant, level 10) and Battle Tested (Commander, level 55) need public multiplayer matches, so the base 1000G needs online play. Nine Shadows of Evil Zombies achievements (260G) include Start of the End (60G) for completing every ritual.

DLC has trophies

Yes

1000G includes DLC

No

DLC note

VGTimes lists separate achievement groups for the Awakening, Eclipse, Descent and Salvation map packs and for Zombies Chronicles; the Season Pass covers the four 2016 packs, and the Zombies Chronicles Edition bundles the base game with that expansion. DLC counts and points were not readable in the sources reached.

Trophy list shared with other versions

No

Other versions

The Xbox 360 and PS3 versions have no campaign, so their lists cover multiplayer and Zombies only.

Gamerscore, base game

1000

Grind

• Battle Tested: multiplayer level 55
• Shadows of Evil: nine Zombies achievements, eight at 25G plus Start of the End at 60G
• Four secret achievements: Anti-Aircraft Artillery, Cyber-Gorilla, Flip Side of the Medal, Nobody Will Believe You

• A Second Chance Complete New World on Hardened, Veteran, or Realistic. 20G 24.65% of players
• High Tide Complete In Darkness on Hardened, Veteran, or Realistic. 20G 19.99% of players
• Into the Abyss Complete Hypocenter on Hardened, Veteran, or Realistic. 20G 14.43% of players
• Blood for Blood Complete Vengeance on Hardened, Veteran, or Realistic. 20G 13.72% of players
• Friends and Foes Complete Rise and Fall on Hardened, Veteran, or Realistic. 20G 12.94% of players
• Understanding Madness Complete Demon Within on Hardened, Veteran, or Realistic. 20G 12.22% of players
• Fly, Swim, Shoot Complete Sand Castle on Hardened, Veteran, or Realistic. 20G 11.85% of players
• 200 Stories of Sheer Adventure! Complete Lotus Towers on Hardened, Veteran, or Realistic. 20G 11.4% of players
• Full Circle Complete Campaign on Hardened, Veteran, or Realistic. 50G 9.51% of players
• Belly of the Beast Complete Provocation on Hardened, Veteran, or Realistic. 20G 16.28% of players
• Curator Discover all of the collectibles in the Campaign 20G 2.33% of players
• Disavowed Complete Black Ops on Hardened, Veteran, or Realistic. 20G 30.74% of players
• No One Will Believe You Complete the Campaign on Realistic. 50G Hidden 2.23% of players
• Another Side of the Story Complete the Campaign on any difficulty. 20G Hidden 20.67% of players
• Hold Still! Kill 6 enemies affected by one Blinding Swarm or Firefly Swarm. 20G 15.35% of players
• Rolling Heavy Kill 5 enemies using one burst of Unstoppable Force. 10G 2.72% of players
• Sting like a Talon In Campaign, kill 20 enemies while flying the same Talon. 20G 19.71% of players
• Decimator In Campaign, kill 10 enemies in under 3 seconds. 20G 52.37% of players
• Gun Game In Campaign, kill 5 enemies with 5 different guns in under 30 seconds. 20G 2.11% of players
• Personal Decorator Earn all Decorations. 90G 0.39% of players
• Doing Camo Right In Campaign, unlock all camos for any weapon. 10G 23.34% of players
• Maximum Firepower Take control of an ASP. 10G 5.92% of players
• Walking Encyclopedia Discover all of the collectibles in any Mission. 10G 10.5% of players
• Crackshot In Campaign, kill 5 enemies from over 100m away. 10G 23.42% of players
• Can't Hide In Campaign, kill an enemy through a wall or obstruction. 10G 78.26% of players
• Biff! Bap! KaPow! Kill three enemies in a melee combo. 10G 6.01% of players
• Inertial Distance In Campaign, wall run over 250 meters. 10G 10.04% of players
• For real this time Earn a Gold Rating in the training simulator. 10G 2.18% of players
• Foe To Friend Use an enemy combat robot to kill 10 enemies. 10G 55.79% of players
• Throwing Flak Kill 3 Talons with a single mid-air grenade detonation. 10G Hidden 3.97% of players
• Unlocked Potential Fully upgrade a Cybernetics Core. 10G 15.03% of players
• Lock, Stock, And Then Some In Campaign, unlock all attachments for any weapon. 10G 32.39% of players
• In Their Sleep In Campaign, kill 5 stunned enemies in under 3 seconds. 10G 9.95% of players
• Silverback In Black Hack the Data Vault and brace yourself for Cyber's Avengening in Dead Ops Arcade 2. 10G Hidden 44.64% of players
• The Beginning of the End In Shadows of Evil, complete all Rituals. 60G 42.56% of players
• From the Shadows In Shadows of Evil, spot the Shadowman fives times in one game. 25G 43.37% of players
• Not out of Gobblegum! In Shadows of Evil, purchase and chew every type of GobbleGum in your Pack. 25G 23.08% of players
• Sorry, we’re DEAD In Shadows of Evil, kill 10 zombies that are inside of a store in one game. 25G 4.1% of players
• Strike! In Shadows of Evil, use the rocket shield attack to kill at least 10 zombies in one burst. 25G 6.21% of players
• Beat CoP In Shadows of Evil, summon the Civil Protector in every district in a single game. 25G 4.17% of players
• The Spider and the Fly In Shadows of Evil, kill 10 zombies ensnared by a Widow’s Wine grenade 25G 22.49% of players
• Margwa Party In Shadows of Evil, kill 2 Margwas in a single round. 25G 22.82% of players
• Parasite-Seeing In Shadows of Evil, kill 5 Parasites while riding on the train. 25G 13.75% of players
• Welcome to the Club Reach Sergeant (Level 10) in Multiplayer while playing online. 20G 77.06% of players
• Battle Tested Reach Commander (Level 55) in Multiplayer while playing online. 20G 44.9% of players
• Tactical Specialist Get 5 Medals based on a Specialist Ability in a single game. 20G 31.22% of players
• Deadly Specialist Get a Specialist-based medal that requires 3 or more rapid kills while using any Specialist Weapon. 20G 71.04% of players
• My Brother’s Keeper In Der Eisendrache, the one must be erased. 75G Hidden 6.89% of players
• Der Meisterbogenschuetze In Der Eisendrache, obtain all of the ancient bows. 40G 12.99% of players
• None Left Standing In Der Eisendrache, kill every type of zombie using a minigun. 20G 2.23% of players
• Take a Bow In Der Eisendrache, upgrade the Wrath of the Ancients. 20G 19.55% of players
• Not Big Enough In Der Eisendrache, trap and kill a Panzersoldat using the Ragnarok DG-4. 20G 5.2% of players
• Time to Slam In Der Eisendrache, revive two players protected by the Ragnarok DG-4. 15G 4.21% of players
• Quick Off Your Feet In Der Eisendrache, wallbuy the BRM. 5G 7.41% of players
• That’s a lot of Jigawatts! In Der Eisendrache, electrocute 121 zombies. 5G 13.79% of players
• Fling Me to the Moon In Der Eisendrache, use every Wundersphere twice. 5G 8.84% of players
• Death From Above In Der Eisendrache, kill a zombie while being flung by a Wundersphere. 5G 14.4% of players
• Seeds of Doubt In Zetsubou No Shima, the one must be saved. 75G Hidden 5.05% of players
• Sanguine Serum In Zetsubou No Shima, drink fresh Widow's Wine. 40G 7.67% of players
• Herbal Remedy In Zetsubou No Shima, use a plant to return to life. 20G 2.77% of players
• The Ultimate Sacrifice In Zetsubou No Shima, retrieve the Skull of Nan Sapwe. 20G 9.93% of players
• Crop Duster In Zetsubou No Shima, kill 10 zombies with a single shot of the KT-4. 15G 3.88% of players
• Iron Lung In Zetsubou No Shima, stay underwater for one minute. 5G 2.12% of players
• In the Belly of the Beast In Zetsubou No Shima, survive getting consumed. 5G 10.74% of players
• Assault With Battery In Zetsubou No Shima, electrocute a zombie with a shield. 5G 2.42% of players
• Web of Defeat In Zetsubou No Shima, remove webs in every possible way in one game. 5G 0.98% of players
• One Too Many In Zetsubou No Shima, throw up. 5G 3.78% of players
• Love And War In Gorod Krovi, the one must be freed. 75G Hidden 3.45% of players
• Wield a Fist of Iron In Gorod Krovi, wield the Gauntlet of Siegfried. 40G 6.65% of players
• Time Attack In Gorod Krovi, complete Time Attack: Round 20. 20G 1.34% of players
• Taking Flight In Gorod Krovi, ride a Dragon. 15G 13.56% of players
• Not One Inch In Gorod Krovi, complete a Lockdown Event. 15G 10.64% of players
• Viktorious Revenge In Gorod Krovi, complete all solo Trials in one Zombies game. 15G 2.44% of players
• Vaporeyezed In Gorod Krovi, use the Gigant Beam to kill 20 Zombies in one activation. 5G 2.54% of players
• Fire Mission In Gorod Krovi, kill 8 zombies with a single Dragon Strike. 5G 5.97% of players
• Blown Away In Gorod Krovi, kill 10 zombies at once with the Guard of Fafnir. 5G 4.59% of players
• Zombiepult In Gorod Krovi, launch 10 zombies into the air at the same time. 5G 1.14% of players
• For The Good Of All In Revelations, the Key must be opened. 30G Hidden 3.88% of players
• A Better Tomorrow In Revelations, complete the cycle. 30G Hidden 3.52% of players
• Pack-A-Punch-ectomy In Revelations, recover the Pack-a-Punch machine from its abductor. 15G 15.87% of players
• Keep Close In Revelations, assist a Keeper in defeating every type of enemy. 15G 0.7% of players
• Death Ray In Revelations, kill 40 enemies with a single activation of a Corruption Turret. 15G 1.03% of players
• The Grand Tour In Revelations, visit every unique location within 2 minutes. 15G 7.31% of players
• Wardrobe Change In Revelations, wear three different hats. 15G 3.54% of players
• Wonderful In Revelations, kill 10 enemies in one shot with each wonder weapon. 15G 4.46% of players
• Controlled Chaos In Revelations, override all of the Corruption Engines before round 6. 15G 10.46% of players
• It's a Trap! In Shi No Numa, kill at least one zombie with three different traps in a single round. 15G 1.64% of players
• The Eagle has Landers In Ascension, escape on all three lunar landers. 15G 13.35% of players
• Chimp on the Barbie In Ascension, kill a space monkey with a fire trap. 15G 3.17% of players
• Time Travel Will Tell In Shangri-La, acquire the Focusing Stone. 15G 1.03% of players
• Small Consolation In Shangri-La, use the 31-79 JGb215 on each type of zombie. 15G 1.26% of players
• Cryogenic Slumber Party In Moon, complete Richtofen's Grand Scheme. 15G 3.3% of players
• Ground Control In Moon, prevent each excavator from breaching the base in one game. 15G 1.07% of players
• Little Lost Girl In Origins, release Samantha. 15G 4.17% of players
• Overachiever In Origins, complete all 4 Challenges in one game. 15G 3.07% of players
• I said we’re CLOSED! In Nacht Der Untoten, do not let any zombies enter the building during the first 3 rounds. 15G 7.16% of players
• Acted Alone In Verrückt, headshot 20 zombies in the courtyard from the second floor of the Asylum. 15G 1.39% of players
• I’ve seen some things… In Kino Der Toten, visit every location the teleporter can take you to. 15G 5.07% of players

Space and patches

Space neededabout 45 GB

DLC

Four map packs and a Zombies remaster pack followed the game. Xbox One got each of them later than PlayStation 4.

Items

Name	Adds	Date
Awakening	Four multiplayer maps and the Zombies map Der Eisendrache.
Eclipse	Four multiplayer maps and the Zombies map Zetsubou No Shima.	2016-05-19
Descent	Four multiplayer maps and the Zombies map Gorod Krovi.	2016-08-11
Salvation	Four multiplayer maps and the Zombies map Revelations.	2016-10-06
Zombies Chronicles	Eight remastered Zombies maps from World at War, Black Ops and Black Ops II.	2017-06-16

Playable today

Online

Online servers runningYes

Multiplayer and Zombies run on the publisher's servers. No shutdown has been announced.

Services

Service	Status
Xbox One multiplayer	running

Reception

Aggregates

Outlet	Platform	Score	Scale
Metacritic	Xbox One	81	100
Metacritic	PS4	81	100
Metacritic	PC	73	100

Critics

Outlet	Score	Scale
IGN	9.2	10
Electronic Gaming Monthly	9.5	10
GamesRadar	9	10
Destructoid	8.5	10
GameSpot	7	10
Polygon	7	10
Giant Bomb	3	5

Staff and cast

Staff

Role	Name
Director	Jason Blundell
Director	Dan Bunting
Designer	David Vonderhaar
Writer	Craig Houston
Artist	Colin Whitney
Composer	Jack Wall

Notes for collectors

• The Xbox One achievement list is long at 98 because it includes the Zombies map achievements from the DLC and Zombies Chronicles.
• The PS3 and Xbox 360 versions have no campaign and are multiplayer only.
• A multiplayer-only Windows starter pack was released on February 16, 2016.
• The Collector's Edition bonus Zombies map The Giant is a remake of Der Riese from World at War.
• Back in Black, four remastered multiplayer maps, was a PlayStation 4 pre-order bonus for Black Ops 4.

Credits

Publisher

Activision

Developer

Treyarch

Director

Jason Blundell, Dan Bunting

Released

2015-11-06

Region

US

Time to beat

about 9 hours

Copies in the shop

• Call of Duty: Black Ops III (XBOX ONE) CA$16.99