Black Ops 3 Breaks Out A Co-op Campaign, Female Protagonists

[Fanghawk]

Black Ops 3 Breaks Out A Co-op Campaign, Female Protagonists

Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 will feature a fully co-operative campaign, male and female protagonists, and the ability to share unlocked weapons in your Safe House.

Call of Duty is one of the biggest gaming franchises on the planet, but it's only recently been moving away from a "boy's game" mindset. Call of Duty: Ghosts was the first to allow <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/126864-Call-of-Duty-Ghosts-Lets-You-Play-as-a-Woman>playable female characters in multiplayer, and Ilona was perhaps one of the best parts of <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/editorials/reviews/12557-Call-of-Duty-Advanced-Warfare-Review>Advanced Warfare. But the newly-revealed Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 will go a step further with a fully cooperative campaign that lets you choose between male and female protagonists.

In an interview with Polygon, studio head Mark Lamia explained that Treyarch wrote a gender-neutral script for Black Ops 3, and can be played with a male or female character. While the story will be identical for both male and female perspectives, there will be "a bit of character" in how each actor portrays the lead role. Lamia also pointed out Black Ops 3's female model won't use a tweaked version of the male model. "We had a female rig and a whole animation set," he confirmed.

The campaign itself, meanwhile, is said to take Black Ops 3 "off the rails". The story mode supports four players online or two-player split-screen, along with all kinds of enhanced tactical options in-game. To start, Black Ops 3 will feature open battle areas that support a variety of gameplay approaches. To assist players, Treyarch included a "Tactical Mode" that offers an up-to-date threat analysis and sends that data to co-op partners. There will also be 40 upgradeable abilities - ranging from hacking enemy drones to detonating nearby explosives - all of which stay with you when replaying previous missions.

But one unique feature Black Ops 3's campaign will have is a social aspect. Players can visit a social area called the Safe House between missions, where you can customize your character, explore game lore, and even decorate a private bunk. And whenever you unlock advanced weapons or tech, they can be loaded out to friends who haven't achieved them yet. Even if Black Ops 3 <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/140594-Call-of-Duty-Black-Ops-III-Revealed-in-First-Official-Trailer>has all the same action set pieces we're used to, these are great touches that could really set it apart from the rest. We'll find out when it launches on Nov. 6, 2015.

Source: <a href=http://www.polygon.com/2015/4/26/8499735/call-of-duty-black-ops-3-campaign-details>Polygon

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[fix-the-spade]

It's interesting to see Activision and the various CoD devs making more of an effort to prevent the sales decline they've experienced the last couple of years becoming a freefall.

I still expect this to fit very rigidly into the Call of Duty mould regardless of how much Treyarch says otherwise, but it and Advanced Warfare are hopefully proof that there will be at least a bit of variety between titles.

 

[Erttheking]

HEY UBISOFT! I DON'T THINK THEY BROKE THEIR BACKS TO DO THIS!

No I won't let that go. I have to say, I'm surprised to see COD of all things pull this. That with the future aspects of this one...who knows. They can be fun, just repetitive. And I haven't played in awhile so...gotta keep an eye on this one.

 

[Fanghawk]

Sounds weird, but so did Blops 2 and that worked out great, though the whole open battle area designed for 4 player thing doesn't sound like it lends itself to the CoD set piece types.

What I'd like to know is, why is the fact that there's an option to play as a chick in a game where you only see your hands more noteworthy than all the known conventions of CoD campaign structure being changed in this installment? I'd think the latter carries more weight with people who actually care about the quality of the campaigns in these games.

Also, no choice system? Would be a shame if they chucked that in the bin.

According to the source, there will be a major choice late in the game, but not the regular choice system from mission to mission.

 

[J Tyran]

Edit.

Please delete, made a mistake.

 

[Callate]

My snide side says that it's easy to create characters who have no gender when your characters have had so little depth for most of the franchise's existence.

I guess it's nice that they're trying to be inclusive. I'll be curious to see how it reflects in their bottom line.

 

[Ridash]

I hope there will be split-screen on PC too.

 

[Fdzzaigl]

Well I'll be, my anticipation for this is actually above zero now. Never saw that coming.

 

[marioandsonic]

My snide side says that it's easy to create characters who have no gender when your characters have had so little depth for most of the franchise's existence.

I guess it's nice that they're trying to be inclusive. I'll be curious to see how it reflects in their bottom line.

This pretty much sums up my thoughts.

Good for them for putting in playable female characters, but I haven't played any games in the CoD series, and I have no interest in starting.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

Oooooh...this has perked my interest up a bit more. After discussing with Bob in the last C.o.D trailer thread, my hopes were dimmed a little. It sounded like we were going to be playing as part of an army, but rather as a small strike team, something that I find incredibly boring and it is not what Call of Duty is about. But if I get to do the whole campaign with my friends? I'm on board.

And it better be the WHOLE campaign, Treyarch. World and War was nice, but you guys cut out some of the best levels for co op. Don't do that this time.

 

[Pandalisk]

My quotation button doesn't work on this laptop sorry.

@MC1980: I've wondered about that actually, the vast majority of games that give you a choice to pick a gender typically don't really need it at all. It's the same with character creation and facial construction when you spend most of your time head-to-toe in plate but whatever, whether they include both genders or not, it matters not to me either way.

The only thing I care about is whether or not the co-operative play will have split-screen capability, I might be a dinosaur in this modern age but split-screen capability and some decent combat gameplay is all I require from these games for me to make the purchase.

 

[Evonisia]

The female gasping sound when you're wounded is the best part of Advanced Warfare.

But I am really happy with having a Co-Op campaign, it's been far too long since World at War.

 

[FPLOON]

I... I can't believe I'm saying this, but...
http://gifrific.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Leonardo-DiCaprio-Django-Unchained-You-Had-my-Curiosity.gif
Considering I only play CoD with friends, this may get us to play more than just the multiplayer... But, only the future would know if this would come true or not...

Regardless, I'll wait until one of my friends buy this the same way they did with Modern Warfare 3, though...

 

[Bob_McMillan]

What I'd like to know is, why is the fact that there's an option to play as a chick in a game where you only see your hands more noteworthy than all the known conventions of CoD campaign structure being changed in this installment? I'd think the latter carries more weight with people who actually care about the quality of the campaigns in these games.

Unlike most other CoDs, the cutscenes in this one will be third person, so creating your own character isn't that useless.

 

[CpT_x_Killsteal]

Co-op campaign online and offline..
We meet again World at War.

The leveling in the co-op aspect is... interesting. And upgradable abilities...
C-... can I like CoD again? Could this be really happening?

 

[Ariseishirou]

Co-op campaign? Four players? Damnit this was going to be the first one of these I skipped in ages. Extinction was the best part of Ghosts.

 

[Alex Baas]

Make it split screen on ALL platforms and you got a new customer, if only to support this idea in the industry with my wallet.