Black Ops III Trailer Unveiled: Metal Arms, Mechanical Bees

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Set for release Nov. 6, Call of Duty Black Ops: III adds new levels of high-tech combat to the storied shooter franchise.

Whether you loved or hated the futuristic combat of last year's Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, it looks like that theme is here to stay. Activision has unveiled the first gameplay trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops III, which will bring mechs, drones and a host of cool-looking firearms to Xbox One, PS4 and PC players on Nov. 6.

"What happens when the soldier becomes the weapon?" asks the narrator of the Black Ops III trailer, which quickly cuts to a clip of a soldier's mechanical arm turning into a machine gun. High-tech combat is once again the name of the game here, as characters can be seen hacking drones, duking it out with robots and even unleashing what looks like a swarm of mechanical bees on the enemy, which is as awesome as it is gross.

Black Ops III seems to share Advanced Warfare's emphasis on player movement, as the trailer showcases a mix of wall-running, dash-punching and sliding under giant mechs to blow them up from below. The game seems to feature some sort of crossbow, and, if firearms don't do it for you, it looks like you'll be able to quite literally lunge at your adversaries with two explosive rockets in hand.

Aesthetically, the game is shaping up to be one of the most bleakly beautiful Call of Duty installments yet, with war-torn battlefields and photo-realistic faces that are similar in detail to last year's game. There's little to learn from the trailer in terms of Black Ops III's story, though it hints that the game's fusion of man and machine won't go entirely smoothly for its soldiers. If you watch until the very end, there's also a tease that the popular Zombies mode from previous Black Ops games will return.

While a new Call of Duty release slated for fall is no surprise, the fact that Black Ops III is getting a multiplayer beta is. Those who pre-order the game will get to test-drive its multiplayer sometime before launch on PS4, Xbox One and PC, though we still don't know when exactly that beta kicks off.

Mike Andronico is an associate editor at Tom's Guide. Follow Mike @MikeAndronico and on Google+. Follow us @TomsGuide, on Facebook and on Google+

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Michael Andronico
Michael Andronico

Mike Andronico is Senior Writer at CNNUnderscored. He was formerly Managing Editor at Tom's Guide, where he wrote extensively on gaming, as well as running the show on the news front. When not at work, you can usually catch him playing Street Fighter, devouring Twitch streams and trying to convince people that Hawkeye is the best Avenger.

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15 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Larry Litmanen
    I know people love to hate on Triple A games but i am here to say that these big boys provide great games and can push the industry as a whole to produce better games.

    I just finished playing Crysis 3, the graphics are STUNNING, the attention to details, it's almost like you are right there in the game. Brooklyn Bridge covered in trees and shrubs looks amazing, and i actually live in NYC and i can tell you that is a very realistic rendering of the Brooklyn Bridge.

    Of course if the gameplay is great you do not really need the graphics and all that, but there's no doubt that having games like AC Unity, Crysis 3 or this Black Ops III provides that special experience that very few games can provide.
    Reply
  • Josh Mahurin
    I only play these for the zombies anymore because that is by far the best part of these games. They really should just make a zombies only game and be done with the call of duty franchise. It'd be so much better.
    Reply
  • DookieDraws
    Call of Dookie: Rise of The Turd :P

    Reply
  • Larry Litmanen
    I only play these for the zombies anymore because that is by far the best part of these games. They really should just make a zombies only game and be done with the call of duty franchise. It'd be so much better.

    I am tired of these zombie games to be honest, there are too many of them out there. From Plants vs. Zombie all the way to DayZ, any type of a game now can be had with a zombie in it. Killing Floor 2 seems to be getting a lot of buzz.

    I miss the days when Russia use to invade countries and we were called upon to save the world, that's was at least somewhat realistic. Zombies..........come on.
    Reply
  • Josh Mahurin
    15759527 said:
    I only play these for the zombies anymore because that is by far the best part of these games. They really should just make a zombies only game and be done with the call of duty franchise. It'd be so much better.

    I am tired of these zombie games to be honest, there are too many of them out there. From Plants vs. Zombie all the way to DayZ, any type of a game now can be had with a zombie in it. Killing Floor 2 seems to be getting a lot of buzz.

    I miss the days when Russia use to invade countries and we were called upon to save the world, that's was at least somewhat realistic. Zombies..........come on.

    I play games to escape reality not get caught up in a patriotic fervor. And I realize zombie games are a dime a dozen but they put so much more interesting features into their zombies worlds than I feel they do into the main game. Guns, multiplayer, go! I've played CoD since 2 on the PS2 and unless they're going to make an actually decent WW2 rehash then I'm not interested honestly. I know the zombies stuff is ridiculous but that's why I like it, it's fresh (the features not the existence of zombies) and well done in my opinion. I like getting some friends together and seeing how many waves we can hold against and what crazy contraptions we can build and what weird easter eggs or plot reveals are hidden where. Playing soldier in this day and age just disgusts me.
    Reply
  • SilkyZ
    I am tired of these zombie games to be honest, there are too many of them out there. From Plants vs. Zombie all the way to DayZ, any type of a game now can be had with a zombie in it. Killing Floor 2 seems to be getting a lot of buzz.

    I miss the days when Russia use to invade countries and we were called upon to save the world, that's was at least somewhat realistic. Zombies..........come on.

    Seriously, the market is drowning in near-futuristic zombie shooters. Ooooo, but its a survival horror game.... Don't care.

    Can we get a classic BF:1942 remake?
    Reply
  • firefoxx04
    Larry Litmanen, you are comparing Crysis 3 to COD junk?? No game to this day has trumped the visuals in Crysis 3.

    I dont know if you guys recall, but the last COD got the shaft when it came to PC. Plenty of threads talk about the differences and why the xbox player or playstation player has the advantage.

    Ill stick to $15 Insurgency. The general player is much nicer to play with.. and its not $60. And hell, $20 dayz is pretty fun, sure has a lot of crappy moments but it has me hooked.
    Reply
  • soldier44
    If your in the 12-17 age group this is good news...
    Reply
  • Larry Litmanen
    If your in the 12-17 age group this is good news...

    I disagree, i would guess shooters have more adults than other games. As an adult you can play a max of 1 hour a day, so you can not really commit yourself to anything that has a deep story line and required a long commitment.

    With a shooter you log in, do you killing and you are done.
    Reply
  • closetwhisperer1
    Treyarch has yet to let me down. They know how to make a game. Infinity ward is starting to slip. I bet this will be as big of a hit as world at war.
    Reply