The second and most notable inspiration is its sister series
Destiny. And like it does with
Titanfall, it appears to do it both well and in its own way. My antipathy towards
Destiny has been well-documented up to this point, but I’ve never denied the game’s potential.
Black Ops III seems set to make good on that potential by including Specialists. Each Specialist has a devastating power that he/she can use once in a while. Each player begins the match with a cooldown that can be chipped away at through good performance. Once the timer is up, it’s up to you to determine the right timing for it. And though the Guardians in
Destiny often save their abilities for giant clusters of enemies, there’s more strategy involved in how
Black Ops III applies this mechanic.
Different Specialists mean different Power Weapons and Abilities. Game type should strongly affect which one you wish to take into battle; going into a Hardpoint match as Ruin holds the promise of a monster killstreak; his Gravity Spikes create an enormous area of effect explosion that effectively wipes out anyone in the immediate area. But if it’s Capture the Flag, you might want to switch to Overdrive, which dramatically increases his speed. And these options are only for this one character. There appears to be quite a bit of variety in the selection of Specialists, and provided the number of ways any one soldier can contribute to the battle effort, this should prove to be a deep and enjoyable system.
