Black Ops 4 and my disappointment in 3's campaign.

[Possible spoilers for Black Ops 3 campaign, if you actually care.]

I know I'm not the only one, but I found Black Ops 3's campaign to be very underwhelming. In fact, I think there's enough wrong with the campaign that a proper sequel to Black Ops 2 should probably be in consideration. There were so many things I was hoping
for with the story; It just had so much going for it, but between a story that made previous Black Ops installments inconsequential and mostly irrelevant, an entirely new (and one-dimensional) cast, and a "dying dream" theory that not everyone can agree on
which could entirely change and even devalue the meaning of the story (which for some reason Treyarch still hasn't confirmed if it's true or not), Black Ops 3's story was a mess, and felt totally pointless in the scope of things. That's why I'm hoping that
in 2018 Treyarch releases Call of Duty: Black Ops IV, and the story fixes 3's mistakes and gives the series a proper sendoff. (For all those still wanting a World at War 2, consider this: Would you rather a World War 2 game replace Black Ops IV, or Ghosts
3? I think it's a no-brainer which game would have more fan-support.)

For the record, I do partly play CoD for the campaigns. True, most of them are dumb fun, but I always thought the Black Ops universe had something going for it that Mw, Ghosts, and AW did not, and it always had an interesting overarching plot, even if a
time-span of 120 years is ridiculous.

That's where Black Ops 3 ultimately failed, in my opinion. Between World at War, and the first two Black Ops stories, either the events of the previous game would have significant impact on the sequel (really justBO2), or there would always be at least one
recurring character to remind you you're still taking part in the same timeline, or both. Unfortunately, aside from some very weak references to Raul Menendez and the drone attack on Los Angeles, Black Ops 3 offered none of that (let's not even look for justification
of that Grimoire Card-esque web browser in Safe-house that told you lore that really should have been explained in-game).

My hope is that Black Ops IV returns to the Mason family, and focuses more on the Winslow Accord. vs. CDP Cold War (rather than use it as a backdrop for fighting a benevolent AI).

Here's my idea:

The game would be labeled a sequel, but would actually be an interquel/sequel/spin-off for Black Ops 2 and 3 (meaning set before, during, and after Black Ops 3). The story would be split into three or four portions set in three different, but related time
periods (not necessarily "acts" per say, because the story would occasionally jump back and forth between these time periods).

One segment of the game would be set in the late 2020's/early 2030's around the time the CDP and WA formed (in-lore). It would have to either tie-in Raul Menendez, David Mason, Frank Woods, or a combination, and would explain their involvement/influence
behind-the-scenes in the lead-up to the third Cold War. It would also give more closure to David Mason's legacy (let's say he doesn't retire just yet, okay?). This segment would either be told through flashbacks, or through a simulation,
la New World (I'm guessing probably a simulation). It also probably won't all be told at once, rather several of these levels will be dispersed throughout the campaign similarly to Black Ops 2, and finally be concluded near the end of
the campaign. Important to note: if not then already confirmed by Treyarch, these levels would likely confirm the official ending to Black Ops 2.

Another segment of the game would be set during/around the events of Black Ops 3, and would probably be set in other parts of the world then Egypt and Singapore, experienced either through a direct descendant of David (and Alex) Mason, or through a friend
of the family. May [Read: will most likely] reintroduce major BO3 characters, but would ultimately have to focus on the war between the WA and CDP, and add more context (hopefully if those BO3 characters are brought back, they'll be given some extra personality).
A new, younger Mason will be introduced as a major character in this segment as an adolescent/ young adult, before ascending to main protagonist in the final segment. This segment would be experienced through present-tense, and will really only account for
the first act of the game (and maybe more, essentially being an extensive prologue), and would likely end with the reveal of a big-bad (and it CANNOT be another AI. It should be a person). This segment may also be required to partially retcon some of Black
Ops 3's lore in order to better explain the story, and would almost certainly confirm whether or not BO3's events actually happened or were simply a dying dream.

A final, and majority segment of the game would be set sometime in the late twentieth century (likely 2080's), and be experienced through the life of our new Mason, after having matured to a more battle-hardened veteran (please don't kill me for ripping
off the idea of David Mason; this is simply a rough draft, not even that). This segment would probably depict an extremely cyberpunk world, that's even more bleak and hopeless than Black Ops 3, where stakes are even higher. A world where hope of the Cold War
ending peacefully seems unlikely, even if nations are defended by DEAD systems. The segment could possibly tie the events of Black Ops 2, 3, and 4 together, before having the hero and villain face off, and wrapping up the Third Cold War (how would it be pulled
off? There's too many factors to say. right now).

Things I personally don't want for this campaign:

~No co-op. If there's enough demand for it anyway, make it more like WaW's co-op than BO3's by cutting out safehouse and customization, making it less cumbersome to the story's pacing (though if anything, perhaps the cybercore feature should stay in some
form).

~More traditional, linear level design rather than multiple routes, with ACTUAL stealth missions. It blows my mind how Black Ops 3, a game about Special Ops units, manages to not have any stealth at all, and it was largely due to this feature (as well as
co-op). Simply put, bring it back to basics.

No silly, illogical curve-ball ending to the campaign (unless there's multiple endings and it's merely an easter egg). "Oh hey! Black Ops has been taking place in the zombies multiverse all-along! Let's just kill off a majority of the remaining cast and
human population with zombie hordes in one go, and make our storyline ten years in the making since World at War entirely inconsequential! (That was basically rumored to be the ending of Black Ops 3's campaign by the way, before it was confirmed that Nightmares
mode was a separate entity).

Other wishlist features:

~Don't bring back Nightmares mode unless it's fully polished/fleshed out and ready at launch. Instead, invest more time in multiplayer and/or zombies. If you do bring it back as garbage yet again IT BETTER NOT BE MARKETED AS SOMETHING IT'S NOT. (Sorry, I
was just so heartbroken and let down because the trailer for Nightmares was awesome. Yet I really couldn't stand the game mode itself.)

~Speaking of zombies, why not have some willingness to make at least one zombies map in a futuristic setting (with whatever movement system is around then), similarly to exo zombies, but relevant to the zombies storyline, and nothing too cheesy like Burgertown
or the likes? Friendly suggestion (thought I'm probably in the minority of people that want this).

~Also, (simply wishful thinking), Nuketown 2025 or Nuk3town Zombies (wouldn't even make much sense for zombies lore unless it were an alternate universe or a corrupt simulation, but hey, for the lulz, right?).

~It wouldn't be a Black Ops game without another Nuketown iteration for multiplayer. Doesn't need to have a big map traversal upgrade like Nuk3town did with wallrunning (after all, 2025 Edition basically added nothing to traversal, and it was still good.)

~Give the fans what they want, and generously bundle it with BO3 (for the platform that shall not be named), and the entire Black Ops trilogy plus WaW on Xbox One via backwards compatibility (hey, they get their early dlc, so if we got a 5-game
bundle with 4 older [and much older] games on Xbox then I'd say it's a fair deal).

~(Irrelevant, but) Perhaps a premium, remastered collection of WaW through Black Ops 3 on a single disc to release in 2018 or later? (This will never happen. I can dream, you know!)

Back to the idea of Black Ops IV and a campaign designed to truly bring the series to a proper close, I want to know what readers think. I'd hope to hear constructive comments, and see if any of you would change the details. Do you like the idea? Is it too
ambitious? Too scattered? Are you concerned that perhaps I'm introducing too many characters and conflicts at once? Please let me know!

:)

 

What is the best Call of Duty? The worst?

Best Campaign- CoD 2

Best Multiplayer- MW2 and CoD 4

Worst Campaign- CoD 3

Worst Multiplayer- Black Ops

 

Black Ops 2 doing better than Halo 4

Its funny though, because in the IGN gamer;s choice awards, Halo KILLED Black Ops. Rated on three categories, Campaign, Graphics, and Multiplayer. Black Ops barely got 1/4 of the votes.