With alternate histories and crazy weapons, Treyarch’s Black Ops games have always been Call of Duty’s oddballs. After killing mind-wolves with a swarm of nano-bees in the new campaign, I’m happy to say Black Ops 3 not only continues that trend, but smartly embraces its sci-fi oddities more than ever before.

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Watch the first 15 minutes of Black Ops 3 above.

But the most remarkable thing about Black Ops 3 isn’t its tone; it’s the sheer amount of content which, at its best, is some of the greatest I’ve seen in Call of Duty (note: the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions lack many of the features of the current-gen and PC version). Multiplayer still has the depth fans expect by now, but the addition of unique Specialists makes every player more important. Likewise, the option for four-player co-op and the new focus on playing how you want make the campaign and Zombies modes more rewarding and fun to play than they’ve ever been.

Mind Games

The six-hour story is set in the not-too-distant future, and, like most similar sci-fi fare, it includes its own techno-gibberish to get used to. Black Ops 3 settles on “Direct Neural Interface,” or DNI for short. This ubiquitous technology allows humans to mentally interact with computers, weapons, and other people. It introduces both terrific new abilities and important new limitations that changed the way I thought about playing Call of Duty. For example, you can’t use enemies’ dropped weapons because they’re registered to someone else’s brain – hence Black Ops 3’s focus on cool new combat powers.

“ Humans can mentally interact with computers, weapons, and other people.

Without getting into spoilers, I’ll say that Black Ops 3 didn’t spend enough time making me care about its characters before it tried to cash them in for an emotional payoff. It’s disappointing, because Black Ops 3 begins to explore some genuinely interesting and taboo topics: What happens when people no longer own their thoughts, or when they don’t receive the mental health care they need? The answer: kill more robots!

With Our Powers Combined...

Killing more robots (and other enemies) is actually quite fun thanks to the new powers, which come in three flavors: blow things up, beat things up, or control your enemies and have them blow things up for you. Each power tree promotes a certain style of play, and you don’t earn enough points to level up all three paths unless you choose to sacrifice extra perks, weapon upgrades, and more. Even then, you can usually only use one type per level, so committing to one path is important. Plus, this leaves enough points to beef up your trusty primary weapon, which feels more important than it ever has. The gun you pick will likely stay in your hands for the entire level.

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Learn about Martial Cybercores in the video above.

My powers of choice enhanced my up-close-and-personal combat skills – an altogether underexplored style in Call of Duty. My most-used skill was a charge ability that sent me flying across the battlefield at incredible speeds, killing weaker enemies and staggering the big ones. Other favorites include an area-of-effect ground pound, which was especially satisfying to use after leaping from up high. Invisibility was fun for sneaking into better cover and useful for giving me time to revive downed allies. I haven’t seen this kind of utility in a Call of Duty game before, but it’s a terrific addition.

These powers really shine when you throw another player or three into the mix. In my playthrough, my co-op partner was the “blow things up” guy – a ranged damage dealer and disabler. He could ignite enemies with the wave of a hand, set loose a swarm of bees, and more. When we needed specific enemies dead as soon as possible, his powers took care of it. Also, his bees distracted enemies, giving me time to line up my charge ability (which can be tough to steer) and hit multiple enemies in one blast.

“ Ignite enemies with the wave of a hand and set loose a swarm of bees.

A more general tactic was for me to charge to the other side of the battlefield and flank the enemy from a spot that I couldn’t have made it to at normal running speeds. Many of the levels accommodate tactics like this, and using the environments, powers, and good ol’ cooperation satisfied me in a way a Call of Duty campaign never has before.

Powers are on a cooldown, so they don’t make Black Ops 3’s excellently refined shooting obsolete. By design or by coincidence, it often felt like my powers came off cooldown right when my guns ran out of ammo. This let me continue the fight, find cover, or survive long enough for my allies to save the day.

Black Ops 3’s enemies are varied and competent, but when I replayed a few campaign missions they acted pretty much the same as they did before. Without the new abilities, there wouldn’t be much of a gameplay reason to replay the story.

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Learn everything you need to know about Black Ops 3 in the video above.

On your first run, you’ll commit to one style. On a second or third run, your character will unlock the ability to switch between different power types in the middle of a mission, opening the door for fun new combinations. The first time I played through one area, I charged around the battlefield, slaying as I went. The second time I sat behind cover, happily hacking drones and using them to clear the way. It’s refreshing to play a Call of Duty level and have more options than “shoot that guy again, but with a different gun.”

“ If you want to fight for every single inch, Realistic mode is excellent.

The Good Old Days

I was surprised and disappointed to find that many of the great high-mobility mechanics Treyarch revealed for Black Ops 3’s multiplayer, such as firing while performing other actions or wall-running, at first seemed disabled in campaign. On closer inspection, I found them locked away in an odd part of the tech tree.

On one hand it’s commendable that Treyarch wants to give us the option to ignore the new mobility skills and play a more classic style of Call of Duty – there’s even a tech upgrade that allows you pick up any weapon you find, just like the old days. On the other, it would’ve been better if they weren’t so easy to miss that I didn’t even get a double-jump for my whole first playthrough.

In multiplayer, everyone has a thruster pack regardless of their loadout – similar but different enough from last year’s Advanced Warfare that learning to use it effectively was a new challenge.

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Watch the Free Run obstacle course mode in the video above.

“ Fast battles can start at any time and from any angle.

Complex motions like running along a wall, firing at an enemy, and then hopping to a different wall are difficult to perfect, but Black Ops 3 includes four excellent American Gladiators-style Free Run courses to test your skills outside of live multiplayer. It records your best completion times too, so this mode will have legs.

Everyone is Special

Black Ops 3’s competitive multiplayer brings back the same reliable Pick-10 loadouts, which let you select 10 weapon attachments, perks, grenades, and more to take into battle. This isn’t anything new, but it’s still a solid system that ensures you can go into a match with exactly the gear you want, and nothing more. Multiplayer includes a huge array of unlockable guns, perks, and gear that let you mold a playstyle of your own. It’s excellent, but at this point Call of Duty fans should expect nothing less.

The important new change for multiplayer is that you no longer play as generic soldiers. Before a match begins, you pick a Specialist to play as – anything from a murderous robot to an elite archer. Each Specialist has one exclusive power and one exclusive weapon, and you get to take one of the two into battle.

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Watch a full Hardpoint match in 1080p 60fps above.

“ Special powers and guns aren’t a free win button.

If you pick the character who can see enemies through walls for a short time, you are invaluable for warning your team about incoming foes. If you grab the new Hive weapon, you can set up proximity traps to cover the weak points in an otherwise strong defense. Special powers and guns aren’t a free win button, though. If you pop your special and get killed a second later you need to wait for it to recharge, even after a respawn.

Octopi vs. Zombies

The new Zombies co-op mode, Shadows of Evil, is the best version of the undead slaying mode in Call of Duty yet. It has its own progression system, the 1940s urban-style setting is gorgeous, and it’s a place where a magician played by none other than Jeff Goldblum says lines like “With each subsequent transformation I grow ever more confident with my tentacles.”

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Watch the first 15 minutes of Zombies as Jeff Goldblum above.

Shadows of Evil’s four noir-esque characters – a magician, a boxer, a cop, and a burlesque dancer – are liars and killers thrown together against their will, and each is introduced with a great short video that shows them at their worst. It’s interesting to see what kind of information they do and don’t share with their new companions.

“ Shadows of Evil’s four noir-esque characters are liars and killers.

It plays much like the Zombies mode has before, with players earning money for repairing barricades, killing enemies, and more, then using it to buy upgrades to survive the next wave. However, thanks to a new persistent XP and perks system, you can customize weapons and abilities before a match begins – you won’t likely see everybody running around with the same guns this time. The mode lasts as long as you can hold out, so specializing your characters becomes more important as the difficulty ramps up.

One big new addition to Zombies is the ability to “Become the Beast.” At certain fiery shrines, you can transform into a tentacled, lightning-spewing monster that rips the undead apart. It’s incredibly powerful, but it doesn’t last long, and you can’t use it very often. Some of the best and most tense moments in Shadows of Evil come from quickly having to decide as a group whether you can handle the current wave, or whether you’ll die without using the Beast.