Treyarch drops ‘archaic’ level progression in Black Ops 3

The developer behind the next Call of Duty has made the interesting choice to drop mission progression from the game’s single-player campaign.

All of Black Ops 3’s levels will be available from the beginning, meaning players could potentially start with the title’s finale if they so choose. 

“The unlocking level system is an archaic mentality we’ve had since we did bedroom development back in the day – you do this, then go on to the next one,” campaign director Jason Blundell told Eurogamer.

“Consumers and game players in general are far more mature these days. There are so many things vying for our interests today. It’s about, how do they want to consume it? Maybe they put it down on level two, and then they’re in work the next day, and some guy says, ‘dude, you’ve got to check out level four!’ And he’s like, ‘okay, I’ll have a quick look.’ That’s totally fine. I think it’s their choice."

Blundell went on to compare this design as similar to Netflix, which uploads the entirety of some series – such as House of Cards – in one go. He expects that while some players will leap to the end and attempt to spoil the story for others, most will be happy to play in the usual fashion because “it’s about the journey”.

Unless, of course, you’re an Xbox 360 or PS3 player, who will be picking up a multiplayer-only version of Black Ops 3.