Beenox and Mercury Technology, the creators behind the upcoming PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, have confirmed that the military shooter will run at 30fps on last-generation consoles.
"We’re basically looking more at something like 30fps," the game’s Creative Director, Thomas Wilson, told Develop. "But still, the experience is very enjoyable, otherwise it’s not Call of Duty.” Wilson added that the team "tried to hit" 60fps but couldn’t nail it due to the limitations of Sony and Microsoft’s ageing machines.
Interestingly, this will be the first Call of Duty title for PS3 and Xbox 360 not to run at 60fps, as all previous entries in the multi-million selling franchise have hit the 60fps mark. It’s also worth remembering that Black Ops 3 on last-generation machines will not support a single-player campaign, and will only host the game’s multiplayer and Zombies game modes. Indeed, it’s looking increasingly likely that Call of Duty will transition towards a current-generation franchise only at this point, seeing as how the last-gen editions are losing a huge chunk of the gameplay experience.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 is due out in early November. The game will feature a unique PS4 hardware bundle that includes a copy of the game and a Black Ops 3-themed console and DualShock 4 pad. Zombies mode was among the first features to be confirmed for Black Ops 3, along with confirmation that the shooter will run at 1080p on PS4. Early screenshots of the gamelooked amusingly like an offspring of Destiny and Titanfall.
Black Ops 3 takes place 40 years after the events of its predecessor in the year 2065. With air assault rendered virtually useless thanks to the application of several high-tech defenses, combat around the globe now takes place behind enemy lines in covert operations. In this war zone however, soldiers possess superhuman abilities, with humans now considered more machine than flesh and blood thanks to the array of enhancements to their bodies.
As with the previous game, Black Ops 3 follows a group of super soldiers belonging to an elite black ops unit as they battle across a series of futuristic environments, wielding an assortment of deadly weaponry. The campaign can be played alone or with up to four friends, while Zombies will include its own campaign as well as multiplayer, along with a revamped XP system.