Mankind’s greatest mistake will be its inability to control the technology it has created.
These are the words that appear at the beginning of Activision’s new teaser for Call of Duty: Black Ops III, and the first thought that popped into our heads was Skynet from the Terminator movies. It seemed like a guarantee that the next Call of Duty would pit gamers against T-800 style robots from the future. CoD and Terminator mash-up basically confirmed in the first eight seconds, right?
After watching the entire video, this isn’t the case at all (visions of some Terminator Genisys tie-in instantly destroyed), but it seems the developers at Treyarch have something else to separate this game from the rest.
The teaser begins by celebrating scientific breakthroughs that allow disfigured humans to live normally with the use of bionic limbs. Whereas today’s headlines demonize athletes caught using steroids of HGH, in the world of Black Ops III this becomes the norm. Later, the IBA (a basketball league) becomes the first professional sport to allow modified players.
Instead of simply putting on an Apple Watch, scientists manage to integrate the tech into the skin. The fastest human wins the gold medal on robotic limbs, and amid plenty of controversy. In addition, scientists create the first networked brain, allowing people to share thoughts.
Biotech markets explode. Hoops players get surgically implanted retinal implants to better see the court. We instantly go for our credit cards.
Everything looks cool, but eventually thousands of people rebel. Not everyone likes the idea of a scientist playing god. Later, a whistleblower reveals that the U.S. military is in possession of advanced tech far superior to the everyday retinal implants average folks purchase at the mall. Their goal? To transform human beings into weapons, or more specifically super soldiers with built-in thermal vision, neural control and voluntary limb replacement.
There’s no gameplay, of course. You’ll have to wait until the big Call of Duty: Black Ops III reveal on April 26 to possibly catch a glimpse of the actual game, but the teaser gives us an idea what to expect this Sunday and presumably the fall when the game releases worldwide.
Exciting possibilities, and with tech far superior to what we enjoyed in last year’s Advanced Warfare. We have a feeling that when Activision finally puts the controllers in our hands, those Exo Suits will feel primitive compared to whatever Black Ops III has in store for us. Conversely, perhaps we’re the last 100 percent human soldier battling insurmountable odds. It’s all speculation at this point.
Thankfully, Sunday is three days from now.
