Call of Duty: Black Ops III vs Call of Duty: Ghosts
Call of Duty: Black Ops III is an FPS game from Treyarch (2015) while Call of Duty: Ghosts is an FPS horror game from Infinity Ward (2014).
Quick answer: Call of Duty: Black Ops III rates higher, 7.5 to 6.3 on the GamingPickz Score, and Call of Duty: Ghosts is the cheaper at $39.99.
What each one is
Call of Duty: Black Ops III is filed under FPS. In contrast, Call of Duty: Ghosts under FPS and Horror.
Call of Duty®: Black Ops III Zombies Chronicles Edition includes the full base game plus the Zombies Chronicles content expansion.
Outnumbered and outgunned, but not outmatched.Call of Duty®: Ghosts is an extraordinary step forward for one of the largest entertainment franchises of all-time. This new chapter in the Call of Duty® franchise features a new dynamic where players are on the side of a crippled nation fighting not for freedom, or liberty, but simply to...
Story, characters and reception
Plot
Campaign Forty years after the events of Call of Duty: Black Ops II , the world is in the midst of a Third Cold War between the Winslow Accord (WA) and the Common Defense Pact (CDP). On October 27, 2065, the Player ( Ben Browder / Abby Brammell ) and their partner Jacob Hendricks (Sean Douglas) of WA Black Ops are deployed to Ethiopia to rescue the Egyptian Prime Minister and other hostages from the CDP-aligned Nile River Coalition (NRC). The extraction… (Wikipedia)
Reception
Critical response Reception According to review aggregator Metacritic , Call of Duty: Black Ops III received "generally favorable" critic reviews for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and "mixed or average" critic reviews for PC. GameSpot awarded it a score of 7 out of 10, saying, " Black Ops III doesn't offer anything remarkable to the series, but does just enough to maintain the Call of Duty status quo. The franchise, however slowly, continues its inexorable… (Wikipedia)
Plot
Campaign Sometime before the events of the game, a conflict in the Middle East devastated the region, destroying several oil fields that resulted in a global energy crisis. Many oil-producing countries in South America formed the Federation of the Americas, a military dictatorship , which then annexed all its remaining countries in the continent before invading Central America , the Caribbean , and Mexico . In 2018, U. (Wikipedia)
Reception
Reception Critical response Call of Duty: Ghosts received both "mixed or average" and "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator website Metacritic . IGN praised the sequel for introducing "sweeping changes that breathe new life into the multiplayer experience" and called the campaign "lengthy, challenging, and varied". GameSpot went even further regarding the campaign, calling it "impressive" and "a terrific collection of shootouts… (Wikipedia)
At a glance
| Call of Duty: Black Ops III | Call of Duty: Ghosts | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | 7.5/10 | 6.3/10 |
| Steam rating | Very Positive (85%, 232,717) | Mixed (66%, 32,019) |
| Critic aggregate | 73/100 | 68/100 |
| Price | $59.99 | $39.99 |
| Install size | 100 GB | — |
| Steam Deck | playable | playable |
| Released | 2015 | 2014 |
| Developer | Treyarch | Infinity Ward |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
Call of Duty: Black Ops III vs Call of Duty: Ghosts, point by point
Each facet side by side. A round is marked won only where a figure settles it; feel and "which is better" carry no mark, because no number we hold decides them.
Genre and premise
Call of Duty: Black Ops IIIFPS gameCall of Duty: GhostsFPS horror gameWhat each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.
How it plays
Call of Duty: Black Ops IIIZombies, FPS, ShooterCall of Duty: GhostsDog, FPS, ActionThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Reception
Call of Duty: Black Ops III ✓Score 7.5 · 85% on Steam · 73 criticCall of Duty: GhostsScore 6.3 · 66% on Steam · 68 criticThe GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
Content and scale
Call of Duty: Black Ops III232,717 reviews · 10 add-ons · 100 GBCall of Duty: Ghosts32,019 reviews · 51 add-onsReach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
Call of Duty: Black Ops III$59.99Call of Duty: Ghosts ✓$39.99Read live from Steam and subject to change.
On a Steam Deck
Call of Duty: Black Ops IIIPlayableCall of Duty: GhostsPlayableValve's own Deck compatibility rating.
Across the rounds a number can settle, it is level at 1 each. Which one is "better" is the part no figure decides, so we leave it to what you want from the two.
The two on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueCall of Duty: Black Ops III and Call of Duty: Ghosts on the axes the GamingPickz Score is built from, on the full 0 to 100 scale so each dot is its real position. Change either axis to compare them on any measure.
2 games have both
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- Multi-platform
- PC
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
Which to pick, by what you want
- The higher-rated of the two: Call of Duty: Black Ops III (GamingPickz Score 7.5)
- The cheaper right now: Call of Duty: Ghosts ($39.99)
- The safer bet by weight of reviews: Call of Duty: Black Ops III (232,717 reviews)
What they have in common
Both are tagged by Steam players with:
MultiplayerFPSShooterActionFirst-PersonSingleplayerCo-opFuturistic
Where they differ
ZombiesIlluminatiHero ShooterRobotsSci-fiGore
DogMilitaryWarOnline Co-OpAmericaLinear
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, Call of Duty: Black Ops III is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. Call of Duty: Ghosts is middle-of-the-road on difficulty.
System requirements, side by side
| Call of Duty: Black Ops III | Call of Duty: Ghosts | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum GPU | NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 470 @ 1GB / ATI® Radeon™ HD 6970 @ 1GB | — |
| Minimum CPU | Intel® Core™ i3-530 @ 2.93 GHz / AMD Phenom™ II X4 810 @ 2.60 GHz | — |
| Minimum RAM | 6 GB | — |
| Install size | 100 GB | — |
Can your PC run them? Check each against your own kit: Call of Duty: Black Ops III · Call of Duty: Ghosts.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 1 accessibility feature for Call of Duty: Black Ops III and 1 for Call of Duty: Ghosts. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
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Common questions
How different are Call of Duty: Black Ops III and Call of Duty: Ghosts in scope?
Call of Duty: Black Ops III has drawn 232,717 Steam reviews, ships 10 add-ons and installs in 100 GB. Call of Duty: Ghosts has drawn 32,019 Steam reviews and ships 51 add-ons.
Is Call of Duty: Black Ops III or Call of Duty: Ghosts better?
By the GamingPickz Score, Call of Duty: Black Ops III rates higher (7.5 to 6.3). That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, not our taste. "Better" also depends on price, length and platform, which the table above lays out.
Which is cheaper, Call of Duty: Black Ops III or Call of Duty: Ghosts?
Call of Duty: Ghosts is cheaper right now at $39.99, against $59.99. Prices move, so this is read live from Steam and can change.
Should I get Call of Duty: Black Ops III or Call of Duty: Ghosts?
Call of Duty: Black Ops III rates higher, 7.5 to 6.3 on the GamingPickz Score, and Call of Duty: Ghosts is the cheaper at $39.99. It also depends on what you want: the "which to pick" section above calls out which is cheaper, lighter on storage, better on a Steam Deck and the safer bet by weight of reviews.
Do you rank one above the other for a fee?
No. Neither game, nor anyone else, pays for placement or a verdict here. The order and every figure come out of the same public data the rest of the site uses.
Related comparisons
All comparisonsHow we compare, and what we will not do
The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment (adjusted for sample size), the critic aggregate and popularity, computed by the same code every ranked list on this site uses. The Steam rating label is Valve's own, reconstructed from the positive percentage and review count. Prices are read live. We do not write an opinion of which game is "better": we report the numbers and say which wins each measurable question above.