Search: “maki”

Since summer is knocking on our doorsteps this is the perfect time to post about the Cuisinart ice cream maker I recently purchased (the Cuisinart ICE-30BC).

I’ve recently been trying out the ketogenic diet after hearing about it on one of the podcasts I listen to and the main principle of the diet is you’re not supposed to consume any sugar or any carbs but you’re supposed to have lots of fat. Avocados are one great way of introducing a lot of fat into your diet but I personally don’t like the way they taste. So I was looking for a simple keto recipe that involved avocados and I found one for an avocado chocolate chunk ice cream that sounded delicious. I had honestly been looking for an excuse to buy an ice cream maker for a while so as soon as I found the recipe I decided to get one.

I kinda already knew what I wanted a Cuisinart ice cream maker since I’m fond of the brand and I knew I had seen them in Kuwait. So I did my research and the only places that carried the ice cream maker were Lakeland, Williams-Sonoma and Tavola (the Cuisinart dealer). Williams-Sonoma only had the dual ice cream maker which I wasn’t interested in since it was too big, Lakeland had the model I wanted but they were selling it for KD42 while Tavola were selling the exact same one for KD32.350. So I ended up picking it up from Tavola and since I was already in Shuwaikh, I decided to pass by Williams-Sonoma to pick up the best ice cream scoop you can buy, the Zeroll 1020.

The way the ice cream maker works is very simple. There are two main parts, the bowl and the main unit. You take the bowl and stick it in the freezer for 12+ hours and only take it out when you want to make ice cream. When your mixture is ready and the bowl frozen, you take the bowl from the freezer and place it in the main unit. You then pour your mixed ingredients into the bowl and let the ice cream maker churn your mixture for around 20 minutes until it turns into ice cream. Thats all there is to it.

I have to say, my avocado chocolate chunk ice cream has been turning out really delicious. And because I am buying the ingredients, I can control how healthy my ice cream is and so I’m having it guilt free. At KD32 this really is a no brainer impulse buy. So if you feel like making your own ice cream this summer, get this. Here is the map to Tavola [Google Maps] and you could call them on 24825761.

Once a year Arabian Business releases a list of “The World’s 100 Most Powerful Arab Women” and every year I go through the list and find all the Kuwait based women and list them on the blog. Last year the list was the smallest since I started keeping track of it with only 5 women making the list and 2013 had the highest number with 11 women making the list. This year things have improved slightly with 7 women making the list including a few new comers like Noor Al Qatami, the owner of SaveCo. Shaikha Al Bahar is also back on top as the most powerful Kuwaiti woman after losing that spot last year to Maali Alasousi, who went from 25th most powerful Arabi women to no longer being on the list. Here are the most powerful women in Kuwait for 2016:

48- Shaikha Al Bahar (-27)
56- Maha Al Ghunaim (-5)
74- Sara Akbar (+20)
76- Eaman Al Roudhan (New)
83- Elham Yousry Mahfouz (New)
89- Noor Al Qatami (New)
94- Rasha Al Roumi (-48)

Note: The (-) is how many spots they dropped from the previous year, (+) is how many spots they’ve moved up and (New) means they weren’t on the list last year.

For the full list of most powerful Arab women, click [Here]

Update: Changed the post title to reflect the fact not all the powerful women in Kuwait are Kuwaiti.

Last week I was making ice cream and had trouble getting Vanilla Extract so I ended up ordering Vanilla Paste (and 100% unsweetened cocoa) from Gourmet Shelf’s website. When they delivered my items they told me that they now had most of their products at The Approved Market and since I hadn’t been there in awhile, I decided to pass by this weekend to see what new items they had. Turns out The Approved Market now sells water enhancers.

I only found out about water enhancers when I was in LA last summer since they’re pretty big over there. Water enhancers are basically liquid drops you add into your water to give it a flavor. It’s mostly for people who have trouble consuming enough water during the day and also for people looking for healthy alternatives to soda. I hadn’t seen water enhancers being sold anywhere else in Kuwait so figured I’d post about it here.

Since we’re on the subject of items that we can’t find in Kuwait, when Gourmet Shelf dropped off my items they asked me if there was anything I wanted but I couldn’t find in Kuwait. They’re looking to start importing more products to Kuwait and need some ideas of what to bring. So if there is a food item that you love but can’t find in Kuwait or think they should bring, mention what it is in the comments below so I could pass it to them.

I don’t know about you guys, but pre- and probiotics have always been confusing for me. It hasn’t been until recently that scientists and nutritionist have felt that strongly about the benefits of pre- and probiotics, as well as the importance of including them in our diet. Personally, I don’t like taking supplements and always prefer taking in my nutrients from a natural form. Let’s take a look at them in a bit more detail.

– Probiotics are the beneficial bacteria (good bacteria) that enhances our gut flora. These types of bacteria helps protect our digestive tracts from fungi.

– Prebiotics are usually found in the fiber that our gut is unable to digest THAT the probiotic bacteria uses as food.

You might be thinking why it is important to include the probiotics to enhance your gut flora?

– The reason is that sometimes we make food choices that can impact our gut health, which could make us feel bloated or easily prone to getting sick. We already have both good and bad bacteria in our gut, the key point is to enhance or help the good bacteria overgrow the bad bacteria and therefore helping us feel better and digest food better.

– High-sugar and high-fat foods enhance the growth of the bad bacteria in our gut, which could slow down the digestive process making you feel unhealthy and could stop you from losing weight.

Taking a look at our food:
Prebiotic Foods (foods that feed good bacteria):
Foul (broad beans)
– Chickpeas
– Bananas
– Berries
– Garlic
– Onion
– Oats

Probiotic Foods (foods containing the good bacteria):
– Kefir
– Fermented  Cheese/yogurt (soft cheeses)
– Miso
– Non-pasteurized pickles
– Kombucha
– Kimchi

As you can see, getting probiotics from your diet is a bit difficult, while getting prebiotics is much easier. This is were probiotic supplementation could come into play. When looking at supplements, make sure they label the number of live bacteria available per dose (20 billion should be your target),  as well as the type of bacteria being used, and the expiry date (live bacteria can’t live on forever). I hope this helps!

Post by Hyatt Al Sayegh, a Clinical Dietitian and Dr. Sears Health Coach.
Founder of Fork Fed.

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There are several steps which might develop Kuwait and make new national income for the country, and one of the ideas it to make Kuwait a touristic city where people visit to try high standard quality and ingredients. Creating the world’s food capital within 2030 in Kuwait is the main goal. And this video is the first step toward the main goal.

I have mixed feelings with this idea, on one hand Kuwait does have some really great local food concepts but I don’t think we have enough of them. The majority of the local food concepts basically lack any creativity and are just clones of one another. Plus, the lack of alcohol will definitely be an issue for elite chefs as well as the food tourists coming here. And what about the elephant in the room? Dubai like it or not is more of a GCC food capital than Kuwait is right now. Just thinking about Dubai is making me crave the warm chocolate mousse at La Serre. Yum. [YouTube]

I can’t remember the last time I posted about a home business but something about Xocolat caught my attention. Maybe it was the packaging or all the mouth watering shots in their instagram account but I had been meaning to try them out for awhile now and I finally got to do so at the last Qout Market.

Xocolat was created in 2013 by Sarah AlHajji, a graduate of the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in London. She got into handcrafted, artisan chocolate because she saw chocolate as a platform for experimenting with new flavors and she wanted to pass on these flavors to her customers. Xocolat is pronounced sho-ko-laht and comes from the ancient aztec language of nahuatl. The word Xocolat translates to “bitter water”, because pure chocolate has a very bitter flavor profile.

Sarah makes the chocoaltes herself with a bit of help from her husband who also takes care of the business and marketing side of Xocolat. If you’re interested in trying her chocolates she’s usually selling them at Qout Market but you could also order them by calling 98771742. As I mentioned earlier, her instagram account is filled with mouth watering shots but she also shares a lot of behind the scenes photos of her making the chocolates. It’s pretty interesting to see so make sure you check out the instagram account @xocolat_kw

Friday night I passed by RAW Sushi Bar with a few friends to try the place out. RAW is a new sushi place located in a very industrial part of Shuwaikh and currently opening just on the weekends. Actually up until last week they were opening only Friday evenings but starting this coming week they’ll be opening Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings. They’re still in a soft launch phase which was why their menu wasn’t the final edition when we passed by but I liked the place so wanted to post about it.

First to get the food aspect out of the way, we ordered a whole bunch of rolls and starters so we could try a variety of dishes. The worst dishes we had weren’t really bad but they just weren’t anything that really stuck out. On the other hand the stuff we did like we would go back for more. Their Negimaki was the best I’ve had and from the rolls we ordered my favorites were the Cali Wearing Orange and the Pink Ink rolls. Forgot what was inside them but just look for them on the menu if you pass by. One of the things I liked about their rolls was the ability to order half portions so you can order more of a variety without over ordering.

The interior of the place was dim, industrial and trendy looking. It’s not that big with a small bar running along one side of the restaurant and four small tables scattered around. They’ll soon have outdoor seating but I think I’d still prefer the inside more just because of the mood. It’s a local business run by the owners themselves who happen to also be the sushi chefs. I asked one of the owners why he chose to open up in that location and he told me he was actually a bike builder and spent a lot of his time in that area. There literally isn’t anything else around them open that late, there aren’t even any street lights which can be a bit creepy. But, it’s where he feels comfortable and along with all the location quirks I thought they helped make the place seem that much more special.

The only issue we really had was with the service. It was fairly slow but that was to be expected since they had only been open a handful of times and are still working to fix all their kinks. Price wise I found them extremely reasonable. We were four people and our bill came out to KD26. It actually should have been around KD31 since we ordered 4 starters, 5 different rolls, 4 waters and 2 green teas but, they didn’t charge us for two half portions of rolls because there was a mix up and we ended up getting them really late. Still, KD31 add tip plus divided by 4 is KD8.5 per person. That’s really good. As I mentioned, starting this week they’ll be opening Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 7PM till midnight. Their instagram account is @eatrawkwt and here is their location on [Google Maps]

Ever since the paleo diet gained popularity, seeds have had a new and profound role in our diet. What was once looked at as a garnish or snack food has now been found to be an essential addition to our diets to reap the benefits they have to offer. Today we’ll be taking a look at the different small but mighty seeds that you can include in your diet to get the much needed nutritional boost.

Chia – we can’t talk about seeds without mentioning the infamous chia seeds. Believe it or not, chia seeds actually come from the mint plant family. What makes chia seeds so versatile is their ability to absorb almost 10 times their weight, therefore they have become a great thickening agent to add to foods like puddings, pancakes or even shakes. Let’s take a look at what makes this seed a number 1 superfood (nutrition facts provided for 1 ounce/28g/2 tablespoons):

Protein: 4g

Fiber: 11g

Fat: 9g (5g are Omega 3)

Calories: 137 kcals

Rich in manganese, magnesium, phosphorus and calcium this tiny seed is a great addition to your daily dietary habits. I would personally add it to water sometimes (but drink up quick or else it’ll form a thick gel), green juices, and salads. Weight loss capabilities of this seed have not been scientifically proven!

Flax – this super oily seed is rich in omega 3’s, fiber Vitamin B1, copper and magnesium. Definitely a must add to your daily eating habits. Flax seeds should be ground before consuming, but do keep in mind that it is a seed rich in fats therefore it can go rancid if ground and not refrigerated. Let’s take a look at the nutritional profile of flax seeds (per 1 ounce/28 grams/4 tablespoons):

Protein: 5g

Fiber: 8g

Fat: 12g (6g are Omega 3)

Calories: 150 kcals

Looking at the nutritional profile, you can see that the flax seed contains more fats that the chia seed yet almost the same amount of omega 3’s; making the chia seed a greater source of omega 3’s with lesser calories.

Sesame – very commonly used in our region, yet I for sure never thought twice about the nutritional benefits of this mighty seed. Sesame seeds are rich in calcium, great for your bones and migraines, and zinc, an immune system booster! Definitely worth thinking twice about, before skimping on the zaatar mix or bread with sesame seeds. As for it’s nutritional profile for 1 ounce/28 grams/2 tablespoons, the following is what sesame seeds have to offer:

Protein: 5g

Fiber: 4g

Fat: 13.6g

Calories: 161 kcals

Compared to the previous two seeds, sesame seeds are the fattiest so far, but still has a decent amount of protein in it. Sesame seeds stand out with their iron content, one of the richest seeds in iron, I highly recommend it for vegetarians suffering from anemia.

Pumpkin – who would’ve thought that this nutritious vegetable would also have very nutritious seeds? How nutritious? Let’s start by saying that pumpkin seeds are loaded with zinc and manganese, which have huge effects on helping boost your immune system, bone health and possibly help control blood sugar (to a certain degree of course). Looking at the nutritional facts, pumpkin seeds have the following to offer (1 ounce/28 grams/2 tablespoons):

Protein: 10g

Fiber: 2g

Fat: 14g

Calories: 160 kcals

All those seeds provide us with various forms of antioxidants, minerals, fiber, protein and healthy fats! You cannot go wrong by adding them to your diet, just be sure to control your portion by measuring out how the amount you’d like to eat. I love adding them to salads or my oatmeal and my green juice at times. How would you add those seeds to your food?

Post by Hyatt Al Sayegh, a Clinical Dietitian and Dr. Sears Health Coach.
Founder of Fork Fed.

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As we’re approaching the end of 2015 and going onto 2016; I thought it would be interesting to go through some of the food/nutrition trends that have emerged this year and discuss whether or not we should take them with us onto 2016. Quinoa was a big hit in 2013, that year was even declared as the “International Year of Quinoa” by the United Nations; while gluten-free products became a hit in 2014. Reflecting back at the year 2015, many nutritional trends have been adopted, some are great while others are not so great. Let’s take a look at the top 5 nutrition trends for this year and you can decide whether or not they are worth keeping in your diet.

Kale – I would have to say that nothing made it big this year as much as kale did. Loaded with vitamins A, C and K this leafy green vegetable is a great addition to any diet; but so are most leafy greens! Kale is not the only veggie that is a nutrient powerhouse; therefore if you like the taste and enjoy it keep it, otherwise just stick to locally grown seasonal veggies like spinach, jute leaves (molokhiya), parsley and coriander leaves.

Greek Yogurt – This dairy food is one of the most versatile out there. Used as a snack or accompanied with a main dish, Greek yogurt is very high in protein and low in carbohydrates making it a favorite food among athletes and fitness enthusiasts. You do have to be cautious with Greek yogurt as it can be very high in fat. My recommendation is to choose a low fat option and aim for around 2 servings of dairy a day.

Green Tea – This has been a trend for a while and I have yet to understand why. Yes, green tea is loaded with antioxidants but so is black and white teas. Green tea does have a high amount of polyohenols (antioxidants) which can be absorbed at higher amounts by adding lemon to it. So if you can have your green tea without any sugar and add a lemon to it, you’ll be doing your body a huge favor! But don’t worry if you haven’t developed a liking to green tea as research shows black and white teas are just as good as long as you have them sans the sugar!

Avocados – My favorite trend of the year! I have been a fan of avocados ever since my freshman year at university; creamy, delicious and a great addition to any meal to help boost that good cholesterol in your body. Definitely a keeper in my book! Loaded with healthy fats, potassium and fiber this fruit is a great daily addition to anybody’s diet. Add it to your salads, your breakfasts or even shakes but be careful to not over do it – 1/2 an avocado is all you need as it is a very nutrient and calorie dense food.

Coconut Oil – This craze, in my opinion, will go on to 2016 in the nutrition world. Researchers have not reached a conclusion as to whether or not it does cause heart disease, increase weight loss, or even suppress your appetite, but the research is still going on, and it will take time before any conclusions will be made. Coconut oil is high in saturated fats (the heart disease causing kind) and therefore we should be a bit more cautious when using them, despite the fact that many argue otherwise. I think olive oil seems to be the safest fat to use in moderation, so until I hear more from research I’ll be using coconut oil as a beauty product and hold off on using it in my food.

What do you think of this year’s nutrition trends? Are there any that you are planning to keep? I think the best advice I can give is for you to test foods out yourself and see how your body reacts to them. What could be beneficial to one person might not be to another. I, for example, have tried adding in quinoa to my diet several times but was not successful because of my sensitive colon. Just remember that no one knows their body better than you do. I wish you all a very happy new year filled with health and happiness!

Post by Hyatt Al Sayegh, a Clinical Dietitian and Dr. Sears Health Coach.
Founder of Fork Fed.

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No idea if is related to this but the all black Yeezy 750’s that launched world wide 10 days ago didn’t get released in Kuwait. The all tan Yeezy Boost 350’s that are scheduled to launch world wide today also aren’t making it to Kuwait. My guess is that Adidas found out that and got pissed and pulled the brand from them. But this is just my guess, there could be other reasons to why we aren’t getting the Yeezys anymore.

Expats in Kuwait aged over 50 will be forced to leave the country under a new measure announced to reduce the number of foreign workers, Arabic daily Al Anba reported.

The age limit would apply to people working for the Kuwaiti government and in professions where vacancies can be filled by Kuwaitis.

It would be implemented from March 1 and cover all nationalities, a government source reportedly said. [Source]

Based on the wording of the article this doesn’t seem like a proposal but instead something that has already gotten an approval. Damn.

But, keep in mind Arabian Business aren’t really a reliable source and have a habit of making shit up. I mean they mention an Al Anba report in their article yet link to Arab Times…

As I’ve previously mentioned, Kuwait is currently going through change, for the good and bad although I strongly believe that the changes are mostly for the good. This week Kuwait went through some very important changes.

Around a year ago, the “segregation law” was taken to the constitutional court by Kuwait University students who thought the law was unfair since they weren’t able to register for classes that were available for females only. This was the first time in Kuwait’s history where people were allowed to take a law to the constitutional court, previously only the government or parliament were allowed to do so.

I originally started writing this article last week because I wanted to share what was happening but then I decided to wait until the constitutional court ruling came out which it did yesterday. Lawyers, politicians, professors, non-profit organizations, were all waiting patiently to see what the Constitutional Court would rule, was segregating the sexes legal or not?

Back in 2000, the Kuwaiti Parliament voted by democratic ways a law that seemed to many as being undemocratic. In English media outlets it was referred to as “the segregation law”, and in Arabic media as “منع الاختلاط” which translates to “preventing integration”. But, the actual name of the law was “The Establishment of Private Universities” and was inspired by “The Higher Education Law” that was voted for in 1996. The law is very simple and short, with not a lot of details to its articles, for example ‘Article 2’ states “Student attire, behavior and activities shall be according to Islamic values”. Somewhere along the line though the Ministry enforced segregation on all higher private universities by referring to the law mentioned above.

Yesterdays court’s verdict came to everyone as a surprise. Although the court did not claim that the “segregation” law was unconstitutional, it instead stated there has been a mistake applying the law, as segregation was never mentioned in the original law.

On another brighter note, Kuwait’s Parliament yesterday finally passed an Animal Rights law making animal abuse in Kuwait illegal, as well as banning people from having certain pets like lions, cheetahs, etc. The law also enforces pet owners to take good care of their animals. The law shall be implemented within 6 months.

Feel free to email me [email protected] with any legal questions. I do not have the capacity to answer everyone for free (but I try), and I am happy to announce that I am currently working with a great team and therefore we are able to reply back to all emails with a reasonable time frame.

Post by Fajer Ahmed – Legal Counsel
The legal opinions expressed in this post are those of the author Fajer. Opinions expressed by Mark or any other writer on mark248am1.wpenginepowered.com are those of the individual’s and in no way reflect Fajer’s opinion.

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Shakshooka Market is back again this Saturday (pictured above) and I’m going to be there helping a friend out who’s making delicious Salt Beef Bagel Sandwiches. So make sure you come by, say hi and order a Salt Beef Bagel, our stand will be called “The Untitled Deli”. Check out the full list of events taking place this weekend below:

Thursday
Exhibition: Behind the Crisis
8th Fitness Convention
Pantomime: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Burpees for Humanity
Workshop: Japanese Shibori Tie-Dye
Rooftop Movie: Le Papillon

Friday
Pantomime: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Bungee Jump at Al Kout
Food Truck Festival
AlSalmi Star Gazing Trip
Chill-Out Fridays

Saturday
Pantomime: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Bungee Jump at Al Kout
Food Truck Festival
Yoga at the Park
Shakshooka Market
Workshop: Fabric Printing
Art Night Out
Protein Sheikhas: Bootcamp
Lulwa Piano Concert
Rooftop Movie: Manhattan

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]
For a full list of upcoming events click [Here]

Note: Sometimes events get canceled, postponed or have details changed. I try to make sure all the information is accurate but always double check with the organizers to be sure.

Star Wars is one of the most recognizable entertainment brands with a huge cult following 38 years after the first film was released. The gaming studio DICE is also a great studio with a reputation for making fantastic large-scale multiplayer shooters. So you’d think putting these two together you’d get a home-run of a game but for some odd reason, Star Wars Battlefront isn’t the game it should be. Instead, it’s an online-only bare bones multiplayer shooter.

DICE for the uninitiated, are the studio behind the critically acclaimed Battlefield series, a game known for its online multiplayer. It features large scale maps, destructible environments, vehicles, and objective based modes that encourage team work. Battlefield also features a character class system: assault, engineer, support and recon classes. Each class has unique abilities, for instance engineers can repair vehicles while support units can revive fallen soldiers. The Battlefield games also feature an unlock system that encourages you to play more to gain more weapons and more customization features, like skins for your guns, new camo for your soldier or new attachments for your weapons. Battlefield has been my favorite multiplayer shooter because of all these things. All in all, if any studio was going to make a new fantastic Star Wars game, DICE would be it.

But DICE played it too safe. Star Wars Battlefront feels like an introduction to online shooters for the casual gaming audience which in itself, isn’t necessarily a bad thing. There are nine multiplayer modes with some of these multiplayer modes having up to 40 player battles (so 20 v 20). Each mode has up to four or five different maps based on the Star Wars worlds Tattoine, Hoth, Endor, Sullust and Jakku. You can choose to either be a Rebel soldier or a Stormtrooper and as you level up you unlock new weapons, gear and abilities. When you’re fighting you’ll also come across various items you can pick up on the battlefield which includes things like shields, turrets or the ability to control certain vehicles. Once in a while though, you’ll come across an item that will let you take control of a hero or villain like Han Solo or Darth Vader, depending on which side you’re fighting for.

What can be said about the Call of Duty franchise that hasn’t been said before? For better or for worse, the games don’t really evolve much. I enjoyed last year’s Advanced Warfare, I thought the campaign mode was fun and I enjoyed maneuvering with the EXO suits. It gave the game a sense of verticality that it was missing. Going into a Call of Duty game you already know what you’re going to get. So I expected a short, but fun, adrenaline filled campaign mode, great multiplayer and a decent zombie mode. Sadly, what I got out of the game was something much less. It’s disappointing how far the campaign mode strayed from what they created in Black Ops II which had had branching paths and multiple endings, and had a narrative that was captivating and intense. There’s a lot of content in Black Ops III, but it’s a case of quantity over quality.

I primarily enjoy playing single player games. So the first thing I did going into this new Call of Duty was just that. You start off by creating a character, choosing the gender and then a face. The problem is the majority of the faces all look the same. Not sure why they didn’t include a simple feature that allows you to pick a face and then a hairstyle or something along those lines. Being able to choose to play as a badass woman was cool though. But then I got referred to as “him” within the first few minutes of the game and that should give you an idea of how much attention went into campaign mode. It’s pretty lazy all around. The Call of Duty games aren’t known for their writing, but they have a reputation for being enjoyable. The campaign in Black Ops III was paced weirdly, the tutorial levels were too long and when major things happened, the game didn’t really do a good job at building any suspense or any sort of climax. Things just sort of happen. On top of that the narrative seems to be pieced together by borrowing basic themes and ideas from other games, like Deus Ex Human Revolution. Your character has a set of special abilities, some of them are cool like being able to control enemy robots or making enemies explode, but some of them are lame, like sending a swarm of cybernetic flies to distract human enemies. If you’ve played Bioshock, these should feel familiar, because they work kind of like Plasmids. When you finish a mission you’re sent back to your base where you’ll be able to walk around and interact with computers to upgrade your abilities, customize your character, look at the collectibles you’ve found or read more about the narrative, which is cool but I didn’t really care enough for the story to really spend my time there.

So what are some things that I liked in campaign mode? There were some fun firefights, some of the abilities you get are cool to use and the game ran incredibly smoothly. One other thing I really appreciated was the fact that you can play campaign mode in split-screen with a friend. It’s nice to see developers still include this especially when you have 343 Industries removing split screen from Halo 5, which I personally thought was a really dumb move since split-screen was such an important part of the Halo games. But I digress, that’s a different post for a different time. Finally, it was cool seeing Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica) in the game, I hope she does more work related to this industry.

So it’s pretty known fact that most players will spend most of their time in multiplayer. Unlike the campaign mode, I enjoyed my time playing against other people. Multiplayer mode in Black Ops III is slightly different than its predecessors. The biggest change in multiplayer is that you now have to choose from a set of characters called “Specialists”. You start off with four to choose from and you unlock more as you level up (there’s 9 in total). Each Specialist has their own personality, look, their own set of abilities and a unique special weapon. It’s a shame that you can’t customize them much. You unlock different kinds of cosmetic equipment as you play with them, but it just takes too long to unlock anything. There also isn’t a large variety of armor either. Another slight change in multiplayer is that the game doesn’t automatically unlock weapons for you as you level up. Instead “unlock tokens” make a comeback. You gain experience and level up, and you’re awarded with unlock tokens that you can use to unlock new weapons. You still get rewarded for using a weapon consistently with attachments, like scopes or paint jobs. There’s also a good variety of maps (12 to be exact) and most importantly most of them are fun. Like I mentioned earlier, I enjoyed Advanced Warfare and I enjoyed the way you were able to move through the maps. I think they’ve improved on that in Black Ops III, but instead of Exo suits you’ll be using thrusters, which is a momentum based system, allowing you to jump more than once, wall run and slide across the ground. All in all, multiplayer is pretty solid.

Zombie mode is now fully fleshed out and has its own campaign mode called Shadows of Evil. You take control of one of four characters who are voiced by Hollywood celebrities like Jeff Goldblum and Ron Perlman. You’ll be navigating through the fictional Morg City slaughtering zombies while you try to stay alive. This mode is only cool if you’re playing it with other people, it’s not worth investing your time in if you don’t have friends to experience it with. You can go online and play with random players but it’s not as fun, especially if you can’t properly communicate with them.

At the end of the day it’s unlikely Black Ops III will win over any new fans. On the other hand, if you’re a fan of the franchise then chances are you’re going to enjoy this and you’re going to welcome the new (albeit slight) changes to multiplayer. The question remains if the game has the longevity that the previous games had, especially since customization is extremely limited. Specialists are a cool addition, but I don’t believe they really change multiplayer enough. There’s a ton of content here, but there’s no real reason to go back to the campaign mode once it’s over and the zombie mode can be frustrating if you have no one to play with. I’m personally sticking with Destiny for my first-person needs because that game just has more things I enjoy. It’ll be curious to see what direction Call of Duty goes from here now that they’re futuristic. How far will they go? Or will they go back in time and bring back their World War II games? Or maybe they’ll play around with a time travel mechanic and develop a game that features World War II and futuristic stuff? Time will tell.

Call of Duty: Black Ops III was supplied by X-Cite. The game is available on PS3 (online only), Xbox 360 (online only), PS4, Xbox One and PC.

Score: ★★★★★

Post by Patrick