Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 beta adds Spectre Specialist and Safeguard mode

PS4 beta level cap bumped up to 40

Treyarch has once again updated the Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 beta on PlayStation 4. After opening up the beta to all PS4 owners, the studio has decided to increase the level cap to Colonel (level 40), while introducing another new Specialist and game mode.

Starting today, all players will have the opportunity to play as the Spectre Specialist.

"Next to nothing is known about the presumed wet-works Specialist, Spectre. The designation itself is a codename agreed upon by the various agencies that have pooled their intelligence on unsolved assassinations, inferring his or her existence based on either evidence found at the scene or from fragmentary reports given by shaken bystanders.  Despite heavy redaction, all accounts suggest an individual capable of extraordinary stealth, able to evade or neutralize the most sophisticated of manned or automated security set-ups.  In every case, Spectre’s victims have been ‘handled’ with surgically precise mid-line wounds with rarely any signs of struggle."

Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 - Spectre Specialist

We've actually known that Spectre would be one of the playable Specialists. Like all of the other Specialist characters in the game he boasts a unique weapon and ability:

  • Weapon: Ripper – Spectre deploys mono-edged twin blades before gracefully dissecting victims with lethal, surgical precision.
  • Ability: Active Camo: Advanced meta-materials rapidly change their properties, guiding photons over their surfaces instead of reflecting them, rendering Spectre temporarily invisible.

As for the game mode, Treyarch calls it "Safeguard." It's an "attack and defend" mode that "will test the team's ability to coordinate their action."

"The attacking team must escort a robot drone into the enemy team’s base, but it only moves when a player is standing next to it. The defending team can disable the robot by inflicting enough damage, causing it to shut down and reboot before it can be moved again. Teams will alternate between attack and defense roles, each getting one turn in each role . If one team wins both rounds, they win the match. If both teams win a round, it goes into overtime, which follows a similar format to Capture the Flag overtime – if the attacking team escorts the robot into the enemy base in the first round, the opposing team has to beat their time to get the robot into the enemy base. It’s pure, delicious chaos!"

The Black Ops 3 multiplayer beta, which began on Wednesday, is scheduled to run on PS4 until Sunday, August 23rd. The beta will arrive on Xbox One and PC next week (Aug. 26-30), but it's unclear if Treyarch will open the beta up to the entire Xbox community or keep it closed for only those who pre-ordered the game.