Call of Duty: Black Ops III

Every other year or so Activision and the Call of Duty developers announce a crazy new cast of B-list actors for a zany new co-op mode. Call of Duty: Black Ops III's new Shadows of Evil zombie mode, revealed yesterday at San Diego Comic-Con 2015 and via a trailer, might be the nuttiest yet. Celebrities like Ron Perlman, Heather Graham, and even the great Jeff Goldblum fight against zombies and other Lovecraftian horrors in this noir-infused 1940s adventure. The trailer (watch it here) is so dense with blazing guns, magical gumballs, and shadowy tentacles that we decided to breakdown the entire video and share what we've learned.

A Dense, Stylish Metropolis
We don't know where exactly the zombie-infested mayhem takes place this time around, but the aesthetic conjures up images of a stylized, mafia-era New York City. The glitzy co-op setting features dark alleyways, illuminated elevated walkways, and chaos in the open streets.

One environment appears to be a dimly lit dance club, presumably the Black Lace Burlesque featured seen on the marque.

Dark Pasts Intertwine
A mysterious, unseen figure called Shadow Man greets the motley crew, voiced by Robert Picardo (Star Trek: Voyager, Stargate SG-1). He claims to know the darkest secrets of the characters assembled, who all believe they've been summoned to fight off evil creatures to atone for their sins. Introducing...

The Dancer
This burlesque dancer with delusions of grandeur is played by Heather Graham (The Hangover, Californication). She's the kind of woman who will do anything to rise to the top, as suggested by a brief intro which shows her possibly murdering a handcuffed victim with a pair of scissors. See the damning evidence in the screens below.

The Dancer lives up to her femme-fatale archetype by apparently luring her target into a trap.

Maybe The Dancer will whip out these sinister-looking scissors for her melee attacks? Probably not.

The Boxer
This pugilistic cheat is played by the imposing Ron Perlman (Sons of Anarchy, Hellboy). You don't need many more clues that a boxer is a dirty contender when you see him wearing brass knuckles before sliding on his gloves.

The Cop
A stand-up police officer should probably never be seen handling money in a back alley, unless perhaps he's cashing a paycheck. This crooked cop is played by a very foul-mouthed Neil McDonough (Captain America: The First Avenger, Band of Brothers). He looks even more corrupt after sucker-punching whoever shelled over the moolah.

It's one thing to take what appears to be a bribe. It's another to knock the guy out afterwards.

The Magician
Perhaps the crown jewel of the new Shadows of Evil is The Magician, played by the magnetic Jeff Goldblum (Jurassic Park, Independence Day, Apartments.com). The daffy Magician's dark deeds aren't as immediately apparent as the rest of the crew's, but he's seen tying up an assistant who appears to be struggling, then readies some throwing knives for a classic trick. We're assuming the stunt didn't work out so well for her...

Here he is setting up his "assistant" for the trick...

Then the Magician deftly handles the throwing knife with his fancy ringed fingers before giving it a toss.

Up next: A host of crazy creatures and sugary power-ups...

A Variety Of Nasty Enemies
Zombies return in Shadows of Evil, of course. Complete with brutal dismemberment as seen in the shot above. Because shooting the fedora off a zombie isn't quite as satisfying if you don't take his entire rotten head with it. Treyarch isn't stopping there, however. The mode appears to take nods from H.P. Lovecraft's impossible, tentacled creatures.

Zombies are bad enough without these flying pests invading and forcing players to lift their iron sights from the streets to the skies.

This hulking abomination appears to be a boss-type character. Each of its three heads sports a nasty grin of sharp teeth...

It looks like teammates must work together to blast off each of the slimy beast's three craniums.

Old-Timey And Modern Weaponry
The zombie-slaying foursome is seen gunning down monsters with a variety of period-specific weapons like stens and revolvers.

But fans of more modern firearms shouldn't fret, because it appears The Dancer is holding a beefy assault rifle that's a bit anachronistic for the 1940s. 

Wacky Magic Gumball Abilities
Call of Duty fans have been begging for them for years now, so Treyarch is finally adding a magical gumball machine to Black Ops III's Shadows of Evil mode.

The magic gumballs appear to pop out of the machine's lion mouth randomly. Part of the excitement of buying a gumball is not knowing what you're going to get, right? We spotted several fantastical enhancements that the Shadows of Evil team employs in the trailer, but can't be certain whether all these flashy powers come from gumballs or are character abilities.

The most dramatic ability shown off in the trailer reminds us of Starbreeze Studios' The Darkness. Biting and electrified tentacles frame the first-person view, zapping and chewing up zombies in the way. A mysterious smoke appears when these otherworldly limbs disappear, further suggesting some thematic ties to Lovecraft.

Another character lets loose a miniature nuclear blast that incinerates surrounding enemies.

The Boxer wields a rocket-powered shield to quickly plow through a horde of the undead.

The dancer flies into the air with an electrified blade, then stabs it into the ground to turn all the zombies around her extra crispy.

The Boxer flings a volley of flaming swords at distant enemies. The cop can also be seen slicing and dicing zombies with a two-handed sword.

And while it's not clear if berzerker strength is a special ability or not, it's worth noting that The Boxer appears to be able to punch zombies' head clean off their shoulders.

A Weird Box Liquefies A Man
It's not certain how this last enigmatic little detail fits into the overall Shadows of Evil mode, but one sequence shows an evil-looking box floating into the air.

Following that, a man floats up towards the glowing anomaly, screaming as he's turned into a burst of red goo.

That wraps up our analysis of the trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops III's new Zombies – Shadows of Evil mode. Be sure to let us know in the comments below if you noticed anything special we overlooked. Otherwise, we'll all learn more about this off-the-rails mode when Black Ops III releases on PS3, PS4, 360, Xbox One, and PC November 6. Want to know more about the core Black Ops III experience? Read our hands-on impressions.