Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 shows what Call of Duty should be, offering a full multiplayer suite, a zombies mode that feels like it understands what makes that mode special, and a campaign that mixes Mission Impossible-style action set pieces with some of the more off-the-wall sci-fi elements the Black Ops games are known for. Each section feels like an improvement over Black Ops Cold War and each offers more than enough depth to make casuals and hardcore players alike happy.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Developer: Treyarch
Price: $70
Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S (reviewed), and PC
An Xbox Series X|S code was provided by the publisher for this review
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 feels like the first complete package from the series since the release of 2019’s Modern Warfare. Not only does it feature a stellar campaign with more creativity than you would expect, it also has an excellent multiplayer mode and a return to form for Zombies. Each individual chunk feels great and together it makes for one of the best Call of Duty releases on this generation of consoles.
Black Ops 6’s campaign picks up shortly after the events of Black Ops Cold War, with the covert ops team being interrogated over a failed attempt to capture someone alive. It features plenty of story twists and reveals, but where it shines is the great mix of gameplay over its six hours. You have plenty of traditional run-and-and-gun missions, but there are also multiple stealth missions. These missions are great, because they offer multiple paths to your objective. The mission taking place at the Senator’s rally is a great example. You need to get a picture of a senator’s eyes and how you do that is up to you. You could try the senator’s wife or the suspicious mobster.
There is another take on an open-zone mission, where you are dropped into a large desert and tasked with taking out three objectives. Scattered throughout the mission you can find side objectives, which can unlock weapons and equipment. I was able to obtain an airstrike from one side activity that let me take out my final objective without ever getting near it, which was incredibly satisfying. Black Ops 6 also features some of the sci-fi, mind-bending missions that have popped up in previous games, creating a campaign that has something new to show you almost every mission.
The multiplayer feels like a refinement more than a revolution, but it’s still a ton of fun. Some of the more complicated unlock systems found in Modern Warfare II and III have been taken away, returning to a traditional leveling system. There are plenty of guns at the start, with more on the way in future updates, offering a ton of variety in gameplay and a seemingly endless well of skins to grind for. The leveling does feel a tad slow to start, both for your overall level and for each weapon’s individual level, making it feel a bit tedious to unlock new weapons sometimes.
The omnimovement system is the star of the show, allowing players to sprint and move in any direction. You can turn completely while prone and spin through the air while diving. It seems like a ridiculous system at first, but it feels natural while playing, like an extension of traditional Call of Duty instead of a reinvention. It also adds to the element that makes this series special, which is speed. You are constantly in combat and can almost instantly respawn in most game modes, removing as much down time as possible from the experience, something that few other shooters can replicate.
The map selection at launch offers a nice bit of variety, with a focus on making even more small maps than usual. Recently it feels as though there has been a focus on bigger maps, but Black Ops 6 chooses smaller arenas, increasing the speed of gameplay even more. The only real flaw with the map selection out the gate is a lack of iconic spaces, as none of the maps feel like they have the distinct feeling that has made some maps, like Nuketown, feel iconic. The spawns are also pretty rough at launch, with more than a few instances of me spawning directly in front of an enemy and vice-versa.
While there are a ton of weapon camos to grind for, the customization feels a bit lacking at launch, especially for your operators. Each operator has only one or two skin options to unlock and it feels like you see the same handful of characters running around in each map. A big part of this is that microtransactions aren’t live just yet, although it would have been nice for there to be more operators that can be unlocked by playing the game.
Zombies makes a triumphant return in Black Ops 6, focusing exclusively on round-based gameplay. It plays similarly to Black Ops Cold War in many ways, but the improvements across the board makes it feel special. Right off the bat, it’s harder than Cold War, requiring a bit more skill and finesse to make it to higher rounds. Instead of unlocking flat upgrades to perks and skills, you instead can unlock a selection of augments, getting to equip two for each perk, ammo mod, and skill, offering some customization. Melee weapons have been moved to their own slot too, so now you can have two guns and a melee weapon, while still being able to pack-a-punch and upgrade your melee.
The maps, Liberty Falls and Terminus, are the best aspects of zombies. Both maps feel lovingly designed for round-based zombies, with tons of traps, easter eggs, and detail that make them feel special, the way zombies maps felt in the earlier entries in the Black Ops series. Liberty Falls is the smaller and easier of the two, taking place in a small American town. Terminus takes place on a military base on a small island, with multiple levels and even smaller nearby islands to explore. Both have fun easter eggs that thread the needle of being fun puzzles while not requiring full on spreadsheets.
Leveling weapons via the pack-a-punch and arsenal upgrades still feels great, with each improvement feeling immediately powerful. There are also lots of small touches that are nice as well. Gobble Gums return, offering powerful limited bonuses, and you are frequently rewarded with them just for playing zombies. There are also HUD options like turning off damage numbers and zombies health bars, if you want a more classic feel. One area Black Ops 6 feels like a regression in zombies is the introduction of armor plates instead of just armor. The difference is minor, now having to regularly put new plates in instead of occasionally picking up fresh armor, but it feels much more tedious without offering anything positive in exchange.
Black Ops 6 feels like one of the most polished Call of Duty packages released in recent years, with a roller coaster campaign that has far more variety than you would expect, a good multiplayer experience that focuses on speed, and a zombies mode that feels like a well-balanced blend of what people like about both old and new zombies modes. While it isn’t perfect, it is excellent and well worth putting in some hours if any of the three modes appeals to you.
The Final Word
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is a complete and spectacular package, offering a fun and varied campaign, lightning fast multiplayer, and a return to round-based zombies that lives up to the hype. It doesn’t fully reinvent what Call of Duty is, but it’s far more varied than previous entries and everything included feels like it got the love and attention it deserves, making it a must-play for anyone who has fondness for Black Ops or Call of Duty.
– MonsterVine Rating: 4.5 out of 5 – Great
