Being the sixth game in a sub-series of a major franchise that churns out sequels every year, my expectations weren’t particularly high going into Black Ops 6. That’s not to throw shade at Treyarch, but it feels like we reach a point every few years where a particular Call of Duty format succumbs to a creeping fatigue, prompting a harsh pivot from the next developer to take the reins.
This isn’t the case with Call of Duty Black Ops 6 – if anything, it’s the best the series has been since Infinity Ward’s 2019 Modern Warfare reboot and, personally, marks my favourite entry since Black Ops 2 launched more than a decade ago.
Black Ops 6 Campaign
Even though the series’ timeline is quickly catching up to the contemporary setting of Modern Warfare, Black Ops 6 underlines how very different these two series still are. In this latest single player campaign, Treyarch continues to dip its toes in real-world history – this time it’s the event surrounding the first Gulf War – while also entangling its core cast of characters in a web of conspiracy where it’s never clear who the true enemy really is.
Following the events of Black Ops Cold War, and with our main man Mason out of the picture, players are cast as CIA operative “Case” – a classically silent protagonist flanked by returning favourite, Woods, and veteran Troy Marshall. After a botched extraction mission in Kuwait, and with the emergence of a shady new faction known as Pantheon, the trio is forced underground to root out this hidden threat before it can enact its master plan.
Although Call of Duty has its fair share of memorable characters, they rarely have as much depth as BO6’s ragtag band of rogue ops who are soon joined by the battle-scarred Adler as well as Felix, a pacifist expert engineer, and the wardrobe-swapping assassin, Sev. It’s not necessarily how these characters are written or acted (though the performances here are top notch, especially Y’lan Noel’s Troy Marshall) but rather how you interact with them.
Between missions, Black Ops 6 transports players back to The Rook – a safehouse where they can engage in deeper conversations with their comrades. It’s an unexpected change of pace compared to the usual A to B blitz of older Call of Duty games, and just as in Black Ops Cold War, it works incredibly well here. Not only does The Rook have various secrets to uncover, it’s also where players can purchase permanent upgrades that will carry over from mission to mission. In other words, you become more powerful as the campaign progresses with collectables (wads of money) having actual value.
The overarching story hardly breaks new ground, though is filled by bombastic set piece action and some rather unexpected detours. One level in particular manages to playfully breaks from reality and almost feels like something out of Remedy Entertainment’s Control.
In fact, clever level design is an accentuated part of this year’s campaign. While there are still plenty of gunfighting gauntlets to shoot your way through, there are spy-centric, non-combat segments that slot in seamlessly, and while the overall length of the campaign being longer than what fans have become accustomed to, it doesn’t outstay its welcome. Needless to say, this is one of the most memorable and deftly put together campaigns in COD history.
Black Ops 6 Zombies
It’s easy to forget that there’s a small, slavering army who come to Call of Duty every year just to play Zombies. What started as a fun bonus mode for 2008’s World at War, it has continued to grow and mutate over the years with its own rich lore and a dense web of gameplay systems.
After last year’s Warzone adjacent effort, Zombies returns to a wave-based format with two maps available at launch (Liberty Falls and Terminus) playable either in solo or co-op for up to four players. As always, the objective is to stay alive as long as possible as incoming waves get tougher, spewing out larger mobs of zombies (and other twisted nightmares) that will relentlessly pursue survivors.
As players gun down enemies they’ll earn the cash and components needed to buy and upgrade weapons, as well as perks, equipment, field gear, and other bonuses to augment their loadout. They’ll also need funds to access other regions of the map, starting in a relatively small location that quickly expands into a winding, zombie-infested maze. As you explore, there’s various secrets to uncover, events to trigger and a story to reveal.
Lifting the gunplay and character movement from the campaign and multiplayer, Zombies has never felt so smooth. It’s easier than ever to outrun and outmanoeuvre basic enemies though they continue to pour out of every crevice, ramping up the tension and forcing you to think about your loadout. Other highlights from this mode include joint-progression with BO6’s competitive multiplayer, as well as the option to exit out of a solo run and then pick back up where you left it later.
Black Ops 6 Multiplayer
For almost two decades and across more than a dozen Call of Duty games, I’ve fallen into a pattern of blitzing the campaign first before dabbling in the co-op/bonus game mode, then fully immersing myself in the multiplayer. Like the majority of players, this is where I spend the bulk of my time with each year’s instalment and Black Ops 6 will be no exception.
Since Infinity Ward’s superb Modern Warfare reboot, online gameplay has stuck to a familiar template with small tweaks and changes. Quirks such as being able to reload when aiming down sights and the ability to “mount” cover points are now ingrained in the COD formula, but what party tricks does Treyarch bring to the table? Omnidirectional movement. When this feature was first unveiled it was presented as a game-changing evolution, giving players the power to sprint, slide, and even dive in any direction.
This change will impact diehards plugged into Call of Duty and Warzone all year round, but for it will feel far more subtle for more seasonal fans, as if Treyarch has removed the imaginary sandbags that have been weighing down character movement. The changes feel natural and are easy to grasp, and they do have a knock-on effect when it comes to the tempo of skirmishes and the dexterity needed to outplay opponents in 1-on-1 gunfights.
In terms of content, this is exactly what you want from the Call of Duty multiplayer package: an expansive arsenal of highly customisable weapons and fun killstreaks with plenty of game modes and maps on rotation. Speaking of modes, the new Kill Order is a welcome addition that tasks teams with hunting down enemy HVTs (high value targets) while defending their own. Meanwhile, the twelve original maps offer an intriguing mix of locales that have been meticulously designed to encourage various playstyles, though some are arguably better suited for those who favour long range combat. That’s not to say that snipers will have a hard time wreaking havoc in Black Ops 6 – you just need to be mindful that the increased speed and movement of targets will present a challenge.
It took a dozen or matches, across various modes, for the multiplayer to finally click. That’s nothing out of the ordinary for Call of Duty. It usually takes hours of play until players can start crafting their own preferred loadouts and figure out the meta, and even longer to get acquainted with all the new maps. However, some fans will find it harder than others to adjust to the quicker pace of BO6, the scrappy close-range faceoffs, and wild acrobatics.
