Another year and another annual Call of Duty release. It shows you how many of these games we have had that we have now reached Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and, overall, six Modern Warfare titles.
After the disastrous release of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III reboot, Black Ops 6 has a lot to do to get back in the good books of fans and gamers alike, and this review will break down each mode on offer in Black Ops 6.
Campaign
Black Ops 6 moves the timeline from Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War to the 1990s. It is such a good follow-up to Cold War, and as always, the gameplay is so buttery smooth, and it looks as good as ever.
You rejoin series favourite Frank Woods and Cold War icon Russell Adler as Desert Storm is taking off. As in Cold War, you pick your missions from a central mission board, which takes you all over the globe, ending in Iraq.
The campaign definitely feels like a follow-up to Cold War with the inclusion of a few missions that allow you to choose how you approach them, similarly to what you did in the Lubyanka building.
Like all Black Ops titles, the campaign does have some weird moments, with some missions taking a sharp turn and ending in a completely different way than you would expect. As mentioned before, the graphics and level of detail are incredible, as they have been in recent years, but there are some moments of texture pop-in and weird instances of low detail that can be a little jarring. Another awesome part of the campaign is the orchestral score. It may go under the radar for most gamers, but you will love what you’re hearing when you’re deep into a campaign sesh and with some decent headphones on.
Multiplayer
Well, most people pick up a Call of Duty game mainly because of the multiplayer. Reviewing a multiplayer mode is always subjective as your enjoyment of the mode will depend on your ability. When the original Black Ops came out, I had the time and reflexes to top the leaderboard pretty much every game, but now (checks notes), 14 years on, and at the ripe old age of 27, I do get cooked on occasion in matches.
The difference between then and now is this wonderful thing called skill-based matchmaking. And I must say, it is the bane of my existence. In any game where everything aligns that I reach my old best of a 4.0 K/D ratio, I know that in the next game, I will face every COD sweat that hasn’t seen sunlight since release.
While this may keep those towards the end of the leaderboards happy as they won’t be getting decimated every game, as a perhaps above-average COD player, I hate skill-based matchmaking with every fibre of my being.
Now, let’s move on to the actual maps and gameplay. The maps are a decent mix without any true standouts or instant skips, which I suppose is a positive thing in its own right.
The biggest addition to multiplayer is the new omni-movement system. Yes, this system is part of all of the core modes, but I think it is the most significant in multiplayer. As the name suggests, you can move in absolutely every direction, and turning sharply to change lanes is even easier.
I believe this is the best addition to Call of Duty gameplay since they added more killstreaks. Being able to shift gears, especially in modes such as Domination, is a welcome addition. It is also a godsend when defending compact zones in the aforementioned Domination or other modes such as Hardpoint.
Yes, you can argue that some people can exploit this new movement system to kill you in really annoying ways, but in all honesty, no matter the movement system, there will always be people who try to exploit the system and cheese the game. We have already seen what is to come in season one in terms of content and had classic Nuketown return, so here is hoping for some other classic Black Ops return in their original form (prays for Firing Range.)
Zombies
Now, let’s move on to the mode Treyarch specialises in: Zombies. There are two maps here at launch: Liberty Hill and Terminus.
This is a true return to form for zombies, which has had some poor editions in recent iterations. This is classic round-based zombies that you know and love. Liberty Hill is the easier of the two maps and will serve as a good introduction to Zombies for those that may have taken a break from the mode since the classic Black Ops days.
Zombies is also a brilliant way to level up your guns for multiplayer and Warzone (if that’s your thing). Maybe it is my modern brain, but this classic style of Zombies can get boring quite quickly if you don’t have a consistent group of friends to play with, as most random people that I matched up with didn’t want to communicate to do the Easter Egg story bits, which is annoying as I only got to do the bowling mini-game only a couple of times when playing on my own.
I am looking forward to the guided mode that Treyarch has promised is coming, as sometimes, unless you are up to date with all of the Call of Duty influencers, then you won’t know how to get to the end of each map to see all of the cool cutscenes.
Conclusion
Well, where do we sit with this year’s edition of Call of Duty? Overall, it is one of the better modern Call of Duty titles and is a massive improvement on the glorified DLC that was Modern Warfare III.
As always, this game is well-polished, with awesome audio, decent graphics and a massive package of modes. Black Ops 6 will not convert anyone into a fan of the franchise, but if you do enjoy Call of Duty, or if you just want to have some mindless fun one evening, I can’t think of a better way of killing a couple of hours than by playing this game.
The campaign is the usual global adventure that is just as good as Cold War, if not better, in my view. The multiplayer is a lot of fun, and you will know that you will always be getting a steady stream of content, so you know things won’t really go stale for too long. Lastly, if you enjoy classic Zombies, then you will enjoy it this time round, but if you don’t have that solid group to play with, you might struggle to see something new each time you play.
In conclusion, I think you should definitely play Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 if you have Game Pass Ultimate as it is included as part of your subscription. If you are on PlayStation or PC, then maybe give it a few weeks until Black Friday to see if it drops under £50. At that price point, I can’t see a better value-for-money package.
Developers: Treyarch, High Moon Studios, Raven Software
Publisher: Activision
Platforms: PS4, PS5, PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X
Release Date: 25th October 2024
