Black Ops 6 is the first Treyarch game since 2020, and thanks to the new "omni-movement" feature, it feels like the most innovative CoD title in recent history. But with innovation comes division; some will love the fast-paced, high skill-ceiling action, and others most certainly won't.
Since the release of MW 2019, and with it Warzone, Call of Duty has felt like an especially iterative franchise. That might seem like a trite observation to make (I can remember hearing the "CoD games are reskins" complaint as far back as 2008), but it's worth noting how extreme this has become.
At least from a gameplay perspective, each title from the last five years has been subservient to the main product, Warzone. And as a natural consequence, many fans have become less and less comfortable paying $70 for what feels like "CoD HQ" expansion packs.
But now, five years into the Warzone experiment (and with the BR sadly retaining a fraction of the playerbase it had in 2020), it seems Activision are willing to break the mold with something more innovative again. Well, at least when it comes to gameplay.
On the surface, through its visual design and setting, Black Ops 6 reminds me most of the original Black Ops from 2010. Yet, as I say, it combines that outwardly nostalgic look with innovative gameplay. That's my impression of Black Ops 6, and by and large I'm grateful.
Whether the world even wants arcade shooters like this anymore is another question. Given the fate of XDefiant, I think we can at least conclude the sun is setting on the genre. But while there are enough CoD players to justify development, they do at least seem to be in for a good year with BO6.
Black Ops 6 Review: Gameplay
Treyarch’s gameplay design philosophy is hard not to love. They aren’t trying to offer you any kind of mil-sim experience like Infinity Ward, instead it’s all about encouraging aggression, with insane movement, bigger health pools (and therefore harder gunfights) and reduced footstep audio.
The gunplay here is strong as well, thanks to very little muzzle flash and what feels like the perfect amount of recoil for CoD. Admittedly, the guns are a little less weighty than usual, but that's often the case in Treyarch games.
And in regard to perks and field upgrades, they feel intelligently balanced, although some of them are too goofy for me personally.
Now to omni-movement. For those who don't know, this is a new feature, which introduces the ability for players to sprint, dive, and maneuver in any direction.
It's intuitive and dynamic, and enables players to dodge attacks, dive through windows, and launch themselves backward. The result is a chaotic, cinematic experience.
But of course, this kind of gameplay creates a wider skill gap between those who can master it and those who can’t. I think that’s honestly quite healthy after two campy games in a row with MWII and MWIII, but a lot of players will be put off by it. The only major sticking point for me is that the game never quite reaches that point of absolute crispness we can usually expect from an IW title. You can adjust your settings to reduce the sprint delay (this game’s version of auto tac-sprint), but even then it doesn’t quite feel as tight and responsive as you’d want.
Black Ops 6 Review: Campaign
The Black Ops 6 campaign feels like it was made by a team of devs desperate to express themselves and try new ideas. There’s so much going on; in one moment we’re doing open-world activities like we’re back in the DMZ, in another we’re doing Metal Gear Solid-style stealth missions, and in one part of the campaign we’re basically playing Zombies.
To top it all off, we have a hub area (an abandoned mansion) that we travel to between missions, and which we can upgrade with a firing range and so forth.
The result is a collection of mostly enjoyable experiences that feel awkwardly pulled together. After decades of shooter-gallery campaigns, which play out like a Michael Bay movie, we can sympathize with devs who want to shake up the formula.
But with such a confused identity, it’s hard to imagine anyone being completely sold. Whatever your personal preferences, you will probably need to force yourself through certain parts.
The plot is serviceable, and easy to follow, but it really only uses the 90s as backdrop and doesn’t make much of an attempt to engage with the history.
Rather than focusing on any of the actual geopolitical threats from the period, they instead set up a cartoon supervillain group called the Pantheon for you to hunt down. This feels like a missed opportunity, but it’s a lot safer for Activision legally, so not unexpected.
Black Ops 6 Review: Zombies
Unlike the Campaign, they were anything but experimental with Zombies. This feels like a modern version of the kind of Zombies we played in the original Black Ops. It’s more expansive than anything from World at War, but it’s not quite as complicated or laden with Easter eggs as Black Ops 2 or 3.
And for a lot of players, a traditional round-based Zombies mode like this will be exactly what they want after the disappointment of Vanguard and confusion of MWIII. We also get two separate maps here, which is plenty of content for launch.
Zombies, then, is a strong aspect of Black Ops 6. They aren't introducing anything new, but it provides the kind of gaming comfort food that long-term Zombies fans will be craving after so many failed attempts to re-invent the wheel.
Black Ops 6 Review: Multiplayer
This is the mode that the vast majority of players will be buying Black Ops 6 for, and I’m pleased to say that the foundations here are really strong. The gameplay changes are almost all positive, and lead to enjoyable gunfights, while the movement system feels satisfying to master.
This being Treyarch, the weapon balancing is also very impressive so far, and we expect them to keep a close eye on both the casual and competitive community. It’s also worth mentioning that the traditional Prestige and Unlock systems are back, which will come as a blessed relief to those who hated the wackiness of MWII and MWIII (I personally liked those systems, but they were too complex). There’s also a great array of camos to earn, via challenges that aren’t too painstaking.
But now, we have to address the elephant in the room. The maps suck. They’re really, really bad. Not quite Santa Sena Border Crossing bad, but I can’t name a single one that I’m actively excited to play, and I think that’s a widespread view. They are all very small (which I suppose is a reaction to how overwhelmingly popular tiny maps have been for grinding), but combined with the insanely fast movement of BO6, they feel even smaller.
With players able to get anywhere on the map within seconds of spawning, the spawns can’t be anticipated and played against, and so the maps feel chaotic and random. Great for a quick dopamine hit and fast weapon-levelling, but poor for long-term player retention.
I expect Black Ops 6 multiplayer will be great by the middle of the year, with a ton of larger new maps (hopefully original, rather than the old "break glass in case of emergency" tactic of re-releasing Raid) but until then the grinding might feel like a slog.
Thankfully, we’ll also have Ranked Play soon, and I expect a lot of the current maps will work much better in 4v4.
Black Ops 6 Review: Audio-Visual
When reviewing the new Call of Duty each year, this is one of the few areas I can always confidently assume they will nail, and once again they have. Activision never fail to impress from a technical perspective, especially since creating IW Poland to focus on developing CoD's proprietary engine.
The game looks excellent. As a Treyarch game, there's a lot more "pop" and color than we've had in the last three titles. But, thankfully for fans of a more realistic, IW-esque approach, the visual style adopted here doesn't go so far as to become cartoony (at least to my eye).
The animations are not as intricate as we've seen before, and the sound of the weapons aren't as realistic, but these are minor quibbles. And they're more than counterbalanced by the excellent audio and visual design.
Black Ops 6 Review: Verdict
In so many ways, this game feels nostalgic. It clearly tries to evoke a sense of the early Black Ops games, while directly rejecting the modern trend we’ve seen post-MW2019 to “facilitate all playstyles”. And for many fans, particularly of Treyarch and Black Ops, it will be well-received.
At the same time, they're introducing some brand-new concepts like omni-movement and body shields, which make the gameplay feel genuinely refreshing. For that alone, they also deserve a lot of praise.
But I’m worried the appeal of this game could be short-lived, even for a CoD title.
While we may have been clamoring for a traditional round-based experience during the days of MWZ, I am unconvinced that such a stripped back alternative will actually hold people’s attention.
And the same goes for the multiplayer. When we only have large maps, as in last year's base game, it’s easy to understand why everyone retreats to Shipment, but now it feels as though all we have is Shipment.