It’s fall and that means many things, but the most important to gamers is the release of yet another new Call of Duty game. Activision, coming off a turbulent two years where their very existence was up for grabs, is back with the 21st installment of this juggernaut franchise. And that legacy is not lost on developers Treyarch and Raven Software, who have crafted Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 to be a celebration of that legacy, for good or bad. The end result is one of the stronger chapters in this franchise’s history.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 has three main game modes: campaign, multiplayer, and zombies, and an updated Warzone and a handful of submodes, like gunfight, with each mode getting some 2024 polish. The campaign continues the near-convoluted story of CIA operatives keeping the world safe from enemies, both foreign and domestic. The story picks up in 1991, at the beginning of Operation: Desert Storm, and while battles in Kuwait and other regions are featured, the meat of the story focuses on things going on in the shadows. This is “black ops” after all.
Russell Adler, from 2020’s sublime Call of Duty: Black Ops – Cold War returns, along with Frank Woods and a slew of new characters, who are investigating a new paramilitary group, Pantheon, who are developing a new weapon that could change the world. The story takes the player character, a man named “Case,” through locales around the world, and includes some very real world players from the time, including then-President George H.W. Bush, future President Bill Clinton, and more.
The beauty of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is how varied the story chapters are compared to the previous Modern Warfare reimaginings. There are stealth levels where you have to sneak around a political fundraiser; an open-world level where you drive around the desert clearing out Iraqi camps and destroying Scud installations; a literal Ocean’s 11-type casino heist; and even a creepy-as-hell level that borrows highly from the most recent Resident Evil games to create and harrowing experience that still fits nicely into this world of dark operatives and global conflict. This is the most fun I’ve had with a COD campaign since Black Ops III, which was just a crazy mind meld that frequently went off rails in fun ways.
Multiplayer features a staggering 16 new maps of various sizes and terrain, and each map has plenty of everything Call of Duty veterans expect. The developers even brought back the classic prestige system, where once you hit the max level of 55, you can reset your stats, going back to level 1 and start all over with certain things unlocked, and one special unlock per prestige. The weapon loadouts in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 include and mix of old and new, and scorestreaks and perks get tweaked so players can truly customize their loadouts before each match.
There are some new components, like wild cards, that can be stacked with other classes to offer bonuses, and the player gets to decide just how this is implemented. It is simple, and yet still complex and part of the fun is finding what works best for you and your playstyle. And so far, it doesn’t feel like Activision is trying to nickel and dime players with DLC skins and blueprints. I do admit I miss the skins I accumulated over the past three years or so. Time will tell if the store soon gets populated with various IPs and music stars, so we’ll see where this goes as the year rages on.
Round-based Zombies returns after last year’s far superior open-world zombies mode. At launch there are two maps available, Liberty Falls and Terminus, and Liberty Falls is the superior map so far. It is a contained location, and yet still feels bigger than Terminus, which is very claustrophobic. If you’ve played a zombies mode before, you know what you are getting here. Waves of ever-stronger undead and monsters swarm the player’s team and you just kill and kill and kill, all the while trying to unlock puzzles to open new areas and complete the narrative. As always, zombies mode is a fun distraction, but there is no way I will ever commit the time to this mode like I did last year in that DMZ-like zombies mode. That was my favorite thing about Modern Warfare III, easily, and I miss it already.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is a full-featured release right out of the box, and though Season 1 begins soon, and plenty of players have already prestiged multiple times, it is still a classic pick-up-and-play experience, one that rewards you for the time you put into it. The game looks stunning on both the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, and the play is generally smooth and fast. It’s that speed that really sets this entry ahead of it’s predecessors. The new omnidirectional movement and the ability to dive and shoot, as well as manually go into a supine state really amps up the challenge in even the most pedestrian MP matches. It also feels like the TTK is shorter, and players aren’t as much “bullet sponges” as they have been in recent games.
After a slow start thanks to a reaction to a flu shot, I was very quickly able to catch up to my fellow players, and I felt I was competitive in each match, even with my generic loadouts and lack of attachments. This alone speaks volumes to the balance in this game, and while some may disagree (message boards are typically full of complaints at launch), Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is one of, if not the most balanced Call of Duty game ever.
One thing that bothers me about the game has nothing to do with the actual gameplay or any of the technical specs; it’s in the name. Cold War broke the generic “Black Ops” naming conventions and it was a very welcome change. Going back to numbers seems silly at this point, and “Gulf War,” which was the rumored subtitle this summer, would have been a perfect fit. It’s a nitpick, I know, but it matters to me in the long run.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 returns the series to its competitive roots, with a solid campaign, fast and chaotic multiplayer, and a ho-hum zombies mode. The game offers something for everyone, and executes it all wonderfully. Only time will tell where the game goes in the upcoming seasons, with new maps, weapons, operators, and more, and additional zombies chapters to help fill in that story. As of right now, the game is a solid entry into the franchise and serves as a reminder of how great a Call of Duty experience can be each fall and winter. Some will complain, some will shout its praises, and above all else, we will all have fun. And that is all that matters.
One last note: Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 offers a new Call of Duty Endowment (C.O.D.E) pack for sale at launch for $19.99. The Call of Duty Endowment donates all the proceeds (minus taxes) to various organizations in the US and UK that help veterans find good paying jobs, and they do it each year. I make a point to buy these packs each time they are offered, and implore you to do the same — as the cause is one we should all believe in. These veterans gave up a chunk of their lives to keep the world safe, while we just all get to play soldier. The least we can do is pay a little more for some weapon blueprints and skins and other tchotchkes to help them out.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is out now for Playstation 4 and 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. This review is based off a PS5 code provided by the publisher for that purpose.
