Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

There's no doubt about it, following the disappointing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III last year, this year's instalment into the long-running shooter series needed to be something of much higher quality. It needed to be a get-right game, a project that arrived and proved that Call of Duty is still a titan in this industry, a series we can look to on an annual basis for high-production quality thrills and intense multiplayer action. Without getting ahead of myself, let me just say that Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 has definitely achieved this so far.

Now as I have done in the past, I'm going to split this review of Black Ops 6 into three parts revolving around the three core pillars of the series; Campaign, Multiplayer, and Zombies. But before I get into the respective sub-areas, let me first draw your attention to a few game-wide features that have been added or adjusted in Black Ops 6.

To begin with, let's discuss the elephant in the room that is Omnimovement. You may have seen clips ahead of release of players flying around shooting people while in mid-air and looking like a scene out of Max Payne or The Matrix. Yes, you can do some wacky things with this movement suite that basically drifts away from the more boots-on-the-ground setup for a more arcade style where you can shoot while looking backwards while gliding through the air in a prone dive. However, it's also fitting and slots into the Black Ops 6 formula with ease. This is partly down to the fact that Call of Duty is getting faster again, and the steadier gameplay over the past few years no longer perfectly reflects what we see in action. Omnimovement is somewhere between Modern Warfare movement and Advanced Warfare movement, and in practice, regardless of the mode you play, it feels unbelievably fluid to use.

Secondly, I want to draw your attention to the user interface of Call of Duty as a whole. For years this has been an absolute nightmare, a setup that makes you want to pull your hair out and scream at times. As part of the Black Ops 6 phase, it has been streamlined and tidied up, and it is hands-down better than what we had in the past. It's easier to navigate and less cluttered. So, thumbs up there too.

Lastly, the performance. This is a game series that still releases on PS4 and Xbox One and that means that if you play on PC or PS5 and Xbox Series X, you get a title that runs like a charm, with minimal performance and bug issues, at a tight 120 fps at 1440p or 60 fps at 4K. This, when matched up with Omnimovement, means that Call of Duty feels incredibly smooth to play and looks excellent at the same time. Anyway, with that out of the way, let's move onto the Campaign.

Campaign

Call of Duty has always been known for thrilling and high-production quality campaigns, something that wasn't delivered last year in Modern Warfare III. Black Ops 6 has got the ship back on course with an exciting, action-packed, intrigue-filled story that doesn't overstay its welcome. It has all the typical Call of Duty setpieces and moments that make your jaw drop and then combines it with a few more modern design elements like open-levels and ways to customise and tailor the experience to how you like to enjoy the action. This is admittedly a bit of a double-edged sword as it directly impacts the challenge of the experience.

Early on through the story Woods will tell you that you need to keep an eye out for cash during each mission, cash that can be spent at a hub location between missions to acquire upgrades for the protagonist Case. This could be more health, resistance to flinch or explosives, better accuracy, more starting ammunition, or ways to more easily armour back-up using plates. While the idea makes sense, in practice, even on Veteran difficulty, these upgrades will make you near-impossible to kill as the missions roll on, and it's because of this that Black Ops 6's Campaign loses a bit of the challenge that we come to expect from it.

If you simply play the campaign for the action and thrilling moments, there are plenty of these albeit combined with slower and more espionage-like elements that really fit the Black Ops bill. Whether it's using a rigged camera to capture a senator's retina for a scannable door or breaking into a casino vault, there are plenty of sneaky moments. These are a bit hit or miss, as they lack player agency and come across as quite linear, which can make you long for the more gunplay-centric and hectic shooter scenes that follow. Treyarch has also gone the other direction entirely and presented a few situations with open-levels that we've seen become more common across Call of Duty altogether. These too are a bit hit or miss, and lack the pacing to really keep you on the edge of your seat. While it's pleasant being able to tackle a mission as and how you see fit, wandering the desert like a lost bedouin all on the hunt for a supply drop containing nothing of value doesn't exactly draw me in and make me eager for more missions like these.

What does work in the Campaign's favour are the variety of enemy types. The various Pantheon mini-bosses that pop up ask you to really adjust how you play, especially on harder difficulties where you are more liable to being killed. Whether it's massively armoured minigun-carrying foes, poisonous gas throwing enemies, dragon's breath shotgun enforcers, or deadly snipers, you'll be tested when these significantly stronger foes make their appearance.

But overall, the Campaign is a strong showing. You'll enjoy your time with this story that takes players to a variety of locations around the world to engage in crazy action moments that we all come to expect from Call of Duty. It's not the greatest Campaign we've ever seen in a Call of Duty game, and it does lack a little in the emotional aspect and the character personality front, but it's a good length, has plenty of depth and variety, and will keep you asking questions along the way.

Multiplayer

This is perhaps the area of Black Ops 6 that will feature the most criticism among fans. Some will love the fluidity and pace that Omnimovement brings to this mode, while others will likely scoff at the speed of the action and the low time-to-kill values that makes responding to attacking enemies a challenge to say the least.

For me, I think Treyarch has delivered quite a balanced Multiplayer in Black Ops 6. There are a higher-number of better designed maps than there are more frustrating ones, the list of game modes impresses with the high-value target-styled Kill Order mode being a very fun option that will slot well into the future of objective-based Call of Duty Multiplayer. When you combine this with various nostalgic and returning offerings, such as a traditional Prestige system that squawks like a chicken when you bottle it and decide not to reset your rank, streamlined and less complex weapon attachment/Gunsmith mechanics, and camouflages and weapon skins that are easier and less annoying to earn, all the pieces are in place for Black Ops 6's Multiplayer to be one of the best Multiplayer Call of Duty offerings we've had in years.

I do think there are areas to improve though. The number of available weapons seems low and skewed to the ever-popular Assault Rifles and SMGs. The perks feel lacking and too similar a lot of the time, even too rigid when you add the Specialist system to the equation that gives players an extra bonus when using perks of the same colour. As there are typically only two to three perks of each colour, utilising the Specialist system really limits the buildcrafting options. Plus, the weapon experience system is in need of tuning as currently you can complete the camo challenges for a gun well ahead of unlocking all of its attachments, begging the question as to why it's balanced in such a way.

But overall, with the aid of Omnimovement, a more simplistic buildcrafting and customisation structure, and a collection of generally quite strong maps all culminate in a great Multiplayer experience that will continue to attract players as further maps and weapons are added in the seasons down the line.

Zombies

Last up we have Zombies. In Modern Warfare III, a bunch of new ideas were tested for the mode, ideas that presented a Warzone-like open-map and basically failed to deliver any of the thrill that we love from more linear round-based action. Thankfully, this is what we get in Black Ops 6 and it does not disappoint.

Black Ops 6 Zombies might go down as the best Zombies experience we've had since Black Ops 3 almost a decade ago. It's a merging of the past and the present, with plenty of the typical round-based PvE Zombies action with traps to help along the way that World at War and Black Ops fans of yore will love, but combined with some of the more recent features like Gobblegums, varied enemies and boss zombies, weapon rarities and mods, a more complex Easter egg and narrative to follow, tons and tons of secrets to find, and loadouts, augments, and field upgrades to use too. Omnimovement also comes in here and makes avoiding and navigating the undead threat all the less frustrating, a feature that works in favour of the chaos and challenge that is delivered as the rounds roll on and an increasing amount of zombies creep out of the woodwork.

This is a mode that on paper would seem way too complex and oversaturated, but in practice flows with ease and delivers a thrilling experience that can be enjoyed to a great depth alone or with friends. The map design helps this as both Liberty Falls and Terminus stand out as great additions to the Zombies pool, with the former being more accessible and less stressful and the latter being for the more skilled players that are looking for a challenge. What Treyarch has delivered here is familiar and nostalgic enough that if you haven't played Zombies in years you can pick it up and enjoy it with ease, all while steadily figuring out the more complicated new additions that work wonders for adding plenty of extra depth to an otherwise quite basic experience.

It would have been pleasant to have more than two maps to play at launch, but this isn't too different to what we've experienced in the past with former Call of Duty titles, so hopefully it won't be too long until a new map is announced and launched to keep Zombies fans engaged and entertained with what is no doubt a peak for the series compared to recent years.

In summary

Treyarch has righted the ship with Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. This is the Call of Duty game that Microsoft and Activision needed for a day one Game Pass launch, as it has a strong and thrilling Campaign, a tight and streamlined Multiplayer, and a fun and nostalgic Zombies experience too. This is one of the best Call of Duty games we've seen lately, with perhaps 2019's Modern Warfare being the last clear contender, and it continues to show that Treyarch stands out and continues to impress when it comes to this franchise and how they drive forward the Black Ops brand.