Another year, another confusing title for this year’s Call of Duty, however Treyarch have unveiled what they’ve been working on since Cold War, and it’s Black Ops 6.
So why wasn’t Cold War called Black Ops 5? Why isn’t this game called Black Ops 5? Who knows, but what I do know is how the newest Call of Duty is going to play having sat down with it and played through the two weekends of the beta.
Straight away if you’re wanting to know so you can click off this article and move on – yes this game plays just like Cold War, just with a few additions. Namely the gimmick of this year’s title is ‘omni-movement’ which allows players to live out their wildest Max Payne moments, in the form of sprinting, sliding and diving in any direction (just not in slow motion).
Notable features:
- Omnidirectional movement (takes some getting used to)
- Round-based Zombies on Terminus & Liberty Falls
- Classic prestige system*
- Hostage/human shield system – double tap execute button (should make for some funny search & destroy moments as comms are enabled for the duration)
- Specialty perks for combining all three of the same colour (e.g. Recon allowed players to see enemies through walls after respawning)
- Similar look and feel to Cold War’s gameplay
What I’m excited to see
Prestige mode, challenges & class system
Honestly, the return of a classic prestige system is big for me, and this combined with returning challenges like ‘dark ops’ should keep me engaged with the game’s multiplayer, I just hope the maps are decent. What I actually experienced in the beta that I really enjoyed was the more simplistic Treyarch approach to class building, that has been slightly tweaked with the addition of Specialties for combining three of the same colour perks (like a pro perk bonus for the class). Gone are the likes of charging up perks mid-game or having to equip ‘vests’. This more straightforward style compliments the gameplay, which I found to have it’s own ups and downs.
Zombies & Warzone
I’m also super excited for the return of round-based Zombies, especially the map Terminus which is confirmed to have a dedicated crew (not just characterless ‘operators’). There’s even a new perk confirmed for the mode.
It remains to be seen if Black Ops 6 can restore my love for Warzone with Verdansk rumoured to be making a return in Spring 2025, as my love for the battle royale mode has withered away with the shift towards metas, movement etc. and not the original experience that I enjoyed back in 2020. I enjoyed being able to use a variety of weapons and attachments and not having to deal with people constantly sliding around all over the place like the floors had just been freshly waxed with the most overpowered setups (please bring back one shot headshot snipers in all their glory).
What I’m not fond of
Maps
While I am a fan of traditional three lane map design, the limited amount shown during the beta weren’t really some of my favourites – Vorkuta got me looking though.
Movement
The time to kill felt fine to me, however as in past betas there is a discrepancy from what you see to what you experience (getting melted vs taking a while to kill someone). Hopefully this gets addressed, as does the horrific spawns, though the insane movement speed, coupled with the new omni-movement (I might just be getting too old at this point) exacerbates this issue in my opinion. I typically prefer a faster time to kill game with slower movement (Black Ops 4 excluded), similar to what we had in the PS3/Xbox 360 era of Call of Duty games, but I get that this is subjective and each player will have different tastes.
Weapons
The guns also weren’t balanced great as there was a SMG meta, as there tends to be in Treyarch games as they seem to prefer them compared to Infinity Ward’s love of assault rifles. This was evident as the Jackal PDW ran the show even after catching a nerf mid-beta. Is it just me as well or have we not progressed graphically since Modern Warfare (2019)? I am a sucker for detail but their gunsmith was just superior to anything that has come since – I mean if you’re going to have a grounded game (not futuristic) why not go the extra mile (as you have before) to get the rights to use weapon names and likeness? This only adds realism and stops guns from feeling and looking wonky.
Story so far
It is getting rather convoluted, especially when you realise we’re on like the 25th instalment in the franchise, but Black Ops 6 appears to be a direct sequel to Cold War. The game carries the story forward with characters Alder and Woods returning, though the latter is wheelchair bound. This canonises his wounds at the hands of antagonist Raul Menendez after the events of 1989 (Black Ops 2), and confirms that Adler survived and wasn’t gunned down by Bell. There is also a certain notable absence present from the team…
They can pretty much go in any direction which is what I love specifically about Black Ops titles as I’m fairly certain that from this point in time (1991) the story doesn’t pick up again until 2025 with David Mason.
A lot of my hopeful changes are interchangeable themselves with the last few games in the series, though I do hope that we see the movement toned down in some form when the game launches on October 25th for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.