After many years of mediocre games and ridiculously overcomplicated multiplayer experiences, it looks as though Call of Duty is set to get back on track after the release of Black Ops 6.

The Campaign

The campaign is undoubtedly one of the best ever made. Most campaign experiences since Black Ops 2 seemed to have lost their way, with developers focusing more on multiplayer and Warzone.

This year, however, every single chapter of Black Ops 6’s campaign stood out as graphically beautiful, with incredibly engaging gameplay elements. Two missions, in particular, were exceptional: The Cradle and Emergence.

The Cradle gives the player a sense of free will in an open-zone style environment. You’re tasked with taking down the bad guys, but there are various other points of interest throughout the mission that can give you unique rewards and additional support for the final showdown.

Emergence is a remarkably unique mission where our protagonist is affected by hallucinogenic gas and faces a hoard of zombies. Not only was the mission incredibly fun, packed with small boss fights, but it also served as a fantastic introduction to the world of zombies for newcomers.

Multiplayer

One of the biggest surprises is that Multiplayer seems to have been the game mode with the least amount of attention. It’s not bad, by any means, as it feels very much like the core Black Ops experience fans have grown to love. However, it feels… lighter. Unburdened.

Whether the multiplayer experience remains this way as we start working our way through various seasons of Battle Passes remains to be seen, as new weapons are introduced and changes are made to the multiplayer experience.

Even the multiplayer maps in Black Ops 6 feel great. There are one or two that feel a little… off, as to be expected, but for the most part, the maps all look visually stunning and are fun to play with, with interactable shortcuts and secrets in nearly every map to give your team an advantage.

Zombies

Zombies seems to be the focal point of Black Ops 6, as Treyarch makes yet another attempt to bring traditional Call of Duty fans into the world of the undead. In past games, the “main quest” of each map has been hidden. While casual players were simply running around taking down zombies, hardcore zombie fans were launching rockets at the Earth from the Moon, and unraveling the much deeper mysteries of “The Aether” and “The Dark Aether” stories, venturing through parallel timelines and multiverses, spanning nearly every Call of Duty game with a zombies mode, from World at War to the current version in Black Ops 6.

However, fans have trickled away from these questlines in recent years for a variety of reasons. This year, though, Treyarch is introducing a guided mode, walking new players through the experience of code-breaking, boss fights, and more.

The core zombie fans have still been given a few weeks to solve the main quest by themselves, without Treyarch’s hand-holding. Players who have completed the main quests without the support of the developers have been rewarded with a unique calling card in-game to show off.

In terms of gameplay, the zombies mode feels fantastic – perhaps the best we’ve ever had. Both maps at launch – Liberty Falls and Terminus – are filled to the brim with Easter eggs, secrets, and lore. Combat feels great, although the sheer amount of Manglers – a more powerful type of zombie – can be annoying at higher rounds.

Even the loadout system in Black Ops 6 zombies feels great, with Gobblegums and field upgrades making a return to give players a variety of ways to navigate higher rounds and tougher fights.

Conclusion

Black Ops 6 delivers one of the best Call of Duty experiences in years, proving that Treyarch is still the king of first-person shooters. New players will get a fun, engaging experience without the clutter that seems to have been holding the franchise back for the past few years, and returning players will have their love for COD reignited.

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