The name’s Ops, Black Ops 6…
Developed by Treyarch and Raven Software, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is a spy action thriller set in the early 1990s, a period of transition and upheaval in global politics, characterized by the end of the Cold War and the rise of the United States as a single superpower. With a mind-bending narrative, and unbound by the rules of engagement, this is signature Black Ops.
Last year’s Modern Warfare III was a bit of a letdown for fans of the series. The campaign was short and the launch had tons of issues that ultimately made it fall flat, it was unlike the series to get it so wrong, so there was a lot riding on Treyarch and Raven Software to redeem the series this year. The answer? Another Black Ops. At first I thought, really? But Black Ops games have mostly been great, so the old adage “if it’s not broke…” comes into play here.
The campaign itself is a bit different than I was expecting. First off, after the first mission you’ll be in a mansion that you can explore and it acts as a hub for missions, but also there’s characters to talk to and even a nice little puzzle involving a blacklight, a hidden room, coded messages and a safe. I honestly spent like 20 minutes trying to figure out this damn puzzle without even going to the second mission. I really enjoyed it and was a bit gutted once I finished it.
The missions themselves are well designed and full of typical high-octane moments, but also gives you the option in certain missions to play how you want. So, you can choose to be stealthy or take a different path to the objective. It’s not a simple beeline for the objective with invisible walls everywhere, so I was impressed with this. The story is pretty good too with a nice old-fashioned conspiracy thrown in and some very good looking cutscenes.
Multiplayer launches with 12 6v6 maps and 4 small-size Strike maps. Typical modes are included and more maps are on the way, Nuketown launches literally sometime today (at the time of writing) so the total will rise to a lovely 17 maps after just a week. There have been a few issues with spawning at launch, but it has improved already. The multiplayer comes with all the typical bells and whistles you would expect in terms of customisation of your characters and guns, but ultimately I was impressed with the variety of the maps and thought they were well designed.
Zombies returns to it’s classic turn-based rounds, which is a big win for those who love the original style. There are 2 maps at launch and they are both very different from each other in design. They are both huge and full of easter eggs and chaos as you would expect. Again, it comes with a lot of customisation once you have unlocked the correct conditions. It’s great to be back to having traditional Zombies and was more than impressed with the two maps at launch.
The visuals are the best in the series to date, there’s no question here. Everything from guns and characters to the levels and environments are highly detailed. Framerate is never an issue and can run up to a smooth 120FPS if you have a TV capable of it. The PS5 version makes good use of the DualSense’s haptic feedback and adaptive triggers, but other than that it’s identical to the Xbox Series X/S version, both of which look and run amazingly well.
The Verdict
Treyarch and Raven Software really needed to deliver after the misfire of last year’s Call of Duty. I’m pleased to report that they have done just that with Black Ops 6. It’s campaign is memorable, multiplayer is as good as ever and Zombies is back to its former glory. In other words, what more could you ask for?