It’s been a long time since a “Call of Duty” game has actually entertained me. Sure, I still play them every year, going on two decades now, but it felt like the developers were being cautious, at best, during the last few installments. 2023’s “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III” was especially terrible with its greatest hits of maps intended to hide how much they were asking gamers to buy something they already had. Having a group of friends playing on a weekly basis kept me engaged with the franchise to some extent, but I’m not sure I would have given it up without that factor. So I’m surprised to report that this year’s “Call of Duty: Black Ops 6” is a runaway success, a game with some of the best multiplayer maps in the franchise’s history and arguably the game’s best campaign to date .
“Black Ops 6” came out in 1991, begins after the events of “Black Ops Cold War”, which was released in 2020, and was also developed by Treyarch and Raven Software. The globetrotting campaign opens near the beginning of Operation Desert Storm, in which CIA agents Troy Marshall and Case Calderon are brought to the Middle East to take out the Iraqi Defense Minister. From here, a vast conspiracy is revealed involving a paramilitary force known as the Pantheon and a chemical weapon known as “the Cradle”. The storytelling style is generally explosive, rooted in a kind of cinematic storytelling that feels like something Michael Bay might do with a $2 billion budget.
Mayhem is to be expected, but what’s surprising about “Black Ops 6’s” campaign is how much it deviates from the norm. For one, there’s a mid-campaign level inspired by the popular “Zombies” mode of the game’s multiplayer portion in which Case stumbles into a facility and is infected with Cradle Gas, which turns “CoD” into an undead shooter. Like never before. , This is a game that alternates explosive action sequences with really sad, unrealistic storytelling choices, especially in an extensive final mission that reminded me of “Alan Wake 2,” believe it or not. In the end, this is one of the more engaging and consistently enjoyable shooter games of the year.
And most people won’t even play half of the game – at the time of this writing, the final campaign trophy has been awarded to 2.5% of players. Where are the other 97.5%? They’re wasting time in places like Nuketown and Heirloom, two multiplayer maps designed to get gamers addicted. For me, a successful MP experience is based on two things – map design and stability. You don’t want the same boring maps over and over again. And you don’t want to wonder how and why you died in a game with inconsistent physics and gameplay.
“Black Ops 6” checks all the boxes, launching with some of the best maps ever. There is a wide variety in terms of size and strategy, from the tight confines of a new all-timer like Babylon to the more elaborate canals of a map like Lowtown. And progression through the ranks is nice and logical — no one likes a multiplayer game that doesn’t reward its players with enough new toys to play with, and “Black Ops 6” doesn’t falter in that department at all. . I raced through the launch levels and am currently working on Prestige, and it doesn’t feel like a chore like some recent “CoD” releases (though the battle pass is still pretty slow.) Note: This year. The main new feature is something it’s called omnidirectional movement – the ability to jump in different directions (see image above) which I sometimes do by accident but never strategically enough to make a difference. YMMV.
Ultimately, “Call of Duty” has become a franchise that is too big to fail. That’s why a lot of gamers, including this one, were disappointed by it, worried that it would end up being like some of the other annual franchises that no matter what they release, Will earn money. It’s somewhat telling that “Black Ops 6” had the longest development process of any “CoD” to date, taking four years to reach the market. Perhaps some of the other annual franchises should take note. Greatness takes time.
The publisher provided a review copy of this title. It is available now,