When Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 was first announced, the primary thought coming from the mouths of most gamers was that it needed to make up for the flop and embarrassment that was Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III. The great news for gamers is that Activision-Blizzard absolutely knocked it out of the park with this newest Call of Duty. While I’m only about 20 hours into trying out the various modes, I can confidently say that Activision has found a much better path forward for their Call of Duty titles. The best part is that they didn’t have to change too much to accomplish this feat, which bodes well for future titles. So, let’s dive into what makes this game so much better than its predecessor.
Right off the rip, you can tell that the campaign was given the love and attention that we should have received with Modern Warfare III and the refinements to their open-world structure have very much helped to advance their ability to tell a story and set up the scale and difficulties of actually winning a war against a foreign adversary. The failed Open Combat System has been replaced with a much larger Battlefield-esque “choose your own approach” setup and it’s appreciated quite a bit. I’ll explain what I mean without giving away too much.
One of the earlier missions you’ll encounter is a Dark Ops mission called Hunting Season. You’re given a massive area with many other potential objectives, but only one primary objective: destroy the three SCUD launchers. All of the other objectives can be completed for rewards like cash, weapons, and story background from audio tapes, but those are considered optional and are not required for the player to move on to the next level. It takes the open mission system, but enhances it and eliminates the pointless parts while adding a large amount of secret content. In other words, you very much live the Black Ops lifestyle during these games.
I’ve also spent a decent amount of time playing both Zombies maps; Liberty Falls and Terminus Island. I’ve never been a huge fan of round-based zombies and I don’t see this setup changing that anytime soon. I find more joy in extraction shooters and having a variety of missions I can initiate without being stuck in one area for the majority of my time playing. I like the freedom to move around and the ability to pick my weapons before dropping in as opposed to a handgun. Yes, I realize you can do this after reaching Level 4, but I prefer the ability to choose things right off the rip.
Each island offers something different for the players. Terminus Island has plenty of guns lying around throughout since it was previously guarded by soldiers before falling victim to the zombies. Liberty Falls requires you to bring in a handgun as it’s just a normal town and there are no soldiers randomly walking around waiting to be eaten by a zombie. They are very different environments and play as such, so your mileage may vary when it comes to whether or not you find that sort of thing enjoyable. I personally enjoyed Terminus Island quite a bit more than Liberty Falls.
Multiplayer for Black Ops 6 seems to be going over fairly well. Activision and Ricochet have promised a much more dedicated effort to stopping cheaters dead in their tracks and the feedback is mixed. Some people feel Ricochet’s efforts have been paying off while others feel it was just a bandaid. I don’t think you can ever truly stop cheaters in these games, but it’s long past time Call of Duty has taken it seriously. Most of the time they’re fine with it as cheaters spend a ton of money getting new accounts or buying new gear.
The new Warzone map, Avalon, is not out yet but you can view the entire map via theater mode in Multiplayer should that sort of thing be your bag. The TacticalBrit put out a terrific video two days ago illustrating just how incredible this new map looks. It has everything from an F1 course to a full golf course to many football pitches and numerous other points of interest. He said this map looks like it will be the greatest Warzone map that we have ever had once it is released in 2025. It’s stunning, there’s no other way to put it.
Black Ops 6 is the total package. These are the types of games we should be getting every year. There is no reason for them to be releasing half-baked campaigns just because they feel like they should have one in there. Activision has proven that taking their time and letting these develop naturally is the key to releasing top-notch titles. While several modes are missing right now, at least one of them is on purpose so that gamers have a chance to figure things out on their own without having someone spoil it for them. We are also missing the private match feature to play against bots. Both should be coming any time here in the neat future.
Right now, Black Ops 6 is easily my favorite title in the history of the Call Of Duty franchise. It’s just above Black Ops II. The freedom to choose your approach, the gunplay, and the weapon selection have put the new title just slightly ahead of the old title. If you have been waiting for a great Call of Duty to come around before moving on from other titles, I highly suggest giving this game a complete shot before you write it off. TreyArch has done an epic job getting this game ready and loaded with the content fans had been screaming was missing from other titles. If this keeps up, Call of Duty won’t be relinquishing their crown as the top shooter in the country any time soon.
BSO Review: 8.75-of-10
