There has been plenty of hype surrounding the first season of Warzone in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. While the new map, Area 99, isn’t blowing anyone away, that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of perks and high points to the latest season of Call of Duty. All in all, Activision did a fairly good job getting this new season up and running. They also launched two Mastercraft bundles, including one specifically aimed at Zombies players. So, is Call of Duty back on track or is this just a temporary thing? Let’s discuss.
The first thing we should get out of the way if only to keep Activision and Microsoft accountable is TokenGate. When Season 1 went live, players noticed they finally got their legacy tokens back and were able to use them for approximately one day before Activision and Microsoft noticed they had done that and people were using them. Since they wanted to artificially inflate their metrics, they disabled them under the auspice of it “causing backend problems.” Fans revolted and Microsoft decided to backtrack, saying they will reinstate the tokens in a future update but that fans could activate them in Warzone and still use them for Multiplayer and Zombies.
Call of Duty has done a lot of work in recent years to increase the amount of modes and options available to players. Everything from MP to Zombies has received an awful lot of attention, with Directed Mode being an outstanding new feature to the Call of Duty: Zombies mode. Directed Mode walks players through the Easter Eggs and missions within the mode while also capping the level and number of zombies a player will face while they’re working through it. The maximum level players will reach on Directed Mode is Level 11 and levels only increase as players earn more essence and unlocked doors to expand the zones. The rewards are slightly different, but that’s to be expected and it’s also fair. That said, it would be cool if people got the upper-end rewards at the end of the season if they had completed the Directed Mode during it.
Season 1 features five new maps and one variant. The maps are so-so with many of them being fairly similar. The only map that truly stands out as different from the others is Extraction. The rest have that close-quarters feel with high-end backgrounds. It’s almost like they watched 1,000 heist movies before releasing this season and were absolutely in love with vaults. Fans do seem to like this style of map, so it would be pretty unfair to say Call of Duty is out of touch with the fanbase. These high-octane maps that offer the potential of absurd kill counts are a favorite among streamers and casuals alike. Even if you finish dead last, dropping 20-30 enemies of your own since the better players will be pushing 60+ can remove the sting.
Now it’s time to talk about Area 99. Area 99 might truly be the worst Warzone map they have ever released. It’s exceedingly boring, there are way too few buy stations, everything looks the exact same, and the footstep audio is so atrocious that YouTuber OrneryPlays showed a KillCam where the player literally tac-sprinted across the map, up the metal framework he was standing on, ran up behind up, and finished him off. Orrnery couldn’t hear a single thing. It was truly a sight to behold and showed the game still needs a bit of work. As bad as Area 99 is,. I think there’s one thing that’s making it seem even worse: Avalon.
For those who don’t know, Avalon is an upcoming Warzone map that is already finished but wasn’t supposed to be revealed until 2025, but enterprising players used CoDTheater to explore Warzone’s entire upcoming map. When folks compare Avalon to Area 99, it becomes clear that Call of Duty gave fans one of the worst-ever Warzone maps while they’re sitting on one that, at least visually, looks like the best Warzone map ever made, integrating all the feedback from players and combining that with lessons learned from previous maps. Only time will tell if this map is strong enough to keep players on the game and spending money.
The guns Activision released for Season 1 are some of the best that we’ve gotten in a Season 1 launch, with the Krig C and the Saug being the two primary guns added to the weapon pool and the return of the illustrious Aftermarket Parts! Given that every weapon from Modern Warfare II and Modern Warfare III is also available for selection, Warzone Season 1 is the most packed version of the game than we have ever been able to play. In the past, Activision has nerfed the older weapons as a way to force players into using the newer weapons. If they actually keep them as viable weapons, the future of Call of Duty will be brighter than ever before.
Season 1 Zombies comes out at the midway point, but the current offering is tremendous and the potential for zombies is through the roof. Even I wasn’t a round-based Zombies player prior to this year. I had only just gotten obsessed with the mode because of the extraction-based mode they offered with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III. While this mode hasn’t had me playing every day all day like I was with the MWZ, I’m certainly playing much more often now that they have the directed mode to help me understand how to appreciate this version more. Sometimes all you need is a helping hand.
On the whole, I can say that I’ve enjoyed Season 1. The offerings are top-notch and I’ve been able to appreciate more Call of Duty lore. Maybe they’ll one day invent a mode of Warzone that I cannot put down. That seems to be the only aspect of Call of Duty that I do not like and I have several wins in several modes, so I’ve definitely put in the time to try and appreciate Warzone. The offerings seem to be getting better and better in addition to being more robust. It’s hard to hate the time and effort they put in for Season 1.
BSO Rating: 7.75-of-10
