Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Review

It’s no small secret that, for the better part of a decade, Call of Duty’s quality has been on the decline. Although there hasn’t been a truly terrible entry into the most well-known video game series of all time save for the one that came out last year, almost every one of its yearly releases has been subjectively worse than the previous year’s, and objectively worse than the ones that came out during the golden age of gaming. This isn’t the time or place to discuss why that’s the case (because I already wrote an article on it), however it’s important to remember it nonetheless, because if you don’t, it’d be easy to write Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 off as another slightly-better-than-average shooter. If you do recall just how awful, say, Vanguard was, and how subpar almost every CoD game since Black Ops II was, though, then you can’t do that. Because although BlOps6 is still a Call of Duty game at its core, it’s also far and away one of the best in the IP.

Black Ops 6 is, unlike the bulk of its predecessors, a return to the form that made the series iconic about 15 years ago, avoiding many of the unnecessary bells and whistles that have been added since then. Essentially, this means gameplay feels reminiscent of Call of Duty: World at War: the campaign resembles an interactive James Bond movie, Zombies mode sticks to a classic, round-based format, and multiplayer is deeply addictive without gimmicky mechanics. While not ground-breaking, this instalment solidly demonstrates the franchise’s strength when it doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel it crafted in 2007.

And for the first time in recent memory, it’s not actually a stretch to call any one of BlOps6’s three modes some of the best in the series, including its campaign. Taking place in the 1990s, it follows an off-the-books CIA team and their attempt to thwart a potentially world-ending cabal that’s tangentially related to the one from Black Ops: Cold War. Like the game itself, it’s not exactly unique, but that’s also not a bad thing. It’s a video game version of a spy thriller that isn’t too serious, has a solid cast of characters, an intriguing overarching plot, and some standout missions. These missions offer you just enough freedom to make your own choices while avoiding feeling like the glorified bot matches of Modern Warfare III (2023)’s “open combat” sequences. As a whole, it ties in well with the overall Black Ops sub-series, and does a good job at setting up a potential sequel without it feeling like bait for that inevitable sequel. And most importantly, includes nothing in the way of fluff while also being fun to play for all six to eight hours of its runtime.

The same is true for BlOps6’s Zombies mode, too, minus its runtime. Unlike in years past, it’s entirely without crap nobody asked for, and instead is a relatively simplistic round-based ordeal on two remarkably solid maps that’s actually enjoyable regardless of whether you want to interact with its entirely optional storyline or just kill zeds for hours on end. Liberty Falls and Terminus, the two maps respectively, are very much akin to the ones from Call of Duty: World at War’s DLCs, and all you need to do in them is try to survive. There aren’t any convoluted puzzles to engage with, nor do you need to read through a Wikipedia page to figure out what’s going on in the mode. The maps themselves are also easy to navigate, but have enough hidden corners to keep you discovering new things well after you’ve survived a few rounds. Although they do feature some things that weren’t in the O.G. Zombies, like the ability to craft killstreaks and armour plates, nothing the mode adds is confusing, and all of it simply makes the experience of trying to survive until the next round more enjoyable.

In case you couldn’t guess by everything in this review, then, BlOps6’s multiplayer, like its other two modes, also doesn’t change the series’ established formula, but does make it better by getting rid of elements that have plagued the IP for far too long. Somewhat obviously, the game still has the adrenaline-inducing gunplay the series is known for, as well as its addictive progression system, swaths of content, and overall technical competency. However, what it doesn’t have are convoluted ways to unlock its vast arsenal of weapons, or any redundant skins, progression rewards or modes. In their stead, there’s a classic prestige system that allows you to reset your rank after you reach the in-game level cap of 55 if you want to receive additional items and bragging rights over your mates, just like there was in the CoD games of yore. There’s also a solid lineup of guns that all feel unique, and the new movement system allows you to dodge and dive in any direction à la Max Payne. 

‍BlOps6’s player-versus-player mode isn’t perfect, but, not to repeat myself, it’s very much a return to what made the series so great back in the early 2010s. Its maps are lacklustre, but aside from that there isn’t anything wrong with it, and there are a lot of things right about it. Time-to-kill, weapon balancing, and movement systems are all substantially better than they’ve been in years past. It also doesn’t have any serious bugs or performance problems, including any related to its servers. And when all of that is coupled with a traditional progression system that doesn’t punish you for not devoting your life to it, the experience is very much akin to the old Call of Duty titles, and that’s nothing short of a great thing.

So, as always, the question is whether or not you should buy the game, but my answer to it is different from what it’s been for Call of Duty titles in years past. Even though you no doubt have a strong opinion on the franchise at this point, it’s worth reconsidering that opinion for BlOps6, because it isn’t the same title you’ve either been loving or hating for years. Instead, it’s one that’s almost identical to the ones you either loved or hated back in the 2010s. It has a traditional popcorn shooter campaign, a fun co-op mode, and the series’ trademark PvP mode. So, assuming that you’re not one of those weirdos who grew up playing Halo, and instead spent your formative years chugging Mountain Dew and shouting slurs while grinding out gold guns, then you’ll no doubt enjoy the latest and the actual greatest entry into the most well-known IP in video game history.