Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 had a lot riding on it. For the last several years, the brand has been tarnished by bad, lazy, and frustrating games. 2023’s Modern Warfare III was an affront to everything the franchise had done well in the past, fumbling the goodwill they’d built up after a string of disappointments. If Activision was going to rebound, it had to be now. They spent a lot marketing the game and seemingly put a lot of effort into making a good game to satisfy fans. Did they succeed?
Pros for Black Ops 6
Campaign
The Call of Duty campaigns have been much-maligned in recent years. Modern Warfare III’s campaign, if it can even be called that, was ridiculed at the Game Awards by Christopher Judge. People piled on, and it seemed to have an impact. Black Ops 6 went back to the drawing board and came back with one of their best efforts to date. Some older games have the iconic aspect over BO6, like Black Ops 2 or Modern Warfare 2.
But the newest game has something really none of them have: creativity. Without spoiling, the story is impressive, but the fact that Activision took some creative risks is commendable and it worked to perfection. This campaign is unlike any before it, and that’s fantastic news. That adds a layer of fun and replayability that has been missing. Oh, and the campaign is sufficiently long, too.
Zombies
Zombies has often been the bread and butter for Call of Duty games. Multiplayer may be the moneymaker, but it’s hard to make a poor multiplayer mode (CoD has tried, though). Zombies, on the other hand, is often what players go back to, and it also hasn’t been good recently. Black Ops 3‘s zombie mode was the last time it was worth playing, and 2023’s MWZ was, again, an affront to everything zombies had ever done well.
Activision brought back Treyarch, the company that helped with zombies for Black Ops and Black Ops 2‘s zombies, and it paid off. Round-based zombies is better, but the gameplay and maps in the mode are genuinely good, too. The maps aren’t Town, Kino der Toten, Buried, or Mob of the Dead, but they’re a lot of fun.
Cons for Black Ops 6
Gameplay
For all the things CoD nailed this time around, they still haven’t gotten one key message: simplicity is good. Omnimovement may be a fun addition, but it’s not necessary. The game still relies too much on convoluted mechanics and overstuffed gameplay. Go back to CoDs of old and compare them. They’re not as advanced, but they knew that they didn’t have to be to succeed. Black Ops 6 did better with this than Modern Warfare III, but it still has a long way to go.
Live Service
In 2024, it is becoming increasingly clear that live service games are not doing as well. With few exceptions, players are tired of the shtick, and Black Ops 6 doesn’t do enough to buck that trend. It’s easy to forget that this is still a little bit of a cash grab, and Activision added plenty of live service elements that remind players of that. There are a lot of monetization options for the game, which adds to Activision’s revenue but detracts from the gaming experience and doesn’t help rebuild the brand.
In Conclusion
It has been a long time since a Call of Duty has been this good or this relevant. Black Ops 6 takes things back to how they used to be (almost) and reminds players what made them good in the first place. Sure, it’s not quite as good as the peaks this franchise has seen, but we’re finally out of the seemingly never-ending valley. That’s a wonderful fact after years of mediocre-at-best titles.
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