Call of Duty has been struggling to appeal to the demanding player base for years now. Both new players and veteran players have had their complaints about the previous few games. Call of Duty is mainly known for two sub-series, the Modern Warfare subseries and the Black Ops subseries. So far, both have 6 total games, with 3 original Modern Warfare games and three reboots, while Black Ops has been released every few years since 2010, with the release of Black Ops one. From its generational multiplayer, thriller and ahead of its time campaign, and eerily fun Zombies mode, this set the format for these games for the next decade and beyond. However, the quality of Call of Duty has declined since then, mainly due to the constant switching of developers. Between Treyarch and Infinity Ward rotating in the olden days to Activision and Raven taking over, going back to Treyarch, COD has struggled to maintain its previous consistency. Black Ops games (With the exception of BO4 ) are loved by many, and with BO6 joining a prestigious line of games, how does it hold up to its predecessors?
Campaign (Spoiler free)
This campaign doesn’t feel like some of the recent Call of Duty campaigns, in a good way. Many recent Call of Duty campaigns, especially Modern Warfare, are made up of repetitive missions. While it is hard to make FPS story missions feel different, the original MW and Black Ops games managed to make every mission fresh. With the newer games, I did not feel as drawn to start another mission after completing one. The stories felt repetitive, rushed, and boring. However, Black Ops Six’s campaign is diverse in the sense that it feels like the original Black Ops campaigns. Instead of a war game with little sense of story, Black Ops 6 brings a more spy/thriller vibe with aspects of war mixed in. It recaptures the importance of the plot that the older Black Ops campaigns relied so heavily on. The missions were diverse, the characters were well-written, the story had me on the edge of my seat at points, and overall was an enjoyable experience. It doesn’t hold up to the campaigns of the late 2000s and early 2010s, but it’s the best one I played in a while. 8.1/10
Multiplayer
One thing hard about rating these multiplayer games early is longevity. In the old days, Call of Duty games would stick all year and people would enjoy them all the way up to the release of the next game. However, more recently, these games seem to have a pattern when it comes to the community. People will love it when it comes out, but they’ll fade away after a month or two. There’s always a small spike in players around Christmas time, but by January/February the games fade out of relevancy. So far, however, I have been loving Black Ops 6 Multiplayer. The grind for camos isn’t impossible like some old games. The challenges are fair, but one of my only gripes are the maps. Not many of them are fun, others are confusing, bland, and flat-out boring. Either way, it does not get in the way of the experience that much. Some of the lobbies are sweaty, which does get annoying from time to time but doesn’t take away from the overall experience. “The game is a step in the right direction for the Call of Duty franchise, lately the games have not been hitting, but this game is a huge step in the right direction for the franchise.”-Connor Odendahl, (Class of 2026 and experienced Black Ops player.) The multiplayer is not perfect, but enjoyable and ultimately we will see how good it really is in a few months if it’s able to stand the test of time and stay relevant and fresh. 8.4/10
Zombies
Last but certainly not least, Zombies. The Zombies mode, in my opinion, is one of the best aspects of any Black Ops game and can on some occasions be better than that respective multiplayer (Black Ops 3 for example). Now I am aware that MW3 last year had some sort of Zombies mode, but for the sake of the review, I will only be comparing this current Zombies mode to previous Black Ops games. Firstly, the maps. I enjoy both of these maps. Liberty Falls is enjoyable but a bit generic and gets old. Terminus is a bit confusing the first time around but gets understandable after a minute of thinking. The wall guns are not overpowered but I do like how they change rarities. The new perks are fun, and the maps are decent, and the box guns are diverse, similar to older zombie modes. Overall, I enjoyed playing the new Zombies, and similar to multiplayer, is a step in the right direction. It’s not as good as the older games but is enjoyable nonetheless. The biggest thing that Treyarch must do in order to keep this mode fresh is to regularly add new maps. 7.9/10
Black Ops 6 has big shoes to fill, and while Call of Duty fans are becoming used to a lack of quality in the games, BO6 shows that Call of Duty can still be enjoyable in 2024, despite how repetitive some say it is getting. Black Ops 6 should be a building block for future games, whatever they may be. Overall, my final verdict for Black Ops 6 is 8.3/10. A fun and electric campaign, an addicting multiplayer tainted by some bad maps, and an original Zombies mode reminiscent of the original Zombies modes. Treyarch has the opportunity to keep this game relevant by constantly updating the game, which could lead to a resurgence in the Call of Duty player base.
