Black Ops 6 set big records including the biggest launch in Call of Duty history, and now it’s snatched 4 nominations at The Game Awards, which has us raising eyebrows upon observation of the detail. The game certainly does have the rights to win awards, I mean that Campaign was among the top list of Call of Duty after all, but an award for the Audio Design? That’s one field fans couldn’t disagree with more.
After years of breaking headsets for hearing literally no audio when the enemy was sprinting behind us in Call of Duty games, the MW2/MW3 era of CoD did fix that problem up to a certain point. This change was also added to Warzone as well, which was a huge W for the developers and fans. However, that cookie crumbled with Black Ops 6, which for some reason allows the players to hear the most irrelevant noises in the game, but not the enemy footsteps.
This is why players’ reactions to the recent news have been raising more questions than praise for the developers. “Best audio design is some kind of joke right?” a user comments under Charlie Intel’s post on X. Another user takes the debate to another level by addressing the enhanced audio setting that’s blocked behind a $20 paywall saying: “Audio design? U mean the garbage P2W audio they tried to charge us for then walked back on?“
The audio design in Black Ops 6 and its Warzone integration is bad, really. However, the one thing that’s tickling my mind on this matter is whether the audio I hear in the game is a “joke” or not. For instance, a game’s audio design isn’t just about hearing footsteps. I liked the music, the realistic sound of the guns and equipment, voiceovers, etc.
So while many believe that Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 shouldn’t be a nominee in The Game Awards audio design category, I believe that it’s not “Garbage” either. One of the best parts of the Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Campaign is its audio; at least for me.
