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After months of classic Treyarch promotions, we’ve finally got our first hands-on experience with Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 thanks to its recently launched multiplayer beta. We’ve also seen enough Campaign and Zombies content to decide whether we need to drop $70 directly into Activision’s pocket or not. So, let’s round up all we’ve seen and experienced in the beta, and make our final thoughts on the latest release of Call of Duty. Should you pre-order Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 right now?
So far, we’ve seen some of the best trailers that have ever been released for a Call of Duty game. (I’m looking at you Liberty Falls!) In fact, the marketing campaign of CoD is just bold and huge this year. We’re talking newspapers with BO6 designs and the Cerberus logo, The Truth Lies website, and on top of that, an event called Call of Duty: Next that truly did live up to its name for taking the introduction of an upcoming game to the next level.
The Good
Now, the game promises some massive changes to the Call of Duty franchise as a whole. First of which, is the Omnimovement system that allows you to run, slide, and dive in every direction. This has amped up the Black Ops 6 gameplay so much that you might not even feel that you’re playing a Call of Duty game where somebody dives and shoots you in mid-air. And to be honest, it’s a positive feature overall, but it has its downfalls, which we’ll get to shortly.
Players now have more ways of moving around the environment, which changes the old PvP fight strategies. For instance, you can now run sideways and still shoot forward, which is pretty unique! The weapons in the Multiplayer mode feel as meta as they should be, and the changes to simplify the Gunsmith by adding fewer attachments and more impact is just a pure W.
The same goes for the Perks system, which reintroduces Wildcards and features a fresh concept called the Perk Specialty. This grants you more ways to enjoy the game, by stacking perks from the same category in your loadout for getting the ultimate reward of watching enemies through walls for 2 seconds, for example.
Aside from that, Treyarch has hit us big time with the Round-Based Zombies content this year with Black Ops 6, making me pre-order the game just by hearing about the “dedicated crew” on Terminus Island. The trailers are shocking, and Edward Richtofen‘s return voiced by its original voice actor, Nolan North, is just massive. Gameplay-wise, Black Ops 6 Zombies will reportedly feature gigantic easter eggs to discover as well. Big map full of horror and mystery? Check. Lots of different enemy types? For sure. Lots of powerful Gobblegums? You betcha.
However, Zombies and Multiplayer aside, let’s talk about the Campaign, shall we? Following the events of Black Ops 2 with Alex Mason’s death confirmed, the CIA is now hunted from the inside, turning its agents against each other. The plot works fine with Russel Adler and Frank Woods working their way with their crew to overthrow this mole. From a gameplay perspective, we’ve seen how the game allows you to choose several different routes to complete a mission. From bombastic action scenes to grand-scale war to spy scenarios, Call of Duty has never shied away from giving the player some meaningful choice. And the Omnimovement helps make the game feel like you’re playing a role in an action movie.
The Bad
Just like every other year, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 might just come with the same 6-hour-long Campaign. Even at best, it would be 8-9 hours of focus on the story, so this game is not the right fit for those looking to play the Campaign for days.
On Multiplayer, we got the Omnimovement skill-gap. Don’t get me wrong here, Omnimovement is a big and positive change for Call of Duty‘s future, let alone Black Ops 6. However, if you’re a casual player, you should know that you’ll need a certain amount of time for you to adapt. On top of that, the skill gap between the ones who master the new movement mechanics and the more casual players is going to be wild; be ready for that.
And Zombies, according to the content creators that were invited to the Treyarch and CoD Next to experience the game, the overall gameplay feels very much like Black Ops Cold War. Mini-map, armor system, weapon rarity, salvage, and a HUD that looks just like the Multiplayer? Don’t even get me started with the aesthetics of the Liberty Falls map.
Conclusion
The final decision always depends on your preference and whether you like the game after learning about the best and worst features of it. However, compared to MW3, Black Ops 6 is head and shoulders above 2023’s Modern Warfare 3.
This year, we’ve got an action-packed Campaign with rich story details to consider. A super balanced Multiplayer mode that plays smoother and much more different from any other Call of Duty title thanks to the Omnimovement. And in the end, the Round-Based Zombies mode with a dedicated crew, two maps at launch, and a deep story to dig into.
So, should you pre-order Black Ops 6? I’d say that if you’re a CoD fan, who plays the game every day, then yes. This is a good year to be a CoD fan, especially if the support for the upcoming Black Ops 6 Seasons continues to drip-feed cool and interesting modes and features to keep fans happy. However, if you’re still having doubts after how MW3 played out in 2023/2024, then I’d suggest you wait for the game’s full release. The final build of the game is what you need to keep on your radar for a conclusive review.
