Beebom Score
Call of Duty is known for its combination of pulse-pounding action combined with a surface-level yet interesting plot. Unfortunately, the story has struggled to deliver owing to the franchise’s rushed yearly releases. Last year’s Modern Warfare 3 (review) was a victim of this hurry, sacrificing a potentially brilliant climax for a fast cash grab.
This is why, I was rightfully skeptical when Black Ops 6 was unveiled. I promised myself that I wasn’t going to be duped again. So despite the COD Zombies-looking promises, I kept the bar low. But now that I’ve cleared the entire campaign, dipped my toes into the multiplayer, and completed a main quest in zombies, I can confidently say that this is one Call of Duty you should not pass up. Why? Keep reading as I tell you all about it in my Call of Duty Black Ops 6 review.
Story: A New Era of Espionage
Welcoming the New Recruits
Black Ops 6’s story takes place in 1991 during the Gulf War, right after the events of Black Ops 2 (2012) where Raul Menedez tricks Frank Woods into shooting his own best friend Alex Mason, kills Hudson, and shoots Woods in the knees paralyzing him. That’s why he’s in a wheelchair for the rest of the game. With the demise of the older cast, Black Ops 6 introduces us to a new team of operatives.
This includes Troy Marshall, Jane Harrow, Sevati Dumas, Felix Neumann, Russell Adler (who is still sporting that suave attitude), and your character, William (Case) Calderon. Except for Adler and Woods, these new cast members leave little impact, but their interactions give the impression of a team working together, which MW3 couldn’t achieve with its beloved 141 crew.
A New Era of Espionage
The game takes you on a global trotting mission to discover the secrets of Pantheon, a new paramilitary group with ties to the CIA. With no help from the agency, you’re on your own this time. As a result, we see our heroes pulling favors from old allies and utilizing all of their meager resources to carry out this improbable espionage adventure. This immediately reminded me of Mission Impossible films like”Ghost Protocol” and “Rogue Nation.”
Occasionally, the game will drop references to other Black Ops games of the past and revisit some iconic places. What I like is that you get to do some actual covert stuff this time around earning its Black Ops title which I felt was lacking or completely abandoned in previous entries. As such, I got to pull off questionable actions like blackmailing a senator’s wife, breaking out a rogue agent, and well, cheating at Poker.
Bone Chilling Missions in Between
Midway through, you come across the game’s finest mission yet, “Emergence,” in which you infiltrate a facility abandoned due to a gas leak. This level offers an ominous and creepy experience comparable to games like “Control,” “Atomic Heart,” and “Resident Evil.”
I’ll spare you the spoilers but I’ll say, that Treyarch has mastered zombies, and using what you’re good at further heightens the experience.
The rest of the story is also quite intriguing, with another level set within the hallucinating mind of one character as they investigate their backstory and motives. The game of course also carries the Black Ops tradition of last-minute plot twists near the end of the game.
A Brief but Promising Finale
Unfortunately, the game’s finale feels brief, and the game ends abruptly on a cliffhanger leaving a lot of unanswered questions. I feel the reason for this is that the story of Pantheon and the mole in CIA along with what happens to our cast of characters will be answered in the next game.
I wish they had added a few more missions to provide a fitting end to the tale in this game itself. While I’m sure the devs have their reason, MW3 has scarred me and I am afraid that it might see the same fate as the new Modern Warfare storyline.
Overall, I think Treyarch and Raven Studios did an excellent job with the Black Ops 6 campaign. I can’t explain how fun it was to sneak around keeping your gun holstered for a while rather than reloading every other second.
Gameplay: Sneaking, Shooting, and Saving the World in Style
Larger Map Design and Mission Structure
In terms of gameplay, Black Ops 6 deviates from the linear mission structure of previous COD games, in favor of larger maps which allow you to do a little bit of exploration. You can lockpick hidden rooms and gain access to additional gear, weaponry, cash, or intel. These missions require an entire map to check your current position and your objective.
The game also gives you multiple ways to approach objectives. For instance – in one mission you can blow up a SAM turret or hack it to destroy itself so it looks like an accident. Or in other missions where you have to get a retina scan of a high-ranking individual, the game allows you to decide how you wish to complete the objective. So there is freedom of choice rather than being restricted to one strategy. This of course increases the replayability of the campaign.
This is in full display on the mission “Hunting Season” which has a large open map where you need to use a vehicle to make your way from point A to point B. There were three main objectives that I could tackle in whichever order I liked, while also completing side missions. The entire affair reminded me of the Seatle Day 1 map in the Last of Us Part 2.
Choose Your Playstyle
Besides the fun exploration, Black Ops 6 also lets you choose your playstyle. You can adopt a silent Hitman approach, taking out foes from the shadows, performing stealth takedowns, and hiding bodies. Or go all guns blazing Rambo style. Thankfully, whatever approach you choose does not affect the story. It’s only for the sake of gameplay, but I’ll take that over having no options at all.
One mechanic that is rare to see even in stealth games is that silenced weapons will still alert enemies. In real life, a silenced gun is still somewhat loud and obviously audible. So in the game, when you kill someone with it near another enemy, they’ll be alerted and start shooting. This was the level of realism I was wishing for all along.
Another interesting thing in this game is armored Pantheon enemies. These are sprinkled tastefully increasing in numbers over the later part of the story. They will drain out your ammo before going down. So you’ll have to prioritize them as soon as they show up. Why? Because they will use shotguns, miniguns, and riot shields to take you out.
Omnimovement
Lastly, there’s the new omnimovement system which has been part of every marketing material of the game. In Black Ops 6, you can sprint, slide and dolphin dive in any direction resulting in some Max Payne-style action sequences. You can also look around 180 degrees while performing a dolphin dive.
It offers a flexibility that we haven’t seen before in most FPS shooters. You can avoid getting shot by backward diving off a ledge. Previously, dolphin diving would leave you in a compromised prone position where enemy players could shoot you down before you have a chance of standing up. Now that issue has been fixed you can look around 360 degrees while prone.
I was hyped about it when I first saw it in trailers but barely used it during combat. Yes, it’s good to surprise your enemies as you jump out of nowhere and mow them down without any restriction to your movement. But it has a learning curve that you need to learn first to use it to its full potential.
It also unlocks its own set of issues, especially the 360-degree prone view. It is a Hail Mary for campers as it gives them the flexibility to look all around them, and zero limitations. The result? Most multiplayer matches I landed on would have this one player hiding in a corner in the prone position. Treyarch should nerf omnimovement or limit it to some extent so players stop exploiting it further.
Graphics, Audio, and Performance: Charming but Room for Improvement
Call of Duty has come a long way in terms of graphics and Black Ops 6 is the best that franchise has to offer. It’s built on a modified version of the IW 9.0 engine also used for MW2, MW3, and Warzone 2.0.
Treyarch and Raven Software have done a tremendous job working with visuals in this game. Everything from the character models to the scenery at the Rooks safehouse looks jaw-dropping. There is a lot of detail in environments if you look closely.
Surprisingly the game takes only 5 minutes to build shaders but still, there are missing texture issues here and there. Sometimes, the water looked like a plain slab of cement with no textures and effects even though I enabled it in settings.
Other times, enemies also disappeared after taking them down. There were also some other minor bugs and glitches which I hope should be ironed out over the coming weeks.
Performance
My Testbench: Colorful Evol P15
CPU: Intel Core i5 12500H
GPU: Nvidia RTX 3050 4GB VRAM
RAM: 16 GB DDR5 @4800MHz
SSD: 512GB
As far as the performance of the game goes, I think it still needs to be improved. I was playing the game on balanced settings at 1080p resolution. This got me an average of 65 FPS on my meager RTX 3050 gaming laptop. The game dipped down to the 40s in intense scenarios and went as low as 15 FPS in some situations.
This led me to switch to custom settings with a focus on performance. I also turned on FSR 3 for frame generation and reduced the resolution to 90% of 1080p which resulted in an average of 140 FPS. This made playing the game a whole lot smoother and I continued with these settings throughout the rest of my gameplay.
Many others with better rigs than what I have are also complaining about the same. But given the game just came out, I wouldn’t linger on these issues much as I know that this will be fixed later down the line.
Audio
By far, the audio is one of the best aspects of this game. Seriously, whoever is responsible for Call of Duty’s audio design deserves a raise. It’s crisp, clear, and immersive. Whether we talk about the bombastic action sequences in Kuwait or the eerie background sound in Emergence, it’s fantastic. Furthermore, the cast has also done a tremendous job with voice acting as all of them feel like their own different personalities. Whenever the situation goes south, the urgency in the voice is audibly visible.
It especially shines when exploring the secrets of your base of operations which used to be a KGB hideout. As you walk into the basement, you can hear the old machinery cranking up with an ominous silence that sends shivers down your spine. The tension that sound creates here is on par with horror games like Resident Evil 7.
The same goes for missions like “Emergence” or the new Zombies map “Terminus.” I would say that the sound is as good as what we saw with Modern Warfare 2019 if not better.
Call of Duty Black Ops 6 Verdict: One That Deserves Your Attention
As a COD veteran, Black Ops 6 brings together everything I love in this series and more. The campaign, the freedom to approach an objective, the graphics, the sound design, all of it makes for the perfect experience the franchise is known for. Treyarch and Raven Software have proved that Call of Duty games aren’t just mindless cash grabs, but can also tell a decent story if given ample development time.
It has something for everyone, that both regular players of the series, and even harsh critics will appreciate. While the original $70 price tag might be too much for gamers who are not hardcore COD fans, with the game coming to Xbox Game Pass on day one, it becomes a no-brainer. Do yourself a favor and play Call of Duty Black Ops 6 right now.
