CoD: Black Ops 6 Review (In-Progress) | Much-Needed Innovation, But Is It Enough To Save A Dying Genre?

Since the release of MW 2019, and with it Warzone, Call of Duty has felt like an especially iterative franchise. That might seem like a trite observation to make (I can remember hearing the "CoD games are reskins" complaint as far back as 2008), but it's worth nothing how extreme this has become.

At least from a gameplay perspective, each title from the last five years has been subservient to the main product, Warzone. And as a natural consequence, many fans have become less and less comfortable paying $70 for what feels like "CoD HQ" expansion packs.

But now, five years into the Warzone experiment (and with the BR sadly retaining a fraction of the playerbase it had in 2020), it seems Activision are willing to break the mold with something more innovative again. That's my initial perception of Black Ops 6, and by and large I'm grateful.

Whether the world even wants arcade shooters like this anymore is another question. Given the fate of XDefiant, I think we can at least conclude the sun is setting on the genre. But while there are enough CoD players to justify development, they do at least seem to be in for a good year with BO6.

Note: This is a review in-progress. So far, we have only played the multiplayer beta, not the Zombies or Campaign. For that reason, we will not be giving a review score until the game's full release.

Black Ops 6 Review: Gameplay

There is a very large elephant in the room here, but before addressing omni-movement, here's a quick overview of the main gameplay elements we pay attention to with each new CoD.

The TTK feels slightly faster than last year, but in the wider context of CoD history that still makes it a long-TTK game, and the gunplay feels smooth, with very little visual recoil. Admittedly, the guns are a little less weighty than usual, but that's often the case in Treyarch games. And in regard to perks and field upgrades, they feel intelligently balanced, although some of them are too goofy for me personally.

Now to omni-movement. For those who don't know, this is a new feature, which introduces the ability for players to sprint, dive, and maneuver in any direction. It's intuitive and dynamic, and enables players to dodge attacks, dive through windows, and launch themselves backward. The result is a chaotic, cinematic experience, that often feels incredibly satisfying.

I think this is the best new thing to happen to CoD in a long time, and it's exactly the kind of gameplay experimentation that the franchise needs. But, this being a review, it wouldn't be fair to leave you with the impression that you're bound to love it as well.

I was playing much of the beta with friends, and they were evenly split in their opinion on omni-movement. It's probably fair to assume that if you're a slower player who likes to post up with an AR, this isn't the CoD game for you, at least as far as multiplayer is concerned. You may still enjoy it, and find a way to make the maps work for your playstyle, but it certainly isn't as conducive to that playstyle as the average CoD.

Black Ops 6 Review: Audio-Visual

When reviewing the new Call of Duty each year, this is one of the few areas I can always confidently assume they will nail, and once again they have. For all their gameplay design mistakes, Activision never fail to impress from a technical perspective, especially since creating IW Poland to focus on developing CoD's proprietary engine.

The game looks and feels excellent. As a Treyarch game, there's a lot more "pop" and color than we've had in the last three titles. But, thankfully for fans of a more realistic, IW-esque approach, the visual style adopted here doesn't go so far as to become cartoony (at least to my eye).

The animations are not as painstakingly intricate as we've seen before, and the sound of the weapons aren't as realistic, but these are minor quibbles. And they're more than counterbalanced by the excellent main theme.

Black Ops 6 Review: Multiplayer

As mentioned, this is currently a review in-progress and based solely on the multiplayer beta weekends. For that reason I won't speak to certain issues like SBMM; too few players, and progression; we were level-capped. But I can say from what I played that the maps are visually interesting, the flow of the game is natural, and the weapon balance is... good enough (we always have a meta in CoD, at least this feels like an SMG year for a change).

With a longer TTK, which suits my personal taste, and with the addition of omni-movement, which will be satisfying to master, I think myself and many others will have an enjoyable time grinding all the weapons. But with all the maps feeling so small, and having such shipment-like energy, I am slightly concerned that the multiplayer will become a grinding sim. Great for a quick dopamine hit and fast-levelling, but poor for long-term player retention.

The lack of any bigger, or even medium-sized maps makes me especially concerned for the competitive side of the game. Sure, an SMG meta is a breath of fresh air, and Treyarch do more than any other studio to meet the needs of the comp crowd, but I am hoping to see larger maps appropriate for that level of play when the game releases. And I would like some of those larger maps to be good enough to make it all the way into the ranked map pool, rather than the old "break glass in case of emergency" tactic of re-releasing Raid (a goated map, but give me something new).

Black Ops 6 Review: Verdict

I simply have not seen enough of the game to provide a review score or recommendation, but I will say that this feels like one of the better games in recent CoD history, certainly better than Vanguard and MWII so far (low bar, I know). The gameplay changes are fun, and knowing Treyarch I expect Zombies to be a blast, but I was hoping for better maps in multiplayer. I will also be paying a keen eye to progression, one of the few things they've really nailed in the last couple of years, and praying we don't return to a slogfest.