Call of Duty is a commercial success no matter the odds. Year after year, players flock to the high-octane competitive shooter for 12 months of refreshed gameplay, new maps, Zombie mode, and a weekend-long campaign mode. While most contemporary games in the series have at least been worth their time, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 feels like a cut above the rest.

Call of Duty will always be what it is. It’s a blockbuster event in gaming, but isn’t without its flaws. In some years, the multiplayer offering feels middling when compared to other titles. In the case of last year’s Modern Warfare 3, a lackluster campaign brought down an otherwise solid stable of features and modes. Driven by Treyarch’s understanding of what fans look for, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is chiseled like fine marble by its introduction of the omnimovement system.

Price, availability, and specs

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is available now on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. The game is also available to play for subscribers of Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. For $69.99, players gain access to a thrilling campaign set in the early 90s. As a sequel to Call of Duty: Black Ops — Cold War, it follows the story of rogue operatives Troy Marshall and Frank Woods as they stop Pantheon from deploying a dangerous weapon. The game also supports a massive collection of multiplayer modes and systems. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 also marks the grand return of round-based Zombies.

What I liked about Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

The new omnimovement system changes the game in such a way that I’m smiling even if I’m losing

Call of Duty has consistently been my competitive game of choice. Coming back for each annual release, gameplay can start to feel a little stagnant. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 introduced the omnimovement system across campaigns, multiplayer, and Zombies. Omnimovement lets players slide, sprint and dive in all four directions. This effectively changes moment-to-moment strategies within the game. With a faster and frenetic movement system, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 gives me everything I need to run and gun. It feels exceptionally great to dive from the top floor of Skyline, into the pool, all while shooting an enemy player from behind me.

The game’s combat is also coupled with rewarding audio. The crunchy controller feedback when landing a hit marker or the audible feedback when getting a headshot has honestly never felt better in Call of Duty. The franchise continues to be a leader in gunplay and the competitive side of Black Ops 6 feels like it’s in a great spot for a year of support and updates.

At launch, there are 12 new core 6v6 maps and four Strike maps to play with more on the way. With the usual lineup of Team Deathmatch, Domination, Control, etc. This year, Treyarch adds Kill Order, a bit more of an objective-based Team Deathmatch. Adding to this, the multiplayer now supports a more streamlined and easy-to-comprehend progression system. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 brings in a much more dialled-back method of unlocking weapons and creating Loadouts. The traditional Prestige system and Scorestreaks are also integrated nicely. Black Ops 6 just *feels* like what a Call of Duty game needs to be.

The refinements made to movement and gunplay also extend to the game’s campaign and Zombies mode. In what feels like a first in years, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 features a must-play campaign. I found myself surprisingly enthralled by the stunning set pieces shrouded in the mysteries of an espionage caper. There’s a real emphasis on improvisation and player agency. In many cases, you can go in guns blazing or take a stealth approach, both showcasing the game’s exceptional mastery of gunplay. The pacing through what’s one of the longest campaigns in the franchise feels like a proper return to form for the franchise and I was astounded by the variety of mission objectives.

Ditching Modern Warfare Zombies, which was a more open-world extraction-based take on the classic mode, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 returns to its roots. The round-based Zombies is currently supporting two new maps. The first is Terminus, a prison turned into a hellish bio-research station. Liberty Falls is the second map, a small West Virginia township. Zombies has never been my go-to experience in Call of Duty but there is something consistently rewarding about discovering and working out the Easter Eggs throughout each map.

What I didn’t like about playing Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

Quality of life issues are a thorn in the side of an otherwise exceptional experience

From a content perspective, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is a slam dunk for the series. There isn’t much to not like in terms of what Treyarch set out to create this year. The game feels like the first in quite some time that hasn’t been rushed out the door only because we need a new game to fill the pre-holiday season. My nitpicks when it comes to Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 lay solely on the game’s progression systems and quality-of-life aspects that can be changed.

For instance, as with any Call of Duty since 2020, there’s a grind to unlock the new array of weapons and all the attachments to build out the meta loadouts for multiplayer and Warzone. Thankfully, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 does taper things down when unlocking attachments, getting rid of some of the grind. However, with max Weapon Levels hitting upwards of 46, it’s such a time commitment to get through the 33 various weapons and unlock all attachments. This also extends to unlocking camos for each weapon. With a larger array of weapons, more time is needed to earn some truly creative skins like Nebula and Dark Spine.

My major concern with the current state of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 boils down to the time to kill and spawns in multiplayer. If you’re playing the core multiplayer suite, the time to kill feels a sliver too fast when compared to previous entries in the game. That said, this is likely something that I’ll grow more accustomed to over time. Personal preferences would have it lowered just a hair to help with player reaction times. As of the time of writing, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 has a major issue with spawn trapping. I’ve experienced this myself where I’d get killed only to respawn in the same position, allowing enemy teams to kill me within the same death cam. Thankfully, Activision is aware and is looking into fixing this matter.

Should you play Call of Duty: Black Ops 6?

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is a tight, blockbuster success for the franchise winning over core players

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 reinvigorated my love of the competitive shooter. I felt myself shifting away from Modern Warfare 3 this year simply because having two Infinity Ward-led games back-to-back became stale. With Treyarch’s approach to gameplay and an exceptionally crafted omnimovement system Black Ops 6 brings back the fun and excitement of loading into a diverse collection of modes by yourself or with a squad. If the first week of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is any indication of the excitement that’s in store for me, the next year should bear many hours of bombastic mayhem online.