Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 Zombies Review

As a seasoned gamer with decades of experience under my belt, I must say that Treyarch has truly outdone themselves with Black Ops 6’s Zombies mode. The intricate layers of customization and upgrade systems are a delight for those who relish in tweaking their gaming experience to fit their playstyle. However, I can understand how these many moving parts might overwhelm newcomers or those who haven’t dived into the undead-filled world of Zombies in a while.


What makes Call of Duty games’ Zombies mode truly enjoyable is the sense of panic it creates. As you progress through the round-based survival mode, hordes of undead approach from every direction, making the game increasingly challenging. Before long, you find yourself darting around the map in a frantic attempt to survive as waves of decaying bodies pursue you. Your best strategy is to take cover and shoot to clear a path, avoiding encountering any massive mutated creatures while your back is turned. Black Ops 6 excels at generating these intense moments.

Zombies in Black Ops 6 is a return to the best-known and best-enjoyed form of the four-player cooperative mode, which developer Treyarch originated back in Call of Duty: World at War and has been iterating on ever since. Gone is the approach from last year’s Modern Warfare 3, a messy take that bolted Zombies mechanics onto elements of CoD’s battle royale game, Warzone. What Black Ops 6 offers feels like classic Zombies but enhanced, with a bunch of small elements old and new added together to build out the experience in fun, engaging, and challenging ways.

As a die-hard fan, I must say that the standout feature in Black Ops 6 that significantly enhances the Zombies experience is the Omni-movement system. This gameplay tweak revolutionizes navigation within the game, allowing me to move swiftly and seamlessly in any direction – be it sprinting, diving, or sliding. The beauty of this feature lies in its ability to let me effortlessly change directions without losing momentum. This proves to be a lifesaver in Zombies, where I often find myself maneuvering around the map while fending off hordes, only to discover that the path I’m retreating on isn’t as safe as it seemed. The Omni-movement system is a game-changer, making those tense moments more manageable and adding an extra layer of excitement to the Zombies mode.

In tense situations, Omni-movement proves particularly effective as you swiftly adjust your path to dodge enemies during your narrow escapes from imminent demise. This feature infuses Zombies with added excitement since your agility is significantly greater than the undead’s, offering numerous possibilities for quick getaways, such as leaping over barriers or descending staircases while shooting.

To put it simply, the difficulty level remains high, providing a multitude of hurdles to surmount. Swift reflexes could potentially extend your survival time. New adversaries, including Vermin, who can emerge from common zombies as you eliminate them and transform into airborne Parasites, alter the makeup of the undead horde. You’ll also encounter Manglers and Abominations quite frequently among the special monsters.

Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 Zombies Review Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 Zombies Review Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 Zombies Review Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 Zombies Review Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 Zombies Review

In Black Ops 6, the Zombies mode debuted with two distinct maps: Liberty Falls and Terminus. Liberty Falls is modeled after a small American town nestled on a hillside, requiring players to frequently move up and down the slope. The town’s layout consists of intricate pathways connecting buildings, which can easily become chokepoints if not navigated carefully. Additionally, ziplines at the top offer swift transportation to rooftops. Conversely, Terminus is an island prison concealing a hidden laboratory and generally offers more expansive gameplay, allowing players to maneuver zombies in wide circles. It’s surrounded by smaller islands accessible by boat and features numerous underground tunnels, creating a sense of both vast openness and labyrinthine complexity as you traverse it.

The primary goal on these maps involves two key aspects: Survive for as long as you can, and explore the maps to discover hidden Easter eggs and narrative missions. The method varies slightly – Liberty Falls mainly follows a conventional path, where players progress by unlocking doors to expand the play area. In contrast, Terminus features separate generators for each map section that must be activated and protected from zombies to power up the facility and access amenities like Perk Cola machines in each area. Nevertheless, the essence remains consistent: Both maps hide numerous secrets and storylines for you to explore as you use the Essence gained by killing zombies to buy weapons and enhancements.

Beyond the Omni-movement feature, Black Ops 6’s Zombies mode incorporates a mix of both classic and innovative elements that enrich your combat experience and overall approach to the game. You can gather Salvage from defeated enemies to craft equipment, utilize “wall buy” stations for purchasing specific weapon and armor upgrades, and enjoy returning features such as Perk Colas, Pack-a-Punch machines, and even a new punch-oriented machine called Melee Macchiato.

As a gamer, stepping back into the world of Black Ops 3, I’m thrilled about the return of GobbleGums! These are special gumballs that pop up occasionally, offering temporary boosts to my gameplay. I can customize a pack full of potential GobbleGum possibilities beforehand. The exciting part is these little treats can teleport me across the map at random moments or grant me specific advantages like Max Ammo or Insta-Kill. But here’s the catch, I can collect them when they appear and save them for a time that suits my strategy. Essentially, GobbleGums add an extra layer of excitement to the Zombies mode, with their unpredictable effects joining the existing elements like Bonus Points, Nuke pickups, and character-upgrading Perks. However, what makes them truly unique is their temporary nature, providing a strategic edge when I need it most.

Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 Zombies Review

Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 Zombies Review Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 Zombies Review Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 Zombies Review

As a gamer, I’m always pumped for a new Call of Duty: Black Ops game, but the addition of loadouts in Black Ops 6 has taken my excitement to a whole new level! Now, before diving into the undead-filled maps, I can customize my starting gear. Instead of finding most of my weapons and equipment during a run, I can set up my preferred setup ahead of time.

Ultimately, among the customization features, you’ll find the Augment system. This feature allows you to outfit a select number of enhancements that modify certain aspects of Zombies. From perks to ammo types to Field Upgrades, everything can be personalized through this system. For instance, you could add an augment to the Juggernog perk that increases your damage output when your health is depleted, or one that divides your Energy Mine ability into three mines instead of just one.

To utilize augments effectively in the game, they need to be studied first, and this is a significant step in the development of the Zombies character. You can only investigate augments for one aspect of the game at a given moment, which compels you to make deliberate decisions about what matters most to you. For each element, you gain access to three “major” and three “minor” augments, and you are allowed to equip one of each for a particular item. This results in numerous possibilities to modify and personalize your enhancements and power-ups according to a specific playstyle or preference.

In the realm of Zombies, you’ll find an abundance of options such as loadouts, augments, and Gobblegums, along with the standard gameplay elements. This wealth of customization opportunities significantly enhances your experience by offering numerous strategies to consider and implement. You’ll find endless possibilities for tweaking and experimenting, altering the way Zombies unfolds, providing compelling reasons to persist in battling across the two maps. Before you even delve into the intricate Easter eggs and narrative threads that intertwine these maps, there’s already a wealth of content to engage with.

Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 Zombies Review

In simpler terms, Zombies finds it challenging to present fresh concepts to newcomers or those returning after a break. The Zombies gameplay has typically been tailored for devoted fans, often being complex and unclear to the point where less experienced players might lose interest. With numerous systems and new features, there’s a risk of adding to the existing confusion in a mode that assumes you already understand its mechanics or are willing to spend considerable time learning it. For instance, I was familiar with the augment system from previewing Black Ops 6 Zombies before release, but didn’t initially grasp how it functioned in practice at launch, or that I needed to specifically navigate to the research menu and assign a task to earn credit. It’s not that individual aspects of Zombies are hard to comprehend, but there are multiple layers of systems, menus, and elements to understand, making an already intricate mode even denser.

Treyarch has announced they will soon release a “tutorial” or easier version of the Zombies mode in Black Ops 6 after its launch. As a casual player of Zombies, I’m eagerly anticipating this addition. Navigating the complexities of Terminus and Liberty Falls in Black Ops 6 has always been quite involved, and it can be even more challenging when playing with friends who aren’t deeply invested in Zombies. Attracting new players to Zombies has been a challenge, but the tutorial mode should help address this issue. Currently, the Zombies mode in Black Ops 6 makes even basic survival and combat as captivating as it is, but mastering its subtleties demands significant dedication. Given that it’s been four years since Black Ops Cold War, this dedication might be difficult for those who don’t play Zombies regularly.

Still, the return to round-based, Easter egg-hunting form for Treyarch’s Zombies is, overall, very strong, specifically because it returns to a version of the mode and a lot of systems that are proven to work well together. It’s more of a recombination and refinement of the mode than an especially innovative one, but here, that works very well, allowing Treyarch to push the envelope in the design of its maps and the way its systems work together rather than trying to force Zombies into a mold that doesn’t fit it.

Elements ranging from augments to Omni-movement to Gobblegums make it engaging and satisfying to fight through the hordes, even if you never go much deeper than trying to kill as many zombies as possible and then pull off a daring helicopter exfiltration. Though Zombies remains a little dense, especially for those less familiar with the mode, Treyarch’s adjustments add a lot to enjoy about it, and do a great job of creating those breathless, panicky moments of fighting off the clawing undead that define the mode at its best.

Read More

2024-11-01 02:09