Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Xbox Series X Review
Summary: A fairly standard entry into the Call of Duty series that is adequate if a little unremarkable.
4
It's fine.
My relationship with Call of Duty has been very up and down over the years. From the highs of 2007’s Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare to the lows of 2023’s Modern Warfare 3. In recent years, however, I’ve found the games developed by Treyarch to be more hit than miss.
Treyarch’s last entry into the series, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, was one that I enjoyed immensely. The Black Ops series in general has been consistently high quality since its initial inception, so I had high hopes for this sixth entry into the sub-series.
Starting with the campaign, Black Ops 6 is more or less a return to the traditional Call of Duty formula. 2023’s Modern Warfare 3 introduced open-world missions to the game. These largely felt like chunks of Warzone maps filled with NPCs in some token attempt at pushing the gameplay forward. It was something that I really disliked and subsequently massively put me off the game. Thankfully, these open-world missions, while still present are far less frequent, with the vast majority of the game taking place in linear missions as is the norm for the series.
The story takes place after the end of the Cold War in 1991 and sees series mainstays Adler, Woods, and co journeying around the world in an attempt to dismantle Pantheon, a rogue paramilitary force.
For the most part, this is exactly what you’ve probably come to expect from a Call of Duty game. A set of often explosive set pieces, strung together by a convoluted series of events. The formula has been mixed up ever so slightly with the addition of a home base that, in between missions, can be used to upgrade gear and equipment and tweak various perks. These upgrades are earned by finding cash that’s lying around and for completing the various missions that your team undertakes.
It’s a somewhat vestigial addition to the campaign that doesn’t have a huge impact on proceedings. Presumably by design, most people who play Call of Duty don’t even engage with the campaign at all, and it’s unrealistic to expect the formula to change so much for such a (relatively) small audience.
As far as Call of Duty campaigns are concerned, it isn’t bad. It fulfils an obligation, and as far as obligations go it’s perfectly fine, it’s certainly better than Modern Warfare 3’s single-player offering. Just don’t go into it expecting anything especially deep or engaging beyond a series of elaborate shooting galleries.
Visually, Black Ops 6 presents itself well. Each of the maps is filled with detail. Outdoor environments are realistic and crammed with small details that really sell the look, and all look great under the game’s lighting. The opening mission takes place in the desert during the evening. A destroyed convoy lies ahead and the flickering flames darting around the rubble look fantastic, it’s a terrific example of what type of visuals the campaign has to offer. Equally impressive are the character models of various leads. There’s quite a bit of dialogue that takes place in between missions at the safe house, so having beautifully rendered characters really helps sell the interactions.
Sound is of an equally high standard. Weapons have suitably impactful firing and impact sounds. The noise reverberates based on the environment that it takes place in and really helps to make the combat feel visceral at times.
Multiplayer, the mode that most players are going to be spending most of their time in, is more or less what you would expect from Call of Duty at this point. At the time of writing, I’ve sunk 40-50 hours into it, and for the most part, it’s fine. The usual balance issues and bugs that always exist in what is essentially a live service title are there, but for the most part, it isn’t bad, being an extension of the previous few games, this is somewhat expected. As is standard now, multiplayer also includes Warzone and the Zombies game modes.
The one innovation that Black Ops 6 brings to the table is its new ‘Omni-Movement’ system. This essentially allows players to sprint and dive in any direction. This doesn’t sound like much of a change, but in reality, it means that multiplayer matches are filled with people flying all over the place, even more so than before.
Final Thoughts
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, is another Call of Duty game. It’s everything you’ve come to expect from one at this point. A solid, if underwhelming single-player campaign that doesn’t push the bar in any way but doesn’t have any real major faults either. Tacked onto a live-service multiplayer experience that is more or less the same as its predecessors.
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