Summary

  • Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 boasts stunning visuals with the switch to the IW 9.0 engine, making it a standout title in the franchise.
  • The engine upgrade brings new features like "Omnimovement" and auto-mantling, enhancing gameplay for fans of the series.
  • This change sets a high standard for future Call of Duty games, promising improved content and experiences for players.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is officially coming this fall, and it’s shaping up to be a very promising new Call of Duty title. The latest trailer reveals made a huge splash at Summer Game Fest, making the wait for its October 25 release date seem all the longer. Even more than the new guns, campaign, zombies, and multiplayer additions, one thing about Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is already setting it apart from its predecessors in a big way.

While it may be stating the obvious, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 looks absolutely stunning. The days of the quaint PS3 era charm of the original Black Ops are far behind the franchise by now, traded up for the sleek, almost photo-realistic visuals of the current-gen. Treyarch making the switch to the IW 9.0 engine has done the studio a lot of favors and just thinking about the possibilities is cause for excitement about the October release date.

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It Looks Like Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is Going to Be a Much Bigger Hit Than MW3

Some early statistics may suggest that Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is set to be a much bigger success than Modern Warfare 3 has been.

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Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Finally Brings Black Ops Games to a Modern Engine

The engine isn’t new to the Call of Duty franchise as a whole; the previous Modern Warfare entries have used the IW 9.0 engine, and to excellent effect. Black Ops games, on the other hand, have been operating on the same general engine (IW 3.0) since way back in Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 released way back in 2012. Since then, devs have just been iterating on and modifying it with each subsequent release. Their work has been nothing short of impressive, but, being entirely frank, the engine was showing its age a little bit by the time Cold Wa r rolled around. This upgrade to IW 9.0 is a welcome change.

The Modern Warfare reboots have been a spectacle in terms of their presentation, so it’s fantastic that the other leg of the franchise is finally going to be on-par with them. Black Ops 6's campaign is going to spotlight the Gulf War era, and the graphical fidelity offered by this new engine seems like it’s going to be an experience to behold with campaign set pieces to impress even the most jaded gamers out there.

Features in Black Ops Six Coming With the New Engine

  • New “Omnimovement” movement system for 360 degree sliding, sprinting, and diving
  • Auto-mantling for faster navigation
  • Round-based zombies
  • Classic Prestige system
  • Classic Theater Mode
  • Highly Customizable HUD
  • Return to a classic perk system

What Should This Engine Upgrade Mean for the Future of Call of Duty

Hopefully, this new engine represents an ongoing trend for the future of Call of Duty games. The Black Ops games sticking to the same dated engine for over a decade worked fine enough, but it really shouldn’t have been that long to make the jump to something a little more modern. As one of the quintessential video games and as one of the most lucrative franchises in the industry, Call of Duty should be setting the bar high in terms of presentation. The visuals capable in the IW 9.0 engine are befitting of a title of this caliber, but it shouldn’t have taken ten years to reach a point where these games are consistently using the best technology available.

Not just relegated to graphical capabilities, engine upgrades can allow for bigger, more interesting maps, more players in a single match, more interesting scorestreak possibilities, an increased number of zombies spawning in on a map at a given time, and just generally improved content all around. Players have already seen IW 9.0 in action in Modern Warfare, but seeing it in the espionage-heavy, gritty context of Black Ops titles is a treat in its own right. For now, though, fans will have to wait until Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 finally drops on October 25.

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Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
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9 /10
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Released
October 25, 2024
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WHERE TO PLAY

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DIGITAL
PHYSICAL
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Forced to go rogue. Hunted from within. This is Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.

Developed by Treyarch and Raven, Black Ops 6 is a spy action thriller set in the early 90s, a period of transition and upheaval in global politics, characterized by the end of the Cold War and the rise of the United States as a single superpower. With a mind-bending narrative, and unbound by the rules of engagement, this is signature Black Ops.

The Black Ops 6 Campaign provides dynamic moment-to-moment gameplay that includes a variety of play spaces with blockbuster set pieces and action-packed moments, high-stakes heists, and cloak-and-dagger spy activity.

In a best-in-class Multiplayer experience, players will test their skills across 16 new maps at launch, including 12 core 6v6 maps and 4 Strike maps that can be played 2v2 or 6v6.

Black Ops 6 also marks the epic return of Round-Based Zombies, the fan-favorite mode where players will take down hordes of the undead in two brand-new maps at launch. Post-launch, players can look forward to even more exciting maps and groundbreaking experiences dropping into both Multiplayer and Zombies.

Developer(s)
Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher(s)
Activision
Multiplayer
Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op
Franchise
Call of Duty
Genre(s)
FPS