Just like the sports games that release alongside it every year, the Call of Duty franchise has often been criticized for sticking too close to the same formula. To combat this, Call of Duty has tried to bring something new to the table every year. Though these new features have often been related to co-op modes and multiplayer mechanics, they've occasionally impacted the campaign as well, and that's the case for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 has implemented a swathe of new features across all three of its core modes. The new Omnimovement system, for instance, significantly changes the flow of multiplayer and Zombies and allows for some creative level design in the campaign. But Black Ops 6's new features don't stop there, and there's one campaign-exclusive element that finally delivers on a promise that Call of Duty has been trying to fulfill for years.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Zombies’ Difficulty Increase is a Mixed Bag
The tweaks to the difficulty of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6's Zombies has definitely been for the best, but it is too reliant on certain mechanics.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6's 'Hunting Season' Finally Shows the Potential of an Open-World Mission
Call of Duty's Past Open Missions Have Been a Mixed Bag
For a few years now, each Call of Duty entry has tried to include at least one open-ended mission in its campaign. 2019's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare introduced more open-ended stealth missions that presented the player with a larger map and a set of non-linear objectives. 2022's Modern Warfare 2 had a similar set of stealth missions, with levels like 'Recon by Fire' tasking the player with sneaking around a cliffside encampment at their own pace.
Last year's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 tried to up the ante with its Open Combat missions, but the execution left a lot to be desired. The concept behind these missions was strong, dropping players into a large space and tasking them with achieving various objectives any way they saw fit.
However, in reality, these missions felt disappointingly generic. The open areas lacked personality, there was a severe lack of narrative content incentivizing players to complete objectives, and players were very limited in the type of playstyle they could use, with most Open Combat missions heavily encouraging stealth.
'Hunting Season' Offers A Taste of Everything Fans Could Want From an Open-World Call of Duty
But after years of unfulfilled promise, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 finally delivers a true open-world Call of Duty experience. The fourth mission in Black Ops 6's campaign, 'Hunting Season', sees players travel across the deserts of Iraq in search of three Scud missile launchers. In between these three missile launchers is an abundance of optional objectives. For the first time in Call of Duty history, players are actually given total freedom in how and when they approach these objectives.
There's a nice variety to these optional objectives as well, with some being simple loot drops and some being large enemy encampments, among a few others. Each of these optional objectives also has significant value, with each offering rewards like new weapons, gadgets, and currency that can be used on upgrades back in the Rook.
Players are also given far more freedom in how they complete these objectives than those found in Modern Warfare 3's Open Combat missions. Players can find silenced snipers and throwing knives for a stealthier approach, along with RC-XDs, rocket launchers, and even Chopper Gunner Scorestreaks for a louder assault. It may not be perfect, but Call of Duty: Black Ops 6's 'Hunting Season' finally lays a strong foundation for future open-world missions.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 83 /100 Critics Rec: 91%
- Released
- October 25, 2024
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Suggestive Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs
- Developer(s)
- Treyarch, Raven Software
- Publisher(s)
- Activision
- Engine
- IW 9.0
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op
- Cross-Platform Play
- Yes - PlayStation, Xbox, PC
WHERE TO PLAY
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.
- Cross Save
- Yes - PlayStation, Xbox, PC
- Prequel(s)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, Call of Duty: Black Ops III, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Call of Duty: World at War
- Franchise
- Call of Duty
- Number of Players
- 1-4
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- Unknown
- PC Release Date
- October 25, 2024
- Xbox Series X|S Release Date
- October 25, 2024
- PS5 Release Date
- October 25, 2024
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PC
- Genre(s)
- FPS
- How Long To Beat
- 8 Hours
- X|S Optimized
- Yes
- File Size Xbox Series
- 216 GB (October 2024)
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
