The Zombies experience of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 comes with a huge amount of fresh content for players to enjoy, with this working well alongside Treyarch's attempts to make the mode more traditional in the recently released title. This new version of Zombies comes with a returned focus on classic round-based combat and core playable characters tied to an overarching narrative, with a plethora of fresh gameplay additions really making the mode an engaging experience overall.
Of course, Zombies in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 features many of the iconic game mechanics of the mode's long history, with things like the Mystery Box and Pack a Punch Machine making welcome returns across the mode's two launch maps, Liberty Falls and Terminus. One of the most synonymous elements of the Call of Duty Zombies experience is the concept of perks, however, and Black Ops 6 does not shy away from fully embracing and building on this aspect of the mode. A brand-new perk with an intriguing premise has been introduced with Black Ops 6, named Melee Macchiato, and while it is fun in its current state, some future changes could allow the perk to contend with the giants of the wider franchise.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6's Melee Macchiato Needs a Gentle Push to Become a Fantastic Zombies Perk
The concept of perks existed from the very outset of Call of Duty Zombies, being a staple of the mode's first-ever iteration in 2008's World at War. Being purchased with points earned from killing zombies, perks are a must-have purchase in any CoD Zombies match for players wanting to survive to the more difficult higher rounds that the mode offers.
Perks can give players a variety of gameplay buffs such as increased health, faster reload speed, or even the ability to self-revive in solo gameplay, and it is difficult for newer perks to reach the same level of purpose, use, and reputation that the original CoD Zombies perks have amassed over the years. Alongside its well-received return to classic Zombies gameplay, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 has boldly introduced a brand-new perk to the fray, known as Melee Macchiato.
Once purchased for 2500 points, Melee Macchiato replaces the player's gun melee attack with a powerful punch, being one of the only perks to have a dedicated focus on the melee aspect of CoD Zombies. Melee Macchiato can therefore be an excellent way to conserve ammo or get out of a tight spot when reloading or cornered, with the power of the punch having the ability to send zombies flying at lower rounds.
Greater Viability at Higher Rounds Could Make Black Ops 6's Melee Macchiato a Game Changer
The perk machine for Melee Macchiato even swings punches with comical boxing gloves when a purchase is made, killing any zombies close to it and providing a level of charm that allows it to compete more with the more classic and entrenched perks of the mode. Having said this, the perk features a long cooldown between its main attacks, with its damage also being much less viable with the increased toughness and frequency of CoD enemies at higher rounds.
Without having to rely on improving the perk through Black Ops 6's Zombies augments system, Treyarch could easily tweak Melee Macchiato to decrease this cooldown, while also increasing the damage of the perk's melee to make it viable up into the higher rounds. It is great to see brand-new perks being added to Zombies, especially ones that target often neglected areas of combat, and a few post-launch tweaks to Melee Macchiato could make it a definite contender for the usual four-perk limit of the Black Ops 6 mode.
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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
- 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
