Summary
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Zombies mode is cutting out the long-standing Carpenter power-up, signaling a shift in gameplay dynamics.
- Fans will miss Carpenter's ability to rebuild barriers and provide valuable downtime in the game's evolving zombie mode.
- With barriers becoming less effective in recent games, the absence of Carpenter in Black Ops 6 Zombies suggests a new direction for gameplay.
When Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 debuts in October 2024, fans of Zombies mode will find that Carpenter, a power-up that's been part of the series for a long time, has been cut out of the new game. The excision of the venerable power-up from Black Ops 6 reflects the changing nature of the zombie mode over the years.
Ever since its debut in Call of Duty: World at War and its evolution from a seemingly secret "joke" mode into a new, entirely standard facet of Call of Duty multiplayer, Zombies mode has become an institution of sorts, with a dedicated player base and its own culture. That culture, like the one that surrounds regular Call of Duty multiplayer and Warzone, monitors changes with a ravenous appetite, digesting and analyzing information months before the game even comes out. With that in mind, the recent reveal of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Zombies mode gave fans much to look forward to, both in terms of new features, maps, and characters, as well as returning weapons and mechanics.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Zombies' Terminus Boss Fight Seems Obvious, But That's Okay
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6's zombies modes has a pretty obvious candidate for its big boss, but it's one that holds much potential.
One mechanic that won't be making a return, though, is the Call of Duty zombies Carpenter power-up, which causes barriers in the playable area to be automatically rebuilt when picked up. Present in most of the zombies modes since Call of Duty: World at War, Carpenter was seen by some players as a familiar touchstone of the series. Its absence in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 zombies prompted discussions on the official Call of Duty Zombies subreddit, with players reacting to its loss and discussing its impact on the mode's history.
Some Call of Duty Zombies Fans Will Miss The Carpenter Power-Up
Signaled by the presence of a glowing hammer, Carpenter was hailed by some as a powerful early-game pickup. The Carpenter power-up's ability to automatically rebuild barriers all over the stage and stall zombies briefly ensured that teams would get some valuable downtime to harden their preparations or pick up better Call of Duty zombies weapons.
The power-up became more valuable in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 and Black Ops Cold War, as Treyarch gave it the ability to repair the team's shields in the middle of battle. In late-game rounds, when zombies were constantly spawning, and players were almost always under attack, the extra dose of shielding proved invaluable. Similarly, Carpenter was particularly useful on maps where barriers were essential, such as on Tranzit, where a few barriers formed the primary line of defense for the players' vulnerable bus.
Unfortunately, the time seems to have come to retire Carpenter, as the major changes coming to Black Ops 6 Zombies appear to reduce the utility of barriers in regular play. This reflects a trend seen in recent Call of Duty zombies modes, where zombies are so fast and durable that static defenses are far less effective. With luck, other power-ups will take up the slack left by Carpenter's absence.
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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.
- Franchise
- Call of Duty
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PC
- Genre(s)
- FPS
