Black Ops 6 is phenomenal. I’ve spent countless hours playing around with all three pillars since launch and have barely scratched the surface. Given the live service element, I’m saving a full critique until the first additional Zombies map is released, but I still wanted to get some initial thoughts out there with some feedback for the Zombies Team. I love BO6’s iteration of the mode so much and think it will only improve as the year progresses! As this is a hybrid of first impressions review and feedback, I will probably repeat myself a lot. Expect as many “It’d be great ifs” as there are Manglers on Liberty Falls.
Story and Characters
The omission of a dedicated crew impacted the storytelling of Zombies and was the main pain point I had with Cold War Zombies, and I’m delighted it was addressed in Black Ops 6. I loved Cold War, but the difference is night and day when you compare a map like Terminus to one of Cold War’s round-based maps—playing as a crew matters. It’s one of Zombies’ most powerful storytelling tools, and I’m so happy it’s back.
The ability to freely choose between a crew member and operators is the best of both worlds. Casual players can enjoy their favourite operator, and players like me can use a dedicated crew member. It also means we’ll likely get some battlepass skins to play dress up–though I hope the earnable rewards keep coming. I hope the positive reception to this system will ensure we’ll never go without a crew again.
As for the crew themselves, it’s great to hear from most of our Cold War favourites again! All the talk of imprisonment changing Grey had me worried she would be overly serious. Thankfully, that’s not the case. There’s more of an edge to her as she’s been through the horrors of Terminus Island, but she’s still full of wit like Cold War. It’s great character growth.
Weaver and Carver are similar to their Cold War selves, although you can tell that captivity has made them bitter and a little unhinged. The inevitable confrontation with Richtofen is going to be spicy. Maya is a solid addition to the team. She has some hilarious lines, but the dialogue with her brother is also touching, and she won me over quickly.
All the back-and-forth dialogue between Peck and Strauss was top-notch. As soon as I saw them sitting in that room together, I knew they’d be full of patter. I hope Peck sticks around for some redemption, but I’m unsure how much we can trust him.
The ending to Terminus has me very excited for the future. Despite my love for Aether, I was all in on Chaos during Black Ops 4 and was disappointed that it was axed. It’s comforting to know that at least some of it will live on in Dark Aether. I’m hoping Scarlett and co turn up sooner or later, but I won’t assume it’s in the cards until we get more information on how the two stories are linked.
Gameplay
I imagine the pause timer is in place for a technical reason or to prevent exploitation, but it’s annoying that the timer never resets. I feel it should reset after a specific time or every ten rounds.
Easter Egg rewards are a fantastic addition, and I hope we get many more wonder weapon and operator skins throughout the year. The “Early Completion” reward also caters to hardcore Zombies players while incentivising newcomers to try and unlock them. I’d love to see this type of reward further developed, like a mastery emblem/operator skin for achieving all of the quests early. A solo calling card reward would also be a nice badge of honour.
The amount of Dark Ops was a pleasant surprise. I’d love to see more added each season. Small challenges that make players mix up their style. The speedruns, in particular, have been entertaining to follow and attempt.
The option to continue the match or exit after quest completion is a nice touch – as are the additional rewards that spawn. In the past, I’d never consider continuing after a quest usually, but giving me different maxed-out weapons to use makes me think about it. It’ll also be great for camo grinding!
The game-ending cutscenes are rad. And I’ve seen them quite a few times… because I am dying! The difficulty is a step up from Cold War. I’m no pro, but I can handle myself. I’ve completed every Treyarch EE quest available to solo players. For the first time since Black Ops 4 I found myself having the “I fucked up” feeling when I got stuck in the corner of a room against the horde, and while there are field upgrades and streaks to help get you out of jail, sometimes it happens so quickly there’s nothing you can do but take the down. It’s good when Zombies is challenging (even if you don’t think that when it’s happening!)
That said, the number of Manglers that spawn in the later rounds is a bit much –especially when they’re alongside an abundance of Heavy Armoured Zombies.
I’ve used the box much more than I did during the Cold War. The stinginess of salvage means you have to think tactically about what you want to spend it on, and the rarity system matters more than ever. This also makes loadout weapons more balanced, as the damage for a “grey” weapon quickly results in a peashooter. It makes players question, “Am I going to stick with my loadout weapon and spend additional salvage, buy a wall weapon, or risk hitting the box?”
While salvage earn rates seem in a good place, I’m not sure about points. I’ve had two separate games where I was in the 20s and ran out of points and ammo. My gobblegum pack couldn’t help, and I had to spend 10-15 minutes whacking enemies down with my melee weapon that I’d barely upgraded. While it’s unlikely we can get the classic points-per-hit back, I hope something can be done to prevent players from going bankrupt in higher rounds.
I miss seeing what Gobblegums I have in my pack (and how many) by bringing up the inventory like you could in Black Ops 3. Currently, the only way to see is by pausing and changing your pack, which is a bit of a hassle.
The rate for earning Augments is slow, but I like that. The slower unlock time makes me experiment more with builds, and having a long-term gameplay-based progression system is something I enjoy investing my time in. If many people are asking for it, it could potentially use a slight increase in the earn rate, but I don’t want to be able to unlock every single augment after a few long games of Zombies. However, the ability to check Augment progress in-game would be great, whether a pop-up or something in the menu.
HUD
The custom HUD is a fantastic addition, but if possible, I’d like to see a few things added to it. First and foremost, and I’m almost certain this is already in the works, the ability to have separate custom HUD profiles for Zombies and Multiplayer is a must. With the universal Call of Duty eco-system, more and more players are dipping their toes in multiple modes. I’m a Zombies diehard, but I enjoy my fair share of MP.
I’d like to see the ability to toggle between 0 and 100 for each option (e.g., setting the opacity to 0 from 100 to “turn the minimap off.”) Currently, I can go from Zombies to Multiplayer quickly as I can reset most of the options to the default value of 100, but when going from Multiplayer to Zombies, I need to wait for the slider to reach 0.
I’d appreciate further settings for specific parts of the HUD. A good example is the Medals/Notification setting. This turns off medals but also includes the gobblegum award pop-up, level-up and camo grind information. Ideally, there could be an option for every setting, but if that isn’t possible, separating medals into their own setting would be great at the very least.
I’d also love the ability to turn health bars on for only Special/Mini Bosses/Elites. I don’t like the health bars above standard Zombies, but I love having the extra information for the trickier enemies.
Terminus
Terminus is a monster of a map. It feels like Treyarch took what worked in Outbreak and incorporated it into Round-Based. I didn’t expect buying and using a boat to feel so fluid! A massive Zombies map lives or dies by its traversal, and Terminus nails it. When I realised I could jump straight down to the Bio Lab from the top of the Island, my jaw dropped a little.
The Amalgam’s grab attack gets a bit crazy around Round 30 onwards. I died from it despite having full health (once with Juggernog and the Turtleshell Augment active, and the other 150hp – no Jug). If there were a way to counter it (like the old Panzer melee), it would be fine, but I don’t like being stuck in an animation that is one shot, with or without Jug.
The Patient 13 boss fight is fantastic. I liked that the arena is essentially just a loop for players to train around. Navigating it may be second nature for most players, but the precariousness of the water below and the massive tentacles keep everyone on their toes. The damage spots were nicely highlighted, and you could read the attacks well. (I hate nothing more than not knowing what part of a boss you’re meant to focus on during a damage phase!).
I also appreciate that there is a wipe mechanic. Some aren’t fans of wipe mechanics, but I think they’re a vital knowledge check, and Patient 13’s is fairly signposted. The electricity and the way its tentacles coil around the platform added to the spectacle. The bar has been set high for boss fights in Black Ops 6 after this one!
Liberty Falls
The COD Next gameplay reveal did Liberty Falls a disservice (and that’s coming from someone who thought it looked pretty fun during NEXT). The map complements Terminus well as a more laidback experience but is still packed with easter eggs. With how much Treyarch hyped up the number of EEs on Terminus, I assumed Liberty Falls would specifically focus on its main quest. I’m glad I was wrong! Mr Peeks Bowling Alley is a great successor to the Mr Peeks Night Club EE from Cold War’s Mauer Der Toten. He sure is a good businessman!
Transforming into Aetherella was a massive surprise, and it made me laugh. “Zombies has no personality anymore”, they said. I would have loved to have been able to go into a few more buildings, as places like Olly’s Comics and Liberty Lanes are two of the best locations on the map.
Once the map is opened up fully, the ziplines make moving around it a dream. I wasn’t expecting as much elevation on the map as there is, but it works well. I’ve used the flopper part of PHD Flopper on this map more than I have on any map since potentially… Ascension? Crazy.
The Jet Gun is good?! I can’t believe they pulled it off. The new overheating system is fair and rewards tactical play. It’s so satisfying hoovering up enemies, salvage, and powerups. The quest to build it is a fun one, especially when you’re trying to shave time off for a speedrun attempt.
I appreciate that the final encounter in Liberty Falls is a bit different from a traditional boss fight. It makes the map stand out more and lets the Terminus boss fight shine. It’s also no walk in the park, as the area you’re limited to is tiny and the Abomination can move. I had to be alert on Solo, so I can only imagine the carnage that awaits a squad of four players.
Main Quests and Intel
I enjoy it when a hunt lasts longer than a few hours, but a coherent quest with fun steps is more important to me. Both quests ticked that box, and the speedrun potential is also high. I enjoyed both of them a lot! While Liberty Falls was more accessible, it was still an enjoyable experience. That said, some small things could be done to improve future hunts, like removing the yellow outline that key quest items have around them.
The keycard in Terminus would’ve taken longer for players to find as the outline wouldn’t have caught anyone’s eye, and anyone spamming the interact button might not realise they’ve even picked it up. It would be the same step, just hidden more discretely. I think the yellow outlines are more suited for directed mode, or should be hidden until the player first completes the quest.
Similarly, the pop-up “cards” that appear for Intel also make it too easy for Intel to be discovered. This would’ve been much appreciated in Modern Warfare Zombies where it was like finding a needle in a haystack, but for round-based, I think the magic in discovering an audio log or radio is lost a little. The clues in the Intel Menu already serve the purpose of tracking down any tough-to-find radios (I really like the hints, too!) Since we’re on the topic of intel, I miss having transcripts of audio intel and the ability to examine artefacts. I hope those features can return from Cold War eventually.
Miscellaneous
I’d prefer it if The Arsenal machine started on the weapon upgrades tab, as that’s the most essential feature of the machine. I’ve been in a rush and stumbled into buying an ammo mod instead of an upgrade several times.
No Mr. Peaks theme tune on the gum machine. 🙁
The two music EEs, as well as all the different stingers and quest-related music, are top-notch. 3arch Audio never misses a beat.
Upon returning to a save that has made easter egg progress, dialogue from previous quest steps triggers, and quest items are available to pick up again.
The two Mangler streaks are so much fun. Zombies exclusive streaks get a huge thumbs up from me.
Final Thoughts
As I enter Prestige 1, beginning the long road to Prestige Master, I couldn’t be happier with the launch of Black Ops 6 Zombies. It’s a strong successor to Cold War while delivering on long-term players’ most requested features, such as a dedicated crew, harder difficulty, and cinematic main quests with less hand-holding.
It’s fantastic news that another map is on the way before the end of the year. I’d like to see some information about what we’ll be seeing further out than Season 1 so that everyone has their expectations in check. Nothing crazy, just a rough estimation of how many maps we can expect to see and what updates will look like in the seasons where there isn’t a new map.
I’m hopeful we will see some smaller additional modes. Onslaught would sing on some of the MP maps, and the Mangler streaks have the potential for a fun twist on Grief. More augments and gobblegums would be lovely, too!
I’ll probably think of more things to say right after I post this, but that’s life! I’m sure others will pick up my slack if I’ve missed any pressing concerns.
If any developers read this, thank you and congratulations on an incredible launch experience! I cannot wait to see what awaits us throughout the year. I’m still as enthusiastic about the mode as I was in 2008, and that only happens when the brains behind the operation share the same passion as the fans.
Black Ops is back! I’d argue it never went away.