Treyarch cooked.
Succumbed to the hype, I’ve decided to share my first thoughts tonight. I’ll have more to say about several features in the buildup to Black Ops 6’s launch, but I wanted to keep the good vibes going.
The blog post that anchored the Black Ops 6 Zombies reveal is titled “Intel Barrage.” This is an appropriate name, considering the reveal included raw gameplay footage, press and influencer reactions, trailers and developer insight, and a flurry of tweets. It’s the most in-depth Zombies reveal we’ve ever seen. Treyarch is a studio that is not only extremely confident in its work but has also been working night and day, ticking off every single box of community feedback it can.
I’m a bit of a traditionalist, so I’ve been avoiding watching too much of the footage; I want to discover the map on my own. From the trailer and snippets, Terminus looks like an incredible launch map. Some had concerns it would feel too much like a Zetsubou No Shima x Mob of the Dead hybrid, but there’s nothing to worry about. The map is massive and has visually diverse areas, and the ability to travel between smaller islands is something you’d expect from Resident Evil—not Call of Duty Zombies.
The omnimovement looks right at home with the undead. I can’t wait to dolphin-dive-360 no-scope a crawler to end the round. Being able to save and quit in a Solo game and freely join multiplayer sessions are two quality-of-life changes that will make it even easier for players to jump back in to play another round or two.
The Augment system is the perfect successor to Cold War’s upgrade tiers. It encourages experimentation with different builds, which wasn’t possible during Cold War. Restricting each item to only one major and minor augment should ensure that we don’t spawn in as overpowered super soldiers. The potential for using them in limited-time modes is also massive. With roughly 100 augments at launch, it’ll be interesting to see how long it will take to unlock them all and what will be required. Hopefully, we’ll get even more throughout Black Ops 6’s post-launch seasons.
The approach to the main quest is perfect and should give hardcore and casual players precisely what they want. The sanctity of the hunt is preserved, and newbies can still experience the fun when the guided version of the quest launches. The exclusive calling card for completing the main quest before the guided version goes is a fantastic idea and makes me think of Destiny’s Raid Contest Mode.
I believe that difficulty has never influenced the lack of new players coming to Zombies – it’s purely an issue with onboarding. A newcomer may complete their first-ever main quest by using the guided mode to slow things down for them. When the subsequent map launches, it may drive them to go for a standard completion. It’s an attempt to recreate the natural progression many of us have experienced across fifteen-plus years of Call of Duty Zombies.
Treyarch also expressed its desire to increase the difficulty of the gameplay and easter eggs in Black Ops 6 compared to Cold War. A noticeable change is the limited amount of self-revives a player can use—just like with good old Quick Revive 1.0.
I’m thrilled that GobbleGum can be earned directly by playing Zombies! Hopefully, a system similar to Newton’s Cookbook will also allow users to swap various gums. I’d imagine they’ll also appear in operator bundles and the battle pass. I’m in the minority here, but I’d prefer–[Redacted by Gamblers Anonymous].
The ability to carry up to three Gobblegums at once is an intriguing change which should make for some crazy combos. That said, I thought the BO3 GobbleGum system was perfect (after some early patches). You had to think about when to use a particular gum or when to roll again. I’m slightly worried the new system will remove some tactical consideration, but I’ll reserve judgment until I’ve played the game. It’s certainly not a deal-breaker.
The narrative intel drop video was a lovely way to finish the reveal. I’ll always enjoy hearing from Sir Craig Houston, but it was nice to see writers Tony Bedard, Rachel Rindo, and Dan Laufer talk about their work, too! I’m looking forward to hearing a dedicated crew banter with each other between some tasty bits of lore, and I am glad the writing team shares our enthusiasm for it. It was my number one request for Black Ops 6, and I’m still buzzing it’s happening.
We also caught our first glimpse of Liberty Falls gameplay. Being set in the day, it’s a nice contrast to the stormy shores of Terminus. Daytime Zombies maps are always a treat, and Liberty Falls looks no different with the Jet Gun’s grand(?) return. I’m interested to see what else from Transit makes an appearance. We’ve only got a few more weeks until we find out! Fingers crossed, we’ll get official confirmation of the intel system returning then and some information on what post-launch will look like.
Despite feeling optimistic about Black Ops 6 Zombies, not even I was prepared for its reveal. Treyarch has listened and acted on years of feedback, pushing the mode forward and opening it up to a new audience without alienating the hardcore following. It’s a love letter to those diehards, but more than that, it’s proof that Zombies is nowhere near finished. It’s only finished when Treyarch throws in the towel, and that’s something Treyarch doesn’t do.