The finale to Modern Warfare Zombies could easily have been lost amongst the hype of Black Ops 6. Many had given up on the mode due to its different take on the Zombies formula and sparse updates, but ultimately, it was worth the wait. I’m not just referring to the story, though. Most Story Missions have been relatively straightforward – engaging enough, but nothing to write home about. “Ascension” (cute) was the best by a mile. The boss fight also enters the conversation of the Top 10 Zombies bosses. As a solo player, it was tough. It required my full …
Category: Gaming
Into the Intel I: Project Janus, The Aether, and MWZ
One of my favourite things about the Dark Aether story has been the return of mystery to Zombies’ storytelling. As exciting (and beautiful) as the Zombies Chronicles timeline was in Black Ops 3, it ended up sucking a lot of the air out of the room. We got too many answers and not enough questions. While this made sense – the Aether saga was on its way out– it left little space for fans to speculate and theorise. Thanks to the world-building accomplished throughout Cold War, Vanguard, and MWZ, many questions plague us as we head into the Black Ops …
Black Ops 6 Zombies Reveal: First Impressions
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 …
There’s a Party on Terminus Island
“I have marched six weeks in hell and certifyIt is not fire, devils, dark, or anything,But boots—boots—boots—boots—moving up and down again,And there’s no discharge in the war.” ‘Boots’ – Rudyard Kipling (1903) We finally have a cinematic intro for a round-based Zombies map. It’s been a while, but it was worth the wait! Terminus finds our heroes of the Cold War – Weaver, Grey, Carver, Strauss and Raptor-One – locked in captivity on the mystic Terminus Island. Five years in captivity has not treated them well, but luckily, the one-eyed wonder Dr William Peck and his accomplice Maya are on …
The Truth Dies: Coffee and Six-Legs
The last two channels on The Truth Dies are live, but before that, Mr Peeks had another secret for us last night. Inputting the following code on The Truth Dies revealed a video of what I assume is the Mystery Box moving animation. Is the announcer still The Forsaken? It’s hard to tell. Some think it’s him; others don’t. I want to hear more quotes before coming to a conclusion. They Did What? Again?! Channel 5 hosts a nature documentary which twists into static, with a pompous voice stating, “Watch as this arachnid-like vermin explodes from the frontal lobe of …
The Truth Dies: Terminus Island + GobbleGum
It looks like Mr Peeks has more to say. Following the excitement of The Truth Dies on Thursday, a further update to the site on Friday gave us some things to ponder over the weekend. Channel 3 published a news report stating that the CIA has declassified top-secret files. Mr Peeks then laughs and shows us snippets from documents relating to Terminus Island. Piecing it together, we can start setting the scene for one of the BO6 launch maps, appropriately named Terminus. Ernst Duffer was assigned to Terminus Island as an interrogator in 1987 by the Project Janus administration. His …
Bungie and Game Informer: We Aren’t Out of the Woods Yet
Sigh. When it looked like the worst industry-wide redundancies were behind us, Bungie decided that one round of layoffs wasn’t enough. Despite an initial cost-cutting exercise in October 2023, the studio decimated its ranks by a further 17% this past week. Nothing I write here will be unique; it’s all been said a thousand times. But that doesn’t change our disappointment and anger whenever a new statement about a “difficult” decision breaks. As always, I feel for the developers impacted. Imagine watching your colleagues get the axe In October and being told it was “all hands on deck” to deliver …
The Truth Dies Along With the Lies
We finally have a definitive answer. The cy83r14 “ARG” is not officially endorsed by Activision or Treyarch, despite Milo (MrRoflWaffles) explicitly referring to Treyarch as the sender of the briefcase in his possession. He has now added a disclaimer to the descriptions of his “ARG” videos, but unfortunately, it’s a bit late for that. I’m slightly disappointed in Milo, as he’s usually a straight-shooter regarding the validity of a rumour or leak. Maybe he just got lost in the hype or was fed false information. Regardless, I wish him the best in solving what hopefully isn’t a real-life version of …
The Black Ops 6 Zombies ARG May Be Back From the Dead
I may have spoken too quickly about the fate of the Cy83r14 ARG. After the revelation that Activision claimed no involvement in the teaser site and associated e-mail address, I lost interest in actively working on it. I wrote it off as a well-made hoax, but I kept an eye on the progress of others, curious to see where it led. There were a few instances of influencers staging a disappearance like Milo (MrRoflWaffles) did, but nothing of real substance beyond the second e-mail from Cy83r14. Milo eventually returned with a video explaining his absence. He was ordered to go …
BO6 Zombies: Should the Perk Limit Return?
Show a casual COD player—or even someone who’s never played COD—the Juggernog machine, and they’ll likely say, “That’s that thing from Zombies, isn’t it?”. The perk system is one of several examples of Zombies taking standard gameplay components from Call of Duty and making them cool. Perk-a-Colas, as they are fondly known, debuted in the mode’s second map, Veruckt, mixing valuable buffs with the slick style of a branded soft drink. Players could buy up to four perks at a time to increase their chances of surviving against the undead hordes. As new maps released, the pool of perks increased, but …