First announced in May of 2024 with a marketing campaign titled “The Truth Lies,” Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 would get an official showcase during Xbox’s game showcase on June 9. The game’s multiplayer beta test weekend was announced, a release date of Oct. 25 was revealed, and, for the first time, the game would be available to owners of Xbox Game Pass, part of Microsoft’s buyout of Activision Blizzard.
As is standard with Call of Duty, the beta weekend only features the game’s multiplayer, with a limited selection of maps and weapons compared to the game’s full release. On Aug. 30, 2024, when the beta began, the servers filled up almost immediately.
As for the quality of the game so far? It’s.. decent. The most noticeable problem is in some of the maps. They aren’t inherently bad, but a lot of them suffer from being too small, some even too small for the face-off (even smaller maps) mode. The maps themselves actually play pretty well. They feel far less static than previous titles and nearly all invisible barriers are gone, allowing for more dynamic plays, but the size issues remain and make some maps way less fun to play.
Eight maps have yet to be released as playable, coming with the full release, but if they have the same issues as the ones in the beta, it may impact the game’s replayability. Problems with weapon balancing were also present, with complaints from players about snipers, though some of these problems were ironed out or, at least, made better with the second beta weekend. Additionally, the beta had numerous problems with lag, and glitches were being reported, but time will tell whether Treyarch can fix them by the time the game fully releases.
The big innovation with Black Ops 6 is the new “omnimovement” system, which allows players to dive, sprint, and slide in all directions now instead of just forward. Omnidirectional movement systems have been present in many third-person games before, including this year’s “Helldivers II, ” but a system like this is new for both Call of Duty and mainstream Player vs Player first-person shooters in general.
Omnimovement was advertised as allowing players to “move like an action hero,” and that’s pretty accurate. It’s a bit clunky around the edges, but, like some of the bugs mentioned earlier, it’ll be up to Treyarch to improve that for the game’s full release.
Improvements are also noticeable in the game’s other systems. They range from significant things noticeable across the entire game to relatively small things, but they all improve the game in some way. While it has yet to be seen, Call of Duty’s classic prestige system, which was removed in favor of a seasonal one, is coming back. The time to kill has also been increased since Black Ops: Cold War, making gunfights less dependent on who shot first.
Black Ops 6 is still a Call of Duty game. If you don’t enjoy Call of Duty, this probably won’t pull you in. The qualities that Call of Duty has always held are still there: the weapons feel good to use, and the game still looks great, taking inspiration from both Modern Warfare’s realistic style and Black Ops’ less realistic visuals. If you were planning on buying this already, not much will change your mind. Due to this being a beta, it’s not going to receive a full score as the Campaign and Zombies mode aren’t out yet, but, overall, this is Call of Duty, whether that’s a good or bad thing will depend on what you expect from Call of Duty.
