‘Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6’ review: the best entry in years

Call Of Duty has been in a weird spot for a while. Recent games have felt bland and uninspired, introducing tiny tweaks to spice things up but not doing nearly enough. And the success of free-to-play spin-off Warzone has pulled attention from the original multiplayer offering. Sales are always steady, but loyal fans deserve more than what they’ve been getting.

• READ MORE: What makes up ‘Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6’s “kick-ass” campaign

Step forward Black Ops 6. After four years of planning – the most for any Call Of Duty release in history – developer Treyarch has brought the glory days charging back. Let’s start with the campaign mode. It’s a flawless, Mission Impossible-style blockbuster filled with unique setpieces, a great ‘90s grunge-inspired soundtrack, stunning visuals and an engaging, exciting plot that knits neatly into the larger Black Ops timeline.

Across eight hours of pulse-pounding shooter action, you’ll never be bored. One moment there’s a dangerous heist to be pulled off, the next a CIA black site needs infiltrating in rural America. There’s even a mini open-world mission with side objectives to complete and collectibles to find, as well as a huge twist in the middle that kickstarts an hour or so of thrilling gameplay unlike anything we’ve seen in Call Of Duty before. It all adds up to the best and most fun edition for ages.

And that’s before we even mention the improved multiplayer format. Unveiling ‘omnimovement’ – the ability to crawl, slide, dive, sprint and strafe in any direction – has changed everything. The effects of this are felt most keenly outside of campaign mode, where the newfound pace at which you can move has sped things up massively. It’s a lot to take in straight away, but once you get the hang of throwing yourself around corners at 300mph, Black Ops 6 becomes a transformational experience.

As for the maps… well they’re pretty much standard Call Of Duty maps. Some duds have sneaked through (looking at you, Red Card), but those are few and far between amid an array of engaging environments (Babylon is a highlight). Not as big a leap as with other parts of the game, then, but still good.

Away from general multiplayer, we have Zombies – the fan-favourite format in which teams of co-op players attempt to hold off waves of the undead. Bringing back the traditional round-based survival mode was a smart move – and getting two full-size, expansive maps at launch shows what can be achieved with sufficient development time. These bountiful arenas come stuffed with Easter eggs and puzzles, alongside an entire system based around levelling up your Field Upgrade, Perk-A-Cola machines and weapon mods. The sheer amount there is to do extends the mode’s lifespan significantly.

Shared progression across multiplayer and Zombies is also back (thankfully), so you don’t need to do double the work – and though some will have issues with the fact you can start a game holding your fave gun and packing a bag filled with equipment (instead of just the basic pistol), we didn’t find it lessened the enjoyment.

Additionally, the camo grind (where you complete tasks to earn new weapon camouflage) and challenges available are vastly superior to recent entries. It feels like the classic camo grind experience we fell in love with more than a decade ago when Modern Warfare 3 came out has returned. And there are tons of rewards to earn from Prestige Mode which drops the much-maligned seasonal element and reverts to a classic set-up.

Put all of this together and you’ve got an extremely impressive entry in the series. It’s taken four years to get here, but Black Ops 6 is a future classic.

‘Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6’ is out now for Xbox, PlayStation and PC