Now that the new Modern Warfare trilogy is complete, it’s time to brush up on all Call of Duty games in order before the Black Ops series resurfaces. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will pick up where Cold War left off and will be the most ambitious entry in the series yet, as it aims to take the spot as the best Call of Duty game yet. The initial teases were as cryptic as the game’s themes of truth, lies, and subterfuge. That hasn’t stopped us from digging through all the footage and documents to shed some light on one of our most anticipated upcoming games. There are a lot of exciting changes on the way, so we’ll make sure you have all the necessary intel on Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 before release.
Release date
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will launch on Friday, October 25, 2024.
Platforms
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will not give up last-gen consoles yet. It is coming to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Being one of the best multiplayer games every year, it will also therefore be a cross-platform game.
Trailers
The reveal trailer places Black Ops 6 firmly in the year 1991 post Cold War. After Russel Adler reappears in Kuwait, a thread of conspiracies begins to unravel surrounding a group called The Pantheon, which has infiltrated the CIA. This forces your player, along with Adler and two new characters named Sev and Felix, to go rogue in order to thwart their plans. Of course, it wouldn’t be a Black Ops game without Frank Woods showing up. He is now in the CIA and no longer a field agent and now mentors your character, Troy Marshall.
Footage shows a very diverse range of missions, from your traditional bombastic shootouts, to sneaking missions and even what appears to be the return of non-violent missions such as robbing a casino. Aside from using your gun to solve all your problems, some missions will let you smooth talk your way through them.
The open mission structure first seen in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is back and larger than ever. Players will be able to approach and tackle these missions in whatever way they see fit.
A Zombies-specific trailer has dropped and revealed the latest cast of characters we will play as in this mode. This time, our crew will consist of Grigori Weaver, Elizabeth Grey, Mackenzie “Mac” Carver, Oskar Strauss, William Peck, and Maya Aguinaldo. The story will pick up over half a decade after the events of the Zombies mode in Cold War and continue the Dark Aether story in a new Terminus outpost somewhere in the Philippine Sea. We see the initial breakout and the setup of not only surviving, but finding Mac’s missing brother.
Gameplay
The biggest shakeup Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 brings to the table in terms of gameplay is what the team is calling Omnimovement. The most immediate change is the ability to spring in any direction — even backward. Sliding, diving, and prone movement options have also been expanded to be as smooth and dynamic as possible.
Multiplayer will launch with 16 all-new maps, 12 of which will be for 6v6 gametypes and four maps that can be played in either 6v6 or 2v2.
Once you hit max level in multiplayer, the old Prestiege system is back to let you go through the entire leveling journey again to unlock all the weapons and gear again. There will be 10 Prestige levels to go through, each one offering a new reward. But even that isn’t the end, because you then hit Prestiege Master and have 1,000 more levels to grind.
While not directly gameplay related, this will be the first title in the series where players can fully customize their HUD to hide or rearrange important information.
Finally, Zombies will be back and return to its arcade-style roots. It will return to the Dark Aether storyline and feature two new round-based maps at launch called Terminus and Liberty Falls. The gameplay trailer focuses on the Terminus map and plenty of action, guns, and environmental options to fight back with.
A new weapon called the Beamsmasher was shown off, andit is described as “an experimental powerhouse with three unique damage types to help you mow down the horde as you fight for survival on Terminus Island.” There will also be a new killstreak called Mutant Injection. This will let you mutate yourself temporarily into a Mangler. One last new system called Augments is also included and will be a way to upgrade perks, mods, and field upgrades, with a choice between major and minor upgrades.
What will be music to many players’ ears is the ability to save and quit, but only while playing solo. Zombies matches can last for hours on end, so being able to take a break and pick the game up later will be a huge boon.
Opening Night Live 2024 gave us a full look at a campaign level featured in Black Ops 6 called “Most Wanted.” This level centers around our crew sneaking into a building on a hostage rescue mission, though things inevitably go loud before too long. It begins with some camera gameplay, which is a first, but dives into FPS action against a heavily armored soldier with a minigun. This encounter shows off a bit of the new movement options as we sprint and slide in nearly all directions.
Later on, we get a look at a new explosive knife. These can not only be thrown but guided through the air and remotely detonated for maximum effect.
The trailer ends with a chase on the back of a motorcycle that brings back the on-rails shooting sections that are always pulse-pounding.
The multiplayer mode for Black Ops 6 got its own reveal trailer separate from anything else. It opens with a few hints at possible takedown animations in the strip mall map we’ve seen a few times, but the most interesting mechanic is the ability to use an enemy as a human shield. We see a player grab an enemy and march them around to block incoming fire while still being able to use their primary weapon.
The omni movement systems were shown off in all their glory. Soldiers will dive, roll, slide, and even swim through the maps.
The trailer ends with a reminder that there will be 16 new maps, the return of the Gunsmith, and the classic Prestige system.
A massive leak for Black Ops 6 has revealed a host of information, including a massive list of Scorestreaks and Combat Perks. While you should take these with skepticism, it is somewhat safe to say most, if not all, of these will appear in the final game.
Leaked Scorestreaks and Effects:
Scout Pulse — Unknown
RC-XD — Drive an explosive RC car
UAV — Pings enemies on the minimap
Counter UAV — Disables enemy radar
Watchdog Helo — Call a missile to drop a cluster bomb on the map
Interceptors — Unknown
Chopper Gunner — Man a machine gun on a chopper circling the map
Leaked Perks and Effects
Dexterity — “Reduced weapon motion while jumping, sliding, and diving. Take less fall damage.”
Gung-Ho — “Reduced movement penalties when reloading or using equipment. Reload while Tac Sprinting.”
Engineer — “See enemy equipment and scorestreaks through walls and enemy scorestreak icons on the minimap.”
Forward Intel — “Increases minimap area and shows direction indicators for revealed enemies.”
Tracker — “See enemy footsteps. ADSing auto-pings enemies. Long cooldown.”
Dispatcher — “Reduced score cost for non-lethal Scorestreaks. Stacks with Bankroll.”
Fast Hands — “Swap weapons faster and extend focus when throwing back grenades.”
Bankroll — “Start each life with +150 score toward Scorestreaks.”
Double Time — “Greatly increases duration of Tac Sprint.”
Cold-Blooded — “Undetectable by AI targeting and thermal optics. Player-controlled Scorestreaks don’t highlight you. Immune to Spy Cam.”
Vigilance — “Display a HUD icon whenever you appear on enemy minimaps. Immune to CUAV and Scrambler. Immune to Sleeper Agent.”
Gearhead — “Two Field Upgrade charges. Increased Field Upgrade charge rate. Hack enemy equipment and field upgrades. Booby trap Care Packages.”
Guardian — “Faster healing while capturing and holding objectives. Revive downed teammates faster.”
Quartermaster — “Recharge equipment over time.”
Preorder
There are two editions you can preorder for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. Here are the differences between the two and what they cost.
Cross-Gen bundle — $70
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
- Open Beta access
- Woods Operator pack
BO6 Vault — $100
- Everything in the Cross-Gen Bundle
- Hunters vs. Hunted Operator pack
- Mastercraft Collection
- BlackCell (1 Season)
- GobbleGum Pack for Zombies