Following today’s big Xbox Games Showcase, Microsoft and Activision fully pulled the wraps back on what’s sure to be the biggest game of the year with the Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Direct. After a couple shaky years for the CoD franchise, this looks like the game fans have been waiting for, with an ambitious campaign, major updates to core gameplay, the return of round-based Zombies, and more. You can check out the full Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Direct below, provided you have around 25 minutes to spare, or you can scroll on down for our recap of the important points.
Campaign
The Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Direct provided an in-depth look at the game’s campaign, which is being headed up by Raven Software alongside Treyarch. This looks like one of the more interesting CoD campaigns in some time, bringing to life an early 90s setting, which brings back a wheelchair-bound Frank Woods who acts as a mentor of sorts for new Troy Marshall and a new team. Oh, and yes, Russell Adler is back too.
In terms of gameplay, Raven is promising more open-ended missions, with different ways to achieve your objectives, some of which don’t involve combat. Yes, you’ll actually be able to talk your way through some scenarios. There will also be a new Safe House campaign hub around which you’ll return to between missions. Here’s a bit more detail about the campaign’s story.
“Black Ops 6 blends the rich and gritty history of previous Black Ops titles with both returning and bold new characters – and veteran Frank Woods acts as the through-line in our story. Across the Campaign, we see a different side of Woods following his traumatic injury at the hands of Raul Menendez. He’s been pulled from the field, and you’ll interact with him as he adjusts to a new role within the CIA.
His protege is Troy Marshall, who has been making a name for himself in the field. Marshall is a methodical leader, driven by a strong moral compass. They soon realize they must trust each other to get to the bottom of what’s going on, and this must be done without any of their usual resources. They must build their own team of rogue agents, recruiting two intriguing new characters in Felix Neumann, a technical genius, and Sevati Dumas, a mysterious assassin.
With a mixture of new and familiar faces, a legendary wildcard also returns to the fight – the infamous Russell Adler is back! While his allegiances and motivations remain unclear, this former ally may have become a new and daunting enemy.”
And here’s some detail on campaign variety and the more open-ended approach to objectives…
“Mission variety is a key component in the twisted, covert world of Black Ops 6. Raven Software has created individual missions from the ground up, with each one also offering diverse methods in the way you approach and execute them.
For example, one mission involves you infiltrating an old sewer system underneath an opulent casino in southern Europe, and these catacombs are one of many locations that are more ideal for stealth, where only the muffled yells or crumpled falls of the enemy can be heard, before you tactically reposition topside to pull off an audacious heist in the casino itself. Other areas are more appropriate for large-scale battles, such as an assault on a palace in the Iraqi desert.”
Omnimovement and Gameplay Updates
Treyarch is also significantly overhauling core Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 gameplay, with the new Omnimovement system. This allows players to do new, more realistic moves, like slide, dive and shoot, sprint in any direction, shoot, roll, and maneuver while prone, and more. “Intelligent Movement” means this can all be done with fewer button presses, too.
“For the first time ever, players can sprint, slide, and dive in any direction (forward, sidestepping, and backpedaling) and move like a true Black Ops action hero. This innovation immediately allows the player to move like never before and seamlessly chain combat maneuvers together, like sliding, diving and a newly enhanced supine prone, all with a full 360 degrees range of motion.
If you can sprint in any direction, then it logically follows that you can slide and dive in any direction, too. This opened a world of new movement options. With a simple – and extremely engaging – prototype up and running, the team instantly knew this was much more than a modest improvement to the way you maneuver your Operator in combat.”
Other significant improvements to gameplay include the ability to fully customize your HUD, and enemies that have more advanced AI and more hit regions, that will result in more realistic death animations. Interestingly, the game will also be boosting its visuals using cloud-based texture streaming, which means, yes, you'll need to have an online connection even when playing single-player.
Multiplayer
Activision is holding back on traditional Mutliplayer info until a later reveal, but they’re promising 16 all-new maps at launch (no remasters), most of which will be classic-style three-lane affairs. Theater mode will also be returning to capture your best moments. More info on multiplayer is coming August 28.
Zombies
Finally, traditionally round-based Zombies is making its return, with a continuation of the Dark Aether storyline. Treyarch is promising two all-new maps, which will undoubtedly be packed with their usual array of Easter eggs.
Pre-orders for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 are now open, with everyone who plunks their money down getting early access to the beta and the Woods Operator pack. There is also the $100 Vault Edition, which includes the following extra content…
- “BlackCell” content including -- Full Battle Pass, with access to over 100 rewards, 1,100 COD Points unlocked instantly, 20 Battle Pass Tier Skips, instantly unlocked BlackCell-exclusive content, and special BlackCell variants of Battle Pass Operator Skins, Weapon Blueprints
- Hunters vs. Hunted Operator Pack.
- Mastercraft Weapon Collection.
- GobbleGum Pack.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 launches on PC (via Steam, Battle.net, and Microsoft Store), Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, and PS5 on October 25. Game Pass Ultimate subscribers will get access to Campaign, Zombies, and Multiplayer on all platforms, while Game Pass PC subscribers get access to all modes only on PC. If you're not a Game Pass Ultimate or PC subscriber, access is split between the standard Game Pass for Consoles (Campaign) and Game Pass Core (Zombies and Multiplayer).
