Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 had its big bang during Xbox’s Summer Game Fest Showcaseand got its own focused presentation right afterward. This show, along with a plethora of previews and interviews that have surfaced in the last few days, have given us a pretty clear picture of all the massive changes and returning features that BlackOps 6 bring to call of Duty later this year. Here’s a summary of some of the key details we’ve learned about the upcoming shooter:
The children call it Omnimovement
Omnimovement is perhaps the biggest innovation BlackOps 6 brings to the franchise. As part of Treyarch’s ambition to turn players into real action movie heroes, the studio is expanding its animations and radically changing how movements work in call of DutyFor example, Omnimovement allows players to move seamlessly 360 degrees at any time. This means they can glide and dive in any direction they want, in a way that is a bit like Max Paynehowever, it is more versatile. Players can do things like dive forward, turn around in mid-air, and fire backwards without the need for a laborious animation. During the Direct, one player could be seen turning onto their side while diving through the air to prepare for a shot, something that wasn’t possible before.
In BlackOps 6Players can also sprint in any direction, which is a radical change from how movement has been done in the franchise so far. In other words, you can look forward while sprinting left, right, or backward, whereas previously you could only sprint in the direction you were facing. According to Treyarch, this is inspired by the actual movement of Operators and Soldiers, and the studio felt it needed to be incorporated once this was discovered.
Treyarch has also looked outside of the shooter space for inspiration, developing a set of radical new accessibility features that the team calls Intelligent Movement. According to Matt Scronce, an associate director at Treyarch mentioned in the Direct, the motivation behind the system was that the team wanted “all players to focus on what they want to do, not how they do it.” To that end, there are three options in the menus (Sprint Assist, Mantle Assist, and Duck Assist) that reduce the number of inputs required to perform the corresponding actions.
All these innovations in BlackOps 6The movement system will be available in all game modes, including multiplayer and zombies.
We’re bringing back the 90s
It was confirmed that BlackOps 6 Single player campaign (which unfortunately require a constant internet connection) is set in the 1990s against the backdrop of the Gulf War and the growing loss of trust in the government. Frank Woods, the tormented legacy character that the BlackOps Subseries absolutely refuses to die, will be back in BlackOps 6 along with a cast of new characters who become compromised after a mission gone wrong, leading them to uncover a conspiracy on their own.
Speaking of conspiracy theories…
No, there will be no 9/11 mission
As reported by PC GamerTreyarch has addressed widespread speculation about BlackOps 6 with a playable mission that takes place during the events of September 11th earlier this week. Although the call of Duty Franchise has received shock and criticism in the past for controversial levels and retellings of certain historical events, it seems as BlackOps 6 will stay away from the September 11 attacks, although some believe the game references it in other ways.
Given the nature of the BlackOps Considering the series’ conspiracy theory lore, you can understand why players and fans have suspected that 9/11 would factor into the game. There’s no shortage of conspiracy theories surrounding the events of that day — “jet fuel can’t melt steel beams” didn’t originate as a meme or a joke, but as an actual belief that some expressed seriously — and I suspect some people will never really move on from it.
Prestige is back
call of Duty has abandoned its traditional progression systems some time ago, but BlackOps 6 brings them back, including the prestige system. Players can climb the ranks until they eventually reach the highest level, at which point they can stay there or reset their progress and take the path to prestige. There will be ten prestige ranks to climb through, making for a long progression path, and once players reach the final level of the tenth prestige, they will unlock another 1000 ranks of master prestige to level up. The most diehard multiplayer fans of call of Duty
A full reveal of the multiplayer will take place at call of Duty Next on August 28, 2024.
Fidelity and detail
Treyarch increases the quality of the series overall with BlackOps 6and this includes features such as updated damage models. Previously, character models took and reacted to damage in four different body regions, but BlackOps 6 increases this number to nine Regions, each with their own customized damage and death animations based on the region and direction the damage is coming from.
Players will also automatically dynamically change the position of their weapons when driving around corners. Weapons will be pointed in the direction you are already moving, allowing players to acquire their targets more easily and seamlessly without having to move manually.
Zombies returns to basics
Treyarch’s popular cooperative Zombies mode has been a hotbed of experimentation over the years, but BlackOps 6 brings things back down to earth. It picks up the Dark Aether story that has dominated the mode in recent parts, and the action will be turn-based again. Zombies in BlackOps 6 will launch with two maps, Liberty Falls and Terminus, and will feature a ton of returning mechanics, but the team is hesitant to give too much away too soon.
According to Interview with Games Radar+Liberty Falls will be set in a small Appalachian town and will embrace the American feel its name conjures with “abandoned bowling alleys, ’90s diners and comic book stores.” Terminus, on the other hand, will be set on a “deep and complex map” set on a prison island, and the two maps will be connected by a storyline that takes place simultaneously in both locations.
In the past, Zombies mode had abandoned its specific character set for generic operators, but BlackOps 6 will change course here. One of the things I loved most about the traditional Zombies experience of my youth was the layered characters and how different the mode felt compared to everything else in the game. call of Duty package, and it seems as BlackOps 6 trying to recapture some of that feeling. I’m really excited to hear so much.
More information on the full multiplayer reveal will be released on Call of Duty Next.
Focus on selection and alternative game decisions
As is now somewhat common in the BlackOps Subseries, the latest installment once again emphasizes choice in its gameplay scenarios. How call of Duty continues to try to resist linearity, BlackOps 6 introduces some open-ended levels (as we last saw in the widely panned Modern Warfare 3 Campaign) as well as light role-playing aspects. Players will be able to talk and trade with characters during the campaign to unlock alternate paths through missions. There will also be more traditional choices, such as going with weapons drawn or going quietly.
Customizable HUD
For the first time in the history of call of Duty franchise, the HUD will be fully customizable. The minimap can be placed in different places on the screen and you can even put your ammo counters in the center in case you don’t want to take your eyes off your targets. Players have long wanted ways to customize HUDs to best complement their own playstyle or stream setups, and BlackOps 6 is taking a big step in the right direction.
BlackOps 6 will be a “new beginning for all”
Try to keep track of which call of Duty Games (via the main entries each year as well as the constant updates for Warzone) are interconnected and have a crossover feel that is almost impossible. For example, weapon and operator skins have been adopted from Modern Warfare 2 To Modern Warfare 3 the last few years, but none of this will make the leap to BlackOps 6according to Interview with IGNThe team does not want to create any confusion that could “destroy the immersion in the narrative we want” and will instead focus on developing new, unique skins that are in line with the BlackOps Integrate the universe into the game after launch.
BlackOps 6 is predictably massive, and there is more to discuss, especially how it will affect War zone when it launches later this year, and how Treyarch and Raven Software are innovating the multiplayer experience. For now, however, BlackOps 6 makes a good first impression and might make me want to come back into the fold.
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