REVIEW: ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’ Multiplayer Is Exciting And Chaotic

The bread and butter of any Call of Duty game is its ability to draw players into countless online matches. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 builds on a tried-and-true multiplayer format with a few new additions that make it another resounding success.

At its core, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is just like any other Call of Duty game. Players can queue for various match types and earn weapons and upgrades as they level up. The menus are familiar, and everything is designed to make players feel right at home in another yearly addition to the franchise.

What makes Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 stand out is the small tweaks. The most noticeable update is the new maps. Each map is unique and created to encourage a variety of gameplay styles. Some, like Payback, are designed for close-quarters fighting. This pushes players to use smaller guns with faster rates of fire and creates an intense, chaotic game experience. Others, like Red Card, feature long-rage sections that are great for using larger rifles or snipers.

This variety across 16 maps means that every game will be different. If you are trying to level up a specific gun, you might be out of luck when placed on a map that does not work well with the type of loadout you want. This gets players to experiment with different weapons and skill load-outs, making the experience more well-rounded.

The maps are fun and unique, but what really makes Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 great is the fantastic gunplay. There are a variety of weapons to choose from and upgrade, and using different types of weapons always feels satisfying. Crucially, the time-to-kill feels incredibly balanced. Defeating an enemy player does not take too much or too little time, and the balance is pretty spot-on.

Using weapons like the XM4 assault rifle on a smaller map makes players adjust how they play, adding to the experience. It is fully possible to use whatever weapon you want on whatever map you want, but you have to be adaptable to do so. I found myself constantly evaluating my playstyle and making minor changes to get just a little bit better. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 encourages that type of thinking and gives you all the tools to choose from.

One underrated update is the simplification of weapon attachments. Most guns feel like they have fewer options to upgrade, which might sound bad at first, but it is actually a massive upgrade. Scrolling through pages and pages of options that all make the same types of changes was overwhelming in some of the more recent games in the franchise. There are still plenty of options and combinations to work with, but it all just feels more streamlined and accessible for players to understand.

A new mechanic players will hear much about is omnidirectional movement, known as Omnimovement. Omnimovement allows players more control over how they dive, unlocking new ways to approach combat. It looks like something straight out of an over-the-top action movie but has significant in-game effects. Diving backward without losing line-of-sight on your enemies is a huge help. These moves look super cool in action but can be stopped if players are quick to react. Having a new movement mechanic that feels so good without being overpowered is nice.

Zombies also return as a multiplayer mode in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, which is largely fun. Weapon and character levels earned here apply to regular multiplayer as well, so it is a great way to grind out XP either solo or with friends. There are currently only two zombie maps, which is a little disappointing. Liberty Falls is a quaint little town being overrun by zombies, while Terminus is an island black site. Both have different map-based mechanics, but the gameplay loop of killing waves of zombies is the same.

Of the two maps, Terminus is the most interesting. Multiple layers to the map include a boat mechanic that lets players travel around on a boat to different smaller islands and inside a hidden cavern within the facility. It is a really fascinating map that shows what Treyarch is capable of when it comes to map creativity. It would be nice to hopefully get more maps that push the boundaries, like Terminus, in the future since only having two maps at the moment can get old relatively quickly.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 multiplayer is a blast to play, with plenty of options for all sorts of players. The movement feels great, the gunplay is excellent, and the progression is rewarding and straightforward.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is out now on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, free for Xbox Game Pass subscribers with an active subscription.