Call of Duty Black Ops 6 Multiplayer and Zombies Review

Time for another Call of Duty review! We reviewed Black Ops 6’s campaign a few days ago, and now we’re moving on to multiplayer and Zombie. So, does this episode perform well on all fronts? Here’s our review.

This Black Ops 6 is definitely a real piece of work! Not satisfied with just a solid campaign (check out our review here), this Call of Duty is supported by excellent multiplayer and Zombie. Treyarch is in charge here. For the launch, the studio is offering multi-player action, action, and action, with 16 maps – including 4 “Strike” maps – and 9 modes dedicated to 6v6 (there’s also 2v2 and even 1v1 private games, with split screen as a bonus). We’re willing to bet that 32v32 will arrive sooner or later, but we’ll have to manage without it for the moment… And that’s clearly not a bad thing, since 6v6 goes perfectly with THE new feature of this episode, the famous “Omnimovement”.

Defy Gravity, Dominate the Battlefield

Yes, if you haven’t been following the various Black Ops 6 announcements, omnimovement is a new movement system that lets you run, slide, and even dive in any direction. Basically, you have nothing to envy Max Payne (except the slow motion), and you can play like an action movie star. For example, imagine you’ve been shot in the back and there’s a small ravine in front of you. Well, you can dive into the void, turn around in mid-air to face the enemy, and put a few bullets in him that he’ll remember for a long time. By the way, if you’d like to replay some of your best stunts, the title offers a Studio Mode where your games are automatically recorded (but on our PS5, this caused the game to bug or even crash).

Essentially, omnimovement is a great addition, building on Call of Duty’s already solid FPS expertise. It’s simply a joy to master, and even more exhilarating when your stunts really produce results. We also found that omnimovement was well-balanced, opening the way to some minor weirdness – yes – but without ruining the gameplay of recent CODs! In our opinion, it’s a total success. Plus, for the more advanced gamers: yes, you can cancel slides.

A Few Other Gameplay Additions:

While omnimovement is the star of Black Ops 6, Treyarch introduces other new features as well. In multiplayer, it is now possible to use a third 100% hand-to-hand weapon – a knife at first – by pressing and holding R3… The knife in question is a one-shot weapon, which can be devastating depending on the situation. In this Call of Duty, you can also use an opponent as a human shield! But you have to sneak up on him without getting caught.

Perfect Maps

Best of all, all the maps in Black Ops 6 have been carefully designed to exploit this movement system. Frankly, the first maps of this episode – all new – are truly outstanding, both in form and content. Even the most classic maps, such as Protocol or Vorkuta, conceal hidden paths and unusual shooting angles, which always add a little “magic” to the battles. For our part, we liked Lowtown’s underwater phases, and Derelict’s escape routes between and inside wagons.

Some locations, like Payback or Subsonic, even offer small interactions (often a button to close/open a door). It may not sound like much, but when you combine this with top-notch technical production and sound design, it makes all the difference. Each map has its own character, and each one is completely different from the others.

This attention to detail can also be found in Zombie – discussed below – and, to a lesser extent, in the four “Strike” maps (reserved for 6v6 in close quarters and 2v2). With the notable exception of Warhead, we haven’t exactly fallen in love with these smaller game areas, either because of all the mayhem or, on the contrary, due to the loneliness reigning there ( but that’s what they’re all about). Nothing serious, we assure you. By the way, we did notice a few bugs in 6v6, such as players sinking into the ground after dying in battle, but there was nothing that impacted the gameplay, never. Plus, the game runs perfectly at 4K / 60fps on PS5.

A Fresh Take on Classic Modes

But what would good maps be without their modes? With Black Ops 6, Treyarch is obviously bringing back the big classics of the license (see the full list below), but is also introducing a new one: Kill Order! It’s a team-based 6v6 deathmatch mode, except that one player from each team is a “High Value Target”. This target has several advantages: he has a few armor plates, a radar that constantly scans the area and above all, his kills earn him 2 points instead of 1 (the counter stops at 125 points).

On the other hand, the priority target has its position permanently marked… and killing him is worth his weight in gold: 5 points in your pocket. Overall, Kill Order is a rather clever mix between an escort mission and hardcore assault. It’s fun to decide whether to defend or attack – depending on your score or your position on the map. Especially as the High Value Target role rotates during the game, it puts a little pressure on you when it’s your turn! In short, it’s a welcome addition, but we don’t know if it will ever join the pantheon of Call of Duty modes, cause it’s sure worthy of the title.

A Mode for Every Mood

Team Deathmatch, Domination, Search and Destroy, Kill Confirmed, Free-For-All, Hardpoint, Gunfight, Headquarters, Control, Kill Order.

(Domination, Team Deathmatch, Kill Confirmed, and Kill Order are also available in alternative versions with killstreaks deactivated. Plus a Hardcore playlist).

Balanced Gameplay and Rewarding Progression

As a whole, Black Ops 6’s gameplay, maps, and playlist work together to create a truly addictive experience. Modes range from 100% action, to tactical, to limited respawn games – and for us, the hours just flew by! Even the matchmaking often delivered headache-free games… The progression system also plays its part. As usual, Call of Duty relies on a mix of experience and levels, which in this case range from level 1 to 55, with 10 levels of the classic Prestige.

You know the drill: at each level, you get weapons – also accessible in Zombie and Warzone modes – tactical/lethal equipment, combat upgrades, and assets. On this last point, this episode returns to something more classic, moving away from the wardrobe approach of Modern Warfare 3 (2023). For your gear, you can select from three categories of Perks: Enforcer, Recon, and Strategist. You’ll find the great classics, such as Gung-Ho, and Scavenger, but with a new feature: the Combat Specialty.
Simply put, if all your perks belong to the same category, you get one last bonus. For example, the Enforcer Specialty grants a temporary buff to movement speed and health regen rate.

To wrap up the rest of the new features, there are also “Wildcards”, designed to replace well-known bonuses such as Overkill. Combat enhancements also include a number of amusing new features, such as the Signal Lure, which can be used to listen in on the opposing team’s voice communications, and the Sleeper Agent, for (outright) infiltration of the enemy camp. On this point, Black Ops 6 merely adds slight variations to a tried-and-tested foundation, but it works! As the game progressed, we always felt that the rewards were well worth the investment, and we didn’t notice any major balancing issues with the weapons either.

Rise of the Undead

Meanwhile, if you’ve been bored to death, don’t worry, we’re here to pick you up from the afterlife: it’s time to talk about the Zombie… And as you’ll soon realize, our opinion is positive once again. Treyarch has taken the same care as it did with multiplayer. The two maps offered at launch – which mark the return of survival by waves of undead – are dense, well-designed, and (as tradition would have it) full of secrets! Whether it’s Liberty Falls, the somewhat damaged Virginia town, or Terminus, the penitentiary island concealing a vast laboratory, it’s clear that the studio wants to take its famous mode a step further.

We’re thinking in particular of a few staging details, which give a little more “body” to the presence of zombies, or the Augments research, a new system that improves Perks, ammunition mods, and combat enhancement. The principle is super-simple: before going to the battlefield, you need to select a bonus to “research”, which will unlock minor and major advantages linked to this bonus during your game. There are six advantages for each bonus, and you can then equip two for each of them (one minor, one major). For example, the Dead Wire Ammo mod can paralyze elite enemies or even change into a lightning bolt to strike several opponents simultaneously.

In short, in our opinion, Augments research is a good way of rewarding those who invest themselves in Zombie, but we would have liked the whole thing to be less… time-consuming (you can only choose one bonus to “research” each time, and progress is relatively slow). For the rest, this mode hits the nail on the head and builds on everything that made it a success in the past: Pack-A-Punch, weapon rarity levels, mystery boxes (obviously), crafting tables, and even the return of GobbleGum, those little one-time-use bonuses. S.A.M. challenges, a completely ravaged artificial intelligence, are also back! The AI will present you with crazy challenges in the middle of the game, with attractive rewards on offer. Overall, this is a well-paced mode. Random bonuses and the arrival of new creatures also boost the mode’s rhythm.

Ultimately, Black Ops 6’s Zombie mode proves to be a real success: whether solo or in a 4-player co-op, it’s always a pleasure to slay the undead, especially on two highly detailed maps. Liberty Falls, with its wide streets and circular structure, is primarily intended for newcomers to the mode who want to keep the waves coming. Terminus, on the other hand, is designed for seasoned players who aren’t afraid to dig deep and survive in tight corridors. And rest assured, you won’t be disappointed by the secrets awaiting you. We’ll leave you with a few details: in Zombie, you can now save the game when playing solo, and activate a 3rd-person camera regardless of the number of players.

Conclusion

Following an excellent campaign, Call of Duty Black Ops 6’s multiplayer and Zombie modes are equally successful. In fact, they’re the best online modes in a long time, supported by a new movement system designed to make you feel at home. Everything, absolutely everything, has been carefully thought out by the Treyarch teams, from the gameplay to the maps, the progression system, and, of course, the legendary Zombie. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen Call of Duty in such fine form, and it’s a real pleasure. An episode you definitely don’t want to miss.