Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

Overly Dramatic Review in One Sentence

The craziest action game turned psychological horror game you will ever experience.

The Actual Review

Game time:

PC: 9 Hours (This is an estimate based on my time tracking software due to the fact that Call of Duty on Steam is every Call of Duty in "one game")

Gameplay

It is Call of Duty game. If you watch the video above, I am just playing through some of the horror portion and the number of times that I nearly jumped out of my skin is crazy. Especially the first time as this video was me replaying it to get some recording. The horror portion is the biggest change to the game and it is the best part. The rest of the game is nothing different. Decent gun fighting and equipment. Traditionally, I do not enjoy the Black Ops games. The stories are fine, I just enjoy the modern weapon systems. Call it a professional interest. This one thought has decent weapons that weren't terrible and weren't crazy to use. This game also has a couple open area missions that have come in the last couple of games that need a little more TLC to really be accepted by the community in my opinion. They aren't bad, they just feel like a time suck at times with some of the half-assed mechanics, like having to go back to your vehicle to dry across the desert.

I am not going to score the multiplayer, but it has to be talked about. The game modes haven't changed in years and that isn't an issue. The issue is that there are still TOO MANY ATTACHMENTS for the weapons. There doesn't need to be 80 optics, 40 muzzle devices, and a plethora of other crap. That allows and introduces variability into the multiplayer that cheaters will exploit. It is already happening, and I have already stopped playing the multiplayer other than with friends. While I "need" to play it to level up guns for the battle royal that updates in 2 weeks to this game, I don't want, and I probably won't.

The "Zombies" is a decently fun game mode, but I have no idea what is going on in the story, and honestly I don't care. I will wait till Defend The House does there play though to understand the story. If my friends want to play for the Easter Eggs, I'll join them, but I will never seek them out. I just don't care. This is probably where I will spend most of my time leveling weapons.

Below is a link to me playing some of the horror elements of the game so you can see what it is beyond just a Call of Duty Game.

Graphics and Sound

The graphics haven't really changed in the last couple of years. Doesn't look bad, but Grand Theft Auto V still has better sunsets. Yes the particle physics are cool, and the scenery is deep with the available shadows, but honestly I just turn that stuff off since I am not walking around admiring the game while playing it. There isn't time in any of the game modes.

Sound is alright. Footsteps are outrageously loud and have no real directional information as far as distance, but its clean audio. They also did a lot of work in the audio of shooting in different environments and inside different spaces. It's pretty cool.

Story and Characters

Black Ops for the past couple of years has done with different endings and trickle of information that creates gaps or mystery in the game. If there was going to be campaign DLC, I'd be ok with that. However, since there isn't and never has been, I am a little frustrated with this game. The story line was spectacularly good and kept me involved that I played late into the night after saying I was just going to play for an hour.

My biggest grip with the characters is that I am missing information. Jane's history with her parents is missing, she changed into something else, she is the voice inside Case's head. Case is you, and you have a history that I want more of. Woods has been around since Black Ops 1 and hasn't changed, which is perfect for his character. Adler I think is so slimey that He is just kept around to reinforce the mystery. Marshal was cool. I liked him.

My Rating

This campaign is the first campaign since the original Modern Warfare series in the early 2000s that has really kept my interest, and I was excited to play till the end. Sam told me that a group he follows said that if the game wasn't under the umbrella of Call of Duty, it would be a contender for game of the year. I do not disagree with this. If you didn't include the multiplayer and Battle Royal, this would have been game of the year. However, you have to for sure include the multiplayer and that kills that contention. The campaign is all I am scoring and deserves a big fat "GET THIS GAME" and should be on every one's Must Play list. Outstanding. The fact that below I just labeled repeatability for the campaign as "green" is a testiment to how good this story is as I have NEVER repeated a Call of Duty campaign.

Parental Rating

My dad would have no issues with me playing this game. Fighting a possible corrupt intelligence agency that is teaming up with the Russians? Go for it Kid. My mom would not like that I am shooting people and barely is ok with my dad owning a couple guns himself. Good thing she doesn't live with me.

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