Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

Treyarch · Activision

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is Treyarch's 2024 entry in the long-running shooter series, with a campaign set in the early 1990s around the Gulf War. It is rated M for realistic violence, so it is a game for older teens and adults. Most people who play it at a cafe skip straight past the campaign. The real draw is multiplayer and Zombies. Black Ops 6 introduced omnimovement, which lets you sprint, slide and dive in any direction, not just forwards. Matches feel fast and acrobatic, and it takes a few games before you stop diving into walls. Zombies is the best reason to bring friends. Treyarch brought back classic round-based maps, where up to four players survive ever-harder waves, open new areas, upgrade weapons and chase a hidden main quest. It is cooperative, tense and very social, and a group of four on neighbouring PCs or consoles can easily lose an evening to it. Where to play it Both PC and PS5 work well. PC gives you a mouse and higher frame rates, which competitive players prefer. PS5 with a controller is more relaxed and has strong aim assist. Either way you will need an account: Battle.net or Steam on PC, PlayStation Network on console, and the game is large, so play somewhere that keeps it installed and patched instead of hoping to download it on arrival. A few tips for newcomers Start in Team Deathmatch or Kill Confirmed rather than objective modes, so you learn the maps without pressure. Use the slide-cancel and dive moves to break line of sight, not to show off. In Zombies, do not spend all your points early; save for the Pack-a-Punch upgrade, which makes guns much stronger in later rounds. How long is a session? Multiplayer matches are about ten minutes each, so an hour covers five or six. A serious Zombies run goes much longer; reaching higher rounds can take two hours or more. If you are planning a Zombies night with a squad, book a long block up front. Black Ops 6 suits groups who want fast action and anyone who enjoys co-op survival. Fans of slower, tactical shooters may prefer Rainbow Six Siege or Counter-Strike 2.