GameCentral starts the review process for this year’s new Call Of Duty, with the story campaign having some unexpected influences.
A lot is riding on Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. The newest title in the once untouchable juggernaut has more than a few spectres looming over it. For one, the franchise’s once insuperable dominance over the medium has waned in recent years. While 2019’s reboot of Modern Warfare provided a boost, sentiment has been souring for the last few iterations, especially after last year’s dire Modern Warfare 3.
This is also the first in the franchise to release day one on Game Pass (except the cheapest Standard tier). Microsoft’s eye-watering $75.4 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard took a herculean effort by all parties to get approved, and this is one of the first times we’ll will see that union bear fruit. Now, Call of Duty isn’t a mandatory upfront purchase of at least £70, but rather a feature for those that subscribe to Microsoft’s service for just £14.99 a month. It feels like a big moment for the subscription service, but also for Xbox as a brand.
That’s why it’s no surprise we’re seeing the return of one of Call of Duty’s most beloved franchises. If you need a big moment in Call of Duty, putting a Black Ops subtitle on it usually helps. The game is now out for everyone, including Game Pass subscribers, so we dived in for an initial blast to get our first impressions to you.
Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 story campaign first impressions
Since we’ve already covered the basics of the multiplayer, in our coverage of the beta, we’ll dive into the story campaign first, which hasn’t been seen at all outside the trailers. There’s been no previews and, unusually, there was no early access to play it a week early. Thankfully though, it doesn’t seem as if the single-player mode is anything to be ashamed of. Far from it, in fact…
One of the tricky aspects of the Black Ops lineage is that after five games, the sub-franchise’s story has jumped all over the place. To call this timeline convoluted would be an understatement as the first two Black Ops games span from 1961 to 2025. Besides Black Ops 3 and 4, which set themselves in the far future, bypassing the timeframe of original series leads Alex Mason and Frank Woods, the games have had to exist within an already established timeline.
Black Ops 6 nestles itself into 1991, placing it in-between the time jump in Black Ops 2, exploring an unresolved mystery of who betrayed Woods and Mason. So, if you’re hoping to be able to follow what’s going on, even as someone who has played these games before, you may want to consume a story recap of the Black Ops timeline before jumping in.
One of Black Ops story gimmicks is that it deals with events that exist in fairly recent living memory, bringing to life modern recognisable presidents and conflicts, and integrating them into the main story. That continues with Black Ops 6, with allusions toward George Bush Sr. and Bill Clinton.
As the timeline progresses closer to our current date, this feels like an increasingly jarring decision, as the consequences of the conflicts you meddle in are still relevant today. The first mission has you jump into a skirmish within the Gulf War. Inevitably, you end up dealing with a mysterious (fictional) paramilitary group that the game sets up as the main antagonist, but the Gulf War as window dressing certainly feels closer to home than that of, say, the Second World War.
Regardless, Black Ops 6 is endeavouring for something pretty interesting, and it’s invoking the shadow of one of the series’ most compelling, but forgotten campaigns.
Black Ops 6 and the legacy of Infinite Warfare
Infinite Warfare was a much maligned game in the Call of Duty pantheon. Historically, the reveal trailer became the most disliked video on YouTube, when it was announced, as players were tired of sci-fi future warfare at the time and many wanted a return to something more historic. It also sported some of the least-liked multiplayer in the franchise’s history.
However, that game’s main campaign, for my money, was the best in the franchise’s history. Breaking the mould of a linear narrative, that played out like an almost on-rails shooting gallery, Infinite Warfare had you returning to a base and talking to the characters around you between missions.
You had dialogue trees letting you get to know the team, seeding more emotional connections to proceedings that made it easier to care about what was going on. That was paid off with effective emotional moments that made that game hit far more than any previous Call of Duty game, outside of the shock of the nuclear bomb going off in the original Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.
Black Ops 6 has me excited in its first hour, because it too has you returning to a base and talking to the characters in between missions, with dialogue trees allowing you to explore further into the story if you wish. After the first mission, you and your increasing number of ragtag allies set up shop in The Rook, an old abandoned house full of surprises. It’s quite a strange, but interesting setup, that has you exploring this building full of puzzles and mysteries.
You also will collect money in your missions to upgrade the base, and give you access to more weapons, perks, and abilities. This incentivises you to explore missions so you can bring more cash home with you to upgrade your operation. It’s a quite fascinating structure, and one I’m eager to see play out.
However, the fact a Call of Duty campaign has me reminiscing about Infinite Warfare’s campaign, at least for me, is a really good sign. The only real pitfall of that game was that it concluded after seven hours when really it felt like the structure of something begging to be 30-40 hours. If Black Ops 6 can leave me wanting more but while paying off that potential in a more satisfying manner, it could be an all-timer.
Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 initial review verdict
Of course, nerding out on dialogue trees and a Scooby-Doo mansion, with some light puzzle-solving, isn’t what most people are here to see. In the first two missions, Black Ops 6 brings two interesting flavours. The first has you running around the Kuwait and Iraq border, in a big, action-filled shooting gallery that gets that Call Of Duty adrenaline pumping. There are explosions, gunfire and you shoot a helicopter with an RPG, all set to the striking imagery of the Kuwait oil fires that makes for a moody, yet standard Call of Duty action opening.
As ever, this series’ remarkable graphics and gunplay shine, and while it’s easy to take for granted from this series, it’s not hard to take a step back and admire the excellence of execution the series is known for.
The second mission is a quieter affair, as you find yourself infiltrating, and trying to assassinate associates of the mysterious Pantheon group you’re tasked with tracking down. This mission plays out almost like a Hitman-lite level, with you picking from multiple points of entry, and you having to choose your weapons and approach to the situation.
As ever, this being Call of Duty, it falls apart quickly into a hail of gunfire, but even across the two missions I played, there have been two distinct feelings here, and I’m very much enjoying what I’m experiencing. The central mystery of Pantheon is compelling enough to want to see it out, and while the timeline is convoluted, the narrative team seems to have found an interesting spot to explore within the jumbled timeline.
There is still a long way for me to go, and lots of areas Black Ops 6 can drop the ball from here. That’s even before we get to multiplayer and Zombies. All of that will come in our full review. However, often you get a ‘vibe’ for a good Call Of Duty game early on. A feeling that this could be one of the more important entries in the franchise. Right now, I’m starting to get the tingling.
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