Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Multiplayer Review

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’s multiplayer had a lot riding on its shoulders. First off, there was the fact that it was following on from Modern Warfare 3, which was an utterly atrocious offering. Add to that the fact that Black Ops 6 is the first COD game released directly on Xbox Game Pass following Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard and expectations were high.

There is also the fact that this year’s entry is introducing a plethora of new gameplay mechanics like Omnimovement and Intelligent Movement systems, which allow the pace of the game to feel faster than ever before. Finally, Black Ops 6 was developed by Treyarch, who is considered by many to be the best Call of Duty studio, so fans were expecting a great deal.

For the most part, the game’s multiplayer mode delivers on these lofty expectations. It is far from perfect and it certainly does not reinvent the wheel, but it does offer a solid experience that long-time fans are likely to be satisfied with.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is out now and is available on PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox consoles.

Gotta Go Fast

The first thing that you are likely to notice upon booting up COD: Black Ops 6’s multiplayer mode is the immense pace of the matches. With the combination of an incredibly high TTK (time-to-kill,) and the brand-new movement systems, (which we will discuss more later,) the game becomes extremely fast-paced. This means twitchy, split-second decisions can mean the difference between life and death.

This rapid speed may not be for everyone, however it rewards players like myself who like to play aggressively. Rushing in with guns blazing is now a perfectly viable tactic providing that you can land your shots. In effect, having one player like this on a team can sway the tide of an entire match. The fact that a single player can lead a team to victory in this way and top the leaderboard is pretty awesome.

With that being said though, topping the leaderboard for several games in a row can actually be costly. This is because the developers have decided that skill-based matchmaking is in effect across all game modes constantly. This essentially means that there is no option for unranked play and every great performance you put in will be punished by placing you into tougher, sweatier lobbies following every victory.

One thing that I have been truly impressed by is how quick and easy it is to find a game even during the game’s busy post-launch period. Gone are the days of spending an age staring at a loading screen. With Activision’s money and the sheer server space they can afford, this should really be a given. Still though, it is a fairly impressive feat and makes for a better experience overall.

Tools of Destruction

The usual game modes you’d expect are all present here such as Team Deathmatch and Hardpoint etc. The ‘new’ mode is called HVT, where one of the six players in each team is randomly selected as the High-Value Target. Killing the HVT in the opposing team will net you more points and then someone else will respawn and take a turn playing as the HVT. It is far from the first time a mode like this has been seen in an online shooter, but it is fun.

The weapons arsenal in Black Ops 6’s multiplayer at launch is pretty stripped back, with seven assault rifles, six submachine guns, four marksman rifles, four pistols, three sniper rifles, three light machine guns, two shotguns, and two launchers included. There is still plenty of variety suiting each play style, although the majority of players are currently spamming the XM4 assault rifle.

Whether you think that Treyarch’s Call of Duty games are superior to those developed by Sledgehammer Games or vice versa, it is hard to deny that for all its ups and downs of the last five years, the shooting mechanics in COD titles have been buttery smooth. This year’s entry feels even better again, to the point that I don’t think that shooting from a first-person perspective has ever felt better.

Unfortunately though, that high-quality feel of the aiming and shooting mechanics does not carry over to the multiplayer maps featured in Black Ops 6 at launch. Not one of the 12 core maps feels memorable or inspires a feeling of excitement when it appears in the pre-game lobby. The game’s brand new dynamic movement system also isn’t allowed to properly shine thanks to these environmentally stifling maps.

Constant Movement Is Essential To Survival

One new gameplay mechanic stands out as being the most significant, and that is the Omnimovement System. This newly implemented mechanic allows players an unprecedented degree of mobility never seen in the COD series up until now. The ability to slide, dive, and sprint in any direction is a game-changer, adding a tangible layer to tactical positioning that creates some fascinating gameplay scenarios.

In addition to Omnimovement, Black Ops 6 also introduces something that it calls the Intelligent Movement system. This essentially allows players to automate certain movement settings to streamline their gameplay. Auto-sprint has been a thing in the past, but once you get the hang of things like auto-mount and auto-crouch, it works to speed up the gameplay even more and can be handy when you need to quickly escape from a sticky situation.

For the most part, my Black Ops 6 multiplayer experience was smooth from a technical perspective. As previously mentioned, launching into matches was reliably quick, and I never once got kicked from a game during launch week due to a connection drop. With that said, I did come up against quite a few instances of significant lag, especially during heated combat scenarios in smaller maps like Scud.

The impressive visuals seen in the Black Ops 6 campaign carry over into the multiplayer mode. Shootouts may seem too frantic to stop and drink it in, but when spectating other players or watching back your own capture footage, the intricate level of visual detail on display here is unmistakable. This high level of polish extends to other elements of the game as previously mentioned, but the visual fidelity in particular is impossible to deny.

Is Black Ops 6 Good?

Black Ops 6’s multiplayer mode has been described by some as a high point for the franchise. While I somewhat agree with this statement, there are a few drawbacks as already discussed. A poor selection of launch maps that don’t allow the new movement system to properly shine and stifling skill-based matchmaking hold this year’s multiplayer offering back from being perfect.

Overall, the gameplay is super responsive and has been refined to an extent that makes Treyarch’s four-year development cycle feel justified. The combination of haptic feedback and punchy sound effects makes the gunplay feel so satisfying. The recoil feels realistic without being too punishing and nailing a perfect headshot feels more satisfying than ever. The level of control given to players feels consistently intuitive and empowering.

The multiplayer mode in COD: Black Ops 6 ticks almost all of the gameplay boxes that long-time fans are looking to be ticked, but at the end of the day it is still little more than a box-ticking exercise. Don’t pick up this game expecting it to move the needle or blow your mind. Black Ops 6 multiplayer is a solid COD experience that does a good job of delivering an experience that feels familiar yet still fun.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Multiplayer Review – Don’t Call It a Comeback (PS5)

Apart from a few drawbacks, Black Ops 6’s multiplayer mode is the best seen in any COD game for years. If it were to feature some better three-lane maps and stop forcing skill-based matchmaking onto every player, it may even be fair to call it the best edition of multiplayer ever released. As long as you can keep up with its unforgivably quick pace that is.