Call of Duty Black Ops 6 review: Best-in-class multiplayer and a top 90s spy story

This is simply the best Call of Duty in years.

Having had a longer development time than some of the more recent iterations in the shooter series has done maker Activision the world of good.

The result is a stellar story mode, genre-leading multiplayersuite and super fun zombies addition.

Black Ops 6 sees the return of some fan favourite characters from the long-running sub-series of the CoD franchise from studio Treyarch.

There’s an ongoing war of words among the diehard fans as to which is better, the Black Ops games made by them or the Modern Warfare ones by the original developers Infinity Ward.

The truth is that both are experts in first-person action blockbusters and they now work together across all aspects of the CoD Behemoth.

And we gamers are all winners this year after the slimmed down Modern Warfare 3 of 2023, with a full-fat CoD game, packed full of action and innovation – all thanks to that bit of extra time to make a gaming classic.

The story side of the game sees you take on a movie-like 90s spy thriller with dramatic twists and turns and action set pieces like something out of a Bond-meets-Fast-and-Furious flick.

The missions are bombastic, loud and aggressive, intense shooting action propelled along at breakneck pace.

There’s plenty of shouting and banter between the various heroes on display as they try to cloak-and-dagger their way across major events like the Gulf war to save the world from the shadows.

You plot your next move between missions in a war-torn chess game with the paramilitary Pantheon group from a hideout called The Rook.

Here you can upgrade weapons, unpeel the onion of the story on a work board of information and improve operator perks with money collected from your travels in a nice addition to the series.

Visually, it’s up there with the very best video games on console.

The character animations are extraordinary, with facial capture tech particularly impressive to convey the various emotions the heroes are going through.

The sound is booming with explosions rocking your earphones and bullets seemingly wizzing by your head.

Multiplayer will keep gamers locked into Black Ops 6 for months to come, with a new omnimovement system completely improving the ebb and flow of the action.

Your character now moves much more naturally, and it’s possible to dive through windows, twisting your body mid-air to fire off a ridiculously outlandish kill-shot into a rival’s skull before landing.

It feels cool, looks even cooler and finally updates the CoD movement system away from the clunky one-dimensional gameplay of the past.

There are 16 new varied maps at launch, including 12 core 6v6 maps and 4 Strike maps that can be played 2v2 or 6v6.

And with more to come in regular updates, this is a bountiful multiplayer suite that you’ll keep coming back to again and again.

The third core mode in Black Ops 6 is zombies. This is a return to round-based horde attacks from endless armies of the undead.

There are two new maps at launch, Terminus and Liberty Falls, that both offer plenty of space, height and shooting spots to kill off oncoming baddies.

And it’s a constant tense, thrilling ride as you run, jump and dive for your life from marauding monsters hell-bent on making you one of their own, all while trying to unlock the next area and soup-up your weaponry for another onslaught.

There’s tons in Black Ops 6 to enjoy and the promise of updates ahead to only improve what’s already on the table.

This is an excellent first-person shooter with best-in-class multiplayer, a stunning story mode and over-the-top, enjoyable zombie smashing.

Gaming gun action has never felt so good.

VERDICT 5/5