First things first: Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’s Zombies mode is a return to the fan-favorite round-based co-op mode, where 1-4 players must survive waves of zombies, with each round increasing in challenge and difficulty. The story picks up after the events of 2020’s Black Ops Cold War and continues the Dark Aether storyline with the return of Weaver, Grey, and Carver – who were imprisoned – along with fresh character Maya, who is playable in Zombies. Each of them has their own storyline. Former villain William Peck also returns as a guide, with Oskar Strauss and Raptor One appearing in supporting roles. I can say that I enjoyed my time playing Zombies. Treyarch has clearly struck a forceful balance between community-requested features, level design, and progression, which is shaping up to please both veterans and newcomers to the series.
Zombies will feature two maps at launch: Liberty Falls, set in West Virginia, and Terminus, an island set in the Philippine Sea. Terminus was playable during my time with the game, and developer Treyarch calls it one of the biggest maps they’ve ever created: packed with side missions, random lively encounters, environmental traps, and tons of experiences to discover and explore as you fight your way through the zombie horde.
Treyarch’s motto for Terminus is “wherever you see, you can go.” The map will also introduce fresh enemies like Vermin and Parasites, which will mutate and evolve into a deadlier enemy when the main host is killed. Players will have access to a pilotable vehicle, thanks to the Project Janus Tactical Raft, which we used during our play session to explore a smaller island perceptible from the main coast.
Black Ops 6 Zombies will also feature the return of global progression, classic prestige, weapon customization, map-specific intel systems, and the fan-favorite GobbleGums – a consumable item that can store up to three GobbleGums at once and provides in-game effects and abilities.
Wonder Weapons also return, with the all-new BeamSmasher, which uses sound frequency and lithe energy types to produce unique and spectacular damage results. Elemental damage types also have effects and abilities against enemies faint to that damage type, with a fun example being making an enemy teleport and appear high in the air, then falling at high speed.
Meanwhile, the Augment Upgrade System provides a personalized experience, allowing players to unlock three major and three minor upgrades per item for each perk, field upgrade, and ammo mod. You’ll be able to equip one major and one minor upgrade at a time. Augments are lasting upgrades that you earn by simply playing Zombies, and you’ll have the option to focus your progression on a specific upgrade from the hundred or so upgrades that will be available at launch using the Research feature available through class creation. The Melee Macchiato Perk was my favorite during my playthrough, granting a powerful melee punch attack and Support Injection, which turns you into a force of nature for a restricted time, easily cutting down hordes of zombies.
There’s also a Zombie Builds option in the Create a Class menu, which lets you save custom weapon setups and share them in-game via a Mystery Box.
A few other fresh quality of life features are also coming to Black Ops 6: “Save and Quit,” third-person mode, and Guided Mode. Save and Quit is a fresh feature that provides a restricted break in solo games, and for longer breaks, you can save your status and resume the game — but only one save slot will be available to prevent multiple checkpoints while chasing higher rounds. For co-op games, Treyarch is adding a “join matches at any time” feature to provide drop-in/drop-out flexibility, allowing friends to join games in progress and/or after disconnecting from a session. Third-person mode is available for the first time in a Black Ops game, and can be toggled on/off at any time. There will be HUD options that allow you to remove health bars and damage numbers, as well as preset options with choices like: standard, legacy, mini map, and streamer mode, which would provide a spot for a face camera or overlay.
But the feature I’d most like to see for players fresh to Zombies is Guided Mode. I sat down with the Treyarch development team to discuss Guided Mode and was surprised to hear that a very low percentage of players complete the main mission, so the team decided to implement a Guided version that removes the side missions and the round-based ticking clock to provide a more cordial and curated experience. All in an effort to encourage more people to try to complete the main story. Guided Mode won’t be available at launch, though, and for diehard players there will be an incentive to complete the main mission before the fresh mode launches in the form of a calling card.
After playing Black Ops 6 for 45 minutes, I was thoroughly enjoying tearing through the zombie hordes on Terminus Island. The map is, as Treyarch promised, huge and full of things to explore. In my restricted time, using my pre-configured loadout and the Mystery Box, I was able to try out a variety of weapons, including shotguns, submachine guns, and assault rifles. As always, all of the weapons had their pros and cons, but overall, they were fun to apply – as were the upgrades to the various perks and field equipment, such as the scatter mines and improved melee skills in melee scenarios. The difficulty level ramps up, and as I progressed, I found myself often getting knocked down by the crowds of enemies around me as we progressed to higher rounds (the mutant parasites will be a problem if not dealt with quickly), and I really had to start using more strategy and communicating with my teammates, rather than just running around and gunning – which I think most fresh players will be inclined to do during their early play sessions.
There are a LOT of features in Zombies this year, from exploring Terminus Island, using GobbleGums, using Augment power-ups, customizing your weapons in Zombie builds, and even using Wonder Weapons to take down hordes of enemies. And that’s not even including the stuff I haven’t mentioned yet, like the Global Onimovement or the second Liberty Falls map, which Treyarch promises to talk more about in the coming weeks.
Black Ops 6 is shaping up to be one of the most polished examples of the mode that Treyarch first introduced in Call of Duty: World at War 16 years ago, and I can’t wait to play more of it when Black Ops 6 launches in the fall.
