Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6, As Told By Steam Reviews (original) (raw)

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6is, understandably, a pretty big deal. The franchise has been in a bit of a lull lately, despite routinely setting new sales records, and this game especially needed to be a slam dunk given its unique position. As the first Call of Duty game to release on Game Pass following Microsoft’s purchase of Activision—which itself has been followed by numerous disastrous layoffs—Black Ops 6 has been touted as a return to form for the series, as well as for its embattled publisher. The status of its probable release on Game Pass was debated for months until it was finally confirmed, and now it’s Microsoft’s single greatest chance to bolster the stagnant subscription service and make good on promises.

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Recent installments in the franchise like Modern Warfare III, Vanguard, and Black Ops Cold War have been met with a decidedly more tepid reception than, say, 2019’s Modern Warfare or even the battle royale game Warzone. It almost seems like with every new entry of late the series has strayed from the desires of its outsized and fairly casual audience. Call of Duty is, after all, one of those games that most people pick up once a year and play till the next one comes along, much like a sports game. Folks who play those games tend to want refinements of core principles rather than drastic or convoluted reinventions.

All of which is to say, _Black Ops 6_’s return-to-basics approach was a welcome bit of news among the cacophony of showcases, directs, and overbearing blog posts about why this game would be the best Call of Duty ever. After _MWIII_’s flop of an open-ended campaign, Black Ops 6 doubled down on having a cinematic, blockbuster story mode like the best in the series have offered. Its iteration on Zombies feels like a healthy mixture of new and classic features and mechanics. Even the multiplayer feels sensibly pared back, and it restores tenets that fans have missed, like the prestige system. Treyarch and Xbox clearly want us to think that Call of Duty is “back,” but is it really?

According to the reviews that Black Ops 6 is accruing on Steam, the answer’s a bit more complicated than a simple yes or no. Fans seem to generally agree that the campaign here is better than average, and some are even calling it the best story mode in a COD game in years. And of course there are players who have cherished the simplified renditions of both the competitive multiplayer suite and the cooperative Zombies mode, myself included. As is always going to be the case with a series this big and this polarizing, though, the more you look, the more people you’ll find who are disappointed in some of the game’s features.

One of the biggest problems many seem to have with Black Ops 6 actually has little to do with the game itself and more to do with the packaging, specifically the launcher, Call of Duty HQ. While the tool has been reworked since its initial release, it isn’t significantly better, and it seems to be even worse on PC, where fans of the series seem to hate it more than I do! One review joked that Black Ops 6 is actually a “game is updating simulator.”

Elsewhere, _Black Ops 6_’s various modes are causing division. Some are appreciating their time with the competitive multiplayer suite, but there are also repeated mentions of terrible maps and spawns throughout the reviews. Having played the beta extensively, as well as jumping in after launch, I can kind of agree that there don’t seem to be any unilateral winners among the crop of multiplayer arenas available right now. Zombies has enjoyed a more positive reception than multiplayer, but still there are players who are unhappy with the settings and crying out for more ambient (spookier) maps in the future.

Overall, Black Ops 6 seems to be earning its “Mixed” reception on Steam. It isn’t the greatest game, but it’s a perfectly fine and fun middling title, and that’s about all I need from it to have a great time. The divisiveness surrounding the game is at least producing some good material in the Steam reviews page, though, so read it and weep.

A Steam review reading, "You spend more time loading up between Campaign, Multiplayer, and Zombies than actually spending time in those modes."

Screenshot: Kotaku / Valve

A Steam review reading, "Dont get this game its good yes but its so incredibly stupid if you are a solo player with bad internet because for some dumb reason they made the "SOLO" mode need internet connection because why not."

Screenshot: Kotaku / Valve

A Steam review reading, "ngl i expected it to be a bad COD but i think its pretty good."

Screenshot: Kotaku / Valve

A Steam review reading, "Omnimovement is gonna have me doing Palpatine barrel rolls for kills."

Screenshot: Kotaku / Valve

A Steam review reading, "The campaign wouldve been great if it didnt d/c me constantly for losing connection to the server in a single player game. Multiplayer is full of sweats bunnyhopping around every corner because the maps are tiny and the spawns are terrible."

Screenshot: Kotaku / Valve

A Steam review reading, "Let me tell you something. I still don't have a girlfriend and am severely depressed, but at least I'm above average at this game."

Screenshot: Kotaku / Valve

A Steam review reading, "The worst maps in recent memory. They simultaneously increased the movement speed while downsizing the maps. It feels more like a twitch shooter than a call of duty game. Zombies is fun but the maps are uninspired compared to the old black ops 1 and 2 maps. Treyarch flopped with this one."

Screenshot: Kotaku / Valve

A Steam review reading, "Ahhh finally game is updating simulator has been released. Also why tf do they not have a separate launcher for cod bo6."

Screenshot: Kotaku / Valve

A Steam review reading, "zombies = very fun, well designed maps multiplayer = rage inducing, as always only thing i'd change is get rid of COD HQ and let me launch BO6 from my desktop."

Screenshot: Kotaku / Valve

A Steam review reading, "Tf, I was expecting yearly dose of slop and instead I got a great campaign, do not recommend."

Screenshot: Kotaku / Valve

A Steam review reading, "Unironically a yes. This game's actually fun as hell. Most fun I've had with an FPS in years. The zombies maps at launch are phenomenal, the multiplayer maps aren't the greatest but hte movement and gameplay is just fun, and I haven't tried the campaign yet. I'm so sorry i'm back to cod."

Screenshot: Kotaku / Valve

A Steam review reading, "1. Maps feel soulless and like they were put together by AI. (almost every map feels like shipment) One map is literally an apartment with 4 small rooms. 2. For proper audio, to hear your surroundings you have to fork out another $20. 3. Damage/Time to kill is inconsistent 4. SBMM is cranked up probably because every game is a shipment match."

Screenshot: Kotaku / Valve

A Steam review reading, "One of the better CODS in recent years. The movement and gun play feel extremely good. The worst part in the whole game is the maps. Is it the best COD ever no but it's definitely better then the previous 4 CODS."

Screenshot: Kotaku / Valve

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Screenshot: Kotaku / Valve

A Steam review reading, "The zombies mode has only 2 maps and they still felt longer than the whole MW3 campaign."

Screenshot: Kotaku / Valve