Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 remains my top pick among Treyarch’s contributions to the long-running and sometimes predictable shooter franchise because it’s the one that takes the boldest risks.
It mixes the series’ familiar linear missions with a unique top-down, real-time-strategy-style gameplay that allows you to control troops on the battlefield before diving down to possess a soldier and take the action into your own hands.
It also tracks your choices, successes, and failures, adjusting its complex branching storyline to reflect them.The spirit of Black Ops 2 is revived in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, and it’s not just because it functions as a partial prequel-sequel to that twelve-year-old title.
Black Ops 6 reintroduces innovative level designs and mission concepts that challenge the familiar Call of Duty framework in a similar way.
While not as daring as Black Ops 2—some of the older game’s more audacious ideas had mixed results—Black Ops 6 brings in fresh, creative elements without fully abandoning the Call of Duty formula.
Though it lacks the branching narrative and some of the larger gameplay changes, Treyarch integrates imaginative tweaks to expand and diversify the campaign.
The result is a game that maintains the franchise’s cinematic intensity but also delivers multiple opportunities to experience the thrill of being both a super spy and a super soldier.
The storyline of Black Ops 6, as is often the case in the franchise, manages to be both simple and intricately complex.
At the core, you’re a CIA operative named Case, a silent protagonist on a covert mission during Operation: Desert Storm.
Alongside teammates Marshall and Harrow, you encounter Russell Adler from Black Ops: Cold War, who reveals the existence of The Pantheon, a secret paramilitary group of American ex-soldiers and others operating within the CIA with a hidden, malicious agenda.
From there, the game follows your alliance with Marshall, Adler, and franchise veteran Frank Woods as you recruit spies, gather intel, and work to bring down The Pantheon. It’s a classic Call of Duty setup, blending espionage with shootouts.
It’s in the missions themselves where Black Ops 6 steps off the predictable path. With the game’s covert operations emphasis, there are times when you’ll be moving forward, mowing down enemies in scenes reminiscent of past Call of Duty battles. But other times, you’ll need to be strategic and stealthy.
For instance, while recruiting master of disguise Sev, you navigate a low-profile mission among mob enforcers, listening in on a phone call and assassinating a target.
You’re largely free to find your own way into a fortified church belltower for the shot, either by fighting your way through or taking a quieter route. The level may not be vast, but the available options make each approach feel significant.
Stealth is present in several missions, though Black Ops 6’s stealth mechanics are limited. Enemies have poor peripheral vision, often unaware of your crouch-walking presence behind them, and their intelligence is lacking. Still, the large number of enemies in each area compensates somewhat for their simplicity.
Plus, pulling off a stealthy headshot with a silenced pistol, just before an enemy raises the alarm, is rewarding. And when stealth fails, it leads naturally back to Call of Duty’s trademark gunplay, where you can clean up a botched infiltration by quickly eliminating everyone in sight.
Each time you manage to salvage a stealth attempt with Call of Duty’s superb gunplay, it feels just as satisfying.Black Ops 6 introduces gameplay mechanics that freshen the Call of Duty formula, such as nonlinear missions inspired by open-world games like Far Cry.
One mission in Desert Storm adopts a “wide-linear” structure, letting you and your team drive around a sprawling map, completing objectives at your own pace. Scouting paths, tagging enemies with a camera that highlights them adds a Far Cry-like twist to the mission.
While not as comprehensive as Far Cry, this additional freedom and tactical planning add layers to the mission’s inevitable large-scale firefights.
Here, your objective is to dismantle fortified Scud missile launchers, but you can also eliminate Pantheon camps to uncover intel, rescue stranded Delta Force soldiers, or disable anti-air missile batteries to gain air support.
Completing side objectives unlocks Scorestreak rewards, enabling you to call in an attack helicopter or airstrike, and with Black Ops 6’s varied gadgets, you have plenty of explosive options for handling each encounter.
Treyarch ensures that each of Black Ops 6’s missions feels fresh by never repeating this formula. Each mission introduces a unique twist: a horror-themed level, a spy-centric infiltration mission, and a heist where you switch between team members as they each carry out their part, in a sequence reminiscent of Ocean’s 11.
For instance, in a mission infiltrating a Bill Clinton campaign event, you gather intel to photograph a senator’s retinal scan, using various paths to reach him. In my playthrough, I uncovered a blackmail scheme by following the senator’s aide, stole the compromising materials, and exchanged them with the senator’s wife for the shot I needed. Such choices don’t dramatically alter the game, but they add agency to your approach.
While the stealth mechanics aren’t stellar, they’re a fun addition that serves as a nice break from the traditional action, blending well with Black Ops 6’s core gameplay.
The level variety and creative additions in Black Ops 6 add to the experience, even if they don’t redefine the gameplay. Although none of the levels push boundaries with new ideas—the horror mission uses Zombies from the Zombies game mode, and the heist relies on the limited stealth mechanics—they complement Call of Duty’s core gameplay well.
Black Ops 6 might not take as many risks as Black Ops 2, but it successfully mixes in enough variety to enrich the Call of Duty formula, though still a bit cautiously.
Alongside the reliable shooting mechanics that make every gun punchy and thrilling, Black Ops 6 brings in the franchise’s familiar array of gadgets. The explosive RC car makes a return, and you’re equipped with items like an adrenaline shot that slows time, a knife that homes in on enemies, and a taser that stuns opponents.
With the flexibility to carry and swap between gadgets, you have plenty of creative options for firefights.
Black Ops 6 also features Pantheon “elite” enemies equipped with similar gadgets. Some elites send explosive RC cars your way, requiring you to intercept them, while others set up taser traps throughout the battlefield.
These enemies appear infrequently, but when they do, they demand a more strategic approach than the usual opponents, adding an interesting twist to encounters.
Customization is further enhanced with upgrades you can purchase at the safehouse between missions. Split into three categories—physical abilities, weapons, and gear—these upgrades encourage exploration by rewarding you with cash for enhancements. They’re similar to multiplayer perks and let you tailor your style, whether prioritizing gadget use, extra ammo, or speed.
Eventually, you can unlock all the upgrades, which boost your capabilities slightly, but none drastically impact gameplay, maintaining the series’ typical feel.
A new “omni-movement” system allows you to sprint, slide, and dive in any direction without losing momentum, adding fluidity to combat. Though not essential, the system makes moving between cover or diving mid-fight smoother and more dynamic, even if it’s somewhat underutilized.
Despite the gameplay strengths, Black Ops 6’s story falls behind. Character dialogue is often packed with military jargon and cliches, but one-on-one conversations with your team in the safehouse deliver some of the best narrative moments.
The characters are beautifully rendered, with expressive face scans and animations that add emotion to their lines, even if those lines lean heavily on genre tropes.New characters like Sev and Felix stand out, and they’re compelling enough to leave you wanting more.
Felix, a former East Berlin spy turned pacifist, adds depth with his convictions about violence, though the story doesn’t fully develop this aspect. Sev’s backstory—having taken revenge on the mafia family that betrayed her—adds an edge to her character, and her skill as an operative shines in missions.
These characters offer moments of emotional insight, but Black Ops 6 never fully explores their potential within the larger story.The main plot remains largely standard, and even attempts to ground it with real-life references, such as a Clinton cameo or a Saddam Hussein palace raid, don’t make it more meaningful.
The plot occasionally gestures towards broader commentary on covert warfare but never fully commits. In a late-game sequence, you spend time in the mind of the antagonist during an interrogation.
Intended to add depth, this level feels disconnected as it introduces a character with whom you have minimal interaction, making the emotional weight feel unearned.
Similarly, your character, Case, undergoes confusing moments reminiscent of the brainwashing subplot in the original Black Ops, but they lack the intrigue or humor of that story, resulting in a bewildering finale.
Though some may not play Call of Duty for the story, Black Ops 6 comes close to delivering a strong narrative, which makes its shortcomings more apparent.
Yet, the game shines in its diverse gameplay, blending new ideas with the familiar action. Black Ops 6 excels when it hands you its arsenal of gadgets and lets you tackle problems in your own way.
There are plenty of moments where you can plan a strategy, adapt on the fly, and enjoy the consequences, whether everything goes as intended or not.
Like Black Ops 2, it merges various gameplay elements to create an experience that, while not groundbreaking, refreshes the franchise in meaningful ways, highlighting how Call of Duty can evolve without losing its core appeal.
