After a lackluster reception of Modern Warfare 3, Black Ops 6 makes a triumphant return, bringing back the high-octane excitement COD fans crave. With an engaging campaign filled with unique, multi-approach missions, dialogue trees, and Bethesda-inspired hacking and lockpicking, Black Ops 6 keeps gameplay fresh and innovative throughout its ten-hour campaign.

Mission Is Possible

The crew is back and this time takes on a super-secret military organization called Pantheon. If you’ve seen any Mission Impossible movies, you’ll be familiar with this plot. Pantheon is mostly your run-of-the-mill evil organization with a supervillain at the top. While this plot itself does not sound original, Black Ops still delivers every moment with the grandiosity that we’ve come to expect from COD campaigns.

Going into the campaign mostly blind, I was surprised to see dialogue trees and minigames for game mechanics. Such as lockpicking, hacking, etc. The dialogue trees do not seem to impact the story in any way, but they go a long way in making you feel more agency as a player. Many of the missions on offer here are typical COD fare. But there are a few standouts.

One standout mission is a free-roam sandbox. Yes, we saw these in MW3; however, Black Ops 6 handles them with much more precision. In this mission, you have to assist a British Special Unit. You’re presented with three simple objectives: destroy three SCUD launchers. However, each launcher is located in a different area on a map filled with side missions and numerous points of interest. Completing side missions can provide support during both the current mission and the following one, such as mortar or air strikes, which become extremely helpful later on. While MW3 haphazardly placed players in Warzone-style maps filled with mindless AI and repetitive objectives, the free-roam mission here feels much more handcrafted and purposeful. Enemies have patrol routes, and there are numerous outposts to destroy. How you choose to approach each scenario is entirely up to you. Will you snipe from a nearby mountain? Airstrike everything into oblivion? Or stealthily plant a bomb and escape undetected? These choices add freedom and depth to the gameplay.

Without giving too much away, another level is an eerie mission perfectly timed for Halloween, while another takes inspiration from the Ocean’s Eleven heist-style formula. Here, each team member has a role in the heist, and players switch between characters to complete tasks like smuggling in weapons or disabling security. One more mission draws heavily from Hitman, with the player infiltrating as an enemy soldier and setting traps that carry over into the next level, adding a satisfying sense of continuity and strategy.

Throughout the game, the camaraderie within your team strengthens. While expected, it’s pulled off here with ease. Each character is impressively detailed, with excellent animation and voice acting that rivals Hollywood productions. Fans of James Bond, Mission Impossible, and Ocean’s Eleven will appreciate the theming.

The Cold War Is Still Cold

I only have a few qualms with the campaign as a whole. One is sometimes how fast it jumps between missions without fully explaining why you’re going there until you’re there. Along with that, the game does suffer from some uneven AI regarding stealth. Unfortunately, this is a game that if one enemy sees you all the enemies magically see through walls and will chase you until you’re dead. Even if you call in an airstrike from 500 yards away, the enemies will instantly turn and start firing at you. This is a disappointing blemish in an otherwise awesome game. In combat, enemies are extremely aggressive and will push and flank your position. I only wish that the same attention had been given to the stealth sections, as they are decently fleshed out. My final gripe is that your friendly AI is completely worthless. They miss 95% of their shots, and if they manage to hit, the damage they deal seems to be extremely reduced. Sure, this game is a power fantasy. But, there were a few situations where I turned to face the enemy shooting me in the back and saw all 5 of my teammates just standing there missing every shot. Also, note that the quick resume feature does not work in the campaign because the game is constantly online. Sad.

Point, Shoot, Get Money, Repeat

The mechanics we all know and love are on full display here. The “new” mechanic here is the omni-directional movement system. Did you love dolphin diving in the classic Black Ops? Well, boy howdy-you are going to have a great time. You’re able to now sprint in any direction along with being able to dolphin dive in any direction. I never found much of a reason to use this in Campaign, but I’m sure this is a fully utilized multiplayer feature.

A decent chunk of the game is spent with your crew at a hideout after each mission. This hideout, a lavish house in Ukraine, feels like it could be listed for $1,400 a night on AirBnB. As you progress, you collect money during missions that you can use to buy upgrades, like increased health or faster sprinting, in areas such as the “training area.” You’ll need to prioritize upgrades, as you won’t be able to purchase everything in a single run.

While there are easter eggs, puzzles, and riddles to solve at the hideout do wish there was more gameplay put into it. As the house has a lot of unused space. For example, you have a shooting range at the hideout. However, you are unable to use it as a shooting range.

How Big Are The Booms?

The booms in BlackOps6 are the biggest and best booms you’ll hear all year. Every minuscule noise in the game is spot on and serves to immerse you in the world. Gunshots are chunky and will echo based on the environment around you. Even jumping over a desk and swooshing the papers off it results in a surprisingly pleasant noise that you’d miss because it sounds so natural. The soundtrack is mostly heavy rock with some cultural themes sprinkled in depending on location. I genuinely loved the soundtrack here. I found myself starting blankly at a wall for a few moments in the game as I grooved out to the music.

All of the characters are acted and voiced as well as any major Hollywood movie. From the sunlight glinting off a character’s glasses to seeing the dust particles as the early morning sunlight rolls through a window, Black Ops 6 is a spectacular looking game.

All In All, It’s Call of Duty

All in all, Black Ops 6 has everything I look for in a COD game: big explosions, cinematic action, and satisfying gunplay. Black Ops 6 delivers in every way and goes further, offering players real choice in how they tackle missions. From the spy-thriller plot and stunning graphics to bombastic gunplay, the Black Ops 6 campaign alone is well worth the price of the full game.