It’s not often you get smacked in the face with so much content so close to launch, but here we are. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 came out less than a month ago as of writing, and we’re already a week into the first season. There is so much to what Treyarch and Raven have built, I’m separating out our seasonal write-up, with Warzone getting a full 2024 review. You’ll be able to read that soon, but for now, let’s talk about all the insanity we’ve received with the Season 1 update.
Starting off with the weapons, this is definitely a highlight for the season. The Krig-C assault rifle and Saug submachine gun are the first two to drop, with three more guns and two melee weapons to follow at the Reloaded point of the season. If there was any assault rifle to add to Black Ops 6, I would have thought the Krig would have made the first cut. I’m not mad though, as this long range wonder has almost no recoil and hits hard. It’s a bit slower than the XM4 in terms of movement speed though, meaning you’ll want to hit your power position and hold your lane rather than sprint at people. It shreds without needing anyone to get close, which is exactly what I remember in Cold War as well.
As for the Saug, it’s a true submachine gun, doing its magic up close. With fantastic movement speed and a high rate of fire, it’s not tough to take out your enemies in a dead sprint. That said, you’ll want a few attachments handy, as the recoil isn’t as manageable without a little help. I’m not sure I’d put it above the Jackal or KSV, but the Saug has the ability to rival the best SMGs on the map in the right hands.
The maps, however, are a bit more of a mixed bag. Hideout is the best one of the three, with more of a standard three lane design as you run through two warehouses connected by a bridge up top. It’s clearly a staging ground for the Black Ops team, reminding you of Payback at least in ambience. There’s a good amount of cover, along with plenty of routes to take. I’m not sure I’d pull out every weapon here, as snipers don’t have nearly the clearance as on other maps, but a large portion of the arsenal works on Hideout.
On Extraction, sniping isn’t an issue. This is another map with wide open spaces, with a nearly clear middle area with a helicopter waiting to take off and another downed on its pad. On one side is a warehouse with a top and bottom level, with half open doors allowing players to run back and forth between the mid area and building. The other side has a lower level, which functions as a flanking route. Extraction isn’t my favorite map, but there are a few more routes to take on it compared to some of the others in rotation.
Heirloom is just… I’m not sure what it’s here for. A big open room in what seems to be an art gallery, with two side rooms for exhibits and coats. Throw a really odd fixture in the middle players can run through, and you’ve got the entire idea. It’s straight chaos, with the tiny space inhabited by twelve operators and next to no cover. I get that this is a Faceoff map, but it’s simply too open to be a good map.
A new mode that’s a lot of fun is Ransack. This involves several crates filled with gold bars that rotate at being active. Your objective is simple, go and grab a bunch of them and fill up your team’s coffers to win. If you’re brave, you can also try to go towards the enemy’s spawn to steal their gold. In essence, this feels like Grind, the Kill Confirmed mode where you have to deposit the tags to complete the grab, but with a dash of Hardpoint thrown in via the rotating crates. I really like the idea, and it’s a neat twist on existing modes.
Ranked Play is back, and given its within the first month, that’s a win. I’m glad to see all the gentlemen’s agreements from the pros aren’t in the mode as of yet, allowing some other guns to get a chance to star in Ranked. I don’t think they’re all worthy of being used, as some guns are just better than others, but MWIII’s single assault rifle for most of it was abysmal. This gives room for fun to be had.
What isn’t fun has been how hacker-infested the servers have been. I’m not sure if it’s just such a big hit of a game, if Game Pass Ultimate is enabling more access, or if people are just more scummy, but it sucks seeing my timeline filled with people complaining of obvious cheating. I haven’t ran into anyone in my sessions so far, but I’m not near a Top 250 player. Here’s hoping Ricochet can quickly be implemented and flush out some of the filth.
Speaking of filth, killing nasty Zombies has become a bit simpler. For those like me who haven’t ever done a quest in the mode, Directed Mode is now available. I have to say, I’m really impressed by its implementation. UI markers tell you exactly what to do and where to do it. Button prompts lead you in the right direction. There are even level caps to keep the zombies manageable as you work towards the quest’s end. My hat is off to the wonderful people at Treyarch behind this, as it’s helped me finish my very first main quest. It’s also made me want to figure out the incoming Citadelle des Morts map’s main quest on my own when it arrives at the Reloaded midway point of Season 1.
With a new season of course comes a new battle pass. This time around, the formula has been adjusted, at least in how you go about redeeming your tokens. We went from a linear tier system, to a map system, and now, to a page system. You need seven tokens for each page, and each page can be redeemed in a different order as well – provided you’ve redeemed enough tokens in previous pages to earn the right to do so. It’s reminiscent of Fortnite’s system, but I’m not sure it changes much.
This season’s battle pass and BlackCell are super dope. The Goliath operator has an amazing skin, and several great weapon blueprints. I do bemoan the fact many are locked behind BlackCell, but it is worth the price of admission. There are also Gobblegums for Zombies included, which was expected, and not surprising given the Modern Warfare Zombies items that existed in Modern Warfare III. Bundles have also been pretty epic, with The Replacer and a flipping shark you can pick up alongside their respective great blueprints. If Treyarch can keep up this cadence and add more licensed properties, it will grow similar to Fortnite.
That is why the live service element is such a big piece Treyarch and Raven have to get right. So far, they have. I was a little bit concerned if they could match Sledgehammer’s incredible efforts, and while I don’t think they have exactly, it’s because they’re striking out on their own path. The Hit List is the first event here, and it’s pretty cool in its execution. If you manage to get enough kills within the dates allotted in any mode, you earn several awesome rewards, including a new melee weapon. If the community can reach a certain amount of kills during the same timeline, there are several community rewards to earn, like a new stock attachment and even a secondary pistol. It’s a great call by Treyarch, and it’ll be interesting to see how they expand on it as the seasonal content continues.
Season 1 comes with its own quirks, with quite a few wins along with a couple of loses. One thing I know for sure: the dev teams are putting in a lot of effort to make the seasonal content pop and be engaging. It’s still early, so we’ll have to see if there will be enough meat on the bone to have this kind of impact every season, but we’re off to a great start so far.
David Burdette is a gamer/writer/content creator from TN and Lead Editor for Gaming Trend. He loves Playstation, Star Wars, Marvel, and many other fandoms. He also plays way too much Call Of Duty. You can chat with him on Twitter @SplitEnd89.
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