Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Zombies preview — Round and round we go

Zombies is a staple of the Call of Duty experience. Since World at War, the teams behind the mode have attempted to one-up the last game, although Sledgehammer was the only crew to try their hand at the mode outside of Treyarch. Some things work, and some things don’t, but the consensus is this: a Call of Duty game is better with Zombies. After playing a few matches at Call of Duty: NEXT, I certainly agree with that statement, and Treyarch’s return to round-based matches is an intriguing prospect that should help the mode grow.

I played the Liberty Falls map, one of the two at launch (Terminus is the other one). This one is a bit smaller, and isn’t connected with the main crew of this one… so far as I understand. It is linked with Edward Richtofen, a Zombies regular, and even though I’m not sure how that will most likely be explained as we learn the dark secrets of the map. You’ll pick a random operator, grab a loadout, and get shooting.

One of the first things you notice about Liberty Falls is how bright it is. Gone are the stacked bodies of Der Anfang, the blackened night of Shadows of Evil; this is a normal town that has been possessed by the Dark Aether. Sure, there’s a bit of destruction around, but largely, everything seems in place, so whatever happened here happened relatively recently. I know some won’t like the lighter tone that feels more akin to a multiplayer map, but I’m all for the different vibe that comes with Liberty Falls.

After dropping down from the top of a gas station, it’s immediately apparent how much smaller this map is. While the initial section has you hemmed in until you buy your way forward, the lane circles back around to a mess of vehicles that prevent you from reaching the beginning area. Along the way, there is a bit of verticality and rooftop views as you climb to a hilltop church, with a few rooms to unlock along the way that contain various upgrades and traps that will give you a boost. The streets are still somewhat compact on your route though, so be careful as you might get surrounded by zombies with no way out.

Speaking of the zombies, we didn’t last all that long and never managed to make it out in an exfil helicopter. These zombies are no joke; while the bipedal shamblers went down pretty quickly in MWZ, they are much more resilient when taking gunfire this time around. Even when pack-a-punching, it seemed like the challenge was more severe.

In our first match, we just ended up going down to the swarm; no chance of exfilling for us. This was without seeing many special zombies as well – only the new vermin variant and a single mangler were seen. The vermin… well, they suck, creepy spider-like zombies that can go die in a fire. They go down easily at least, but they are fast. The second match was quite interesting in terms of pace; the zombies were much harder to find and seemed less feral at the start. Maybe the game looks at your previous match and tries to take things easier on you, but in any case, I’m glad that things don’t play out exactly as before.

When we went down, there was a fun new death outro that played, both when my squad all died and when we failed at making it to exfil. In the former, you watch as the zombies desecrate your screaming character, biting and ripping at you. The latter showed zombies jumping up and grabbing the helicopter before a mangler blasted it out of the sky. It’s a neat addition, and definitely better than a static game over screen.

While we were alive, we pressed as hard as possible to level up our gear, but that is as much of a challenge as killing the zombies is. Maybe it was just us being in a party of four, but essence was hard to come by (your currency in zombies). The zombies at least drop plenty of random tactical and lethal items, along with some salvage, but it all moves slowly. For fans of the classic round-based experience, I think this will be fine, but as a Call of Duty multiplayer gamer, I have to recognize a need for patience.

The salvage mentioned earlier is used to build items at a crafting table, which is a familiar mechanic. What was most interesting to me was the kinds of things you can build. You can, of course, make tactical and lethal items, but support items are extra useful. These include scorestreaks, like a Hellstorm missile or RCXD, but also armor plates or a self-revive (something beneficial if you’re playing solo, but also if a buddy can’t get to you). It’s fun to see these kinds of items thrown into the mix, and it’ll be interesting to see what might be added over time.

That’s not the only way to get a buff, as perks return alongside Gobblegums. Perks work exactly as you remember, exchanging essence to gain speed, health, and other enhancements. I didn’t get to do much here, but I did try the new Melee Macchiato. This one is hilarious, allowing you to uppercut zombies and take them out pretty quickly.

Gobblegums are a mechanic fondly remembered from Black Ops 3, and you gain these from the machines around the map. Before the match, you’ll decide which pack of five you’d prefer, with a random one coming when you activate the Gobblegum machine. You can grab one for free each round, and hold up to three on your person. They provide buffs like your armor being able to withstand twice the hit damage, or your field upgrade charging faster. You won’t have them long, with them lasting a single round, but sometimes it can be the difference between you living and dying. It’ll be fun to see what Gobblegums get added to the rotation as Zombies evolves.

Once you make it to the church, you find it’s an Aether portal. This isn’t new, but the design has changed. While it’s just a single room, opening the Aether doesn’t require a cutscene as you traverse it. Instantaneously you’re there, with the pack-a-punch and a load of zombies to kill. Although I’d love to see a larger Aether area (and we still might in Terminus or a future map), this is a nice technical upgrade from the previous Aether portals.

I wasn’t expecting there to be a third-person camera option for Zombies, and it works surprisingly well. If you’re familiar with the third-person mode that came in 2022’s Modern Warfare II, you’ll know exactly how it plays. Moving around via omnimovement was extremely interesting through that lens, and it’s useful in making sure you don’t have any undead creep up behind you. While I still prefer first-person, third-person is a viable option.

Given my limited time with Black Ops 6 Zombies, I’m not sure I fully understand what’s going on. But, I’m looking forward to the mechanics and systems in place and learning how to utilize them to survive. That, and the guided questline is a huge development for more casual Zombie players like myself. I’m thinking it’s going to be a bloody good time. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 releases on October 25th. It will be available Day One on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass, and purchasable for Xbox Series and One consoles, PlayStation 5, and PC.

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