50 things to know about Call of Duty Black Ops 6: Everything we learned at the top-secret launch event
Get all the intel on Call of Duty Black Ops 6 before its release date
“The truth lies.” That’s the tagline for Call of Duty Black Ops 6, the latest big-budget release for the long-running shooter series. Taking the clandestine special-ops action into the 1990s Gulf War era, it’s looking set to be another tense and bombastic entry into the franchise, and one that’s steeped in the same sense of mystery and paranoia that all good thrillers should be.
It was with no small sense of trepidation then that Shortlist took its orders to head over to the notoriously-secretive Freemason’s Hall in London, on a mission to uncover every classified detail of the upcoming release that we could from the Call of Duty Black Ops 6 preview event.
Meeting with the co-development teams at Call of Duty Studios, Treyarch and Raven Software, the acting talent bringing the campaign’s story to life, and even former British special forces operatives tasked with ensuring the authenticity of the in-game equipment, we donned our camo warpaint, dug out our ghillie suits and snuck on in to bring you 50 things you need to know about Black Ops 6.
To ensure the intel from this critical mission is as easy to follow as possible, we’re breaking it all down into four sections: The Black Ops 6 campaign, multiplayer mode, Zombies mode and everything else we learned.
And rest assured — it’s all true. Mostly. Maybe. Definitely?
Campaign
1. Black Ops 6 brings the franchise to an all new era of warfare: it’s 1991, the Cold War is over and the Gulf War is raging on, with the US now the globe’s sole superpower. Which, as you’d expect, doesn’t make everyone on the planet happy… The development team has gone to great lengths to ensure equipment and weapons depicted in the game are authentic to early-90s armaments.
2. The game’s historical setting sees it following on from the action of Black Ops: Cold War (which was set in 1981) and the 1989 Missions found in Call of Duty Black Ops 2. It’s the events of those later missions that the game immediately follows on from, so if you’re looking for a must-play story refresher ahead of release, head there first.
3. Lots of fan-favourite characters are returning, including Frank Woods (played by Damon Allen) and Russel Adler (played by Bruce Thomas). But (*SPOILER ALERT*) the critical events of Black Ops 2 has left Woods wheelchair bound, meaning…
4. There’s a host of new characters to love, mistrust, and play as, too. Troy Marshall (played by Y’Lan Noel) is the key protagonist, an enigmatic leader recruited by Woods. He’ll have to join forces with Sevati ‘Sev’ Dumas (played by Karen David), an assassination specialist with a murky past.
5. So who are they all up against? A shady organisation hellbent on global domination, naturally. Adler, previously falsely accused of being a CIA mole, contacts Woods discreetly at the beginning of the game to warn him of a conspiracy at the highest levels of the CIA by a group known as “Pantheon”. They’re looking to be puppet masters behind the scenes of global decision making, and will wipe out anyone that opposes them — including Woods and his allies. Woods’s team will have to go rogue in order to bring Pantheon down.
6. Campaign variety was a key tenet of development. Devs broke down the campaign into seven main segments — a bombastic Gulf War opening, a Casino Heist in which players will control multiple characters over the course of the mission, a ‘Spycraft’ mission where disguise will be essential, a ‘Saboteur’ mission where you’ll undermine enemy defences, a ‘Player Agency’ mission where your choices will affect the outcome of the game, a finale ‘Assassin’ mission, and… two more elements. ‘Mind fuckery’ and ‘[Redacted]’, which were mysteriously not elaborated upon…
7. Strategic thinking will be key to campaign success, and the devs have tried to ensure no mission descends into mindless fish-in-a-barrel shootouts. Instead, players can expect to go toe-to-toe with elite enemies, some heavily armed and armoured, which will require all-new tactics to defeat.
8. Expect loads of cool gadgets to be at your disposal, including a ‘Homing Knife’ that can be steered through the air once thrown, and a ‘Disruptor’ for temporarily stunning your opponents.
9. At the end of each mission, players will return to a Safehouse where they can take stock of what’s just happened, and plan their next moves. You’ll be able to catch up with key characters and learn more about their backgrounds here, as well as investigate an evidence board that’ll evolve as you come to uncover the conspiracy behind the Pantheon baddies.
10. The level of visual detail on display borders on insanity. Each weapon and outfit is depicted in meticulous detail, right down to grains of sand being embedded into the fabric weave of dirty gloves. Military experts have also been recruited to ensure real-world authenticity wherever possible.
11. That detail is always in service of the story though — with our heroes on the run, you’ll notice lots of ad-hoc customisations to weapons throughout the campaign, as characters literally duct-tape mods to their rifles, and hold magazines together with rubber bands.
Multiplayer
12. If you had to pick out one giant change to gameplay with Black Ops 6, it’s the introduction of the Omnimovement system. The developers are expecting it to revolutionise the multiplayer modes, allowing you to sprint and dive in any direction, turning in mid-air to pull off cinematic kills. Sure, it’s less realistic, but it should add new layers of strategy to the mix, and look damn cool in the process. It’s present in all the other play modes, too.
13. Omnimovement also includes loads of toggle-able accessibility options under the banner of Intelligent Movement to help players really indulge in its fluid locomotion systems. You can activate auto-sprint, auto-dive and auto-mantle options, letting you glide around the battlefield with ease. But they’re totally optional, if you want complete control over the action.
14. Thousands of new animations have been recorded by motion-capture artists — and many of those include elaborate death scenes to fuel a new ‘dynamic kill cam’ that the developers promise will make even dying fun. No more static ignoble defeats.
15. Ever felt like a sitting duck when lying prone? Black Ops 6 introduces Supine Prone, which lets you twist and aim on the ground, allowing you to take flat-out pot shots on foes lurking behind you.
16. Players will benefit from a dedicated melee weapon slot, meaning you won’t have to sacrifice an additional sidearm in order to carry a close-combat weapon of choice with you.
17. Get up behind an enemy unnoticed and you’re now able to take them captive and use them as a human shield, giving you a bit of meat-based personal protection while also completely embarrassing your opponent.
18. …Not only that, but those who have been captured as a Body Shield are entered into a 1-to-1 localised private chat with their captors, letting the pair trash talk each other specifically!
19. Black Ops 6 will see a return to the series’ classic ‘Prestige’ multiplayer progression system. You’ll battle through 55 standard ‘Military’ levels before unlocking 10 ‘Prestige’ levels. Those who take on that already-stiff challenge can then grind 1,000 ‘Prestige Master’ levels, unlocking titles, cards, perks and achievements along the way — as well as bragging rights for being among the most elite Black Ops 6 players.
20. Expect a race to be the first to reach Prestige Master level 1,000 — the first player to do so will be awarded with a unique reward no other player will get.
21. Daily challenges will ensure you’ve got goals to aim for from day one launch with Black Ops 6 multiplayer. From launch day you’ll be able to play to unlock new reticles, 100% challenge completion presenter calling cards for your profiles, and more than 150 medals.
22. The top players will be able to unlock four hard-to-come-by Mastery Camos per mode as they rise up the progression tree. Top players will be able to customise their weapons with Gold, Diamond, fantasy-themed Dark Spine and sci-fi themed Dark Matter skins. With unique animation as you fire, they’ll make you the envy of your teammates — and a prestigious target to take down on the battlefield. They’ll be available across Multiplayer and Zombie modes, too.
23. 16 brand new maps will be available at launch, with lots of post-launch maps planned, too. This includes the return of the fan-favourite Nuketown map, which will land as part of a season one content drop on November 1st.
24. All the usual core modes return for Black Ops 6 multiplayer, but the game also introduces a new team-based mode called Kill Order. Here, one player per team is singled out as a high-value target. To get the most points, you’ll have to hunt down the opposition’s high-value player, and keep your own one well protected.
25. Scorestreaks, the super-satisfying bonuses you get for racking up kills without being taken out yourself, will of course be returning for Black Ops 6. There will be 18 scorestreaks at launch, including a devastating Archangel Launcher and the handy Scout Pulse.
26. One HUD style does not fit all players, so Black Op 6 will launch with a number of presets to choose from, ranging from minimalist set ups with a wider view of the battlefield to complex overlays giving you all the on-the-ground intel you need.
27. Played the beta? Think you know everything there is to know about how Black Ops 6 is going to feel in multiplayer mode? Think again: With the data drawn from the beta playtest, the devs have been fine-tuning, map geometry, spawn logic, weapon balance, perks, movement and general overall performance, too.
28. If you want to get truly competitive, you won’t have to wait long. Ranked play will launch as part of a season one content drop — the earliest it’s ever appeared for the series.
Zombies
29. Zombies mode returns! You’ll once again have to defend against waves of increasingly-aggressive undead foes and elite boss monsters. For Black Ops 6, it’s back to its classic round-based format.
30. You’ll again be able to play in groups of up to four players, and, at the behest of fans, you’ll be playing as a dedicated crew this time out. Players can pick to play as either Grigori Weaver, Elizabeth Grey, Mackenzie ‘Mac’ Carver or Maya Aguinaldo. Maya’s delivering the key story beats here, looking to break her brother out of prison.
31. Zombie mode will launch with two maps — a creepy scientific facility called Terminus Labs, and the sleepy town of Liberty Falls in West Virginia. Liberty Falls is a bit more beginner friendly, while the devs promise a third map will land as part of a post-launch content drop.
32. Ever got to a super-high level with a Zombies match, only to realise it’s 2am and time for bed? Solo players previously would have to have paused and left their consoles on overnight to continue playing, but this time around solo players will finally be able to save their progress and pick up right where they left off. It’s a surprisingly complex technical hurdle the devs say, which means it’s sadly not available for multiplayer Zombie matches.
33. Did you know each Zombies mode map has a main quest and side quests as well as the survival element? It’s a little known part of the mode, and the devs want to make sure all players get to experience this rarely-seen storyline by introducing a new, optional ‘Directed Mode’ shortly after launch. This mode will guide players through the main story beats, but has side quests disabled and caps access to further rounds based on the needs of the story.
34. As usual with Zombies mode, you’ll be able to improve the equipment of your crew with unlocks as the rounds progress. But! It’s more of a risk-reward system this time around the devs warn, with each new Perk Wonder weapon or ammo mod unlocked bringing with it a drawback, too. But the temporary buff consumables found at returning Gobblebum machines will help you take on the forces of evil with loads of fun effects.
35. You’ll now be able to play Zombies mode from a third-person camera perspective. That’s not only good for watching all the cool omnimovment moves you’re going to be pulling off, but for a wider field of view for spotting pursuing zombies.
36. Some of the new Zombies mode enemies have a creepy-crawly feel that makes them look like rotten, undead spiders. But arachnophobia sufferers, fear not! You’ll be able to toggle off their spidery limbs in the settings menu.
37. You might actually want to get killed in Zombies mode — each enemy type that kills you comes complete with its own unique, gruesome kill-cam animation as they feast on your fallen soldier’s body.
38. Zombies won’t be left out of the seasonal content drop party this year. Zombies will get a third map drop before Christmas, and the team is teasing seasonal updates for the mode too — perhaps we’ll get some Christmas and Halloween themed tweaks?
Everything Else
39. 12 all-new weapons will be in Black Ops 6. And by all-new, we don’t mean just to Black Ops games, but the Call of Duty franchise as a whole, that have never previously been present in the series.
40. Built a loadout that you love? Previously you’d have to recreate that per-game mode if you want easy access to its weapons and perks. But in Black Ops 6 loadouts work on a global system, meaning that if you build one in multiplayer, it’ll be accessible in Zombies too. They’ll even carry over into Warzone, too.
41. Speaking of Warzone, the new Omnimovement system will make its way to the Call of Duty battle royale mode, too.
42. That’s not all for Warzone — it’s getting a brand new map called Area 99, which takes its cues from 1950s nuclear age iconography. Its production design looks very much like the Fallout series, but built for fast-paced shooting, with strong verticality thanks to a tall reactor at its centre. Area 99 will land before the end of the year for Warzone players as part of Black Ops 6 season one post-launch content drop.
43. In terms of lore, Area 99 is the facility that makes the series’ many ‘Nuketown’ levels — the locations built with the sole purpose of being blown up by nuclear blasts.
44. Finally for Warzone, the classic Verdansk map will be making its return by the Spring.
45. The team have thought a lot about accessibility issues this time around, with new features for the hard of hearing highlighted. Asymmetrical hearing compensation will allow players to dial up audio in left and right channels independently, letting those with directional hearing problems be catered for. This is particularly useful for military veterans, who often suffer hearing loss in greater severity to one side due to the loud sounds of gunfire and explosions.
46. Want to git gud? Theatre Mode returns, letting you analyse battles to see how the pros pull off all the fancy killstreaks with such ease. It’ll be great for content creators too, who can do some light editing, shot and camera management from inside the game itself.
47. A little behind-the-scenes insight — the gigantic nature of development means that many volume stage scene shoots (where actors’ performances are recorded via motion capture) can sometimes be recorded in chunks many months apart. There may be months-long gaps between the filming of the first few moments of a scene and their ending, all seamlessly pulled together in the final game.
48. Play for a good cause. If you buy the Endeavour: Tracer Pack, 100% of the net proceeds go to Call of Duty: Endowment, a non-profit organisation that aims to get unemployed military veterans back in work. It’s helped more than 130,000 people find work since it was first established.
49. That Endeavour: Tracer Pack is pretty neat too — the operative’s outfit has been designed in collaboration with ThruDark, the British outdoors apparel brand founded by special forces veterans. It’s got a touch of the SAS about it, as a result.
50. Call of Duty Black Ops 6 is out on October 25, heading to Xbox Series X, Xbox One, PS5, PS4 and PC. There’s no pre-order early-release schedule. Everyone gets access to the full game at the same time, so it’s a level playing field on day one.
- Want something to play in the meantime? Check out our best Xbox Series X games and best PS5 games shortlists.
