The 90s may be back, as Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’s roster of provocative policial characters makes clear, but at Treyarch it might be a bit closer to 2013. Just as Battlefield 4 had Levolution and Driveclub had its Drivatars, Black Ops 6 is reviving the once-popular trend of making up silly words for neat, new, though not exactly groundbreaking ideas.
In COD’s case, it’s ‘omnimovement’, Black Ops 6’s headline new feature that means instead of only being able to sprint when moving forwards, you can now sprint backwards, side to side, and any other direction in 360 degrees, with admittedly very nice animations to match. In a presentation given ahead of the big Call of Duty showcase on Xbox’s stage this weekend, developers from Treyarch explained this was based on a combination of real “elite” military experts’ abilities, a tonal approach for Black Ops 6 that focused on action movie-star moments, and an overall push for fidelity across the board.
Black Ops 6’s narrative setup is decidedly Call of Duty. The Gulf War and global tensions of the early 90s are a “backdrop” to a concocted story of enjoyably outlandish espionage. The CIA has been infiltrated by a “shadowy organisation” right at the very top, and so you and a ragtag team – including Russel Adler, Black Ops 2’s antagonistic haircut, who’s also gone full Kurt Russell-in-Big-Trouble-in-Little-China parody action hero here – must go it alone, acting rogue and with full licence to break whatever rules you like. Thankfully, there are absolutely no global events whatsoever occurring right now that might make pitching a game on your ability to do war crimes at will a cause for concern.
About Author
