Treyarch’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 release date is 2 months away but the hype for the game does not seem to slow down. Especially for members of the zombies community, new trailers have dropped along with Activision’s own Intel Barrage that outlines the maps and their puzzles that players will have to solve in order to progress to the next leg of the story.
What We Got From The Intel Barrage
The first map is called ‘Terminus’ it is a ‘former Naval base that was taken over by the CIA to become a top secret outpost for the detention of…’, Activision in keeping with the theme of the setting of Black Ops 6 blurs out some words to the interpretation of the reader. Here is the map where the traditional round based zombies mode will return in. Another map was also given hints of called ‘Liberty falls’ a town in west Virginia that is the epicenter of the Dark Aether outbreak. The Intel Barrage also outlines the changes in gameplay, weapons, progression, crafting and currency which we get into below.
The Gameplay: What The Community Wanted Back
The gameplay loop is what the iconic zombies franchise is all about with each map having a certain chain of objectives to complete to find out the story of that particular map. The caveat being that players must efficiently and quickly find and complete these objectives in the early rounds as the number of enemies and mini boss encounters start increasing with each round pass. Gumball machines and some new Perk-A-Colas such a cola increasing melee attacks as shown in the zombies trailer along with the iconic colas themselves making a return such as jugger-nog, stamin-up etc.
In terms of currency, players can breathe a sigh of relief as they no longer need to manage multiple types of it. Players will only collect one type of “Salvage” along with accumulating money or “points” that happen as zombies are killed. The “Salvage” drops are now specific to the player meaning no one else can collect the Salvage that is meant for the particular character. Another welcome change is the the fact that players can now sprint and dive in any direction they want, “360 degrees” as stated in the Intel barrage, this no doubt strengthens to foundations for skilled players to create jaw-dropping clips such as trickshots or epic jumps as explosions occur in the backgrounds such as what the trailer showcased.
Another great feature is that while completing the easter eggs progress the story and veteran players will usually complete them in the early rounds those wanting to test their skills by seeing how many rounds they can survive are in for a treat as with higher rounds the zombies themselves will move much faster along with higher damage and more number of armored or unique enemies start appearing similar to modern warfare’s survival mode.
Newer players may not know the purpose of Salvage as it was introduced in Black Ops: Cold war, the purpose of Salvage is to add Ammo Mods and/or special effects to the currently equipped weapon. Salvage can also be used to build tactical, lethal or support equipment all through an Arsenal Machine.
The Easter Egg Hunts Will Never Stop
The zombies franchise by Treyarch has the most dedicated fanbase of players to date for a call of duty game. As such Treyarch always needs to consistently make head scratching puzzles for the community to get together and solve. Which means Treyarch also needs to provide ample clues whether it be dialogue or pieces of text/lore hidden around the map for the players to discover as they ward off hordes of zombies. What is a welcome feature is a guided mode for new players who may want to experience the main story and aren’t keen to experience the easter egg hunts. Players who choose this will strictly experience the story of the zombies saga in Black Ops 6 with all easter eggs and side quests being disabled.
The Wait Continues
Black Ops 6 releases on October 25th of this year but the maps, new features and new skins being showcased is making it difficult to wait, to say the very least. The sheer excitement at tackling mind bending puzzles and figuring out the story through the easter eggs is one of the highlights of Treyarch’s take on the zombies franchise. Players and easter egg hunters are eagerly waiting to jump in to experience the hunt for glory and story once more.
