The Zombies mode of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 has enjoyed a lot of success since the title launched, with many fans seeing it as a rightful return to form for what is one of the franchise’s most iconic and enjoyable gameplay experiences. Despite the general positivity that exists around this new iteration of Zombies, there have been many areas of improvement that fans have identified since launch, and Treyarch has done a pretty commendable job at addressing these gameplay shortcomings.
With the recent launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6‘s Season One Reloaded event and the addition of Zombies’ Citadelle des Mort map, many of these commonly identified gameplay issues have been rectified by Treyarch, with the in-game feel of Black Ops Zombies now being the best it has ever been. Although recent issues have arisen outside of the in-game experience of Black Ops 6 Zombies, there is now only one real gameplay-related issue that could easily be improved. Despite the range of in-game quests and weapon upgrade paths that BO6 Zombies now features, many of them seem far too simple and quick to complete, and future BO6 Zombies maps should really lean into the added complexity and rewarding feel of past Zombies experiences.
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Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Needs To Pack More of a Punch Into its Quests
The Zombies mode of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 owes a lot of success to its classic round-based maps with a dedicated cast of characters, with this playing well into the title’s wider respect for the traditions of Black Ops as a sub-franchise. With that being said, the mode did suffer quite a bit from a range of highly-reported gameplay issues that dampened its overall enjoyability, especially at higher rounds, although Treyarch has already taken clear steps to address these criticisms.
December 5 was an exciting day for fans of Black Ops 6 Zombies, not only because this saw the anticipated launch of the Citadelle des Morts map, but it also marked the introduction of some sweeping gameplay changes that increased the balancing and overall quality of life for the mode. For example, this recent update finally nerfed the extremely high spawn rates of imposing Mangler enemies at higher rounds, capping how many of them can be active at once up until round 100.
This update also crucially expedited the special Parasite and Vermin rounds in Black Ops 6 Zombies, with these pesky enemies now spawning much faster and leading to quicker and sharper special rounds. While Zombies has recently come under fire for an alleged AI-related dispute that has seen long-time voice actor Julie Nathanson part with the CoD franchise, the gameplay of the mode is now enjoyable all around, apart from one key area.
Black Ops 6 Zombies’ Directed Mode Means it Can Afford To Make its Quests Harder
Citadelle des Morts has continued the trend of many Black Ops 6 Zombies questlines being brief and simplistic, particularly within the upgrade quests for the majority of the map’s Bastard Sword Wonder Weapons. Many of these upgrade quests can be completed in minutes, being a stark contrast to the complex yet rewarding quests that were tied to past weapons like the elemental Bows of Black Ops 3‘s Der Eisendrache map.
A lot of the excitement that surrounded the most popular maps in CoD Zombies history was founded on the difficulty of its Easter egg quests and the greater satisfaction that came from completing them, and Black Ops 6 already has the necessary mechanics in place to repeat this for its future maps. Black Ops 6 has introduced a Directed Mode feature to Zombies which provides a guided experience for a given map’s main quest, with Easter egg steps even being capped at certain rounds to create a more casual experience.
Going forward, Treyarch should keep any faster and more simplistic Easter egg steps contained to Directed Mode, with base gameplay instead offering much more intricate steps, perhaps with greater rewards. Treyarch has identified and remedied many of the most glaring issues that Black Ops 6 Zombies faced, and more complex quests going forward might be the final step to perfecting the mode’s gameplay.
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