Warning: Full spoilers for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’s campaign follow. The 2020s have not been kind to Call of Duty’s single-player campaigns.
Black Ops Cold War was squeezed thin by the COVID pandemic. Vanguard was a rote, forgettable trip back to the war that started it all.
Modern Warfare 2 was a hollow cover of the series’ greatest hits, while its 2023 sequel is largely considered the worst COD campaign ever made.
Though chaotic development cycles inflicted by publisher Activision certainly haven’t helped, the past few years have highlighted that Call of Duty’s tried-and-tested approach is wearing thin.
In 2007, the sniper battles of All Ghillied Up and all-in pushes of War Pig were pure adrenaline. Today, their modern equivalents feel increasingly like warmed-up leftovers.