Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Multiplayer Review in Progress - Beta Impressions

ign.com:

Summer is in the rear view, which means it's once again Call of Duty beta time. This year Treyarch is in the driver's seat with a follow-up to Black Ops Cold War set in the early 1990s – and friends, I am all-in on the setting. After spending the weekend grinding multiplayer matches to hit the beta’s level cap, I'm cautiously optimistic that this year's entry could recapture everything I loved about 2020's Cold War.

First off, some context: I have about 200 hours of multiplayer time in last year's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, and found myself enjoying it quite a bit more than our reviewer (which is fine, reviews are opinions, and opinions differ). However, a lot of that has to do with the social aspect of it. I have a core group of friends, the Beeflords, with whom I've been playing every Call of Duty multiplayer annually since Black Ops IIII. Having a dedicated squad makes playing multiplayer way more fun, and with regular content additions and balancing updates, I feel like MW3 is now in a much more solid spot.

Despite my fondness for both MW3 and Cold War, I tried to dive into Black Ops 6 with an open mind, and I'm glad to say I'm liking what I'm seeing so far. As far as a beta goes, this is one of the better ones I can remember. For example, back when I did my first impressions of the Modern Warfare 2 beta, I was actually pretty concerned by what I saw, but almost all of the rough edges had been sanded off by release. With the Black Ops 6 beta, I actually find myself with very few concerns already. After 12+ hours of shooting, diving, sliding, and shooting again, I'm left really excited for the full game, because it feels pretty damn good right now.

Probably the biggest change from the old formula is the "Omnimove" system. It seems like Treyarch looked at all the dolphin diving in Call of Duty and said "let's just lean into that." You can now sprint, slide, and dive in all directions, including backwards. Diving backwards puts you in a supine position, where