Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Zombies Review in Progress

ign.com:

Note: This review specifically covers the Zombies mode in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. For our thoughts on the other modes, see our single-player campaign review or our multiplayer review in progress .

You ever wonder how we got here? Not in an existential, “where did we come from?” kind of way, but more specifically “how did a one-off, co-op survival mode in a video game that used to put quotes about the horrors of war on screen when you died turn into this?” 16 years on, it’s hard to reconcile what the original Nazi Zombies mode from 2008’s World at War used to be with the outrageous, Resident Evil 6-inspired campfest I spent several red-eyed hours playing late last night. I’m not saying any of this in a bad way, mind you; Black Ops 6’s take on the mode is thrilling and unique thanks to all new movement mechanics and good map design. Zombies hasn’t been the thing it was in World at War for a while, and I still have a lot more of this year’s version to play before I am ready for my final review, but that one thought has still hit me pretty hard so far: How did we get here, man?

Let’s carve out the bloody guts of this thing, shall we? Black Ops 6’s Zombies mode features two all-new maps: Terminus, a prison complex-turned-bio-research-station, and Liberty Falls, a small town in West Virginia whose slice of quaint Americana is about to test itself against The Worst Day Ever (spoiler: it doesn’t seem to be going well for the Americana). The story itself is a direct sequel to the Zombies campaign in 2020’s Black Ops Cold War, and if you, like me, have largely forgotten what happened in the intervening four years, there doesn’t seem to be much attempt to catch you up. That means you’re going to hear a lot of proper-noun-filled dialogue that could be important or fun references, but instead had me going “I vaguely remember that person,” a little too often.

Operation Deadbolt's attempt to reanimate Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’s Zombies mode by merging it with the