Black Ops 6's Action-Hero Movement Changes Call Of Duty For The Better--With Some Risks

Treyarch introduces more fluidity and freedom with the new omnimovement system in a game that still feels very much like Call of Duty: Black Ops.

Black Ops 6 definitely feels like a Black Ops game with its fast-paced action, arcade style, and vibrant maps. The biggest difference this year is Treyarch's new movement system, which further adapts the fluidity and pace of the typical Black Ops multiplayer experience.

Omnimovement allows you to sprint, slide, and dive in any direction. Whereas previous entries limited you to just forward dives and sliding, you can now go prone and spin around 360 degrees, making for epic moves that allow you to live out your own John Wick-style action-hero fantasy. Further improving the action is the new Intelligent Movement system. These are optional game settings, which are turned off by default, but I highly recommend everyone try these out. They allow you to customize a lot of basic movements, such as turning on settings for tactical sprint assist and removing the sprint delay, reducing the number of button presses needed to perform certain actions. These not only made my movement feel faster and more fluid, but it meant less input on the thumbsticks, thus it also felt much easier on my hands.

While Modern Warfare 3 released with a map pool consisting of entirely remastered maps, Black Ops 6 is set to launch with a fresh offering of 16 brand-new maps. The first week of the beta includes the same map pool as our hands-on experience at Call of Duty: Next, and it's a pretty good variety of settings with each beta map having a unique aesthetic.

The beta gives a solid offering of weapons to try out. The XM4 is a versatile assault rifle, and the Jackal PDW is a powerful choice for an aggressive submachine gun. The weapons feel mostly balanced for their class, with the one exception being the Jackal PDW--the submachine gun is a bit overpowered in this first week of the beta. Weapon tuning will likely take place during the beta and prior to launch though, so hopefully it's in a better place by the time the game releases.

For Warzone, Treyarch was focused on creating a Resurgence map with a story that only its studio could tell. Area 99 is a small Warzone map inspired by Treyarch's most iconic multiplayer map, Nuketown, with a focus on the points-of-interest telling the origin story of how the Nuketown map was created. This includes a manufacturing facility for the Nuketown model houses, a nuclear reactor, a mannequin-assembly center, and an underground bunker. Area 99 is smaller than Rebirth Island, and it makes for plenty of quick engagements. We only played a handful of matches at Call of Duty: Next, given our short amount of playtime, but each one was met with instant action.

Overall, Treyarch's move to the new engine feels like a success, and the extra development time can definitely be felt in the polish of the multiplayer beta. The only issues of note so far are some minor freezing and hiccups with the servers, and that the Jackal PDW needs to be nerfed. While I haven't had enough playtime with Area 99 to give in-depth impressions yet, it already feels like Warzone is getting a potentially solid new map design for the Resurgence modes.

Timestamps:
Omnimovment - 00:00
Multiplayer Maps & Modes - 04:03
Weapons, Perks, Killstreaks - 05:50
Area 99 Warzone - 09:24