Jason Whiteside

Black Ops 6 definitely brings back the fun and excitement that us slightly older players were used to experiencing as part of the much earlier games. I'm 29 and can't remember the last time I was excited to get home and jump straight on for 4/5 hours after work, feels similar to being back in school and I feel silly for admitting that but its almost like reliving your teenage years again. Probably Black Ops 2 back in 2012 was the last time any of us were arsed about COD multiplayer. Even some of the boys are back on it and we've had to figure out how party chat works all over again - its been years since there was something like this bringing us all back online again and honestly, you couldn't beat it. THE CAMPAIGN: 9/10 - Call of Duty x 007 x Stranger Things x Resident Evil x BioShock There is no stand-out forced stealth mission like "All Ghillied Up" from COD4, but I thought it was excellent that you can pretty much play any mission in your own personal style. I spent my time creeping around taking guys out one by one with headshots with anything that had a suppressor. You could gun and run and get the same outcome, but there's something satisfying about a clean crispy one-shot. The weapon choice and variation is brilliant, I didn't find myself getting bored of the same old stuff. I really enjoyed "High Rollers" (the casino mission) for how slick the operation was, but a nod goes to "Emergence" which was up there with a thrill of a Resident Evil game at times and had me cursing at the TV with some of the freaky shit going on from the mannequins (if you know, you know) and also the "Separation Anxiety" mission towards the end. The music, the suspense, the back and forth in the story - just a great time all round. THE MULTIPLAYER: 8/10 - Typical, classic Black Ops vibes The -2 is for lack of weapon variety in each class and more importantly the lack of sniper friendly open maps which is more my game style. This is very much smaller and maze-like style of map design which best suits run-and-gun. That being said, there's a shit tonne of maps available on launch. It took me 4 good proper sessions to get playing them all which was pretty cool as usually you feel like they become repetitive quickly, but that's not the case. Its also heavy on using frags, but that's not a complaint - just join in on that part adding yours into the mixer too! The levelling up and customisation of weapons is EASY and quick. The mods to the weapons make a big difference to each gun its actually something worth grinding towards on this game. I like playing Hardcore for the one-shot kills and fast game play and have found it incredible satisfying and clean - zero complaints. SUMMARY This is perfect gateway back into playing COD for anyone who has stopped for years - don't sleep on this!