Summary
The recent Direct presentation forCall of Duty: Black Ops 6revealed huge amounts of information about the title, with fans now having a solid grasp of the single-player story, traditional Zombies experience, and fresh core multiplayer mechanics of the upcoming release. Treyarch has had close to four years to learn from the highs and lows of the lastBlack Opstitle, 2020’sCold War, and it is already clear that some serious lessons have been learned.
Treyarch made a point of showing just how much variety will be present in the launch map pools ofCall of Duty: Black Ops 6across both core multiplayer and Zombies, withCold Warfacing a lot of controversy in this department around the time of its own launch. A poor base of launch maps has also been a sticking point with more recentCall of Dutyreleases, butBlack Ops 6already seems like a marked improvement overCold Warin this department in particular.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’s Map Pool Puts Cold War’s To Shame
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold Warreceived a lot of praise for its bold campaign, offering a good blend of new and familiar faces while putting a branching narrative in the control of the player. The reception to the multiplayer and Zombies ofCold Warwas more mixed, however, with fans only having a brief selection of maps across both modes at the game’s launch.
Upon release,Black Ops Cold Waronly offered eight multiplayer maps, two of which were exclusive to the more expansive Fireteam mode ofCold War’s multiplayer. This left only six maps for the traditional 6v6 gameplay ofCall of Duty’s multiplayer, with some players quickly growing tired of such a small selection of locations. This criticism was then worsened by the launch content ofCold War’s Zombies, which only featured one map at launch.
Black Ops 6’s Launch Maps Hopefully Sets a New Standard For Call of Duty
The Direct presentation forBlack Ops 6shed light on how many maps it will feature, with it being confirmed that the game will boast a whopping 16 maps at launch for its core multiplayer. This is double the number of maps thatCold Warfeatured at launch, showing that Treyarch has listened to one of the most vocal points of feedback that the 2020 title received.
This literal doubling down ofCold War’s content has also been extended to Zombies, withBlack Ops 6set to have two Zombies maps when it releases on October 25.
While two Zombies maps may not seem like a massive improvement overCold War’s one, it is worth noting thatBlack Ops 6is committed to a return to traditional round-based Zombies, moving away from the Outbreak formula thatCold Warintroduced. Outbreak featured a much larger playing field and a move away from this should allow Treyarch to put greater focus into producing more intimate round-based maps forBlack Ops 6throughout the game’s post-launch life.
The most recent release forCall of Duty,Modern Warfare 3, also faced a lot of stick for its selection of launch maps.Modern Warfare 3’s launch map pool was made entirely of maps from 2009’sModern Warfare 2, and while fans enjoyed revisiting these iconic older experiences, some still felt robbed of the fresh content that should come with a new release. The 16 launch maps ofBlack Ops 6already serve as a bold statement against this recent pattern, while also showing that Treyarch has clearly learned from one of the most underwhelming aspects ofCold War’s launch.
