For 26-year-old Jorge Alonso, video games are a way to disconnect from the real world. He used them as a natural stress reliever from the harsh reality experienced during his childhood in Honduras.
“I have been playing ‘Call of Duty’ since I was 13, ‘Black Ops’ was my first COD,” said Alonso, a Costco employee living in Miami. “When I was a kid, I lived through the ‘putsch’ in Honduras. That game was my escape from the real world I was living in and my motivation to get into IT in college once I came to the United States.”
Now, nearly four years after the last Black Ops video game was released, “Call of Duty” is making a comeback with new features and a new storyline.
With 21 titles in the franchise, Activision, the video game publisher, believes the sky’s the limit. From world wars to special operations, the company now has set out to give life to a spy action thriller in the early 1990’s post-Cold War era, highlighting the rise of the United States as a single superpower with its latest game — “Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.”
In the words of the Call of Duty blog, “This is the return of Black Ops. The Soviet Union was crumbling after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War. There was a growing mistrust in government, reflected everywhere across the music, television, and pop culture of the time.”
Call of Duty Black Ops 6 is scheduled for its worldwide release on Oct. 25 on consoles and PC. Last month, players had the chance to experience beta testing, which became the biggest in Call of Duty history.
Call of Duty Multiplayer is the foundation of the franchise revolutionizing online gaming and offering a competitive experience that has defined its success for over two decades. Where two teams of 12 players, six on each team, compete in different maps and game modes aspiring to get the most points during the match.
Kill/death ratio is the measure of a player’s proficiencies, describing the number of kills and deaths achieved during a match.
“The average KD is around 0.9 and 1.0,” said staff news writer at DOT Esports Gökhan Çakır. “If your average is higher than 1.5, you can consider yourself exceptional at the game.”
Activision has introduced an innovation in Black Ops 6 — it’s called “Omnimovement” — that dramatically changes the way multiplayer is played.
As reported by the blog, “For the first time ever, players can sprint, slide, and dive in any direction and move like a true Black Ops action hero.”
In past “Call of Duty” multiplayer games, players had a limited range of motion, mostly moving forward, allowing them to better anticipate their opponents’ movements. Now, with 360-degree mobility, it is harder to land shots or avoid gunfire.
“I think any new mechanic, like omnimovement, does make any game harder at first,” said video games news writer Nico Vergara. “It’s a huge change and drastically alters the core playstyle.”
Activision is one of the biggest publishers in the world. Since 1978, it has built a gaming powerhouse through a variety of games, including “Crash Bandicoot,” “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater,” and “Call of Duty.”
“Call of Duty” is the most well-known military first-person shooter video game franchise. In 2022, working alongside developers such as Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games, Treyarch and Raven Software, became the best-selling first-person shooter series.
“Call of Duty has sold over 425 million units and driven over $30 billion in revenue,” Activision told The Washington Post.
Due to its massive growth, Activision sought to explore ways for players to enjoy different game modes on their favorite platforms. As a result, they introduced “Call of Duty Warzone” and “Call of Duty Mobile” to innovate the player experience.
During the first year after launch, according to the Call of Duty blog, “Call of Duty Warzone” sold 125 million units. Over 270 million users downloaded ‘Call of Duty Mobile,’ winning multiple Mobile Game of the Year awards.”
Behind the tremendous success of the franchise, it is not all sunshine and rainbows. Despite Activision’s efforts to implement anti-cheat systems, hackers have been the nemesis of “Call of Duty”.
Aimbots and wallhacks are part of cheating tools used in Call of Duty. Aimbots automatically lock opponents for perfect accuracy, while wallhacks allow hackers to see through the walls.
“During the Beta [testing], there were aimbots and players using wallhacks,” said 29-year-old gamer Luis Garcia. “You’d be dead before you even turned a corner.”
The fight against hackers in “Call of Duty” has been a priority for developers. Ricochet, the anti-cheat team dedicated to exterminating the hacker epidemic, has taken measures to ensure a fair experience for gamers.
On Sept. 16, a Black Ops 6 Reddit group with over 40,000 members addressed the game’s features and new mechanics. Topics such as skill-based matchmaking, Omnimovement, and hackers generated diverse opinions aimed at promoting the best possible experience for the community.
“The omni-movement feels very natural, and only takes a few games to get used to,” said user LegalChocolate752. “People will always find the best way to get kills, and honestly, as long as they’re not cheating, good for them.”
Black ops 6 has been well received in the beta testing. It is just a matter of time until fans get the full version and determine if it truly meets the hype.
“Reception…has been surprisingly positive so far,” said user Hairybones1997. ”If you played the beta [testing] and liked it, you’re probably gonna have a good time when the full game comes out.”
Regardless of the game’s challenges, players will have no choice but to embrace the changes. While Black Ops 6 is one of the most anticipated games in 2024, it has left a portion of the fanbase questioning whether it will still have the “Call of Duty” essence they fell in love with.
“It’s on Activision and the developers listen to the community to make each game and mode as accessible and enjoyable as possible,” said Vergara, the video game news writer.