Call of Dutyhas set many standards for the military shooter genre over the last two decades.Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare’s online multiplayer, for instance, is often given credit for introducing features that are now staples of the genre, like custom loadouts and killstreaks. ButCall of Dutyhas broken plenty of new ground in the single-player space as well.
WhileMedal of Honor,Battlefield 1942, and other early military shooters laid strong foundations for the genre,Call of Dutyset a new bar for cinematic, blockbuster action campaigns.Call of Duty: Black Ops 6continues to raise this bar, bringing its own set of innovations and improvements with its campaign, including finally nailing a classic single-player mechanic that the franchise has previously struggled with.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Finally Delivers Satisfying Bosses
TheCall of Dutyfranchise has had some great antagonists over the years, fromModern Warfare’s terrifying Ultranationalist Makarov toBlack Ops 2’s Raul Menendez. But while these antagonists have often done a great job of incentivizing the player to hunt them down and put a stop to their nefarious schemes, their final confrontation has frequently left a little to be desired.
In mostCall of Dutycampaigns, the big bad is either defeated in a cutscene or defeated via a quick-time event, which can often feel like a glorified cutscene. General Shepherd’s original incarnation is taken out with a throwing knife, Makarov is pushed through a glass ceiling and left to hang, and Menendez is shot in the head, all via quick-time events.
Though QTEs were a decent way to add interactivity to a cutscene, they don’t feel nearly as rewarding in this modern age of gaming. RecentCall of Dutycampaigns have tried to change with the times, introducing proper boss fights a few years ago.Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’s Graves tank battlewas one of the first true boss fights inCoDcampaign history, and while it was a solid start, its challenge felt a tad too artificial.
Call of Duty Zombieshas had a much longer history with boss fights, with Five’s Pentagon Thief opening the floodgates for boss zombies back in 2010.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Sets a New Standard for Campaign Boss Fights
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’s campaignis littered with engaging boss fights. In many missions, players will be confronted with a strong mini-boss enemy that has a health bar above their head. These shotgunners, juggernauts, and gas mask-wearing mini-bosses all pose a much more significant challenge than the campaign’s regular enemies, and that sudden shift in intensity can be exhilarating.
Black Ops 6’s campaign is also home to a handful of major boss fights, most of which come during the mission ‘Emergence’. These bosses are essentially copied fromBlack Ops 6’s Zombies mode, though the context surrounding their appearance in the campaign makes their respective battles feel suitably tense and engaging. Unlike those that have come before it,Black Ops 6’s boss fights feel like proper set pieces that successfully blend blockbuster presentation with engaging gameplay.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
WHERE TO PLAY
Forced to go rogue. Hunted from within. This is Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.Developed by Treyarch and Raven, Black Ops 6 is a spy action thriller set in the early 90s, a period of transition and upheaval in global politics, characterized by the end of the Cold War and the rise of the United States as a single superpower. With a mind-bending narrative, and unbound by the rules of engagement, this is signature Black Ops.The Black Ops 6 Campaign provides dynamic moment-to-moment gameplay that includes a variety of play spaces with blockbuster set pieces and action-packed moments, high-stakes heists, and cloak-and-dagger spy activity.In a best-in-class Multiplayer experience, players will test their skills across 16 new maps at launch, including 12 core 6v6 maps and 4 Strike maps that can be played 2v2 or 6v6.Black Ops 6 also marks the epic return of Round-Based Zombies, the fan-favorite mode where players will take down hordes of the undead in two brand-new maps at launch. Post-launch, players can look forward to even more exciting maps and groundbreaking experiences dropping into both Multiplayer and Zombies.
