ThoughCall of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s Outbreak mode was an intriguing step in a new direction,Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’s fully-fledged open-world Zombies mode was a big miss with fans. So, naturally,Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’s return totraditional round-based Zombieshas been welcomed by the community with open arms.
At launch,Call of Duty: Black Ops 6shipped with two complete round-based Zombies maps: Terminus and Liberty Falls. Though these maps aren’t perfect, they’re arguably some of the best Zombies content fans have received in years, with each one being packed to the brim with Easter eggs and secrets. ButCall of Duty: Black Ops 6didn’t leave it there. Season 1 added Citadelle des Morts toBlack Ops 6, a sprawling Zombies map set in a European castle, hearkening back to beloved maps likeBlack Ops 3’s Der Eisendrache.Call of Duty: Black Ops 6has set a high bar for itself for future seasons, but the key to continued success might be hiding in Liberty Falls' blueprint.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Should Use Liberty Falls as a Blueprint for its Future Seasons
Not All Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Seasons Can Come With a Citadelle des Morts
A surprisingly large map filled with interweaving hallways, underground tunnels, ancient halls, and a neighboring village, Citadelle des Morts, for the most part, lived up to the hype. Along with its larger scale and clever interconnected map design,Citadelle des Morts introduced four new Wonder Weaponsto the franchise, along with unique Easter egg quests to find and upgrade each one. A new enemy type, the Doppleghast, was also added with the map.
While it’s unconfirmed how long Citadelle des Morts took to develop, it was presumably no small feat, with so much new content being packed into its castle walls. Though Treyarch and its team of co-developers are all very talented, it seems unlikely they’d be able to produce a new Zombies map on a similar scale to Citadelle des Morts for everynewCall of Duty: Black Ops 6season.
But fans will still crave new Zombies content, and there might be a way for Treyarch to offer that without needing to resort to crunch.
Smaller Liberty Falls-Like Maps Would Offer a Great Balance
The smaller ofCall of Duty: Black Ops 6Zombies' two launch day offerings, Liberty Falls was criticized before launch for lacking atmosphere, seeming too simplistic, and for having Operators instead of a fully-voiced cast. When players finally got their hands on Liberty Falls, those criticisms didn’t necessarily go away, but they weren’t nearly as loud.
Liberty Falls does a great job of doing exactly what it sets out to do, being a smaller map designed primarily to introduce newcomers to the mode. But despite its smaller scale and deliberately simplistic design, Liberty Falls still has all the trimmings fans would expect from a traditional round-based Zombies map, such as Perk-a-Colas, Wonder Weapons, Easter eggs, and the Mystery Box.
If Treyarch intends to producea new Zombies map every season, then it might want to use Liberty Falls as the blueprint for some of those maps, perhaps rotating between a large-scale Citadelle des Morts-like map and a smaller Liberty Falls-like map every two seasons. This could be a great way to keep development pressures down while still offering fans new Zombies content at a consistent rate.
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.
