Microsoft not only gave us our first look at Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 today, but a ton of info regarding multiplayer has dropped as well. First off, Black Ops 6 will be bringing back the traditional Prestige system and even Theater Mode is returning as well.
In addition to the returning features, Treyarch unveiled our first look at what the studio calls “omnimovement.” This, coupled with the new advancements in animation, will shake up how movement is played out in Black Ops 6’s multiplayer.
Black Ops 6 Multiplayer Info From Call of Duty Direct:
Omnimovement
For the first time ever, players can sprint, slide, and dive in any direction (forward, sidestepping, and backpedaling) and move like a true Black Ops action hero. This innovation immediately allows the player to move like never before and seamlessly chain combat maneuvers together, like sliding, diving and a newly enhanced supine prone, all with a full 360 degrees range of motion.
If you can sprint in any direction, then it logically follows that you can slide and dive in any direction, too. This opened a world of new movement options. With a simple – and extremely engaging – prototype up and running, the team instantly knew this was much more than a modest improvement to the way you maneuver your Operator in combat:
Watch it in action:
Intelligent Movement
Omnimovement isn’t the only movement innovation coming to Black Ops 6. There’s a new set of features known as Intelligent Movement, which is designed to drastically reduce how many buttons or keys you’re pressing to perform various movements.The spark of the idea behind Intelligent Movement was wanting players to focus on what they wanted to achieve with movement, rather than how to achieve it. Every player, regardless of skill level, input, or experience with Call of Duty, can engage in Omnimovement and become an action hero in Black Ops 6. There are three categories that you can enable (or disable) in the Player Options:
- Sprint Assist
- Mantle Assist
- Crouch Assist
Designed with both Omnimovement and player expression in mind, you also have the freedom to fine-tune these settings depending on your style of play.
Intelligent Movement
Omnimovement isn’t the only movement innovation coming to Black Ops 6. There’s a new set of features known as Intelligent Movement, which is designed to drastically reduce how many buttons or keys you’re pressing to perform various movements.
The spark of the idea behind Intelligent Movement was wanting players to focus on what they wanted to achieve with movement, rather than how to achieve it. Every player, regardless of skill level, input, or experience with Call of Duty, can engage in Omnimovement and become an action hero in Black Ops 6. There are three categories that you can enable (or disable) in the Player Options:
- Sprint Assist
- Mantle Assist
- Crouch Assist
Designed with both Omnimovement and player expression in mind, you also have the freedom to fine-tune these settings depending on your style of play. However, those who don’t want this new movement system when playing, you’ll be able to change it in the setting menus. Gamers will be able to play around with combinations of actions or enable or disable a related command for, to make it suited for their own experience.
Enemy Hit Zones
In past Black Ops games, when you eliminated an enemy, they reacted to taking damage based on the Hit Zone you struck them in, and depending on where that was, you observed an animation based on both the location of the shot, and the deadliness of the damage. With the return of Black Ops 6, the number of Hit Zone regions has more than doubled, from four to nine.
With more than twice the number of regions to target, you can expect a much wider variety of visual takedowns across Campaign and Multiplayer modes. Now it can be determined, for example, if an enemy was shot in the left or right leg and play a bespoke death animation related to the shot. Or, if an Operator takes a high caliber sniper round to the right arm as they’re sprinting, that appendage will snap back and spin them around as the weight of the body carries forward as they collapse to the ground.
Check it in action:
World Connectivity
Another innovation is World Connectivity, a much more subtle but recognizable set of animation overhauls based on the concept that the player’s movement and reactions are connected to the in-game world in a dynamic way and based on the player’s choices.
This is related to the overarching idea of keeping the player in a “flow state,” minimizing the jarring between different animations, for example. Take this a step further, and you have an example feature known as Corner Slicing. As you round a corner or go through a doorway, your weapon dynamically rotates in that same direction. Since this is dynamic, the rotation becomes more dramatic if you’re slowly sneaking through, clearing a room, whereas it won’t affect you at all if you’re barreling full speed around that same corner. This doesn’t affect gameplay as it’s purely a visual adjustment, but when real-world Operators were observed clearing a building, they always moved with anticipation of that next firefight.
Watch corner slicing in action:
HUD Customization
For Black Ops 6, the player experience is all about focusing you on what you need, when you need it. Advancements in HUD (Heads Up Display) design echoes this mantra, with a variety of changes you can make based on established presets. From the minimap, to the ammo widget, to in game notifications, the Black Ops 6 HUD combines exceptional designs in a clean, streamlined experience. As always, the Multiplayer medal acquirement notifications hit hard and the scorefeed makes eliminations even more gratifying, along with plenty of new innovations.
For the first time in a Black Ops game, players will be able to change their HUD in dramatic ways to suit their needs. For example, you may want your HUD centered so you don’t have to look at the corners of your screen as often. Perhaps you plan to play Hardcore mode anywhere and want all the HUD elements removed accordingly. Has the mini-map been in the top-left corner of your screen for far too long? Then move it! Streamers have a layout optimized for their setup. These are all options, and everything connects you to the in-game world, from the Lobby, into combat, and back again, where your player progress and achievements are celebrated in a big way.
The Return of Classic Prestige
Black Ops 6 will mark the return of traditional Call of Duty Prestige.
Players can look forward to experiencing some classic, recognizable aspects of Prestige once you reach your maximum player level. At this point, you have the optional choice to enter Prestige. This essentially starts your ranking up afresh, relocking the gear you grinded through from levels 1-55, enabling you to go through the leveling journey again.
Black Ops 6 will have 10 of these Prestiges, each with a valuable set of rewards to earn and equip to showcase your impressive in-game status. But you aren’t done yet, as those completing Prestige 10 will graduate into Prestige Master, with 1,000 additional levels to climb through, and a classified reward to uncover if you’re dedicated enough to make it all the way to the end.
The full Prestige system is available at launch in Black Ops 6 so players can play at their own pace without ever being slowed down by seasonal level caps.
Alongside that info, content creators were invited, which confirmed that the three-perk system per loadout is back! More info is available below (via CharlieIntel):
— Classic Prestige returns
— Simplified Lobby UI with “invite friends” back
— New minimal HUD with custom presets
— Loadouts with Primary, Secondary, Melee
— 3 Perks per loadout
— Equip 3 Perks of the same Category to get Perk Speciality
— 5 attachments, up to 8 with Wildcard
— Traditional Scorestreaks are back
— Winner’s Circle is back
— Best play is back
— Shooting range is back
— 16 maps at launch, 12 6v6 + 4 Strike maps
— Classic three lane maps
— New Omnimovement – deep, slide, sprint in any direction
— Intelligent movement to auto sprint & mantle
— Hit Animations – 9 hit spots to give realistic effect when dying
More info regarding Black Ops 6’s multiplayer will be revealed in Call of Duty Next this August 28. For info on Zombies and single-player, head on over here.
