Playing Black Ops 6 for the first time feels like a massive year for Call of Duty in more ways than one.

It’s the first launching day and date on Xbox Game Pass. The first full COD under an Xbox dev cycle. And after playing the campaign through, it feels like the first in years that’s really pushing the boundaries and conventions of what we expect from this global phenomenon.

Full coverage of Black Ops 6 to follow. This piece solely covers the campaign.

I’ve played most COD campaigns since the original Modern Warfare. I’ve seen the series evolve, go through continuous changes and enjoyed most of them along the way. Black Ops 6 feels like the most monumental shift to date.

Generally, the campaigns are fun. Good, switch off, open warfare that’s full of explosions, epic action sequences and entertaining set-pieces. Black Ops 6 has all of that, still, but with the added addition of the very first taste of open-world Call of Duty.

Yeah, you heard that right. Set during the 90s and the Gulf War, the campaign follows that oh, so familiar trajectory to open with, until you reach an open-ended mission where you have a main objective of destroying three SAT units. Alongside that, you can open up a map with a slew of optional objectives and use a truck to whizz around and get to them. Each mission has differing objectives, like wiping out the entire enemy threat or capturing a base. Suddenly it starts to feel very Far Cry.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Without delving too deeply into spoilers, there’s another mission that pays homage to a familiar, beloved Call of Duty mode and has nods and winks to classic FPS campaigns like Prey. It’s a big tonal shift from where the game has been heading up to that point and adds a spice of creativity into the mix. Frankly, this might be the best mission ever made in a Call of Duty campaign.

That’s what works so wonderfully about Black Ops 6. It keeps mixing up what you’ve come to expect from these grandiose campaigns and throws in the completely unexpected, while also potentially painting a vivid picture for the future.

Let’s be honest, a lot of people dive onto COD annually to play multiplayer, it’s the game’s magnum opus. But this campaign pivots in a way that might help the franchise move in a completely new direction under Xbox. We know Phil Spencer and high ups love a good single player adventure and you can absolutely see a path to make that a reality.

The campaign length, for a start, is closer to double digits now than the 4-5 hours you generally get. There’s also a mix of environments and objectives as you travel the world and take part in some interesting scenarios, like a high stakes Casino game and an undercover espionage that sees you visit a Bill Clinton rally.

But you’re certainly starting to see a franchise embracing change. In-between missions, you spend time at an abandoned hideout that is full of secrets. You carry a UV light around with you to find clues that eventually lead you to a safe of money. This can then be spent on permanent upgrades that can be used throughout the campaign like faster hip fire, improved weapon accuracy, better health regen and more.

You can also engage in optional conversations with your team. In RPG, Dragon Age esque style, you can find out more about your colleagues, make choices in your responses or just go straight to the point of mission, ignoring the context. It’s not as elaborate, of course, but you can see Activision trying new things with Call of Duty. For the most part, they work brilliantly.

It’s a solid campaign, one I’ve enjoyed more than most other CODs. It keeps you guessing, there’s some fun twists and turns, but it also maintains the high-octane, adrenaline pumping action you’ve come to expect.

There is a slight imbalance in the pacing, you go from a quick-shot mission to something you can spend hours in should you wish too. That does feel a little jarring and perhaps something to work on for future releases, but this also lends itself to the idea that this is a franchise in an experimental phase. Things are changing, evolving and moving in a different direction. And it’s for the better.

Moments in Black Ops 6 make you feel like you’re playing Mission Impossible. Oceans 11. Hitman. Far Cry. Even Metal Gear. And that can definitely feel a bit difficult to get to grips with it at times as the game really struggles to settle on a theme. It’s like a Greatest Hit, selection box of great FPS campaigns all brought together. But it is perhaps a sign of where things will go next. Or perhaps it’s a one-off.

Regardless, as a standalone, one-off campaign, Black Ops 6 has a lot of fun tricks up its sleeve that will make this one stand apart and alone among the others as one you’ll remember long after the credits roll.

Verdict

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 has a really fun, experimental campaign that really sets itself apart from others in the series and potentially provides an interesting direction for the future. The constant chop and changing of the campaign can be a bit jarring and pacey, but the fun set-pieces, wild variety, and heart-pounding action maintain this as good, mostly enjoyable annual junk food for the gamers.