Despite Call of Duty games of the past venturing off into space or near-futuristic settings, the FPS franchise’s combat has largely felt the same over the last 10 years. Black Ops 6 could shake up gunfights, though, and if the rumors are to believed, we are so back COD players. Not only has Treyarch supposedly overhauled the shooter’s movement, but rumors claim it is similar to the Max Payne series.
Diving while shooting in any direction? In a Call of Duty game? Sign me up immediately. According to prominent FPS game leaker ‘BobNetworkUK’, Black Ops 6 will allegedly “allow players to dive in all directions, similar to Max Payne. The game will also allow players to sprint in all directions.” Furthermore, Treyarch is reportedly referring to this new style of traversal as “Omnidirectional Movement”, and sliding may also be part of it.
The first Call of Duty Black Ops entry introduced the dive-to-prone mechanic back in 2010, and since then, games like Advanced Warfare and last year’s Modern Warfare 3 have pushed the template forward with faster, leaner jumping, sliding, and sprinting. Diving itself hasn’t always made an appearance in newer entries, with Black Ops Cold War notably omitting the feature in favor of sliding. As a result, the multiplayer game‘s Zombies mode saw perks like PhD Flopper reworked to accommodate this.
In a follow-up post on social media, the leaker purports that “Black Ops 6 apparently doesn’t feel like an MW game, all the way down to the animations.” I’ll be eager to see in the Black Ops 6 Direct presentation how this comes to fruition. Modern Warfare 2 introduced one of the slickest features in the franchise yet, allowing players to wield their sidearm faster with the Quick Draw addition to gunsmith. Not only did it function as a useful way to switch weapons, but this animation enhanced the immersion of feeling like an efficient operator.
The new trailer for rival shooter Delta Force Hawk Ops showcased a similar type of action, just in case you need another free shooting game to add to your PS5 and Xbox library. However, for me, the Max Payne franchise still stands as the pinnacle of third-person combat – especially Max Payne 3. Using Rockstar Games’ RAGE technology, which was also used on GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2, Max Payne 3’s animations and combat are propelled by an immense sense of weight and tangibleness.
Arrowhead’s hit PS5 exclusive Helldivers 2 has come close to it, and if Black Ops 6 can replicate an ounce of that energy, I think it could be one of many new injections of life the franchise needs.
In related news, I spoke to two of the biggest COD Zombies YouTubers in the world to get their thoughts on Black Ops 6 ahead of the Xbox Showcase, and Valorant is finally coming to consoles – hurrah!