Treyarch has often served up some of the best Call of Duty games, such as World at War and Black Ops Cold War. Now, COD players can start getting hyped for Black Ops Gulf War, which is heavily rumored to be the franchise’s next entry. You won’t have to wait too long to see it in action, as it will reportedly feature in the June Xbox Showcase.
According to a new report from The Verge, it claims that Microsoft will be granting fresh looks at new Xbox games in a major Xbox Showcase set for Sunday, June 9, 2024. Activision will supposedly show off the first Call of Duty Black Ops Gulf War trailer, alongside looks at other titles like Indiana Jones and The Golden Circle.
There are also rumors purporting that Gears of War 6 will join the Xbox Showcase’s reveal roster. This will mark Treyarch’s first COD entry in four years, following the release of Black Ops Cold War in 2020. If last year’s Modern Warfare 3 didn’t make it into your ranks of the best FPS games, then we reckon Treyarch has a strong chance of changing that.
Black Ops Cold War set foot on new ground for the long-running franchise, introducing open world game aspects, and missions not too dissimilar to that of the recent Hitman trilogy. These aspects would later be expanded upon in 2022’s Modern Warfare 2, and again through Open Combat Missions in Modern Warfare 3.
In a first for Call of Duty, the game will allegedly feature a fully open world campaign, complete with vehicles to utilize during your adventures. It seems like a risky move to transition away from a traditional campaign format, but given how stale MW3’s meager four-hour campaign was, it might be the jolt of lightning the franchise needs.
The focus on bigger maps and exploration is already present in MW3 Zombies, which Treyarch assisted in development alongside Sledgehammer Games. The mode places players into an undead-infested iteration of Urzikstan, a map from the game’s battle royale game spin-off Warzone.
Of course, we’re eager to see how this new COD game will stack up regarding the best multiplayer games around. We’d like to see a slate of original, fresh maps upon launch, rather than banking on the nostalgia of existing maps. It is possible Treyarch could follow the same route as MW3, giving players a few throwbacks to earlier Black Ops games. If the developer is going to do that, we’d rather take a TranZit remaster.
In related Xbox news, Baldur’s Gate 3 is currently on offer for the first time on Xbox, and Hellblade 2 previews are already hailing it as a true “next-gen moment.”