Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Beta Preview: A Series In Need of Innovation

multiplayer beta is officially here and while it’s not a bad game, it also hasn't left any kind of notable impression. This is yet another interesting entry in the franchise as last year’s game,, was more of an interstitial title that felt like an expansion to 2022’s. As such, there's a growing number of players who are yearning for something far removed from the mil-sim feel of the Modern Warfare series.

Enter, an incredibly arcade-y shooter that embraces its own absurdity for heightened gameplay. Treyarch has always opted to be a strong contrast to Infinity Ward’s entries in the series and that could not be more on display here, with a number of different features that help truly differentiate this year's offering from the games of the last few years.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 players have noticed that an alleged reference to the 9/11 terror attack has been removed from the multiplayer beta.

Treyarch has taken advantage of its four year development cycle (the longest in history) to attempt to bring significant innovations and advancements to the CoD formula. How much that succeeds is up for debate; there's still time before launch either way, however, so hopefully the beta serves its purpose as a last opportunity to more closely tweak the game to align with its playerbase's desires.

The biggest addition to is a system called “Omnimovement." It allows more precise movement of the character, letting the player rotate their body while diving/lying down and strafe in all directions without breaking their momentum. Movement is generally much smoother and gives more reactive players the ability to survive encounters where they would’ve otherwise been outgunned. If an enemy comes up behind you, you can quickly dive out of the line of fire and twirl your body around, John Woo-style, to try and win the gunfight.

In, getting shot in the back is a much more certain death. It may not always pan out in, but the chances are definitely increased and can result in plenty of