Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Zombies mode will introduce powerful new technology previously thought impossible: saving and coming back later

You know a Treyarch Call of Duty game is on the horizon when rabid fans start throwing around lingo I left behind in the 2010s like «Pack-a-Punch», «Juggernog,» and «Speed Cola.» That's right, Zombies is back on the menu in Black Ops 6, and Treyarch is getting back to basics. That means the PvE horde mode is round-based again, and not borrowing the Warzone map like last year's Modern Warfare 3.

A 44-part Zombies «intel barrage» published by Activision today covers how Black Ops 6 Zombies will work in excruciating detail. We've got classic enclosed maps (two at launch by the sound of it), unlockable routes, power-ups, Perk-a-Colas, the random box—everything a helplessly nostalgic 27-year-old grasping at the salad days of 2008 horde modes could possibly ask for.

Black Ops 6 Zombies is building off of the well-liked format of 2020's Cold War, with its crafting system and permanent upgrades, and deliberately pretending last year's Modern Warfare Zombies thing didn't really happen (though it was surprisingly good for what was essentially a DMZ mod). It's a play on familiarity, but with a few new features that actually excite this lapsed Zombies player. Such as: Hey, you cansave your progress in a Zombies match and come back later? Who woulda thunk we'd see the day.

«For the first time in Zombies, you can elect to save your Solo match at any time, provided you are at full health, aren't downed, dead, or actively engaged in an Exfil,» the blog reads. «Load the save file to continue. Again, if enough time passes while you're AFK, the game will automatically save your game state so you won't lose your progress!»

Activision says saving is one of the features meant to mitigate the potential headaches of Black Ops 6 Zombies' always-online requirement (boo), but I can see saves having a huge effect on how people engage with the mode going forward. Yes, it's a solo only thing, but Zombies has always been the videogame equivalent of a train with no brakes—gunning forward at full