Black Ops 6 open beta review – Optimism wrapped in genuine concern

The Black Ops 6 beta has come and gone, giving Call of Duty players a taste of what’s on the horizon. And if you’re like me, the flavor is one of confusion.

While I remain optimistic about BO6, there were some genuine pain points in the beta and some issues I am concerned with moving forward to release on Oct. 25. Zombies and campaign fans look to be eating well, but for multiplayer, I think that feedback must be received.

BO6 beta review – Work to be done

I enjoyed my time with the BO6 beta overall, but there’s a fine line between beta enjoyment and keeping players coming back for months of live-service seasons and store bundles. I think Treyarch has some important work to do before launch.

Maps missed the mark

My biggest concern with BO6 right now is the maps. The beta featured eight maps and not one of them stood out to me as being enjoyable, while others felt downright atrocious to play on.

This is Treyarch we’re talking about. This studio has cooked up some of the best maps in CoD history, and thankfully, we’ll see some of them added as post-launch content, but the current offering leaves a hell of a lot to be desired. There’s much more of a focus on smaller maps this go-round, and that’s fine, but some more variety would be appreciated.

With half of the game’s launch map pool already revealed, I don’t have high hopes for the rest of them. Even CoD games I didn’t enjoy like Modern Warfare 2 had better maps to play in the beta, and that’s a scary thought. CoD games are made by their maps, so if BO6 fails on that front, it could be a long year.

Loss after loss after loss

This beta was full of way more losses than I’m accustomed to—packet loss, that is. A common complaint for the beta was packet loss or packet burst, which causes the game to hang up or freeze for around a second, just long enough to die to that guy you were about to dive around the corner and fire at.

This issue was even worse in the open beta and made for an unplayable experience at times. I have confidence that this kind of problem will be fixed by launch because, if not, the game will be off to a rough start for many.

I’m concerned, though, that the game-altering spikes from packet burst got worse when more players joined the beta. That doesn’t bode well for when the floodgates open on launch day.

SBMM sucks, but it’s best for the game

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but BO6 needs skill-based matchmaking. And I say this as someone who is barely above average in the grand scheme of the CoD player base and actively gets punished for it on a routine basis.

SBMM made this beta once again feel like a tryout for the CDL, but it’s a necessary evil. Why? Because with omnimovement, the skill gap is wider than ever. The vast majority of CoD’s player base, players in a lower skill bracket, will have zero fun going up against superior players who are diving and sliding around them like gymnasts.

To keep those players on the game, they’ll need to be coddled and kept away from the movement demons who have been taking over the scene over the past few years. That will keep them engaged, keep them buying skins, and keep the franchise successful.

And that will also keep my blood pressure high every single time I queue up for a match.

Same old spawn song

Respawn points. They are terrible. This is a yearly occurrence, though, so they should be fixed by launch. But I’m just putting this section here to let Treyarch know that they, indeed, still need work. The spawns likely feel even worse on these smaller maps, but if Treyarch is truly steering clear of large ones, this could continue to be an issue.

What is the meaning?

A couple of facets of the BO6 beta felt meaningless, starting with the Kill Order mode, which is basically just glorified Team Deathmatch, only campier and more annoying. TDM players will stick to TDM. There is no need for this mode, and seeing it in the beta over something like Search and Destroy was just lame.

The second meaningless feature is Tactical Sprint. It feels completely useless with omnimovement being a focal point, and in fact, it only hinders the omnimovement experience as a whole. Tac Sprint should be the default movement speed for BO6 moving forward.

I’m pretty sure Black Ops 6 will be a good CoD game. I’ve already accepted the fact that this series has passed me by when it comes to hand-eye coordination and skill level, but I would still like to have some fun sometimes. I believe and hope that BO6 will accomplish that much, at the very least.