Reviving Zombie Fun: Black Ops 6 Zombies Brings Back Old-School Thrills

Black Ops 6 Zombies has me feeling nostalgic in the best way possible. When Treyarch announced that the game would bring back round-based zombie mode, it was like a breath of fresh air. It's been years since I truly enjoyed Call of Duty's zombies, with the last game I loved being the original Black Ops. Since then, the game mode has evolved into something more complex, with optional Easter eggs turning into mandatory missions, overshadowing the simple survival goal. But Black Ops 6 has changed that. The game launches with two maps: the once-peaceful town of Liberty Falls and the grim Terminus prison. Liberty Falls is a delightful mix of old and new. It starts you on a lower road, where you can work your way uphill to reach a spooky church. The streets are wide enough to keep you safe, but there are plenty of smaller areas to get cornered if you're not careful. As the rounds progress, you'll find it harder to keep order in your route. Terminus is a different story. This prison is claustrophobic, with small halls and rooms that require you to defend power cells to unlock new zones. It's a fiendish trick that makes it easy for even early-round zombies to overrun you. If you're playing with friends, coordination is key to keeping these cells running. Fail, and you'll have to pay points to restart them, making it hard to keep up with the zombie horde. Black Ops 6's maps are the real stars. They bring back the simplicity that made the original zombies so popular. Sure, there are new features like zombie health bars and loadout customizations, but they don't detract from the core experience. Instead, they enhance it. The game feels more textured than it has in years. Emptying a Pack-a-Punched C9 submachine gun into a horde of undead in Liberty Falls is a blast. I was skeptical at first, but Black Ops 6 has won me over. After the disappointment of Modern Warfare 3, I thought the zombies mode had become too big to recapture its former glory. But this game proves me wrong. Its choked map design and straightforward undead are a step back toward simpler times. I can't wait to see how it evolves with future updates. For now, I'll be spending my weekend popping zombie heads.