Call of Duty®: Black Ops 6

After over 350 hours (CoD HQ and BO6 Steam launchers combined) I write, with pain in my heart, this negative review. There is a lot of potential, but it is lost due to technical problems, especially in Zombies. These issues persist in all modes and range from stuttering and missing graphics, to network problems (even solo) and freezing in place. Campaign: The campaign has potential and gets more interesting as time progresses. The different perspectives in the casino mission are a nice touch and the campaign has high stakes and intense combat. However, there are some problems. Button prompts in quick-time events often do not trigger (leading to failure), the objective is often not clear, pistol shots in quick-time events often do not register leading to retries, and on veteran mode the campaign is nearly impossible with 20-50 deaths per section. A part of this is a skill issue, but also technical issues. The zombies part hurts the most: So much potential with the passable map design, smooth gunplay, and long-term progression. On the other hand, the (solo) Zombies mode is plagued with technical problems. The maximum pause duration per match is 15 minutes and save & quit is unavailable, connectivity issues lead to rubber banding, no hit registration, teleporting all over the place, and falling through the map (which makes main quest and side easter eggs impossible, you die instantly when the network connection is fixed), and the character quotes are lame and uninteresting. I would honestly much rather spend my time playing Cold War or Black Ops 4 solo Zombies, where the progression is meaningful and there are barely any technical issues. Multiplayer: The gameplay is alright and the progression is satisfying. Westpoint's character quotes make me chuckle and keep me entertained. Getting camos and calling cards is a ton of fun. The scorestreaks and weapon loadouts feel somewhat balanced. I have rarely experienced real cheaters, although the skill-based matchmaking is flawed and is easily manipulated. Without SBMM, BO6 Multiplayer would probably be more fun. Who knows. It is not fun to be destroyed by people who cheat the SBMM system. All in all, if it were not for the technical problems, I could absolutely spend hundreds of hours having fun (having fun is possible, even with skill issue). This is not the case and the technical problems completely ruin my enjoyment of this game. The game design is not bad, and could be enjoyed.