Ahead of its October 25 launch, we got to try out Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 during its early access beta, checking out the latest improvements, the new maps, and the highly-touted omnimovement system that promises unparalleled freedom and fast-paced action.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Beta First Impressions

Omni-Movement: A Game-Changer

Out of all the features that Black Ops 6 is bringing to the table, none is more talked about than omnimovement, a system that basically allows players to move, slide, sprint, and aim in all directions. This new system poses big changes to the game, so much so that a tutorial is presented to players to learn about it.

If you’re used to movement in past Call of Duty games, omnimovement will surely take some getting used to, especially since sprinting usually implies forward movement. In Black Ops 6, you can sprint in all directions, and not only that, but you can also dive in the same direction you were running in, resulting in you dropping to the floor in supine. Aiming during this maneuver can be a challenge, so practice will indeed make perfect.

Instead of peeking in and out of corners, players can literally pull off action movie moves during door breaches, catching enemies off guard due to movements previously unavailable in past installments. In this sense, Black Ops 6 succeeds with flying colors, with omnimovement taking center stage. While it all feels and sounds outrageous at times, it’s undeniable that the new system brings a new and refreshing feel to the tried and tested gunplay of Call of Duty.

Omnimovement adds an extra layer of speed and pace that makes Black Ops 6 play much faster and more fluid than before. Additionally, gameplay becomes more complex should you choose to engage with this new system, with players needing to unlearn some old habits due to the ability to move and aim in the opposite direction faster. It does feel intimidating though, thinking about how sweaty lobbies will be months down the line when the movement system is perfected by players.

Black Ops 6 TTK (time to kill) felt good (a bit faster than I’m used to) most of the time, but also felt inconsistent during some skirmishes. Because of omnimovement, the overall pace is much faster, prompting more encounters in small to medium-scale maps. Chaining kills together feels like something the devs wanted to highlight, and that’s certainly the case here when paired with great gunplay that felt good with manageable recoil.

I’m not quite sure if it was an internet issue or a server hitch due to the number of players in the game, but this is something I’m not putting too much stock into at the moment because the developers will be optimizing the game based on the results of the beta. Players ought to monitor this and if it will affect their decision to buy a Call of Duty account.

Maps to Die For

Black Ops 6 features a limited number of maps during early access beta, so we’re getting a small taste here of the full 16-map offering when the game launches next month.

Just based purely on my gameplay experience, Skyline was an easy favorite. Taking place in a luxury high-rise setting, Skyline offered a good mix of close and medium-ranged combat that wasn’t suffocating. I’ve been caught several times because I wasn’t paying attention to my flanks, but it could have easily been the other way around. It suited my straightforward gameplay well but also gave me some opportunities to take advantage of diving from a higher floor to catch unsuspecting foes by surprise.

As a low-sensitivity controller-based player, snipers and corridors are the death of me, so Scud was not a map I looked forward to when I queued into it. Derelict was a love/hate situation, especially since it feels like a map that takes full advantage of the new movement system, leaving an omnimovement newcomer in the dust, especially with its verticality. Spawning right into an enemy seemed to happen way too often for my liking, so that’s something I’ll be keeping a lookout for.

Game modes are what you’d expect from a Call of Duty title, with the likes of Team Deathmatch, Domination, Hardpoint, and more. There’s a good mix of modes to keep players busy, and it only takes a few hours of continuous gameplay to reach the level 20 cap.

There’s a lot more we haven’t seen, so the jury is still out on whether the full map package of Black Ops 6 is good enough, but the beta does give an impression of what to expect.

Overall, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 looks promising as it sets out to revitalize the series with new systems that look to take gameplay to the next level. Omnimovement is a definite game changer that seems to lay down the groundwork for future CoD games, and the developers are committed to ensuring that the experience is optimized leading up to its launch.

The Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 open beta is scheduled to start on September 7 and end on September 10, and will be available to all players across all platforms regardless of preorder status.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is scheduled to launch on October 25, 2024.