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As another year approaches its conclusion, it’s time once again for a new Call of Duty release. For 2024, Activision is revisiting a fan-favorite sub-series with Black Ops 6. However, if you’re either new to the franchise or a returning player after some time away, you might find the Call of Duty landscape somewhat perplexing.
Unlike traditional games, Call of Duty has moved away from separate titles and now features a centralized hub, similar to Fortnite’s multiple game modes within a single platform. Upon launching the game, you’ll encounter various options, including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, Modern Warfare III, and Warzone, alongside Black Ops 6. Players have access only to the specific games they own, which can be purchased individually. This can be convenient for those who frequently revisit different versions, but might be daunting for those who just want a straightforward gaming experience.
Although Black Ops and Modern Warfare are housed within the same application, they are distinctly different games—regardless of what some fans may claim. They feature unique characters, narratives, and atmospheres, alongside varying gameplay styles.
What Are the Differences Between the COD Sub-Series?
For much of the last decade, Call of Duty served as an anthology centered on World War II. The focus was less on characters or overarching storylines and more on letting players engage with historic battles and military operations, akin to an interactive version of Saving Private Ryan. This changed dramatically in 2007 with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. The title drew inspiration from real-life conflicts and led to the franchise’s first direct sequel, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009).
This sequel marked a pivotal moment, as the series invested in character development, giving players relatable figures to engage with. Modern Warfare became renowned for its explosive, contemporary narratives and larger-than-life characters, often portrayed with distinct accents, prominent mustaches, and striking masks. Following the success of these titles, it was clear that fans desired more serialized entries. Yet, for the developers’ sake—and to maintain the audience’s interest—it would be challenging to release a new Modern Warfare sequel each year.
Activision chose to create a semi-sequel to Call of Duty: World at War (2008) to kick off a new sub-series: Black Ops. This sub-franchise shifts away from large-scale warfare, focusing instead on espionage and weaving in conspiracy-laden narratives about history and covert government operations. Call of Duty: Black Ops explored various intriguing themes, including Russian sleeper agents, the CIA’s covert activities during the Sixties, and the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
As time went on, both sub-franchises developed distinct identities. Black Ops ventured into a futuristic setting with robot battles, while the original Modern Warfare trilogy concluded in the early 2010s. Infinity Ward, the studio behind Modern Warfare, experimented with different concepts for the series, such as Ghosts (2013) and Infinite Warfare (2016), before ultimately returning to Modern Warfare to tap into nostalgia.
In 2019, Infinity Ward launched a reboot of Modern Warfare, presenting a more realistic interpretation of its original storyline. If the earlier Modern Warfare trilogy resembled an action-packed Michael Bay movie, the rebooted trilogy aligns more with grounded films like Zero Dark Thirty and Sicario. Consequently, Modern Warfare has evolved into a more casual military simulator that seeks to balance realism with enjoyment, whereas Black Ops remains the more “arcade-like” shooter, making it easier for players to jump in.
It’s obviously a bit confusing for newcomers to keep track of the differences between the two Modern Warfare trilogies, as they literally shared the same name aside from a set of roman numerals. However, it’s understandable why Activision chose to keep using the Modern Warfare name. It’s an incredibly strong brand, synonymous with making Call of Duty a pop cultural juggernaut.
Similarly, Treyarch has never even attempted to ditch the Black Ops brand because of the power it holds for the series. It’s something fans trust and hold in high esteem.
Where Does Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Fit In?
The Call of Duty: Black Ops timeline is a bit chaotic as it takes place across roughly 100 years and also features a branching storyline. In Black Ops 2 (2012) and Black Ops Cold War (2020), the player can make choices that allow critical characters to live or die, nuke countries, and let the villains win or lose.
On top of that, the rebooted Modern Warfare (2019) series exists within the same universe as the Black Ops games. A lot of these connections have been made in seasonal post-launch cutscenes tied to the multiplayer of these games, but a key character from the Modern Warfare series also appeared in a cameo in the campaign for Black Ops Cold War.
With all of that said, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is more or less right in the middle of the timeline. Black Ops 6 is a sequel to Black Ops Cold War and the Eighties-set levels of Black Ops 2. Black Ops 6 picks up in the early Nineties and follows Cold War character Russell Adler on the run after being framed as a mole in the CIA. Sometime later, he sends a cryptic message to Frank Woods — who is now wheelchair-bound following the events of Black Ops 2 — to warn him of a dangerous group that has infiltrated the CIA.
Key franchise characters like Alex Mason and Jason Hudson will not return in Black Ops 6 due to some choices players can make in Black Ops 2 now being officially canonized in the overall narrative. Below, you can find a chronological timeline of the Black Ops franchise’s story which should hopefully make things a bit easier to follow. The bolded entries on the list are the ones that you should play before Black Ops 6 if you want to have the best understanding of the story.
- Call of Duty: World at War (World War II)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops (1960s)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (early 1980s)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (select missions set in the late 1980s)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (early 1990s)
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022)
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (2023)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (select missions set in 2025)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 (2060s)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (no campaign, multiplayer lore places it in 2040s)
What to Expect from Call of Duty: Black Ops 6?
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 has had the longest development cycle of any Call of Duty game to date with Treyarch and Raven Software leading the charge on production. The series has historically allowed its different studios two to three years to make new games, but Black Ops 6 was afforded the luxury of four years. Ideally, it could result in a more polished, content-rich game than previous years.
2023’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III was reportedly made in 16 months and was heavily criticized for its painfully short campaign (roughly three hours long) and a multiplayer that launched exclusively with content from previous games such as maps from Modern Warfare 2 (2009).
Of course, there will be a robust campaign with missions that allow players to choose the kind of playstyles they want to utilize. Raven Software, the campaign developer for Black Ops 6, has also confirmed this year’s single player component will be longer than Black Ops Cold War’s which was under 6-hours long.
Zombies also returns with two new round-based maps, including one giant map set in West Virginia. Black Ops 6 will introduce a plethora of new features including a mech suit for players to utilize, new GobbleGums (a perk system exclusive to Zombies), and all kinds of whimsical weapons and gadgets to slay the undead with. To really sweeten the deal, a third Zombies map will also be released for Black Ops 6 by the end of 2024 at no extra cost.
The fan-favorite mode was introduced in World at War (2008) and has allowed the series to have a radically different co-op mode in addition to its single-player and PvP offerings. It became popular for its simplicity of surviving hordes of the undead, but evolved to become a campy experience that saw players as President John F. Kennedy, going to the moon, and fighting an undead version of horror director George Romero across different games.
Needless to say, it would seem like the chaos of this mode is kept in its own self-contained universe and doesn’t directly impact the campaigns of the Call of Duty games.
The co-op mode has grown substantially since its initial days of being a simple wave-based shooter and now touts elaborate puzzles, progression systems, and an ongoing storyline. For some fans, Zombies is the meat and potatoes of Call of Duty and they don’t really dabble in the other modes. There are even entire YouTube channels with millions of subscribers that are dedicated to covering Call of Duty’s Zombies mode.
And it wouldn’t be Call of Duty without multiplayer. The classic 6v6 action returns with 16 maps (including a remake of fan-favorite map, Nuketown) and all kinds of new mechanics. Most notably, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 boasts a new movement system which allows players to run, slide, and dive in any direction, giving them more precise control over their character. This “omnimovement” also results in much faster, more frenetic combat with more opportunities to make slick plays.
Later this year, this system will also be implemented into Call of Duty: Warzone, a free-to-play battle royale spin-off, which should dramatically overhaul how the beloved battle royale plays. After releasing in 2022, Warzone has become something of the connective tissue between games, continuously updated each year to reflect some of the major gameplay changes introduced in the annualized entries.
Both the mainline entries and Warzone are iterating upon each other as Warzone takes on mechanical innovations such as movement changes while titles like Modern Warfare III have utilized the battle royale’s maps and armor system within their campaigns.
For those that have heavily invested in Call of Duty over the last few years by purchasing skins and aggressively leveling up their gear, there’s some bad news. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 does not feature the “carry forward” system that was introduced in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III. The system allowed players to bring their skins, guns, and relevant gear from Modern Warfare II to Modern Warfare III.
This was partially done because Modern Warfare III was more like Modern Warfare 2.5 rather than a full-fledged sequel, making it easier for the developers to include content from a previous game.
However, Black Ops 6 plays a lot different from Modern Warfare III and features a different art style, so it wouldn’t make sense for all of the stuff from the last two games to be accessible here. Modern Warfare III featured some a ton of contemporary crossovers with skins for real life celebrities like Devin Booker and Nicki Minaj as well as characters from big films like Dune: Part Two.
Naturally, it would be weird for a game that’s set in the Nineties to feature characters like this, though there will probably be some other crossovers in Black Ops 6’s post-launch content. Thankfully, all content from past games will still be usable in Call of Duty: Warzone. Similarly, Black Ops 6 skins and weaponry will also be usable in Call of Duty: Warzone.
While all of that is certainly a lot to take in, you’re ready to play Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. It may be overwhelming at a glance, but Call of Duty is popular because it is first and foremost very accessible. It’s meant to be a shooter that anyone can pick up and play. While you may be a bit fuzzy on some specifics if you’ve never played another Call of Duty or you’ve taken some years off, just sit back and enjoy the ride.
Whether you’re looking for a quick dopamine hit in multiplayer, wanting a high-quality, blockbuster-level story, or want to mindlessly mow down Zombies with your friends, Black Ops 6 has something for just about everyone.
