Call of Duty: Black Ops 6's success proves campaigns still matter
By Brian Allen
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 has blown the doors off its predecessor, Modern Warfare 3. Sales are up 60 percent on PlayStation and Steam from last year. Reviews have been excellent. The sixth Black Ops is another banger in the world's most popular shooter series. It's also a reminder that while multiplayer is what sells these games, single-player still has an important place.
The games in this series neatly pack America's military conflicts from Vietnam to Iraq into one story, featuring some of the same characters. The sales numbers and reviews indicate they've done it better than any other CODs.
While this is still the most hoo-rah, brave Americans made the world safe for democracy series in the industry, Black Ops reminds us that nobody comes out of world wars with clean hands. The general theme of these games is that you can't trust anybody, even your own mind. That's as close as I'll get to a spoiler.
Call of Duty developers were upset when God of War actor Christopher Judge joked that his 2022 acceptance speech was longer than Modern Warfare 3's campaign. We're not gonna stand for any Judge slander around here. Judge said nothing wrong. People understand when you phoned it in, even more so when you do it with one of the biggest budgets in gaming.
The Black Ops series stands in stark contrast, giving players a story and characters that the audience has fallen in love with. The campaign itself gives multiple ways to solve missions, allowing players to use stealth or go loud in classic COD fashion.
It is no coincidence that a campaign garnering the best reviews for the series in years has led to a huge increase in sales. In the era of PlayStation Plus and Xbox Game Pass, if one game doesn't live up to the hype, there are hundreds more a button press away. Gamers want it all because we have it all. Life is too short and options are too plentiful to play underwhelming offerings.