Summary
Anticipation aroundCall of Duty: Black Ops 6is only growing as its intended release date of October 25 draws closer, with a multiplayer beta and even more revealed information being expected in the very near future. In a twist of the franchise’s usual formula for releasing details around its core modes, a huge amount of information for this year’s Zombies experience was released on August 8, painting a clear picture of some of the maps, main characters, and core mechanics of the upcoming mode.
While a lot of attention was given toCall of Duty: Black Ops 6’s Zombies map, Terminus, during the reveal on August 8, some key information was also revealed about its other launch map, Liberty Falls. There are a lot of positives to be taken from these two round-based launch maps, especially when considering the controversial forms thatCoDZombies has taken in recent years, but one detail about Liberty Falls' place on the Zombies timeline seemingly puts it at a big disadvantage from the get-go.
Black Ops 6’s Liberty Falls May Not Have the Benefit of the Main Zombies Cast
Expectations surroundingCall of Duty: Black Ops 6’s Zombies mode have been high for some time, with Treyarch making it clear from the outset that a lot of respect will be paid to the classic mechanics and themes of the mode withBO6’s portrayal of Zombies. This news came at a time when the identity ofCoDZombies was quite uncertain, withCold Warintroducing the Outbreak open-world formulathat divided fan opinion, to say the least.
This meant that the return toclassic round-based Zombies experiences inBlack Ops 6was arguably the most important announcement that Treyarch made regarding Zombies, with fans even getting two round-based maps at launch. Zombies content was slow to come in more recentCoDtitles likeModern Warfare 3, making the punctuality ofBlack Ops 6’s Zombies all the more exciting, and Treyarch also took things back to basics with the playable characters of the mode.
It has been confirmed thatBlack Ops 6Zombies will finally go back to featuring four playable characters, doing away with the multiplayer Operators system of recent titles likeMW3, which arguably sucked a lot of the life and personality out of Zombies. These fourBO6characters, Grigori Weaver, Elizabeth Grey, Mac Carver, and Maya Aguinald, will be front and center in the Terminus launch map, as seen in the gameplay and focus on the map in the recent Zombies reveal, but this probably will not be the case for Liberty Falls.
Liberty Falls May Take a Narrative Back Seat to Allow Terminus to Shine
In the Zombies reveal, Treyarch also stated thatLiberty Falls takes place at the exact same time as Terminus, making it essentially impossible for the main Zombies quartet to also appear inBlack Ops 6’s other Zombies launch map. Of course, this could mean that Liberty Falls might feature its own unique playable cast, but it seems likely that these fresh faces would have already appeared at some point during the Zombies reveal.
As things stand, it seems more likely that Liberty Falls will revert to simply allowing players to choose from multiplayer Operatives, potentially putting the map at a big disadvantage compared to Terminus. TheZombies mode forBlack Ops 6has already built a lot of good standingthanks to the confirmed presence of two round-based maps at launch, but having generic Operators for Liberty Falls runs the serious risk of dampening the storytelling ability and the personality of the experience. While it remains to be seen if this will be the case, it is clear that having Liberty Falls occur at the same time as Terminus puts the former in a very tough narrative position.
