Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will see a return to all Operators carrying melee weapons into the fight, regardless of their loadout.
One of the major differences between modern and classic Call of Duty titles is how they handle melee combat.
Back in the original Modern Warfare and Black Ops titles, a click of the right stick would result in your character swiping at an enemy with a knife, instantly eliminating them.
In recent releases, melee fans have instead had to select a specific weapon to place in their loadout, removing the option to bring a sidearm or a launcher into combat.
Now, Treyarch is freeing up our loadout space once again.
Classic Melee Is Back
Associate Director of Design at Treyarch Matt Scronce reveals that dedicated melee attacks are returning in Black Ops 6, with a bit of an upgrade.
In the debut episode of the COD POD, Call of Duty’s official podcast, Scronce confirms that you’ll no longer have to make space in your loadouts, should you wish to engage in close-quarters combat.
“We just like the idea of not having to give up a Secondary to take a melee weapon, so every player will have access to a dedicated melee weapon.”
No longer will players need to include a knife, baton, sword, or sledgehammer as part of their Multiplayer loadouts. Instead, players will be able to choose from a few different melee tools on launch day.
Scronce confirms that the idea behind the dedicated weapons comes from the idea of the Black Ops agents themselves. These highly-trained Operators will always have a melee weapon on their person, whether it’s a standard combat blade or even a baseball bat.
Presumably, this means that melee weapons will be a new customizable part of the Black Ops 6 experience, much like Finishing Moves or Weapon Blueprints.
Alternatively, melee weapons could appear as a third weapon that players can select for their loadout, alongside regular firearms.
And, of course, fans can expect many more coming throughout the game’s live seasons too. One melee weapon, the Mind’s Eye Combat Knife, even appears in the Black Ops 6 Vault Edition, where it will presumably be an exclusive unlock.
But there’s one major difference between the classic knife system and Black Ops 6’s take on melee combat.
Will Melee Be a One-Hit-Kill?
The Associate Director didn’t go into too much detail about whether or not melee will be an instant one-hit-kill, but his responses did lead us to believe that melee combat won’t be as powerful as it once was.
“We’ve got some kind of unique approaches to tuning, because we also don’t want everybody running around with melee weapons and being annoying little nuisances.”
The Treyarch employee did confirm that the new melee system and dedicated weapons would be available to experience in the Black Ops 6 Beta, which just revealed its official launch date: August 30, 2024.
Make sure you know how to get early access to the Black Ops 6 Beta, so you’re ready to experience the new dedicated weapons when it kicks off.