Alongside the launch of Season 1, Call of Duty Zombies now has a Directed Mode for its Easter Egg story quests in Black Ops 6.
Call of Duty’s incredible Zombies modes are part of what make Treyarch releases so beloved, but there’s no denying that the survival mode can feel somewhat impenetrable at times.
For new fans who don’t understand the ins and outs of Zombies modes, there’s almost no way to discover everything that the gamemode has to offer – and in particular, it’ll be almost impossible to complete each map’s Easter Egg quest.
But that is all changing with Black Ops 6.
What Is Directed Mode in Black Ops 6 Zombies?
Directed Mode is a new guided Main Quest experience for Black Ops 6 Zombies that will put restrictions on gameplay difficulty while providing step-by-step instructions to help users complete a map’s Easter Egg quest.
In Directed Mode, players enter a game of Zombies with marked objectives that guide them to complete the Main Quest without having to look up the next step.
What’s more, the Rounds will now cap out at Round 15, where Black Ops 6 Zombies usually spikes in difficulty, thereby preventing the experience from getting too challenging.
Finally, all Side Quests, S.A.M. Trials, and minor Easter Eggs are disabled during Directed Mode, in order to prevent distractions from interfering with the story experience.
Players who complete the Main Quest for a map in Directed Mode will still unlock its unique, themed rewards, such as the Ray Gun skin for Liberty Falls, or the Trophy Collector Maya skin for Terminus.
However, they will miss out on the exclusive Calling Card that can only be earned by completing the map on Standard prior to the release of Directed Mode.
Directed vs Standard Mode
There are now two different ways to experience Black Ops 6 Zombies:
- Standard: Regular Zombies gameplay with unlimited rounds and no guidance. All Easter eggs, including Main Quest and Side Quests, are enabled.
- Directed: Zombies gameplay with story quests tracked and rounds capped to certain stages, based on their Main Quest progression. Other Easter eggs and Side Quests are disabled. (Not Available at Launch, Drops with Season 1)
With this, Treyarch is providing new and returning fans with an easy way to complete each map’s Easter Egg storyline.
However, as a trade-off, this new Directed Mode will not be available at each map’s launch. Instead, Treyarch will be releasing the Main Quest-focused mode for each map later in the season so as to not spoil the traditional Easter Egg hunt.
Those who complete the Main Quest prior to the release of Directed Mode will also receive a limited-time Calling Card variant, allowing them to show off their Zombies prowess.
This Calling Card will never be available again after Directed Mode launches, so be sure to complete each map early if you want to get your hands on it.
Players will receive unique, themed rewards for finishing each map’s storyline on either Standard or Directed Mode, but this exclusive Calling Card will only be granted to those who completed the Main Quest before the latter was available.
Is Zombies Getting Easier?
This all certainly lines up with what Treyarch’s Associate Design Director Kevin Drew had to say in an interview with Xbox prior to the game’s launch. During the interview, the Treyarch developer claimed that his aim is to make Black Ops 6 Zombies more approachable for all players.
“It’s a very challenging mode, and so when people try it for the first time they might survive for two minutes. And it’s like, once you get in there and you experience the higher rounds, it’s so much fun. So we want to just make sure that more people can do that”
We initially theorized that this could mean adding a difficulty selection to the survival mode, or making the opening rounds easier in general.
Instead, those accessibility features could allow more players to complete the map’s Easter Egg storyline without having to look up a guide – and they can even save and quit their run to continue it another time!
We’re sure that many hardcore fans won’t be happy with the idea that Black Ops 6 Zombies is making the mode easier.
However, to that, we’d point out that you can still play Standard rather than Directed Mode if you prefer. Treyarch is certainly making the gamemode more accessible, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be ‘easier.’