Call of Duty Zombies has a long and varied history, and while Black Ops 6’s undead survival is incredible, it’s not quite perfect.
If you’ve been playing COD titles for more than a few years, chances are you’ve experienced your fair share of Zombies experiences.
The round-based survival mode has been a mainstay of the franchise since 2008’s Call of Duty: World at War, and since then the game mode has evolved dramatically.
But not all changes are for the best, and while few would argue that Black Ops 6 offers the best Zombies mode in years, some fans are calling for some older features to return.
Black Ops 6 Zombies Needs to Bring Back These Features
Over on the CODZombies subreddit, a community of over 650,000 undead survival fans, a recent trend has users thinking back to the so-called glory days of the Zombies mode.
And although Black Ops 6 is certainly a step in the right direction, some fans believe that it needs to learn lessons from the series’ past:
Better Artistic Design
One of the most popular posts in recent history is this submission by Murky-Bank-Ry, who voiced their opinion that the Mystery Box needs to return to having a unique design.
In past Zombies experiences, the ever-present Mystery Box sometimes had a design that matched the map fans were playing on. However, in Black Ops 6 Zombies, the Mystery Box is the same basic wooden design every time, which feels like an oversight.
There’s nothing wrong with returning to the classic box appearance, but it’s hard not to miss the creativity shown in games like Black Ops 4.
Some fans point out that the Mystery Box has been downgraded in more ways than just cosmetically. Since Black Ops Cold War introduced the ability to bring your loadout guns into Zombies, the box has steadily become less important – and in Black Ops 6 it feels almost entirely useless!
But is the problem isolated to Mystery Box designs, or are all the maps just less aesthetically pleasing than in the past?
“The artistic direction of the maps in general has been in a nose dive since BO4 ended, it’s not just the box,” user Threedo9 writes.
Personally, we’d say that Black Ops 6’s areas have been a step up from Cold War Zombies’ offerings, but not all players are so sure.
Unique Loading Screens
This feels like a relatively minor complaint, but it’s not the first time we’ve seen fans unhappy about the recent trend in Zombies loading screens.
Where Call of Duty Zombies maps once had unique and iconic introductions, Black Ops 6’s loading screens are simple and forgettable panning shots of its environments.
Given that players can now unlock new loading screens through completing challenges, we doubt we’ll ever return to the glory days of the comic book-style intros, but maybe some of our favorites will arrive as Prestige rewards in the future.
Actual Horror
We’re sure this will prove to be a controversial entry on the list, but we think COD Zombies should bring back some actual horror elements, and dial up the scares just a little.
The first time many of us experienced the undead survival mode was back in World at War, when we were thrust into a mysterious map called ‘Nacht der Untoten,’ directly after finishing the game’s campaign.
We remember it being genuinely scary for the time, though it seems tame by today’s standards.
Prior to launch, Treyarch was clear that it wanted to make Zombies more accessible than ever before, but that seems to apply to more than just difficulty.
But just look at these zombie designs that Sledgehammer Games implemented almost eight years ago in Call of Duty: WW2!
We’d personally like to see COD Zombies bring back at least a little bit of the horror seen here, which is a far cry from how tame running around on Liberty Falls feels.