PART 1: THE PRELUDE

Welcome to Call of Duty®: Black Ops 6 Zombies.

Purely focused on the Round-Based Zombies action coming to the game, the following Intel Barrage features extensive comms direct from the Treyarch Zombies Team, and includes a detailed gameplay overview and deep dive into all the pre-game preparations you can undertake, full details on what to expect when you’re engaging hordes of undead during a match, and a terrifying look at the dark bestiary of the undead currently haunting Terminus Island.

PLEASE NOTE! Throughout this blog, a wide variety of gameplay systems are discussed, along with specific examples of how the systems are employed in the game. In every case, it is wise not to make assumptions that these indicate the total number of elements pertaining to a particular gameplay function. All content is subject to change as Treyarch’s Zombies Team continues final refinements prior to launch.

WARNING: LIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD! Please note that the contents of this blog include information about gameplay systems, enemy types, areas of the Terminus map, and other information that could be deemed as spoilers. Proceed at your own risk!

Terminus Overview: Outpost Escape, Philippine Sea

Located in the Philippine Sea is the remote Terminus Island complex. Historical data indicates a pre-WWII coal mining operator on the island, abandoned around 1932. Ten years later, Terminus became a forward U.S. Naval base. Mothballed until 1965, the CIA converted it into a Top-Secret outpost used for the detention of [[REDACTED]]. In 1984, [[REDACTED]]. In 1986, Project Janus took over the island, building a laboratory in the subterranean mining caves.

After Peck and Maya break the Requiem crew out of their prison cells, they soon learn this is a bio-research station for Project Janus. Your handlers are Peck and Strauss, and for the richest story experience, you’ll want to choose your Operator crew from Grigori Weaver, Elizabeth Grey, Mackenzie ‘Mac’ Carver, and Maya Aguinaldo – the dedicated crew of characters featured throughout Black Ops 6 Zombies’ storyline.

Get ready to play this Round-Based Zombies map at the launch of Black Ops 6 on October 25, along with the Liberty Falls map.

Liberty Falls Overview: Almost Hell, West Virginia

Footage from an incursion at a once-quaint, now-overrun West Virginian town also gives you the first glimpse at the second launch map. Seemingly the epicenter of a Dark Aether outbreak, chaos is crawling through Liberty Falls, with much of the local population now succumbing to the results of a second, simultaneous dimensional breach.

Uncover more about Liberty Falls at Call of Duty: NEXT on August 28.

PART 2: THE ESSENCE OF ZOMBIES: GAMEPLAY OVERVIEW

An Introduction to Round-Based Gameplay

Black Ops 6 Zombies is purely focused on creating the finest, most rewarding Round-Based experience Treyarch has ever made. Many of the gameplay systems you’ll be reading about will be familiar to veteran Zombies players, while others are designed to grow the Zombies community, and allow newer players to explore more of the Main Quest more easily.\

At its most basic level, one of the first Black Ops 6 Round-Based Zombies maps involves you (and optionally, up to three additional teammates) exploring and eventually breaking out of a maximum-security prison complex called Terminus Island, with waves (or “rounds”) of undead foes to dispatch as you discover and complete objectives.

Delve a little deeper, and you realize your chances of survival are greatly enhanced by adept avoidance of the crowds of wandering corpses as you line up your killing blows, and just as importantly, by managing the main currencies of the game: Essence and Salvage.

Essence and Salvage: The Currency of Round-Based Zombies

Additional and new routes through a Round-Based Zombies map involve accessing blocked areas, either by unlocking doors or removing obstacles, and both cost Essence. As some areas have multiple routes to discover, you must weigh up the costs in unlocking these thoroughfares, while at the same time spending Essence on Perks and Pack-a-Punched weaponry to strengthen yourself against the ever-growing undead hordes.

As your knowledge grows, you’ll utilize other gameplay elements to your benefit, creating powerful offensive weaponry, and studying areas of the map where there’s a good amount of maneuvering space, when larger, higher-round zombie hordes require rounding up and “training”.

In Black Ops 6 Zombies, Essence takes the form of points you rapidly accrue by slaying zombies, and occasionally appears as vials of Dark Aether Essence that sometimes drop from tougher enemies. You use Essence in the following ways:

• To access Objective-related devices (in Terminus, these are devices that power the station) to further your progress.
• To unlock doors, with some allowing you to pay for half the unlocking cost, sharing the Essence amount with a teammate for the first time in Black Ops.
• To summon a Tactical Raft for aquatic expeditions.
• To purchase Perk-a-Colas from Perk Machines (to add specific advantages to your Operator, via a single machine, or a Der Wunderfizz that vends all Perk Cans on a particular map).
• To purchase upgrades for currently utilized weapons from the Pack-a-Punch Machine (Tier I, II, or III) that increase weapon potency and ammunition reserves, as well as occasionally offering unexpected effects….
• To purchase ammo from the Ammo Caches.
• To purchase an additional weapon with a rarity rating from a Weapon Wall Buy.
• To upgrade additional armor from an Armor Wall Buy (Tier II, Tier III).
• To purchase a random weapon with a rarity rating from a Mystery Box, and more.
• To start a special Trial challenge.

The other main form of “currency” is Salvage, small piles of junk with a green outline, found randomly from fallen enemies. In a quality-of-life improvement, players now only need to manage one type of Salvage, as opposed to collecting both normal and High-Grade Salvage in Black Ops Cold War. Salvage drops are also now player-specific, so you won’t have to worry about teammates picking up your hard-earned Salvage before you can.

You use Salvage in the following ways:

• To access an Ammo Mod and apply a special elemental power to your current weapon, via an Arsenal Machine.
• To upgrade the Rarity Tier of your weapon so it inflicts more damage, via an Arsenal Machine.
• To build specific Tactical Equipment via a Crafting Table.
• To build specific Lethal Equipment via a Crafting Table.
• To build specific Support Equipment via a Crafting Table.

Expect additional details on all these gameplay systems as you progress through this blog.

Main Quests

Every Zombies map has a Main Quest that you’re left to your own devices to solve, usually after the route to the Pack-a-Punch machine has been completed. The Main Quest for Terminus follows a similar pattern, and you’re free to fully explore the prison area, ocean, and smaller islands with Tactical Rafts at your disposal to explore one of the largest Round-Based Zombies maps ever created.

One of the more thrilling aspects of Round-Based Zombies is the complete freedom you’re given to investigate a variety of odd, out-of-the-way, and seemingly innocuous parts of the map. Sometimes there’s nothing to find. Sometimes, an audio log, document, or strange artifact offers a clue to further discoveries. Occasionally an entire hidden set of objectives is unearthed.

By their very nature, Easter Eggs are [[REDACTED]] and cannot be discussed, though we can state that veteran Zombies players should expect plenty of Side Quests to discover as you dig deeper into the secrets of Terminus Island.

While Treyarch is focused on making their Main Quests for each of Black Ops 6’s maps more challenging than those found in Black Ops Cold War, the studio is also adding an all-new guided mode to welcome more players into the world of Zombies. This mode is planned to release later in-season after each map’s launch to protect the sanctity of the traditional “Easter Egg hunt,” where the community puts their heads together to find and complete the Main Quest and Side Quests every time a new map launches.

In this mode, players will receive focused guidance through the Main Quest with rounds capped to certain stages of their quest progression. All Side Quests and other Easter Eggs will be disabled to ensure experiencing the narrative is the singular priority. If you’ve ever been curious about jumping into the Zombies story with both feet, this is your time.

Players who complete a map’s Main Quest will earn unique rewards themed after their respective map, with an extra reward for completing the Main Quest the old-fashioned way. Players will also earn a limited time Calling Card for completing a Main Quest before the launch of the guided mode for that map, and long-time fans will be happy to know they’ll have the option to keep playing their match after completing the quest!

Exfil or Expire

At some point, even the most hardened, strategically focused Zombies player needs to extricate themselves from the relentless hordes, and once you want to leave Terminus, you can call upon Raptor One to locate a landing site while you race to secure it before you’re all overwhelmed. After clearing the vicinity, you may yet live to see another match.

Or, you can continue to explore the island, facing tougher and tougher crowds of ghoulish entities until you succumb to the threats. Either way, your personal best is tracked and logged, so you know when you’ve bettered a previous attempt.

Zombimovement

With movement being redefined across the entirety of Black Ops 6, for the first time in Zombies, players can sprint, slide, and dive in any direction (forward, sidestepping, and backpedaling), seamlessly chaining combat maneuvers together, all with a full 360-degree range of motion. This is Omnimovement, and the extra dexterity this brings to your maneuvers is nothing short of game-changing.

As veteran players will attest to, using your dexterity is the key to dodging a crowd of incoming undead in a narrow play space. Perfecting Omnimovement allows a full range of action-hero stunts, whether it’s sprinting backward from a horde, diving sideways through a window, or automatically mantling low fences or scenery. Thanks to Intelligent Movement—which you can optionally set to automatic—you can expertly circle-strafe your foes.

If you really want to see your new moves in action, try out the ability to switch from first- to third-person perspective (and the shoulder you’re watching while in third-person mode) for the first time in Round-Based Zombies! Check your Settings to change perspectives on the fly at any time during a match.

Heads Up: Display Options

The Heads-Up Display (HUD) that appears on your screen is designed to offer deep customizable experiences, across almost all aspects of the interface.

There are far too many options to discuss in this blog. However, highlights include:

• The ability to choose from a variety of HUD layouts. Yes, that includes a “Legacy” setting that removes the mini-map and positions elements in the same place as the HUD in Black Ops 3.
• The ability to turn off the health bar and zombie hit point damage numbers that appear with each successful impact. Full Readability options, part of a large-scale undertaking related to accessibility settings for both vision and cognition.
• The ability to select a custom color palette for your interface, icons, and maps, as well as robust mini-map settings.
• The ability to turn off Pack-a-Punch weapon camos to preserve the look of your weapon customization.

While the HUD is supremely customizable, it’s still worth showing the Default display, so you can see how and where all the useful information is displayed:

CAPTION: An example of action with the Default HUD utilized.

CAPTION: An example of the same action with the Legacy HUD utilized.

Top Left: Displays the named area of the map where you’re located, your mini-map, and any objectives you are currently undertaking.

Top Middle: The main compass, with the named area of the map you’re in.

Top Right: The current Round you’re playing. Below that intermittently appearing are portraits of the Handlers assisting you in your mission, and a waveform of the conversation you’re having.

Middle Left: Click through to a sub-menu appearing here, which shows your available Emotes (which includes your Weapon Inspect) and Sprays, the latter of which can be used to pinpoint areas of interest you’re investigating.

Bottom Left: You (and your squad’s) details, including:

• Your name.
• Armor and condition.
• Health Bar and Hit Points.
• Armor Plates in reserve.
• Self-Revive.
• Current Salvage total.
• Current Essence total.

Bottom Middle: The Perks you currently have active.

Bottom Right: Your offensive capabilities, all grouped together, including:

• Your current weapon, along with the ammo and reserve ammo.
• The rarity of the weapon (denoted by a color behind the ammo and a diamond icon).
• The alt-fire capabilities of the weapon (if applicable).
• The current Ammo Mod the weapon is employing.
• The current Pack-a-Punch level. (None, I, II, or III)
• Your current Tactical and count.
• Your current Lethal and count.
• Your current Field Upgrade, with a circular regeneration bar around it.
• Up to three GobbleGums you’ve acquired from a machine, but not yet used.

Middle: During normal gameplay, your target crosshairs and reticle when your weapon is ADS, and when activated. Zombie hit markers are shown in the following ways:

• Enemies you are currently damaging have a health bar.
• Damage in three different colors; White (regular damage), Gold (Critical damage) and Blue (Armor damage)
• Confirmed enemy kills, along with how they were dispatched.

With the correct button press, a context-sensitive Ping Wheel can also appear here, offering the ability to drop a marker at a location based on Audio, Visual, threat level, or an area to move to.

Idle Hands: Saving and Stability

Due to a variety of important reasons – including improved visual quality and lower file sizes – an internet connection is required to play Black Ops 6 Zombies. Robust systems have been put into place to both maximize the ease of matchmaking and minimize gameplay interruptions. Here are some of these mitigations:

• Private Matchmaking: New in Black Ops 6 Zombies, players can join another Friend’s game no matter how far they are through the game, providing the Host has room in the game and their Party in a joinable state.

• Pausing, Saving, and Recovery: At any point during a game, the following can occur:
  • Pausing: You can elect to pause your Solo match to take a quick break. After a finite amount of time without continuing to play, the game will automatically save the match at the point it was paused. Load the save file to continue.
• Saving: For the first time in Zombies, you can elect to save your Solo match at any time, provided you are at full health, aren’t downed, dead, or actively engaged in an Exfil. Load the save file to continue. Again, if enough time passes while you’re AFK, the game will automatically save your game state so you won’t lose your progress!
• Recovery: On the rare occasion that the game’s servers, your internet, or a combination of the two conspire to prevent your continued enjoyment of the game, and you disconnect...
  • Solo Players: Load up your save close to the point in time you disconnected and continue from that point.
  • Squad Players: If you disconnected from a Squad Match but the Host is still active, you can rejoin and continue the match after a small period of time spectating.

PART 3: LOCKED AND LOADED: PRE-GAME PREPARATION

Augments: Customizing Perks, Ammo Mods, and Field Upgrades

Augments provide a rich and innovative customization experience, allowing you to invest into research between matches, unlocking Augments for every Perk, Ammo Mod, and Field Upgrade in the game.

Each Perk, Ammo Mod, and Field Upgrade has a research path, accessed in the Pre-game Menus between Matches. Revelations you make during your research allow you to unlock the true power of each item, which take the form of Augments. A total of six Augments per item (three Minor, and three Major) are yours to uncover.

A Minor Augment offers a limited advantage to the item, usually during use.

A Major Augment offers a substantial advantage to the behavior of the item, usually during use.

From the six researched Augments, you can imbue two of them (one Minor, one Major) to each Perk, Ammo Mod, and Field Upgrade.

Augments are designed to create a deep progression path, as well as offering you the ability to delve into research that benefits your style of play. Experimenting with all the available Augments, learning how they interact with other Augments for Perks, Ammo Mods and Field Upgrades, and also how your fellow teammates are using their preferred set-ups, provides an incredible depth to the experience.

Weapons and Loadouts

Neutralizing the frothing undead requires more than harsh words and bravado. You’re fortunate to be able to count on an extensive armory from which to perfect your anti-zombie armaments, before the battles begin. Let’s get to the Gunsmith and find out more about perfecting your pre-game Loadouts.

Stats and Camos: Naturally, each of these Loadout elements have Zombies-related Challenges and Badges related to them, and the weapons have Camos to grind for. This includes four highly-desirable Mastery Camos in Zombies – more information to come!

Keeping Score: There’s no need to manually tally on how many zombies each individual weapon (Primary, Melee, Field Upgrade, Tactical, Lethal) has eliminated; this menu keeps score.

Creating and continuing to adapt your zombie-culling arsenal is the key to in-game success, and the Black Ops 6 Loadout system shares many features from Black Ops Cold War, as well as a few important differences.

Primary Weapon, Fists, and Melee

Your main method of eliminating the undead consists of a primary weapon, your fists (until you find a second weapon in the match) and a dedicated melee weapon (either sharp or blunt) for when the situation gets even messier, as an alternative to a melee strike with the butt of your gun.

Primary Weapon: Choose from any available Assault Rifle, SMG, Shotgun, LMG, Marksman Rifle, Sniper Rifle, Handgun, or Launcher.

Melee Weapon: Choose from the available Melee armaments.

Further Improvements and In-Game Access

Weapons can also be:

• Purchased with Essence at Wall Buys (with a higher rarity than your loadout weapon) or in Mystery Boxes (randomized, with a higher rarity).
• Dropped and swapped between teammates.
• Improved with damage-increasing rarity powers, found at Arsenal machines.
• Improved with different Ammo Mods, found at Arsenal machines.
• Improved significantly with damage, sometimes hidden effects, and additional ammunition reserves, at the Pack-a-Punch machine.
• Using the Zombie Build system: Found in a Wall Buy or Mystery Box as one of your own personal weapon builds, provided you’ve saved the custom build and assigned it to be accessible at a Wall Buy or Mystery Box, in the Loadout Menu before a match. This will even implement the camo, charm, and stickers you’ve applied to your Zombie Build weapon!

Field Upgrades

Each member of your squad is bringing a piece of specialized equipment known as Field Upgrades, a powerful device that offers a chargeable, impressive elemental ability, followed by a cooldown period when the Field Upgrade recharges and is ready to be used again. You’ll earn more charges simply by eliminating enemies, not with the passage of time.

At launch, expect to choose a familiar Field Upgrade from past Zombies games:

• Aether Shroud: Phase into the Dark Aether, becoming hidden from enemy detection.
• Frenzied Guard: Repair armor and force all enemies in the area to target you. During this time, kills repair a portion of your armor.
• Healing Aura: Summons beams of energy down on yourself and allies to instantly revive and heal to full health.
• Energy Mine: Create a mine of pure energy that detonates in rapid succession, dealing lethal electric damage.

In addition, expect a brand-new Field Upgrade know as Dark Flare, offering a new and impressive offensive capability:

• Dark Flare: You generate a massive energy beam that deals lethal shadow damage. The beam penetrates everything in its path.

Further Improvements

• Field Upgrades can be made even more powerful with the use of Augments.
• Field Upgrades cannot be dropped, but now for the first time in Zombies, you can swap to a different Field Upgrade at any time during a match by using the in-game menu. Note that your cooldown will reset upon switching to a different Field Upgrade.

Field Upgrade Example: Additional Pieces of Dark Flare

With some promising mass takedowns during previous matches, you begin focusing on researching the Dark Flare Field Upgrade between matches, and start to unlock the Minor and Major Augments, adding yet more power to future uses of this Field Upgrade. Once fully researched, you have the following three Minor Augments, and three Major Augments to choose from.

Before your next match, you simply choose one Minor, and one Major Augment, depending on your specific needs, and can swap between other Augments between Matches. We went with these:

Minor Augment:

• Heavy Shadow: Zombies impacted by the beam are slowed.

Major Augment:

• Shadow Ball: The beam is replaced with a sphere that damages enemies as it travels and detonates at the end of the duration.

Tacticals, Lethals, Support Equipment (Crafting Table)

Unlike Black Ops Cold War, you’re facing down zombie hordes with a choice of Tactical and Lethal Equipment that you can bring into the Infil with you.

Tactical Equipment (Crafting Table)

Tacticals offer the use of an additional, non-lethal advantage to partner with a more devastating attack (from a Lethal or another Weapon). Current Loadout Tacticals include Concussion or Decoy Grenades, or the ever useful Stim Shot.

Once in-game, you can use Salvage you’ve acquired from dropped zombies (Ground Loot) to construct a wide variety of Tactical Equipment, each with a different cost (in Salvage). Craft as many as you like until your Inventory is full, or a lack of Salvage prevents you:

• Concussion: Grenade that slows victim’s movement and aiming.
• Stim Shot: Combat stim that heals wounds and refreshes Tactical Sprint.
• Smoke: Deploys a smoke screen that blocks vision and automated targeting systems.
• Decoy Grenade: Attracts nearby zombies for a short duration.
• Shock Charge: Electrical trap that sticks to surfaces and electrocutes enemies, stunning them.
• Cymbal Monkey: Attracts zombies for a short duration before exploding.
• LT53 Kazimir: Creates a small singularity that pulls in and kills enemies.

Lethal Equipment (Crafting Table)

Lethals are usually utilized when masses of writhing undead appendages are threatening to overwhelm you or your team. Choose Frag, Sticky, or Thermo Grenades, the Combat Axe, or the new Blast Trap, a small missile strapped with an improvised explosive.

During a match, gather Salvage from dropped zombies (Ground Loot) to increase your pool of Lethal Equipment, each with a different cost (in Salvage). Craft as many as you like until your Inventory is full, or a lack of Salvage prevents you:

• Frag: Cookable fragmentation grenade.
• Sticky: Timed sticky grenade.
• Molotov: Thrown incendiary weapon creates a patch of flames.
• C4: Sticky explosive with large damage radius. Detonate remotely.
• Combat Axe: Thrown axe that kills enemies in one hit. Bounces off surfaces.
• Impact Grenade: Precision grenade that explodes on impact.
• Thermo Grenade: Creates a large fuel-air cloud that explodes after a duration.
• Blast Trap: Planted explosive device detonates when enemies come near.

Further Improvements and In-Game Access

• Some Tacticals and Lethals are intermittently dropped by Zombies to be gathered as ground loot.
• A full complement of Tacticals and Lethals can be constructed at Crafting Tables, along with more powerful ordnance, such as Scorestreaks.

Support Equipment (Crafting Table)

Between bouts of undead culling, access the Crafting Table and you’ll be able to spend Salvage to construct an impressive array of Support equipment, which also occasionally drops as ground loot. Some examples include:

• Self-Revive: Use when downed to revive yourself.
• ARC-XD: Explosive RC car that emits small Aether Blasts.
• Sentry Turret: Automated turret that scans for and attacks nearby enemies in a forward-facing cone.
• Mutant Injection: Temporarily transforms you into a Mangler… with all the bells and whistles.

New Support: Mutant Injection

One of the Support items you can craft is the Mutant Injection which allows you to transform into, and temporarily wreak havoc as, a Mangler! Once you inject yourself with the serum, you grow an additional three feet taller, become clad in plated armor, and can throw your weight about with a vicious Melee Swipe, ranged Mangler Cannon attack, and a zombie-killing barging sprint, all with some seriously impressive damage upgrades. Your new form even allows [[REDACTED]].

GobbleGums: Custom Packs (GobbleGum Machine)

Crack your teeth as well as the skulls of the undead with a variety of custom GobbleGum Packs, based on your stored reserves of this killer candy! Pick a single Pack to bring with you; with each Pack containing five different single-use GobbleGums that you’ve chosen to access during a match via a special confectionary machine that holds each GobbleGum in your pack and spits out one randomly once you interact with it.

The GobbleGums you can choose are based on the collection you have in your inventory. One of the ways to continuously keep your GobbleGum collection filled is by earning them in-game (see below). GobbleGums are single-use items and are permanently removed from your inventory once received in-game.

GobbleGum Rarity

GobbleGums come in a variety of rarities: Rare, Epic, Legendary, Ultra, and Whimsical, with the general rule that the higher the rarity, the more powerful the effect of the GobbleGum:

• Rare GobbleGum examples include “Shields Up” (your armor is twice as a strong for three minutes) and “Kill Joy” (spawns an Insta-Kill Power-up).
• Epic GobbleGum examples include “Free Fire” (firing weapons consumes no ammo for the next 60 seconds) and “Soda Fountain” (the next Perk purchased gives an additional random Perk).
• Legendary GobbleGum examples include “Phoenix Up” (revive all teammates and they keep their perks) and “Wall-to-Wall Clearance” (Wall Buys cost 10 Essence).
• Ultra GobbleGums include “Perkaholic” (gives the player all Perk-a-Colas in the map) and “Wonderbar!” (the next gun from the Mystery Box will be a Wonder Weapon).
• Whimsical GobbleGums include “Newtonian Negation” (Zombies killed fall straight up for three minutes).

Exceptions to this are the “Whimsical” GobbleGums of course, which – as the name suggests – provide effects that aren’t focused on giving you an advantage, but instead grant a sometimes-hilarious, always entertaining effect. An amuse-bouche, if you will.

GobbleGum Machines

Mr. Peeks is only too happy to provide you with an in-game confectionary machine from which to extricate your gobstopper. Simply interact with it (no Essence required!) and a GobbleGum is randomly dropped, ready for pickup. The machine then cools down on a timer or will be immediately reset on the next round. Grab the sweet, and then it’s added into your inventory and HUD. You can store up to three unique GobbleGums at once, and use one, two, or all three of them at once as well. This may very well add many new dimensions to combat as these GobbleGum effects interact with your fellow teammates and other augmentations and powerups….

Further Improvements

• GobbleGums cannot be dropped or shared, but you can swap to a different GobbleGum Pack at any time during a match by using the in-game menu. Changing the pack will reset the randomized order of the new pack.
• New GobbleGums are earnable in game, simply for playing. Expect to earn one (or more!) random GobbleGums every few rounds. You’ll know when you’ve been awarded a new GobbleGum due to a reward sequence at the start of a subsequent Round.
• Any unused GobbleGums are kept between matches, and you won’t lose them if you happen to disconnect from a match.

PART 4: INTO THE FRAY: ROUND-BASED SYSTEMS

Black Ops 6 Zombies Gameplay Systems

Perk-a-Colas

Cost to Access: Essence

If you’re after a tasty beverage that also has the benefit of granting abilities to aid you and your teammates’ survival chances, then get ready to hunt down your preferred vending machines, as Perk-a-Colas are back and with more of a kick than ever: For Black Ops 6 Zombies, every Perk-a-Cola Can comes with up to six Augment options to choose from (three Minor, three Major).

Perks are purchased using Essence and have been designed to offer a wide variety of bonuses that suits your style of play, allowing you to choose the order and number you need. Seek out specific Perk Machines, scattered throughout the play-space, or seek out the infamous Der Wunderfizz Machine, offering all available Perks in a single, usually dangerous, location.

Each time you purchase a new Perk, the Essence cost increases, and your Perk collection – displayed along the bottom of your HUD – lasts as long as you do: If you’re downed, expect to lose Perks depending on how many you’ve obtained, and how long you’re downed for.

At launch, expect to access the following returning Perk Machines across Terminus Island, each with six Augments to unlock and choose from, to further bolster the following base effects:

• Jugger-Nog: Increase maximum health by 100.
• Quick Revive: Reduce the health regen delay time by 50%. Reduce the time it takes to revive an ally by 50%.
• Speed Cola: Increase reload and armor replating speed bonus by 30%.
• Stamin-Up: Increase movement speed.
• PhD Flopper: Immunity to all self-inflicted damage and status effects. Dive to prone triggers an explosion, which increases the higher you fall. Immunity from fall damage while diving to prone.
• Deadshot Daiquiri: Aiming down sight moves to enemy critical location. Increase enemy critical damage.
• Elemental Pop: Every bullet you fire has a small chance to apply a random Ammo Mod effect.

In addition, expect to access a new and delicious drink designed to inflict enhanced and severe punishment at close range, the Melee Macchiato!

• Melee Macchiato: Replace weapon gun butt with a deadly punch that sends enemies flying.

Perk-a-Cola Example and Augments: Melee Macchiato

After swigging down a can of Melee Macchiato and using it for a few games, focusing on researching this Perk between matches, you begin to learn and unlock both Minor and Major Augments to add additional benefits to future uses of the Perk. Once you fully research this Perk, you have three Minor Augments, and three Major Augments to choose from. We chose the following:

Minor Augment:

• Hidden Impact: Melee kills reload a portion of your held weapon.

Major Augment:

• Vampirism: Successful melee attacks heal for 25 health.

Before your next match, you simply choose one Minor, and one Major Augment, depending on your specific needs, and can swap between other Augments between Matches.

Ammo Mods (The Arsenal Machine)

Cost to Access: Salvage

Along with Rarity and Pack-a-Punch capabilities, your Primary Weapon can be outfitted with an upgrade known as an Ammo Mod. Obtained in-game via rare ground loot, and more specifically at the Arsenal Machine using Salvage you’ve collected as payment, Ammo Mods grant the affected weapon a percentage chance of dealing a special effect upon a successful projectile impact. Only one Ammo Mod can be applied to the weapon at a time, though you can purchase a new Ammo Mod as necessary.

At launch, expect to access the following returning Ammo Mods, each with six Augments to unlock and choose from, to further bolster the following base effects:

• Brain Rot: Bullets deal toxic damage. Each bullet has the chance to turn a Normal or Special enemy into an ally.
• Cryo Freeze: Bullets deal frost damage. Each bullet has a chance to slow Normal or Special enemies.
• Dead Wire: Bullets deal electrical damage. Each bullet has a chance to stun any Normal and Special enemy, generating a field that deals electric damage to nearby enemies.
• Napalm Burst: Bullets deal fire damage. Each bullet has a chance to ignite Normal and Special enemies.

In addition, expect to access a new elemental power only barely contained with the following Ammo Mod, geared towards controlling dense crowds of the undead!

• Shadow Rift: Bullets deal shadow damage. Each bullet has a chance to spawn a black hole if striking Normal or Special enemies, warping nearby zombies away and dropping some from the air at high speed.

Ammo Mod Example: Riffing on the Shadow Rift

After some encouraging anomalies from the warp inflicted impressive damage to the shambling hordes, research began in earnest on cultivating additional Augments for this Ammo Mod. We ended up going with the following combo of Augments:

Minor Augment:

• Targeted: Dropped zombies fall on other zombies.

Major Augment:

• Explosive Rain: Zombies that are dropped from portals will explode on contact with the ground.

The Rampage Inducer

“Tear them to pieces!”

Those considering themselves advanced enough not to be troubled by zombies in the early rounds of a match should seek out an orange-hued container of Aether crystals. When activated (and with all team members agreeing on the activation), this drives zombies into an absolute frenzy. Zombies will appear and move more quickly for the first 20 rounds, and providing you aren’t overwhelmed, this allows you to speed through the early rounds of a match. Or you can return to the Rampage Inducer and vote to switch it off, if the challenge was more than you bargained for!

Ground Loot

Gather a variety of useful items dropped by the recently deceased, with the knowledge that most of what you need will be automatically picked up. Loot comes in the following types:

• Salvage (Green): These are automatically picked up, adds to your Salvage total, and is used to increase your Weapon Rarity (Arsenal Machine), purchase or swap an Ammo Mod (Arsenal Machine), or craft Tactical, Lethal, or Support Equipment (Crafting Machine).
• Armor Plates (White): Providing you have fewer than three Armor Plates in your reserve inventory (that you are carrying, not wearing), Plates found on the ground are automatically picked up.
• Tacticals, Lethals, Support Equipment, Ammo Mods (Blue): Dropped Tacticals and Lethals, and much less commonly, Support Equipment and Ammo Mods, are also available to be manually grabbed from the ground, if you’re wanting to swap out parts of your current setup or have a space free.

There are other ways to secure Ground Loot, including [[REDACTED]].

Ammo Caches

Cost to Access: Essence

Dotted around the maps are familiar military caches, and interacting with them refills your currently held weapon for a sum of Essence. This includes any weapon in your immediate repertoire that takes bullets or shells, including Wonder Weapons. The cost of the ammo increases as the power of your weapon goes up, so keep an eye on your Essence levels as you continue to visit the Pack-a-Punch!

Tactical Raft

Cost to Access: Essence

Terminus features boat delivery portals allowing for on-demand transportation around the vicinity of the main island, usually on a well-utilized dock or pier. As swimming in the choppy waters of the ocean under current circumstances is possible but not advised, the Tactical Raft is the fastest way to reach the outer islands and the abandoned shipwreck, as further discoveries are made.

Trials

Cost to Access: Essence

Phasing in and out of reality across the map is an odd and intriguing terminal, which intermittently allows you to complete [[REDACTED]] special objective trials. With enough Essence, you can activate a terminal unit and begin a short challenge. This could involve holding a specific zone, dispatching enemies in a skillful manner, or a host of other conditions. Succeed, and a special chest warps into reality, offering up [[REDACTED]] variety of interesting rewards. The computer is then beamed out of existence, only to periodically return for further trials to be completed.

Power-Ups

As a reward for clearing enemy incursions, expect a variety of well-known Power-Ups to make an appearance in Black Ops 6 Zombies. Encouraging you and your team to work together, there’s strategy in when to automatically activate a Power-Up prior to its eventual disappearance during battle, sometimes resulting in you escaping certain death! Expect the following Power-Ups to be available, depending on the situation on the ground:

• Insta-Kill: Base zombies are dispatched with one hit, and more powerful enemies aren’t killed, but receive additional damage. Does not count towards Field Upgrade charging.
• Double Points: Doubles the amount of Essence points gained for enemy takedowns.
• Max Ammo: Refills all ammunition carried for every weapon and equipment.
• Nuke: Destroys all base zombies, and more powerful adversaries aren’t killed, but receive additional damage. Enemy spawns are delayed by a few seconds.
• Fire Sale: After the Mystery Box moves, this may appear, activating all Mystery Box locations and reducing the purchase cost considerably.
• Bonus Points: Grants all players an additional amount of Essence points.
• Full Power: Instantly fills all players’ Field Upgrade.
• Max Armor: Fully repairs armor to the maximum Tier you own.

Elemental Damage

Black Ops 6 Zombies continues to utilize damage sources with an elemental association, and each one has a specific benefit or behavior associated with it. You are wise to experiment with such powers, as the enemies you encounter are likely to be weakened more effectively by at least one of the following types of elemental damage:

• Frost: This slows or freezes foes. Sources: Cryo Freeze (Ammo Mod).
• Fire: Burst damage and damage over time. Sources: Napalm Burst (Ammo Mod), Molotov (Lethal Equipment).
• Electric: Stunning and area-of-effect damage. Sources: Dead Wire (Ammo Mod).
• Toxic: Corruption and mind control. Sources: Brain Rot (Ammo Mod).
• Shadow: Gravity and associated damage. Sources: Dark Flare (Field Upgrade), Shadow Rift (Ammo Mod), LT53 Kazimir (Tactical Equipment)

Just which enemies have a particular weakness to an elemental salvo is likely to be a key to your continued success as the hordes become ever more ferocious.

Weapon Rarity Upgrades (The Arsenal Machine)

Cost to Access: Salvage

The Upgrade Tier of your weapon is visible on your HUD, as the color behind the ammo and reserves, along with a small diamond icon, signifies the Tier of damage your weapon is capable of inflicting. Use increasing amounts of Salvage to add potency to your weapon damage:

• Uncommon (Green): Tier 2 Damage
• Rare (Blue): Tier 3 Damage
• Epic (Purple): Tier 4 Damage
• Legendary (Orange): Tier 5 Damage

Wall Buys: Weapons

Cost to Access: Essence

Daubed on walls and boards across the island are chalk outlines of a weapon, complete with a glowing color representing the rarity of the weapon; green (Uncommon), blue (Rare), purple (Epic), or Orange (Legendary). The rarity of a Wall Buy increases with the number of Rounds you complete. Wall Buys have a number of uses:

• They allow you to obtain a different weapon type, in case your loadout isn’t doing the job, or you want a secondary Primary weapon to replace the Handgun.
• A Wall Buy weapon already has a rarity value associated with it (and is therefore more powerful).
• If you’ve defined a Zombie Build, the weapon you purchase will be a rarified version of that customized Weapon or Blueprint, complete with your preferred Attachments and Cosmetics!

Wall Buys: Armor Levels

Cost to Access: Essence

Plating up is also important to lengthening your survival, and the new Armor Wall Buy ensures you added protection. There are likely to be two different types of Armor Wall Buys, and these increase your Armor Level:

• Level II Armor Vest (Rare/Blue): Two plates can be worn.
• Level III Armor Vest (Epic/Purple): Three plates can be worn.

Once you visit an Armor Wall Buy, it ceases to function; you accrue Armor Plates via Ground Loot or crafting them (Crafting Table).

Mystery Boxes

Cost to Access: Essence

With crate power comes great responsibilities, and the classic Mystery Box is back, appearing in a semi-random location, and allowing you to obtain a random weapon, including some that are only available from the Mystery Box.

The purchaser can elect to keep the weapon, drop it for a teammate, and/or spin again. Rewards include:

• A random Weapon.
• A random Wonder Weapon.
• A random Support item.

The random weapon also has a random Rarity (Uncommon, Rare, Epic or Legendary, signified by the glowing color around the weapon appearing from the Box), and this Rarity Tier indicates how much extra damage the weapon can inflict, allowing you to obtain a hard-hitting weapon earlier than by simply using a Loadout Weapon. The higher the round, the greater the chance of a higher Rarity Weapon or a Wonder Weapon appearing.

In addition, thanks to the Zombie Build system, there’s a chance that a Mystery Box weapon spawns one you’ve already built out in the Loadout Menu, but with the added benefit of a Rarity Upgrade.

After a few spins, the Mystery Box displays everyone’s favorite undead cuddly rabbit, and Mr. Peeks teleports with the Box to a different part of the map, a shard of vertical blue light indicating where a Mystery Box is located.

Increase Your Firepower: The Pack-a-Punch Machine

Cost to Access: Essence

Arguably the most important machine on a Round-Based Zombies map, the Pack-a-Punch (or PAP) Machine is used to upgrade your weapons into more powerful variants using the Essence gained from slaying zombies. Initially, the machine lacks any power, but once the outpost is back online and enough Essence is acquired, you can easily reach the machine and automatically upgrade with a single button press – no more menu to slow down the action.

Your Primary and Melee weapons can all be upgraded up to three times at the Pack-a-Punch machine, as well as any Wonder Weapon you may have to hand. The actual firepower enhancement varies depending on the gun or melee weapon you’re using, occasionally comes with surprising effects, but usually increases the potency, chambered ammo, and ammo reserves of the weapon.

Though you may elect to keep the current cosmetic look of the weapon you’re Pack-a-Punching by toggling PAP camos on or off in Settings, each of the three PAP tiers include an impressive, and usually glowing camouflage, as well as a change in audio, especially when firing the weapon.

Wonder Weapons

Incredibly rare and exceptionally potent, occasionally you may uncover highly secretive plans to construct several prototype armaments with almost unimaginable power. Research on Terminus Island has uncovered the existence of just such a device, known colloquially as a “Wonder Weapon”.

Beamsmasher

Visually, the Beamsmasher is comparable in size and shape to a light machinegun and features a single barrel emitting a super-charged and incredibly damaging Aetheric beam. Set around the barrel are Resonator Focus flaps that direct the energy created by the weapon. The weapon is reloaded by swapping out the side-mounted DAPP canister.

The Beamsmasher has two firing modes:

• Primary: This fires a solid beam of Aetheric energy, causing organic matter to break down at the molecular level. This occurs almost instantly, and enemies appear to explode in a cloud of vaporized innards. Further testing is needed, but it appears that the longer the weapon fires, the more ungainly it becomes to move.
• Secondary: Focused soundwaves cause the molecules of multiple enemy targets to vibrate at alarmingly fast rates. Targets are wracked with pulsing head trauma that incapacitates by slowing the target rather than damaging them. Entities in this state become much more easily damaged by both the primary firing mode and conventional firepower.

Additional Notes: This weapon may experience energy venting as excess pressure builds up during the expenditure of an ammunition tube. Automatic reloading appears to cause a small blast radius and appears to knock down enemies within this vicinity. The weapon also appears to be able to be Pack-a-Punched three times, with increased [[REDACTED]], not to mention [[REDACTED]].

PART 5: MEAT THE ENEMY

Know Your Terminus Zombie: Hordes of the Undead

“Give me a minute, I’m about to be up to my neck in blood, bones, and brains!” – Carver

Almost all the residents of the maps you visit in Round-Based Zombies appear to have gone through a horrifying transformation, becoming a rotting host, shambling into a crowd of walking cadavers, each with sunken glowing eyes now reborn with a relentless purpose; to hunt you down and consume your still-twitching corpse!

PLEASE NOTE! Consult the following Bestiary to learn more about the foul forms encountered throughout the Terminus map. Remember: These entities do not represent the full miscellany of Black Ops 6 Zombies enemies you should expect to face in the game.

Bipedal Shamblers

Visiting Terminus Island reveals the impressive variety of zombies you’ll be facing, with some clad in the remains of hazmat suits, Project Janus security attire, scientist lab coats, prisoner garb, torn rags, as well as civilian clothing. Bloated experiments, decomposed and mutated forms abound, and other more sinister variants appear across the rounds of horde combat. Though not a complete list of the horrors you’ll encounter, here’s what to expect to battle across Terminus.

Zombies

Zombies are relentless. They will follow you, crowding into a swarm-like horde, intent on your demise. If they can’t reach you to claw you to death, they rip a portion of their own form and use it as a revolting meat projectile.

Armored Zombies

These are a zombie variant that have protective coverings, and also take reduced damage from projectiles and explosive damage. Focused fire on a particular appendage is a possible effective plan here.

Heavy Zombies

Armored Zombies clad in greater protective armor and are even better protected from projectiles and explosive damage compared to their lightly armored brethren.

Grotesques and Tormented Horrors

Quite how scuttling, spiderlike human heads and bloated bile sacks with wings have evolved to join the zombie throng is yet to be determined, but be prepared to be attacked by eldritch things arguably more grotesque than a mere animated corpse!

Vermin

Vermin are large, spider-like ravenous scuttlers with a central thorax that seems to take the form of a screaming human head. Relatively weak individually, they become more dangerous in packs, and sometimes appear after “detaching” from a fallen zombie host: In a spray of blood, the head and some internal organs rip free of the skin and sprout legs. Keep your head on a swivel, lest you’re dropped on. Vermin sprint and jump to inflict damage, mouth wide-open with a wet growl. They’ve also been known to spit a caustic substance, but this is the least of your worries.

Vermin also have the potential to evolve into another form, emitting gas, elongating their skull thorax and changing into an airborne terror, the Parasite.

Parasites

Parasites are horrific flying creates consisting of a toothy head attached to spindly membrane-like wings, and a bulging sack of flesh as an abdomen. They seem to possess a level of cunning, preferring to remain at a distance, harassing you with a pelting of acid bile projectiles spat from the maw.

Manglers

A new Mangler suit variant has been greenlit by Project Janus, now armed with an Aetherium-augmented cannon and prone to extended bouts of primal rage. It is these bipedal tanks that now roam parts of the island, threatening all with a cannon that shoots multiple shots, and a vicious melee that anyone should steer well clear of.

Amalgams

The zenith of the body horror aesthetic, the Amalgam is a form of fleshy deviancy that until now has defied explanation. Roughly over eight feet in height, and retaining a general humanoid mass, this appears – to put this politely – to be the combined DNA of multiple individuals. It has multiple appendages, including heads, all growing from seemingly random locations.

There are limbs in places there shouldn’t be.

Nothing about this heresy of nature is quite right.

Amalgams appear to be violent masses of flesh and sinew, emitting bellows from multiple heads. Up to ten arms and five legs have been counted, and they seem to regenerate limbs previously shot off. They mainly try to absorb you (or other zombies) by stretching a cluster of limbs into a tendril to pull the victim into a maw-like chest cavity.

Though not witnessed, it is theorized that should an Amalgam be killed, it will spontaneously lose cohesion, exploding into sprays of blood, entrails and innards.

Higher-Round Hordes

For those advanced players hoping for a challenge, get ready to pull out all the stops and learn a few new tricks as the round numbers climb. Zombies start to move with an increased swiftness, from shamble to run, to sprint. It becomes even more critical to learn escape and circular routes as well as every zombie spawn nest, lest you’re hemmed in and overwhelmed in seconds. The horde itself grows as the rounds increase, as does the frequency of Armored and Heavy Zombies, Manglers, the more revolting parasitical entities, as well the grotesque Amalgams.

Players should also expect a higher level of difficulty in general when it comes to high-round play, as Treyarch has limited the number of Self-Revive purchases to three per match. Coupled with the risk vs. reward nature of Augments (rather than relying on five tiers of permanent Weapon Skill upgrades in Black Ops Cold War, for example), players will need to make some tough choices to plan for their survival compared to more recent Zombies experiences.

Terminus: A Living World of Terror and Traps

A Living World

Expect each Zombies map to come with ambient encounters specific to the environment. Explore Terminus, and you’ll encounter the last vestiges of Project Janus Security forces being pounced on and ravaged to death as the entire base is lost to a zombie outbreak. Body bags twitch on gurneys. Bloated corpses suspended in amniotic fluid twitch and peer out at you from large experimentation vats.

Tentacle Traps

Located across the prison complex on the main island are a number of ceiling containment shutter vents. These seem to be holding back an amorphous gelatinous monster, perhaps something that has escaped from containment. Activate a switch to open the shutter vents, and long, limb-like tendril appendages seep through and dangle, waiting to be brushed against. Perpetually hungry, any zombies wandering under these tentacles are grabbed and dragged upwards into the vent for a bloody feasting.

Void Cannon Trap

After the fortification of the island in 1942, a 16-inch artillery defense cannon was left to rust in the elements. Recently upgraded and improved by Project Janus forces in an attempt to weaponize Aetherium, this battery now serves as a devastating trap, providing you have the necessary power, as the cannon now shoots out a beam, the muzzle flash acting as a singularity that slows enemy advancement, and pulls any zombie enemies that are present within the deck area beneath the cannon up into the beam before they are vaporized.

“The Tentacle”

Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Or in this case, where there’s an alarming, choking, lightning-imbued cloud of toxic smog, there’s a monstrously sized, writhing tendril intent on capsizing tactical rafts. This worm-like crime against nature seems possessed by a proto-intelligence of sorts, spitting out a billowing spray of noxious vapors from its hideous, splayed maw, before quickly retreating beneath the waves.

Venture off the main island or into the water at your own risk!

PART 6: NEXT STEPS

Incoming Comms: Prepare for Call of Duty®: NEXT on August 28!

Call of Duty: NEXT returns on Wednesday August 28, 2024, and can be viewed live on either the Official Call of Duty Twitch® Channel or Call of Duty YouTube® Channel., or via your favorite streamer’s channel.

With developers from Treyarch and Raven on deck, and a host of other representatives from across the Call of Duty studios and community channels, Call of Duty: NEXT is the premier showcase for Black Ops 6. Get ready to learn more about Multiplayer and Zombies, as well as Call of Duty: Warzone™.

Pre-Order Digitally and Get the Reflect 115 Camo Pack

Pre-order Black Ops 6 today, and you’ll receive a variety of pre-order benefits, including the brand-new Reflect 115 Camo Pack for Modern Warfare® III, Call of Duty: Warzone, and Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile!

Pre-order the Digital Edition on PC to receive the following:

• Reflect 115 Camo Pack (New!)
• Woods Operator Pack*
• Early Access to the Open Beta**

Pre-order the Vault Edition on PC and receive the previous rewards as well as the following:

• Hunters Vs. Hunted Operator Pack
• BlackCell Season 1
• Mastercraft Weapon Collection
• GobbleGum Pack

Game Pass Subscribers are set to receive all Digital Edition benefits, and those who upgrade for $30 (or local equivalent) to the Vault Edition will receive all Vault Edition benefits.

Those players who have already preordered Black Ops 6 will receive the Reflect 115 Camo Pack automatically.

The Reflect 115 Camo Pack consists of the Reflect 115 Mastery Camo for use in Modern Warfare III, Call of Duty: Warzone, and Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile. In addition, you receive three Flawless Aetherium Crystals, three Legendary Aether Tools, and three Ray Gun Weapon Cases for immediate use in Modern Warfare Zombies. All content does not carry forward into Black Ops 6.

Additional Intel: Stay Informed. Not Misinformed

Misinformation is everywhere: Ensure you stay one step ahead with the latest official Black Ops 6 information by checking the Call of Duty Blog in the coming days and weeks, as we dive deeper into the game, along with Call of Duty: NEXT, Open Beta, and other important comms you won’t want to miss.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is published by Activision. Development for the game is led by Treyarch, in partnership with Raven Software. Additional development support provided (in alphabetical order) by Activision Central Design, Activision Central Technology, Activision QA, Activision Shanghai, Beenox, Demonware, High Moon Studios, Infinity Ward, and Sledgehammer Games.

The Truth Lies.

*Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III / Call of Duty: Warzone on the pre-ordered platform required to redeem Woods Operator Pack. Sold / downloaded separately. Must be redeemed by October 25, 2025.

**Actual launch date(s) and platform availability of Open Beta subject to change. See www.callofduty.com/beta for more details. Minimum Open Beta duration is 2 days. Limited time only. Internet connection required. Online multiplayer subscription may be required.

© 2024 Activision Publishing, Inc. ACTIVISION, CALL OF DUTY, MODERN WARFARE, CALL OF DUTY WARZONE, and CALL OF DUTY BLACK OPS are trademarks of Activision Publishing, Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective owners.

For more information, please visit www.callofduty.com and www.youtube.com/callofduty, and follow @Activision and @CallofDuty on X, Instagram, and Facebook. For Call of Duty Updates, follow @CODUpdates on X.