When 2024 rolled in, I didn’t expect to be saying this to anyone: the new Call of Duty single-player campaign is an absolute thrill. And here’s the kicker—you can dive into it for just a dollar.
Just a week before Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 hit the shelves, Microsoft had taken away the option to snag a 1-month Game Pass for $1. But surprise, it’s back with a twist: that dollar now gets you 14 days and it seems to be only for PC users. For those on consoles, a month will cost you $9.99, which is still pretty fair when you consider getting your hands on the latest Call of Duty campaign. This means you could feast on the entire Black Ops 6 campaign this weekend for mere pocket change. Seriously, you should give it a shot.
Now, let’s get this out of the way—I don’t consider myself a die-hard Call of Duty fan. Sure, I was hooked back in the day, starting with Call of Duty 2 on the Xbox 360, but my enthusiasm waned around Black Ops 2 in 2012. Since then, although I’ve dabbled in almost every campaign, none really captured my interest until Infinite Warfare, which, let me remind you, was eight years ago.
So, when I say the Black Ops 6 campaign is fantastic, I’m doing so with the full COD history in mind—highs and lows included. This isn’t exactly a return to its roots. Instead, it feels like the developers are brilliantly remixing elements from other acclaimed gaming franchises, all through the unique lens of Call of Duty. Each mission creatively nods to a different first-person shooter sub-genre, from the sprawling maps reminiscent of Far Cry to science labs that feel like something out of Arkane Studios’ or the now-defunct Irrational Games’ playbook.
What ties these varied experiences together is a hub set in an abandoned mansion. Here, characters discuss their alternate history of the Cold War in a setting that lets players engage in small puzzles and earn perks and buffs for upcoming missions. Overall, the Black Ops 6 campaign feels like a Mission: Impossible movie, except instead of jet-setting to world-famous places, you’re hopping through a rigorous FPS curriculum.
