When I saw the reveal of the new “Omnidirectional” movement mechanic during the Black Ops 6 showcase, my opinion changed from “I’m not buying Call of Duty again” to “I can give this a shot.” As someone who has been playing CoD since its golden years, I find the new movement mechanic really exciting as it shakes up the same old gameplay that CoD has done year after year.
But, the history of such changes tells us that these new additions to the gameplay mechanic never quite stick around. Advanced Warfare introduced jetpacks for the first time, and the player base enjoyed it, yet the majority wanted the same old boots-on-the-ground experience, same with Black Ops 3.
The Decision that Activision Regrets
When Advanced Warfare introduced the jetpack to add verticality to Call of Duty, I really enjoyed this fresh change in gameplay and approach, along with having an entirely new skill to learn and adapt to. However, having to master this new movement is exactly what made CoD players hate it.
You see, CoD players want the game to feel like the game they have always been playing. A new movement mechanic, such as the jetpack in AW, completely changed how the game is played. Because of this, the people who were good at CoD traditionally were now losing fights and matches because they were good at the traditional CoD gameplay and couldn’t keep up with the new movement.
Maybe a Less Dramatic Change would Work?
After the stain AW left on the community with its verticality-based movement system, which I loved, Activision was set to make the next CoD without verticality. However, the jetpack still lived on, and it was perfected to be more of a horizontal movement mechanic than a vertical one.
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Because this time with Black Ops 3, CoD introduced a new type of movement mechanic that allowed players to wall run and quickly jump over walls. The reveal of this itself was met with negative reactions as the players did not want another “vertical” CoD. In my opinion, BO3’s jetpack movement system was the best movement in Call of Duty but of course, the majority of the CoD community did not feel the same way.
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After the constant negative reactions to new movement systems in CoD, Activision decided to ditch the jetpack, and out came the new marketing; CoD is now back to boots-on-the-ground, the fans loved it, me? Hated it.
Don’t get me wrong; traditional CoD gameplay without extravagant movement systems is not bad, but the new movement systems brought so much more to CoD and increased the skill gap by a good margin. With Black Ops 6’s Omnidirectional movement, at least the player base does not have as much of a negative reaction, but that was also true when they first showed off jet packs in AW.
History Will Repeat Itself
Even though this movement system doesn’t look as game-changing as jet packs, I know as a veteran CoD player that being able to sprint, dive, and slide in any direction will lead to sweaty players absolutely abusing the mechanic and shooting you from angles you would not imagine.
When players finally get their hands on this new movement, it will all be fun and games until the pro players and the sweaty players get so good at it that a normal casual player who cannot keep up with learning the new skill of managing this movement will always lose fights and end up hating this new change.
This is exactly what happens every time they introduce new movement mechanics, and even though I am genuinely excited about this new system, I am afraid this omnidirectional movement is bound to fail because history will repeat itself.
