With Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, the popular shooter series has once again got a zombie mode. In contrast to its predecessor, this one is turn-based again. This means that you fight wave after wave against undead that are getting stronger and faster. But which Black Ops had the best zombie mode?
What kind of ranking is this? Call of Duty’s zombie mode began in Treyarch’s World at War, but it really took off with the Black Ops series. MeinMMO editor Dariusz therefore asked himself which Black Ops had the best zombie mode and ranked them in a tier list.
The ranking is based purely on the author’s personal opinion and gaming experience, which of course you don’t have to agree with. Instead, please let us know in the comments how you would rank the modes.
S-Tier – The best zombie mode ever
Black Ops 3 probably has the best maps of all zombie modes and brought innovative innovations like chewing gum. The faster movement is simply a lot more fun than in its predecessors. On top of that, there were custom zombies on the PC, allowing players to create their own maps.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 shows zombie mode in the trailer
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A-Tier – Strong modes, but not the top
Black Ops 2
Black Ops 2 managed to improve the gameplay of zombie mode after Black Ops 1 in places, even though Black Ops 1 already had a very good overall package. For me, the big weakness of BO2 is the maps. With the exception of Origin, these do not come close to the quality of their predecessor or successor.
Black Ops 1
With Black Ops 1 the overall package is just right. The maps, the gameplay, perks… It was just fun and very simple. However, the successors were able to partially improve the concept and compensate for the minor weaknesses of Black Ops 1.
B Tier – A solid foundation with untapped potential
Black Ops 6
Black Ops 6’s Zombie mode does a lot of things right. There are cool chewing gums, perks, the maps aren’t a complete disaster and it seems to have managed to create a good gaming experience for both experienced zombie players and beginners – although the mode could be a bit crisper.
However, I find the whole system with the augmentations unnecessary. Sure, it’s another incentive to grind, but it makes putting together your own loadout unnecessarily complicated. It feels like you have to organize your augmentation research before you can start a run.
For me, the big strength of Black Ops 6 is the new omnimovement. I have a lot of fun with this in both multiplayer and zombie mode and even lets the latest offshoot of the series climb past Black Ops 4 in my books.
Black Ops 4
Black Ops 4’s gameplay was good, but it couldn’t keep up with the first three installments in the series. While playing, I just felt like Treyarch wanted to inject innovation into the mode with Black Ops 4 that no one asked for and that just wasn’t implemented well.
C Tier – The worst Black Ops, but…
Cold War
What stands out in Cold War is the gameplay because it’s really fun. I didn’t like the maps that much compared to other BO parts. Additionally, Cold War felt more repetitive and less challenging than other zombie modes. I just didn’t warm up to Cold War.
But there is – excuse the old phrase – light at the end of the tunnel: Cold War is at the bottom of our “Black Ops Zombie Rankings”, but it has by far not the worst zombie mode. Vanguard and Modern Warfare 3 (2023) would be far behind in last place on a list of all zombie modes. MW3 missed the mark so far for me, I’m not even sure I should mention it in a list like this.
If you now want to get a few tips for the zombie mode of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, I have summarized 15 helpful tips for zombie newbies on MeinMMO: CoD Black Ops 6 Zombies: 15 tips for beginners like you can survive more rounds