The launch ofCall of Duty: Black Ops 6has been quite a successful one for Treyarch, with the game enjoying an extremely healthy playerbase and generating a lot of renewed interest in the wider franchise. Alongside the campaign and Zombies modes of the release, the core multiplayer ofBlack Ops 6already has a huge amount of content to offer players.
Alongside its new maps and variety of modes,Call of Duty: Black Ops 6has taken some bold approaches to the customization of its multiplayer, with its “create a class” loadout system offering quite a unique overall blend. While create a class has been a defining element ofCall of Dutyfor some time, the way in which its customization works has gone through a lot of iterations over the years, with historic titles having their own pros and cons to how they handled player loadouts.Black Ops 6’s approach to the create a class seems like the perfect merge of old and new, however, offering a huge level of customization without the unnecessary complexity of past titles.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’s Create a Class System Sets a New Standard For the Franchise
The concept of a class customization system was first introduced toCall of Dutywith 2007’sModern Warfare, revolutionizing how the franchise’s multiplayer could offer a more personalized and in-depth experience for players. Originally dubbed as create a class, the ability to choose the kinds of weapons, attachments, and equipment that a player can use has gone on to become a mainstayelement of everyCoDreleaseever since.
With almost two decades having passed since the introduction of create a class, the game mechanic has undergone a huge number of risky changes over the years.Many entries to theBlack Opsfranchise opted for a “pick ten” system, giving more freedom to the player to directly choose what elements of aCoDloadout they want to prioritize or completely ignore, doing away from the more rigid system of create a class' original form.
The open-ended nature of the pick-ten system had its own issues, though, making the selection of a loadout a more daunting and confusing task for newer players.2022’sModern Warfare 2took this a step furtherwith its weapon tuning system, making weapon customization a divisive and massively complex issue.CoDhas flipped between these prior elements of what create a class should be ever since, yetBlack Ops 6offers a fantastic middle-ground while introducing some very exciting fresh elements to loadout customization.
Black Ops 6’s Loadouts Have Structure While Maintaining a Huge Amount of Freedom
Alongside standard primary and secondary weapon slots,Black Ops 6has introduced a dedicated melee weapon slot to its loadout system, meaning players no longer have to sacrifice a ranged weapon to prioritize melee builds. Alongside this,Black Ops 6has split its perks into three groups: Enforcer, Recon, and Strategist. Equipping three perks that belong to the same category grants a bonus Combat Specialty, essentially giving players up to four perks that can potentially be used at once.
On top ofthe huge variety ofBlack Ops 6’s 11 field upgrades, the title has also decided to reintroduce loadout Wildcards on top of its new changes. Wildcards are a great way to turn loadouts on their heads, offering things like two primary weapons, extra attachment slots, as well as additional equipment, allowing players to focus massively on the area of play that interests them the most. While it is true thatCall of Duty’s create a class system has had quite a shifting identity over the years, its appearance inBlack Ops 6is one of the most streamlined and accessible that has ever been seen, while still allowing for a huge range of gameplay avenues to be explored.
