Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 multiplayer review: it’s like Call Of Duty

A good one

Image credit:Activision

• Developer: Treyarch
• Publisher: Activision
• Release: October 25th, 2024
• On: Windows
• From: Steam , Battlenet , Game Pass
• Price: £70/€70/$70
• Reviewed on: Intel Core i7-12700F, Nvidia RTX 3080, 16GB RAM, Windows 11

People have asked me, a Call Of Duty liker, “How’s the new COD?” - such is the mass appeal of Call Of Duty that even a lot of my non-industry pals are invested in whether Black Ops 6 ’s shooty really does bang. And every single time my brain clunks into gear and I turn inwards, where I struggle to come up with anything meaningful to say. So much so that a fog develops and out of the fog emerges a figure - it’s me. I’m holding an M4A1 with an extended barrel and a vertical foregrip. My brain and body perform a pincer movement of physical response: 1) I shrug 2) I say, “It’s like Call Of Duty”.

This year’s PvP offerings are much the same to COD’s kinfolk. You spit lead at other players in your team deathmatches and hardpoints and search ’n’ destroys. Defeat dads spending their precious evening hours having just put the kids to bed, or kids who should be in bed already, and you’ll unlock new weapons, perks, and attachments. Of course, the real prize lies in unlocking some tiger stripes to make your gun look like it’s freed itself from the zoo.

All the guns feel distinct and have a lovely weight to them. And it’s nice to see pretty much the entire weapon pool being viable, although the map layouts definitely lean more towards close-quarters weaponry. |Image credit:Activision

There’s familiarity in it all, as you work towards that new gun everyone’s using and that new attachment that’ll make it as strong as the one everyone is using. Being a former esports head, I love chasing down those meta guns and - whether this is healthy or not is debatable - I do enjoy the dopamine hit when I see I’ve unlocked a new foregrip. But that’s not to say the Gunsmith (where you perform said tinkering) and the dinky weapon pool don’t do enough to encourage experimentation - they do!

You’d think a small pool of SMGs and assault rifles or whatever would make for a lackluster EXP chase and fend off variety. If anything, the sheer range of attachments combine with a manageable roster of guns to form a bunch of barrels and bullets that you want to experiment with. And crucially, when you do experiment, it feels like you’re easily able to find a build for you that’s able to match the meta.

We need to talk about the launcher, which is diabolical. It’s been diabolical on all platforms for years and it’s completely baffling how it’sstillin such a state. The UI is often confusing, it’ll hitch, objects will overlap, and the amount of times it needs to restart for an update is staggering. For some, their experience will end at the installation process that may not, well, install the game properly. Can someone, anyone at COD HQ please just put forward a motion to nuke it from existence and rethink it? Cheers.Image credit:Activision

Take your weapons to the arena and it’s classic COD FPS fare, minus those Battlefield-esque War maps with their tanks and capture areas. For some reason, it doesn’t exist in Blops 6, and I’m personally fine with that. Some of you who liked those modes might be a bit sad, but hey, there’s always a chance they get added later. As I type this, the game’s yet to experience its first season and battle pass, bringing with it new maps and guns and the like. It’s a constantly evolving thing so just take this review as my thoughts on experiences I’ve had with the launch iteration.

One entirely new addition is Kill Order, where both teams must simultaneously protect their VIP while hunting down the enemy’s. The VIP appears on the map for all to see and if killed, the VIP rotates to another team member. Exhaust their lives and voila, you win. It’s a good time with pals as it makes for silly escorts and panics as you take bullets for your president, while one or two slink off to slip some chrome between the eyes of the enemy’s high value target. Naturally, this also means it’s less fun with randoms, as “Wrinkly_B@llsaK”, “[ASDA] John Terry”, and friends all just end up ignoring the objective entirely.

Elsewhere, there’s Control, which is sort of like Domination except capturing or defending the points is split into rounds within a best of three. If the attacking team captures all of the points within the time limit, they win a point, and the teams swap roles. And as you might’ve guessed, if the defending team prevents the attackers from doing their thing, they earn a point. What’s neat is that both teams share a pool of lives, so this adds an extra win condition that amps up the tension. Don’t be the reason your team goes from a comforting 15 lives to 5…

Scorestreaks (earns lots of score through kills or assists in a life) remain fun and silly. Perks are fairly streamlined, too, with the usual selection albeit with a slight twist. Equip three of the same colour and you’ll unlock a speciality perk that grants you a bonus. For instance, equipping three red (more aggressive perks) gives you Enforcer, which means that killing enemies grants you a temporary buff to your movement speed and health regen. |Image credit:Activision

… you might tell yourself as you perform a dive into a group of five players, before you get put down like an engorged clay pigeon that’s landed at the feet of a tweed-clad stag party at the shooting range. Treyarch calls Blops’ new movement system “Omnimovement”, in the way you can sprint and dive in any direction. You can slide around doors or chuck yourself backwards or even turn yourself in mid-air. Land on your back and you can roll over onto your tummy and ping bullets into someone’s ankles. I like how it’s ’technically’ a game-changer, in the sense I’ve seen very good players pull off some John Woo manoeuvres and I, an average player, pull off the occasional cool slide driveby and feel good about it. Really, it caters to both parties, where 90% of folks can play COD like they’ve always done with some occasional flair, while the remaining 10% can master it like they’ve become World Chase Tag athletes.

And crucially, I’m a fan of throwing myself around the maps, only one of which I despise (this is very complimentary). While I do think it’s a slight on them that I’ve had to look up their names instead of them burying into my consciousness like Terminal or Favela or Castle, I think they’re overall a solid bunch that promote fun shootouts. Don’t ask me how exactly they promote fun shooting, just know that I really enjoy Payback’s old estate and its chaotic conservatory sightlines. Scud is similarly frantic and set in some crumbling military outpost where SMGs and shotguns rule its innards, while snipers outside can get some mileage by poking their heads atop chunks of broken concrete. Lowtown’s canal systems? They suck. I hate Lowtown.

Admittedly I’ve spent less time with Zombies than PVP, but hey, I had a blast with some pals and I think the compact, round-based format suits those nights when you just want to break your personal best. |Image credit:Activision

Chucking aside talk of canals and PVP for a second, let’s move briefly onto zombies. The last couple of COD zombies have been open world affairs that felt a bit empty and left behind the simplistic round-based chaos of yore. Well, Blops 6 has brought the yore back to the fore, so to speak. We’ve got a couple of traditional maps with the usual rhythm: collect money by shooting the undead, open doors, activate traps, and wrestle your mates for the mystery box. One thing I appreciate is being able to take in any gun of your choosing, as opposed to always starting out with a pistol. And it’s nice being able to earn new power ups and the like once you’ve accrued enough EXP.

All in all then, I’d best sum up Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 like this: it’s like Call Of Duty. A good one, I think. Not a bad one. If you like Call Of Duty, you will like this. If you don’t like Call Of Duty, you will not like this. If you haven’t played Call Of Duty in a while but did like Call Of Duty in the past, then you will probably like this. Now imagine me, as I step back into the fog with my M4A1 and disappear into a lobby filled with the wet squelches of a man passionately eating a lasagna too close to his mic.

Find out how we conduct our reviews by reading our review policy .

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

PS4 , PS5 , Xbox One , Xbox Series X/S , PC

Rock Paper Shotgun is better when you sign in

Sign in and join us on our journey to discover strange and compelling PC games.

All 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints and where to get them

These areas have the highest chance of giving you Blueprints

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Looking for more Arc Raiders Blueprints? It’s a special day when you find a Blueprint, as they’re among the most valuable items in Arc Raiders. If you find a Blueprint that you haven’t already found, then you must make sure you hold onto it at all costs, because Blueprints are the key to one of the most important and powerful systems of meta-progression in the game.

This guide aims to be the very best guide on Blueprints you can find, starting with a primer on what exactly they are and how they work in Arc Raiders, before delving into exactly where to get Blueprints and the very best farming spots for you to take in your search.

We’ll also go over how to get Blueprints from other unlikely activities, such as destroying Surveyors and completing specific quests. And you’ll also find the full list of all 75 Blueprints in Arc Raiders on this page (including the newest Blueprints added with the Cold Snap update , such as the Deadline Blueprint and Firework Box Blueprint), giving you all the information you need to expand your own crafting repertoire.

In this guide:

• What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?
• Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes
• Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders Blueprints obtained from quests Blueprints obtained from Trials Best Blueprint farming locations

What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?

Blueprints in Arc Raiders are special items which, if you manage to extract with them, you can expend to permanently unlock a new crafting recipe in your Workshop. If you manage to extract from a raid with an Anvil Blueprint, for example, you can unlock the ability to craft your very own Anvil Pistol, as many times as you like (as long as you have the crafting materials).

To use a Blueprint, simply open your Inventory while in the lobby, then right-click on the Blueprint and click “Learn And Consume” . This will permanently unlock the recipe for that item in your Workshop. As of the Stella Montis update, there are allegedly 75 different Blueprints to unlock - although only 68 are confirmed to be in the game so far. You can see all the Blueprints you’ve found and unlocked by going to the Workshop menu, and hitting “R” to bring up the Blueprint screen.

It’s possible to find duplicates of past Blueprints you’ve already unlocked. If you find these, then you can either sell them, or - if you like to play with friends - you can take it into a match and gift it to your friend so they can unlock that recipe for themselves. Another option is to keep hold of them until the time comes to donate them to the Expedition.

Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes

Below is the full list of all the Blueprints that are currently available to find in Arc Raiders, and the crafting recipe required for each item:

Note: The missing Blueprints in this list likely have not actually been added to the game at the time of writing, because none of the playerbase has managed to find any of them. As they are added to the game, I will update this page with the most relevant information so you know exactly how to get all 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints.

Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders

Below is a list of all containers, modifiers, and events which maximise your chances of finding Blueprints:

• Certain quests reward you with specific Blueprints .
• Completing Trials has a high chance of offering Blueprints as rewards.
• Surveyors have a decent chance of dropping Blueprints on death.
• High loot value areas tend to have a greater chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Night Raids and Storms may increase rare Blueprint spawn chances in containers.
• Containers with higher numbers of items may have a higher tendency to spawn Blueprints. As a result, Blue Gate (which has many “large” containers containing multiple items) may give you a higher chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Raider containers (Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, Medical Bags, Grenade Tubes) have increased Blueprint drop rates. As a result, the Uncovered Caches event gives you a high chance of finding Blueprints.
• Security Lockers have a higher than average chance of containing Blueprints.
• Certain Blueprints only seem to spawn under specific circumstances: Tempest Blueprint only spawns during Night Raid events. Vulcano Blueprint only spawns during Hidden Bunker events. Jupiter and Equaliser Blueprints only spawn during Harvester events.

Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, and other raider-oriented container types have a good chance of offering Blueprints. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints have a very low chance of spawning in any container in Arc Raiders, around 1-2% on average. However, there is a higher chance of finding Blueprints in particular container types. Specifically, you can find more Blueprints in Raider containers and security lockers.

Beyond this, if you’re looking for Blueprints you should focus on regions of the map which are marked as having particularly high-value loot. Areas such as the Control Tower in Dam Battlegrounds, the Arrival and Departure Buildings in Spaceport, and Pilgrim’s Peak in Blue Gate all have a better-than-average chance of spawning Blueprints somewhere amongst all their containers. Night Raids and Electromagnetic Storm events also increase the drop chances of certain Blueprints .

In addition to these containers, you can often loot Blueprints from destroyed Surveyors - the largest of the rolling ball ARC. Surveyors are more commonly found on the later maps - Spaceport and Blue Gate - and if one spawns in your match, you’ll likely see it by the blue laser beam that it casts into the sky while “surveying”.

Surveyors are quite well-armoured and will very speedily run away from you once it notices you, but if you can take one down then make sure you loot all its parts for a chance of obtaining certain unusual Blueprints.

Blueprints obtained from quests

One way in which you can get Blueprints is by completing certain quests for the vendors in Speranza. Some quests will reward you with a specific item Blueprint upon completion, so as long as you work through all the quests in Arc Raiders, you are guaranteed those Blueprints.

Here is the full list of all Blueprints you can get from quest rewards:

• Trigger Nade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Sparks Fly”.
• Lure Grenade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Greasing Her Palms”.
• Burletta Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Industrial Espionage”.
• Hullcracker Blueprint (and Launcher Ammo Blueprint): Rewarded after completing “The Major’s Footlocker”.

Alas, that’s only 4 Blueprints out of a total of 75 to unlock, so for the vast majority you will need to find them yourself during a raid. If you’re intent on farming Blueprints, then it’s best to equip yourself with cheap gear in case you lose it, but don’t use a free loadout because then you won’t get a safe pocket to stash any new Blueprint you find. No pain in Arc Raiders is sharper than failing to extract with a new Blueprint you’ve been after for a dozen hours already.

One of the best ways to get Blueprints is by hitting three stars on all five Trials every week. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints obtained from Trials

One of the very best ways to get Blueprints is as rewards for completing Trials in Arc Raiders. Trials are unlocked from Level 15 onwards, and allow you to earn rewards by focusing on certain tasks over the course of several raids. For example, one Trial might task you with dealing damage to Hornets, while another might challenge you to loot Supply Drops.

Trials refresh on a weekly basis, with a new week bringing five new Trials. Each Trial can offer up to three rewards after passing certain score milestones, and it’s possible to receive very high level loot from these reward crates - including Blueprints. So if you want to unlock as many Blueprints as possible, you should make a point of completing as many Trials as possible each week.

Best Blueprint farming locations

The very best way to get Blueprints is to frequent specific areas of the maps which combine high-tier loot pools with the right types of containers to search. Here are my recommendations for where to find Blueprints on every map, so you can always keep the search going for new crafting recipes to unlock.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Dam Battlegrounds

The best places to farm Blueprints on Dam Battlegrounds are the Control Tower, Power Generation Complex, Ruby Residence, and Pale Apartments . The first two regions, despite only being marked on the map as mid-tier loot, contain a phenomenal number of containers to loot. The Control Tower can also contain a couple of high-tier Security Lockers - though of course, you’ll need to have unlocked the Security Breach skill at the end of the Survival tree.

There’s also a lot of reporting amongst the playerbase that the Residential areas in the top-left of the map - Pale Apartments and Ruby Residence - give you a comparatively strong chance of finding Blueprints. Considering their size, there’s a high density of containers to loot in both locations, and they also have the benefit of being fairly out of the way. So you’re more likely to have all the containers to yourself.

Buried City

The best Blueprint farming locations on Buried City are the Santa Maria Houses, Grandioso Apartments, Town Hall, and the various buildings of the New District . Grandioso Apartments has a lower number of containers than the rest, but a high chance of spawning weapon cases - which have good Blueprint drop rates. The others are high-tier loot areas, with plenty of lootable containers - including Security Lockers.

Spaceport

The best places to find Blueprints on Spaceport are the Arrival and Departure Buildings, as well as Control Tower A6 and the Launch Towers . All these areas are labelled as high-value loot regions, and many of them are also very handily connected to one another by the Spaceport wall, which you can use to quickly run from one area to the next. At the tops of most of these buildings you’ll find at least one Security Locker, so this is an excellent farming route for players looking to find Blueprints.

The downside to looting Blueprints on Spaceport is that all these areas are hotly contested, particularly in Duos and Squads. You’ll need to be very focused and fast in order to complete the full farming route.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blue Gate

Blue Gate tends to have a good chance of dropping Blueprints, potentially because it generally has a high number of containers which can hold lots of items; so there’s a higher chance of a Blueprint spawning in each container. In my experience, the best Blueprint farming spots on Blue Gate are Pilgrim’s Peak, Raider’s Refuge, the Ancient Fort, and the Underground Complex beneath the Warehouse .

All of these areas contain a wealth of containers to loot. Raider’s Refuge has less to loot, but the majority of the containers in and around the Refuge are raider containers, which have a high chance of containing Blueprints - particularly during major events.

Stella Montis

On the whole, Stella Montis seems to have a very low drop rate for Blueprints (though a high chance of dropping other high-tier loot). If you do want to try farming Blueprints on this map, the best places to find Blueprints in Stella Montis are Medical Research, Assembly Workshop, and the Business Center . These areas have the highest density of containers to loot on the map.

In addition to this, the Western Tunnel has a few different Security Lockers to loot, so while there’s very little to loot elsewhere in this area of the map, it’s worth hitting those Security Lockers if you spawn there at the start of a match.

That wraps up this primer on how to get all the Blueprints in Arc Raiders as quickly as possible. With the Expedition system constantly resetting a large number of players’ Blueprints, it’s more important than ever to have the most up-to-date information on where to find all these Blueprints.

While you’re here, be sure to check out our Arc Raiders best guns tier list , as well as our primers on the best skills to unlock and all the different Field Depot locations on every map.

ARC Raiders

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

Rock Paper Shotgun is better when you sign in

Sign in and join us on our journey to discover strange and compelling PC games.