Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’s multiplayer had a lot riding on its shoulders. First off, there was the fact that it was following on from Modern Warfare 3, which was an utterly atrocious offering. Add to that the fact that Black Ops 6 is the first Cod game released directly on Xbox Game Pass following Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard and expectations were high.

There is also the fact that this year’s entry is introducing a plethora of new gameplay mechanics like Omnimovement and Intelligent Movement systems, which allow the pace of the game to feel faster than ever before. Finally, Black Ops 6 was developed by Treyarch, who is considered by many to be the best Call of Duty studio, so fans were expecting a great deal.

For the most part, the game’s multiplayer mode delivers on these lofty expectations. It is far from perfect and it certainly does not reinvent the wheel,...