By most accounts, it seems as though Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is shaping up fairly nicely. The recent Black Ops 6 Beta weekends gave eager fans a good taste of things to come, with it bringing five core game mode maps and three Stakeout maps to the table. So far, these maps generally feel like a return to form for Call of Duty, delivering a good mix of close-quarters mayhem and longer-range, more tactical gameplay.
From Scud’s winding trenches, to Rewind’s three-lane layout, to Babylon’s central no man’s land, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6‘s Beta maps all featured a key piece of classic Call of Duty map design while also forging an identity of their own through the map’s setting and architecture. Skyline follows in these maps’ footsteps, but it has one more trick up its sleeve that sets it apart from the crowd, and it’s a trick that should be used in a few of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6‘s other launch maps.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’s Skyline Mechanic Should Only Be The Beginning
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’s Skyline Gimmick Explained
Generally considered to be the strongest map in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6‘s Beta, Skyline takes players to a luxurious resort penthouse suite located at the top of a tall skyscraper. Skyline is a nice medium-sized map that gives players several lanes of action at once and provides several key points of interest that help to keep players oriented. But while its layout paves the way for classic Call of Duty run-and-gun action, it’s Skyline’s more subtle details that really set it apart from the crowd.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6‘s Skyline map is home to a small but very effective gimmick that changes the layout of the map just enough to keep things fresh and exciting. When in Skyline’s Office POI, players can press a button that activates an emergency lockdown. This lockdown sees the windows and patio doors get boarded up with metal shutters, shielding those inside from any grenades or gunfire.
It’s only a temporary feature, but Skyline’s panic button goes a surprisingly long way in shaking up the dynamic of a multiplayer match, particularly when the Hardpoint objective is located behind the office’s barricaded windows and doors. These barriers require players to take just a few more seconds to think out their plan of attack, and it’s a neat layer of strategy that isn’t often seen in Call of Duty‘s mid-sized maps.
Skyline’s Office also leads to an underground network of vents that takes players to a panic room on the other side of the map, allowing for some light stealth.
The gimmick on Call of Duty: Black Ops 6‘s Skyline map is simple but effective. It adds more unique gameplay opportunities and gives the map a distinct identity, and Black Ops 6‘s other maps might want to learn from it. For instance, one map could feature a piece of moving cover that can be turned on or off, while another could feature some kind of platform that can be raised to give the player a height advantage, giving them unique gameplay opportunities and distinct identities.
