I've been playing video games pretty much nonstop ever since I got my first 360. I love arena shooters, MMOs, and MOBAs, but I'll pretty much try any kind of game.
Reviewed by Benjamin Barr
While there’s a lot to what makes a Call of Duty game fun, the maps are arguably the most important. This time around, the maps feel smaller overall, which is an interesting combo with the faster-than-ever movement. But while there are some issues here, I’d say that overall the maps we got this time are better than average. In this article, we’ll take a look at all 18 maps and rank them from worst to best!
#18 Babylon
By far, no map feels more cramped than this one. Now that we can get from one end of a map to the other in a matter of seconds, Babylon just feels unbearable. Whenever you spawn, you essentially have two choices: leave spawn and die to a camper, or just hide in spawn. Babylon would be great in the Strike playlist, but in the core rotation it’s just a terrible experience. While it’s alright in certain situations, Babylon is easily my pick for the worst multiplayer map in Black Ops 6.
#17 Rental
Rental is a frustrating map, because it feels like it could be excellent if it were just better optimized. As it is, it’s just too much of the same thing. Every building looks the same, the interior sections aren’t very good, and the outsides are just mediocre. Rental should have had a fun, video store vibe, but instead we just got a soulless strip mall with no real intrigue.
#16 Pit
Of all the smaller playlist maps, Pit is certainly one of them. Honestly I don’t hate it as much as a lot of people seem to, but it is hard to defend. It’s chaotic in a way that isn’t really that fun, but at least camping the ladders from above is pretty funny. However, the bottom section is just too cramped to be an enjoyable experience in any way.
#15 Warhead
Warhead is just a frustrating map all around. It’s very small (which is fine since it’s a Strike map), but in a way that makes it feel horrible. It feels like everyone either camps in the middle building or on of one of the little ones on the outside where they’re nearly invisible. It’s just another map where you have to either camp or just accept your fate of dying over and over again.
#14 Red Card
The popular opinion online about Red Card seems to be that it’s absolutely horrible, and while I definitely don’t like it, it could be worse. The spawns are alright and it’s a larger map, so it feels unique in such a close-quarters game. But nothing here stands out. It does have the soccer field you can see, but that just makes me wish the map was there instead.
#13 Lowtown
To be honest, I just hate the overall layout of this map. From the annoying water everywhere to the camper’s paradise in the center, there just isn’t much to praise. I could see some people really liking it, and fair enough if you do. But I just don’t care for this one at all.
#12 Gala
This is just another of the maps in the Strike playlist that are just too small to accomplish anything. The spawns are horrible, there are way too many lines of sight, and nothing stands out as special other than maybe the middle and podiums on each side. It’s just extremely forgettable, and there are too many “walls” to get shot through.
#11 Nuketown
It hurts me to put Nuketown so low, but Black Ops 6 is just too fast-paced for this map. It’s too easy to fly from one side of the map to the other, and it feels like I’m constantly being spawn killed. There’s still some fun to be had here if you’re nostalgic for the old renditions, but I doubt any new players are going to be won over by Nuketown this time around.
#10 Scud
Some people really hate Scud, and very few love it, but I fall somewhere in the middle. It’s large enough that you can use whatever kind of weapons you want, but it doesn’t offer much in terms of variety. Fighting over the middle section can be fun and I do love the trenches, but it’s just not a very interesting map.
#9 Vorkuta
Vorkuta seems to be one of the community’s least favorite maps, but I think it deserves some credit. It is larger than most maps, so it neutralizes some of the more annoying aspects of this game’s ultra-fast movement. And while the snowy aesthetic isn’t anything crazy, it reminds me a lot of old school Call of Duty maps.
#8 Vault
Vault is a pretty solid map for a couple reasons. For one, it’s a bit larger, so it’s a nice change of pace. It has a good middle section for close-range fights, and multiple buildings around the outside with balconies great for long-range weapons. It can be a bit annoying because of all these high spots, though. But for the most part, it’s not hard to counter the long-range players since there are so many ways to go about approaching them. It’s not at all a bad map, it’s just a bit boring honestly.
#7 Stakeout
Once you embrace the chaos of Black Ops 6, Stakeout gets a lot better. At first I hated it since it’s virtually impossible to move at all without entering multiple lines of sight, but I’ve come to appreciate it. Sliding around, crouching through hallways, spawn trapping, etc. make this one of the most chaotic maps in the game, so you just have to accept it for what it is.
#6 Derelict
There’s just something I really love about Derelict. The overrun, natural atmosphere here is great and very unique. There are multiple good lanes that mix each kind combat, so you can use any weapon type you want and do well here. It might not stand out a ton, but it’s a great map nonetheless.
#5 Payback
I usually tend to like these maps that are just a house and some buildings outside of it, and Payback is no different. The actual house is well-designed, with more than enough sections to make it feel a lot larger than it actually is. Outside, the lines of sight are decent and I don’t usually feel like I’m getting spawn trapped very often.
#4 Vault
There’s so much to love about Vault, and only a few things to hate. What I love is simple: a well-designed, large building to run around in, great outside sections with long sight lines, and pretty good spawn points. The only “bad” parts of this map are how it promotes camping up in balconies or in the little plant sections near the main building, but even that isn’t too egregious.
#3 Protocol
Of all the large maps, Protocol is easily my favorite. I love the aesthetic, the almost parallel sides, and how well designed each part of it is. The buildings are the perfect size and layout for mid-range and close-up battles, and the outdoors parts have more than enough cover to survive against all the windows people can camp in. This is a textbook large Call of Duty map in a game that needs them more than anything.
#2 Subsonic
There are a lot of moving parts to Subsonic, but overall it’s a great map. The middle section inside the hangar is balanced but still chaotic, and the outside is a nice change of pace compared to it. Plus it has a fun aesthetic that’s hard to hate. Just watch out for the closing doors, as it’s not hard to pick up an embarrassing death from them closing on you.
#1 Skyline
Skyline really is a near-perfect Call of Duty map. It’s mid-sized, has both an upper and lower level that feel unique, and has an amazing aesthetic. Probably my favorite thing about Skyline is that there aren’t a million lines of sight where you can get shot from behind constantly, so it feels less “random.” Plus the balconies overlooking the pool in the middle is just cool. Everything here feels balanced, which is rare for a lot of these maps. If you just want a clean map that’s fun to play and also feels unique, Skyline is easily the best map in Black Ops 6.
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