What’s the best Call of Duty map ever? There are arguments for Rust’s chaos, Terminal’s flow, and even Hijacked’s vibe, but for my money, one in particular takes the top spot. Everything about Nuketown is right: it has a great concept, tight and fast generation, and enough sight lines to suit all types of players. That is, 14 years ago when we first set foot on a nuclear testing site. In fact, it’s been so long ago that one Treyarch developer said not many of us have actually played it. Fortunately, black ops 6 will change that.
There have been six versions of Nuketown over the years, with one for every mainline game in the Treyarch series until Black Ops 6. Call of Duty Mobile, Zombies, and more versions of the FPS game also feature the map, but each mainline game entry itself has undergone a fairly complete redesign. So unless you’ve been playing Call of Duty for as long as I have, you probably won’t start with the original version of the map from the ’50s.
Black Ops 6’s ’90s setting meant Treyarch could bring back the original flavor of Nuketown, which made expert level designer Adam Hoggatt realize something. Most Call of Duty players have probably never been exposed to it.
“Lately I’ve come to realize that the majority of our players may have never actually experienced the original (Nuketown),” Hoggart said. “So I’m really excited that in Black Ops 6 we get to revisit the original Nuketown with the exact same magic as the original, but looking better.”
Personally, my favorite version of Nuketown is the Black Ops Zombies version. The tight space is reminiscent of Nacht Der Untoten, and the zombie’s eyes turning blue at turn 25 remains one of the best twists ever. Regardless, I’m really happy that Nuketown came about, and it turns out that the original was actually a happy accident.
According to Hoggart, Nuketown was not in the plans for Black Ops. Instead, they run with ideas that have always been present in the team. “I just started building,” Hoggart said, via the same IGN interview. “It wasn’t on the schedule and I just thought ‘I’ll do it because it’s too cool to miss.'”
Well, I’m glad we got the map, even if it was a happy accident. Remember, you won’t play Nuketown on your first day. The Black Ops 6 Nuketown map will be available after launch, but you don’t actually have to wait too long.
If you’re ready for the new Call of Duty but don’t know exactly what to expect, we’ve rounded up all the Black Ops 6 Zombies maps and the best Black Ops 6 gear to help you get started.
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