Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 introduces a range of new gameplay mechanics that significantly transform the first-person shooter experience, with Omnimovement being a key innovation.
What is Omnimovement in Black OPS 6?
Treyarch is breaking new ground with the mechanics in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, and movement is one of the key areas where they have completely reimagined the experience.
Movement has always been a central point of discussion and critique in the Call of Duty franchise, with features like movement speed, dolphin dives, and slide cancels sparking strong opinions from the community. Recognizing the importance of movement, Treyarch has introduced the Omnimovement system in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, which aims to create a more seamless and versatile movement experience, while also improving accessibility options for players.
The 360 Movement
The Omnimovement system in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 gives players the ability to dive, sprint, and slide in any direction, rather than just the forward movement seen in previous titles. This is a significant change that will fundamentally transform the feel and experience of movement in the Call of Duty franchise.
Before Black Ops 6, sprinting and sliding in any direction requires you to face that direction. If you try to move to the side or backwards while sprinting, for example, you automatically revert to a walking pace. It’s likely going to take some getting used to, especially for keyboard and mouse players, but Omnimovement should give players much more freedom and maneuverability in combat.
The new Omnimovement feature will make it easier to avoid enemy fire, but it will also make it more challenging to land accurate shots. In previous Call of Duty games, when players dove or slid, it was obvious to the enemy where they were going to move, and simply aiming in that direction could counter it. With Omnimovement, players can use sideways movement to be more unpredictable, making it harder for the opposing player to anticipate their actions and line up a successful shot.
The 360-degree movement capability of Omnimovement extends to prone positioning as well. In previous Call of Duty games, turning around while prone involved a clunky sidling motion where the operator maintained the same prone position on their stomach. This not only looked awkward and unrealistic, but also did not facilitate smooth actions, especially when trying to shoot. With Omnimovement, the prone turning animation is more fluid, as the operator rolls onto their back. This more realistic prone turning allows the character to maintain a steadier grip on their weapon, resulting in smoother shooting and movement while on the ground.
Intelligent Movement
The “Intelligent Movement” aspect of the Omnimovement mechanic in Black Ops 6 is perhaps the most exciting part, as it improves both the overall ease of play as well as accessibility. Players can customize the level of movement automation, choosing when they want the game to automatically crouch, slide, and mantle for them, versus still triggering those actions manually. This flexibility in choosing your preferred level of movement automation is a key benefit of the Omnimovement system.
Similar to driving games that offer various assistive features like assisted braking or automatic gear changes, the Intelligent Movement system in Black Ops 6 allows players to toggle on and off three separate movement assist options: sprint assist, mantle assist, and crouch assist. With these assists turned on, the corresponding movement actions will occur automatically without the player having to press a button. Conversely, players will need to manually activate these movements if the assists are turned off.
We can definitely see this causing some issues when you mantle instead of taking cover somewhere, for example, so it’s going to be worth playing with these settings until you find the setup that works for you. That said, we can certainly see these option coming in very handy for some players with accessibility needs, given the need for fewer button pushes.
Find out more about the Black OPS 6 Release Date and keep an eye on the Black Ops 6 Beta to see when you can try the new mechanics out early.