Call of Duty: Black Ops 6: Is Omnimovement Bad for CoD

The beta for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 launched last week, introducing players to an all-new mechanic that has easily become one of the biggest highlights of the game, Omnimovement. This is a multidirectional movement mechanic that gives the player full 360-degree control of the character while sprinting, diving, sliding, and turning.

If you’ve been fortunate enough to get a hold of Black Ops 6 Beta through early access, you’ve probably already noticed that the game handles completely differently to past titles. This year, Treyarch began experimenting with a new movement mechanic that allows the player to have complete control over their character’s full range of motion. The mechanic does away with the traditional movement we’ve all been accustomed to in exchange for a more flexible and realistic way of tackling combat.

With the new Omnimovement mechanic, you will no longer be confined to moving in a single direction while aiming or firing. This fluid movement also extends to other actions such as turning, diving, and sliding, allowing you to transition through these motions seamlessly while also maintaining complete control of the scope.

How Omnimovement dramatically affects gameplay

Omnimovement is less of a gimmicky mechanic used to market the game and is instead a massive update that greatly affects how the game plays and feels. Fans are majorly on the fence in regards to the mechanic, with some enjoying the new added layer of gameplay and the learning curve that comes with it while others, allergic to change, find it clunky and not at all necessary.

Modern Warfare III previously had some enhancements to movement mainly geared towards promoting techniques like slide canceling and bunny hopping, which garnered mixed reviews but didn’t jostle the fanbase quite much. It also upped the pace of the game significantly by increasing the speed of tactical sprints, making combat more chaotic than ever. These additions now feel relatively minor in comparison to Black Ops 6’s new enhancements, as they were just building upon already established mechanics as opposed to introducing an entirely new one.

There is a looming concern within the fanbase surrounding the mechanic, especially in regard to how it affects the overall feel of the game. Omnimovement, although realistically depicting how people actually move in combat, does leave the game feeling a bit more arcadey and less grounded. This is especially true when you combine it with other speed and hitbox exploits like slide canceling, snaking, and bunny hopping.

One notable description of omnimovement that most can agree on is that it feels a lot like controlling an actual person as opposed to the traditional movement, which made you feel like you were controlling a camera.

Intelligent Movement in Black Ops 6

Another addition to the movement mechanics that works in tandem with omnimovement is intelligent movement. This is a movement aide that is meant to enhance accessibility by providing some minor automation through assists.

It functions much like the assists you’d find in racing or simulation games like EA FC that automate minor player actions in order to allow the player to focus on other more crucial aspects of the game. The assists in the new intelligent movement system cover sprint assist, mantle assist, and crouch assist, and unlike Omnimovement, the player will be able to turn the assists on or off at will to best suit their playstyle.