Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’s ‘Emergence’ Has Some Serious Control Vibes

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Call of Duty: Black Ops 6's 'Emergence' Has Some Serious Control Vibes

As a Lifelong Gamer with a Soft Spot for Both Shooters and Supernatural Elements, I Must Say: Black Ops 6’s ‘Emergence’ Hits the Right Spots!

For the first time in a while, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 offers a highly diverse campaign. It starts with a traditional Call of Duty gunfight and car chase, but the campaign swiftly shifts to a covert sniping mission. This leads to an intriguing espionage operation inspired by Mission: Impossible, taking place deep within enemy territory, culminating in a thrilling, tension-filled escape filled with explosions.

In contrast to its predecessor, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, unlike Modern Warfare 3 before it, offers a campaign filled with large-scale action sequences. However, what might surprise you is that some of the finest missions in Black Ops 6 are those that gradually increase tension and atmosphere rather than relying solely on action. The mission ‘Emergence’ falls into this category and, in many respects, seems to have been inspired by Remedy’s 2019 paranormal action game Control.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’s ‘Emergence‘ Feels Inspired by Remedy’s Control

Six missions into ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’s campaign, the mission titled ‘Emergence’ finds Marshall and his band of renegade agents probing a supposedly deserted CIA research center in Kentucky. This location is rumored to be the cradle of a puzzling bioweapon known as “The Cradle”. Upon penetrating the facility, the player-character, Case, experiences a plunge down an elevator shaft, placing them alone at the base of the building after inhaling a mysterious green gas.

‘Emergence’ Has Similar Environmental Theming to Control

Upon forcing open a nearby door, players will step into the central hub of this subterranean research facility. Fans of Remedy’s game, Control, may spot some resemblances immediately with the Federal Bureau of Control environment. Puzzling emblems adorn locked doors and suspended banners, towering statues of enigmatic figures loom over the player in the grand atrium, and nearly every wall is draped in ornate wood paneling.

The floors in the atrium are either a gleaming deep blue or an orange carpet displaying obvious influences from ‘Shining’. Cleaning equipment like buckets and mops are scattered on the floor, yet despite it appearing deserted, the powerful white lights suspended from both ceilings and walls continue to glow. This space bears striking resemblance to the Headquarters of FBC in ‘Control’. (Paraphrased and simplified)

‘Emergence’ Borrows Some of Control’s Mind-Bending Atmosphere

2019’s “Control” doesn’t qualify as a traditional horror game, but it does pack quite a few spooky scenes that delve into themes of ghostly and eerie terror. Similarly, the ‘Emergence’ mission from “Call of Duty: Black Ops 6” echoes this approach.

In the game “Black Ops 6”, the protagonist experiences intense hallucinations during the ‘Emergence’ phase, which are a result of being exposed to the enigmatic Cradle bioweapon. The hallucinations vary from relatively mild jump-scares, such as seeing a wheelchair moving on its own down a hallway, to more intense and violent delusions, like being chased by hordes of undead scientists and facility staff through deserted corridors.

In ‘Emergence’, my character’s hallucinations twist the environment in odd ways, making it feel like nothing is as it seems. Picking up a ringing phone, I’m transported back to repressed memories, like they’re unfolding before me again. It’s eerily similar in ‘Control’. The game is filled with strange phenomena, and moments that twist your mind, such as the infamous Ashtray Maze where my character, Jesse Faden, has to navigate through shifting walls and passages.

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2024-10-31 01:36