Following its well-received launch, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 has faced near-endless bouts of criticism. Some of this has been entirely justified, such as the backlash against Call of Duty’s AI usage and major CoD Zombies recasts. Other complaints have been a bit more questionable, such as the recent outrage surrounding Black Ops 6 Zombies’ map count. Unfortunately for Treyarch, the complaints could get louder than ever if the studio does not keep its “promise” regarding a Super Easter egg in Janus Towers, as CoD Zombies fans have not forgotten a specific social media conversation from 2022.
In this discussion, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Zombies director Kevin Drew responded to a post from Infinite Warfare Zombies lead Lee Ross. Ross’ original Tweet focused on him celebrating his team for its accomplishments with Infinite Warfare Zombies’ super Easter egg, and it certainly deserved celebrating. While Infinite Warfare Zombies had the hard task of following the beloved entry that was BO3, and the mode was never able to reach the heights of its debut offering Zombies in Spaceland, virtually all players agreed that its Super Easter egg was phenomenal. As such, it was a big deal when Kevin Drew stated that Treyarch was aiming to top Infinite Warfare Zombies’ Easter eggs in what is now known as Black Ops 6. To truly do this, though, Janus Towers will need to lead into a special Super Easter egg experience.
Kevin Drew’s response to Lee Ross (which is still being talked about on Reddit) only mentions the goal of having better “EEs” and not a Super EE specifically. However, given that Ross was talking about the Super Easter egg from his game, and that much of the reason IW Zombies’ quests are so well-regarded is the big finale, most CoD players have viewed Drew’s reply as a tease for a proper Treyarch Super Easter egg.
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Infinite Warfare Zombies’ Super Egg Set What May Be an Impossibly High Bar For Treyarch
IWZ’s Super Easter egg is widely regarded as a stroke of genius for a number of reasons, with the most obvious being the bonus boss fight that players could only access after finishing every other main quest in IWZ on Director’s Cut: Mephistopheles. While having a secret boss would be cool enough on his own, defeating this shape-shifting devil has been a point of pride for CoD Zombies fans, as not only did he take hard work to reach, but Mephistopheles remains the hardest boss in the history of Zombies. Rather than dodging simple attacks and working through a spongey health bar, players had to communicate as if they were fighting a Destiny 2 raid boss, calling out attacks and taking on individual jobs if they wanted to succeed. With all the mode’s special enemies used as Adds, this is easier said than done.
While Infinity Ward could have stopped with this tough secret boss and the bonus ending attached to defeating it, as this would have been a fine reward on its own, the studio went above and beyond. For beating the Super Easter egg if IWZ, players received an exclusive camo and calling card, as well as Willard Wyler, the mode’s villain, as a bonus playable character. This is in addition to all the Director’s Cut features, such as: starting with all perks and 25,000 points, Pack-a-Punched weapons from the Mystery Wheel, and unlimited refills for the Fate and Fortune deck. With so much unlockable content, gamers had proper motivation to play through every Easter egg more than once.
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Outside of World at War and Black Ops 4, every Treyarch Zombies game has had a Super Easter egg reward. While the rewards range in quality, it does not take long to see how much they differ from IWZ’s:
- In BO1, players could access the second half of Moon’s Easter egg quest by beating Shangri-La and Call of the Dead’s quests, and completing Moon fully provided Perkaholic.
- In BO2, beating all Victis maps on Richtofen’s path provides four-gun Mule Kick and permanent Fire Sale after beating Buried. Maxis’ path gives a “Zombie Richtofen” spawn that has guaranteed drops when killed.
- In BO3, players receive a special calling card, the RK5 as a starting pistol (with maxed out ammo), and the option to obtain Takeo’s Katana on Revelations.
- Black Ops Cold War’s Super Easter egg gave players a special watch, emblems, calling card, and purple rarity weapons when they spawn in.
Obviously, there is room for improvement on Treyarch’s part in the Super Easter egg department. A bonus final boss encounter would be a delight, especially with Black Ops 6 Zombies’ Easter egg bosses being a real highlight thus far. Additionally, a special mode that shakes up all the maps or gives players a head start like Director’s Cut did would be a major win. Best of all would be a secret Operator reward as opposed to the usual Operator skin or Wonder Weapon cosmetics, with Richtofen being the most obvious option to get the community talking. Returning bonuses like an extra starting weapon, boosted rarity, and special camos would also be exciting touches, but hopefully wouldn’t be the main attraction.
Unfortunately, with Treyarch needing to shift its attention to Black Ops 7, there is a chance that the studio hasn’t had the time to create a Super Easter egg on par with IWZ. If this is the case, disappointed fans will surely be quick to point the “broken promise” out, so hopefully Treyarch built Black Ops 6 with a huge payoff in mind.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
9/10
- Released
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October 25, 2024
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Suggestive Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs
- Engine
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IW 9.0