Call of Duty Zombies: Why Not Return to the Good Old Leveling from Black Ops 2?

Call of Duty Zombies may be, well, fun in its own right. But the idea may be ruined by unsatisfactory fulfillment. Don’t you have the feeling that the installment may look so much like its undead antagonists? And what can Activision Blizzard do to make it as alive as the player wants it to be? One of the possible solutions is reintroducing the old leveling system from Black Ops 2.

How many installments have there been in the Call of Duty series? Strangely, but all across this never-ending franchise, there have only been two leveling systems: one was introduced in Black Ops 2, and another in Black Ops 3. The second is known as “the modern system”. But its predecessor suddenly can make a zombies game fresher when it arrives.

What’s the old leveling system all about? The difference is that in that system, players could go both up and down in the ranking, regarding their performance. As there are just eight levels, even going down one level is significant. If you underperform in several games, you are deranged. In addition, there were extra rewards (like tally marks and blue eyes) for everyday playing. Isn’t this what can adrenalize a player constantly and provide some life pulsation?

Many Calls of Duty games had zombie mode as an option. But a complete standalone game based on extinguishing hordes of zombies need something more than just a more-or-less realistic military setting. And this leveling can make it more dynamic and vivid than just straight-up progress based on achieving certain XP landmarks in any unrestricted time.

This makes sense in a dedicated Zombies game because it was an optional part of any other game. So in multiplayer, players didn’t know whether those around them were experienced in the overall game or in its zombie mode.

What else do you expect from the upcoming game? Where and when do you want it to be set? What elements from previous games should it preserve? Let’s speak about it in the comments!