Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, like other entries in the franchise, has not been afraid to embrace humor. In the past, fans have seen the “Press F” meme acknowledged, wacky voice packs featuring Snoop Dogg, playable movie icons like the Predator, and so on. In the latest game, players can slay foes as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and their teacher, Master Splinter, suggesting that nothing is off limits for the FPS franchise. The new Black Ops 6 event celebrating the history of the Black Ops subseries continues the goofs and gags with its final reward, acknowledging a community meme that has existed for years now: John Black Ops.
If this approach proves popular for Treyarch, perhaps the developer will deliver more events that embrace community memes. And if the studio is in search of material, it need look no further than the Call of Duty Zombies fan base, which has been poking fun at the mode it adores since its inception. CoD Zombies memes range from “revive me bro I have a Ray Gun” to the Tombstone perk jingle taking on a life of its own, but it’s the M14 Gang and Olympia Gang trend that could provide the perfect basis for the event.
Players can acquire the John Black Ops skin by collecting all the other rewards from the Black Ops Tribute event. The meme is a reference to an internet joke where a customizable playable character with no voice or name of their own is treated as a key player, and has often been used when players ask who the Sitting Bull soldiers are on Black Ops game covers.
Related
Rumor: Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 May Be Collaborating With Mission Impossible
A reliable Call of Duty leaker teases an upcoming collaboration between Black Ops 6 and the hit action series, Mission: Impossible.
Where Did the M14 Gang vs. Olympia Gang Meme Come From?
While Call of Duty Zombies began in 2008’s World at War, and really picked up steam with that game’s final DLC map, Der Riese, for many players it is the original Black Ops where they fell in love with Zombies. The franchise as a whole hit its stride, with 2009’s Modern Warfare 2 being a gigantic hit and giving Black Ops an even bigger audience of potential fans, while Treyarch had also started to master its round-based co-op mode. Maps like Kino Der Toten and Ascension quickly became iconic, and across every map in the original Black Ops (as well as the early BO2 maps), there were two weapons available in each starting room: the M14 and Olympia.
These weapons cost the same amount but emphasized two drastically different playstyles. Olympia users loved the satisfying nature of the double-barrel shotgun, preferring to quickly blast down the target in front of them with a hard-hitting weapon. M14 users valued the more statistically powerful weapon, as its accuracy and larger magazines allowed for easier headshots to quickly build up points. While players had their preference and would often stick to one of the two guns, it was only years later when the M14 Gang and Olympia Gang memes started becoming a trend, with said templates usually featuring a grainy image of either gun in the corner and a brief bit of text stating why their gun of choice is superior (or why the other starting option is lackluster).
How an M14 Gang vs. Olympia Gang Event Could Work
The simplest and most interesting way to make such an event exciting is to bring back both of these iconic guns as final rewards for completing the event. Along the way, Treyarch could grant players emblems, calling cards, and more cosmetics based on the two weapons. Even Operator skins could be rewarded, with the characters donning some clothing covered in imagery of one of the weapons, making their allegiance clear. However, there is one other thing that Treyarch could do to make this meme-focused event unique: add the element of choice.
Since the entire “Gang War” CoD Zombies meme revolves around choosing a side and playfully arguing, letting players pick which “Gang” they want to be a part of could be a terrific way to get gamers more invested in the event. The goals could be kill-based, with a real-time tracker showing which side is winning the fight in real-time. Perhaps players would only get M14 items if they chose that side, with the Olympia-themed items being unlocked via Black Ops 6’s Vault after the “Gang War” has run its course. Essentially, the event could be a limited-time version of what CoD Zombies’ Factions were supposed to be, making good on a broken promise from over half a decade ago. With its John Black Ops joke, Treyarch has opened the door to giving a host of community memes a place within its actual games, and the M14 vs. Olympia debate is one of the best possible Zombies jokes to be granted that honor.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
9/10
- Released
-
October 25, 2024
- ESRB
-
Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Suggestive Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs
- Engine
-
IW 9.0
