Black Ops 6 has no time to waste in smearing the place with ugly skins

What is that smell? If I didn't have any knowledge of the game, I would think that another FPS was stinking up the place with gaudy looks. It can't possibly be Call of Duty Black Ops 6, as that game was released only 1.5 weeks ago. Isn't it too soon to bombard its modern military art with glowing demonic armor and streetwear bros wearing golden skull masks? And a guy who has tree sap for a nose and knives for shoulders, or a guy in a golden skull mask?

Ah, nuts:

Black Ops 6 Season 1 will begin on November 14. It means I only have seven more days left to play the version of Black Ops 6 on the box. Military operators, spies and armored grunts will be fighting it out on maps where everyone is in their place. The first week of Black Ops 6 looks the best Call of Duty has ever looked, with the exception of the Vault Edition zombies that have already invaded my lobby.

BLOPS 6 has a lot of appeal for me. I hadn't given it much thought before seeing the contents of the upcoming battle pass. Call of Duty actually looking like Call of Duty is a major reason. But the clown show is coming for us all.

I miss the days of "Mastercraft" bundles - Call of Duty's most expensive cosmetics - which were all about creating ridiculous guns. I was ecstatic when BLOPS Cold War released an SMG that also doubled as a music-playing tape deck. Guns are my favorite way to express myself in an FPS. From my perspective, the gun is by far the most visible element on screen, but the other players won't be exposed to my taste until I give them a killcam.

It's not the Mastercraft bundles that are the worst offenders. Battle pass filler, the less distinct and thinly veiled color swaps that are routinely stuffed into the middle pages to maintain the illusion of value is the real issue. This stuff isn't what people want, but they get it to move on to something better. They equip it because, why not? I'm not talking about the junk that you find in bargain bins. I'm not talking about making random elements glow to make people think it's special.

Putrid. It's obvious that this stuff is popular, so I won't change the wind.

I have to believe that the talented artists who create these skins understand the value of thematic consistency. Why else would they make an ordinary human operator the face for every season, when they could have gone full Fortnite years earlier? The standard operator that comes with the Season 1 Pass, Sevati "Sev", Dumas, from the BLOPS Campaign, looks awesome.

I'm not a "buy this $10 Battle Pass" badass. But I would spend a few dollars on a special toggle to make everyone else look like a default Black Ops skin. That's innovation.