Explaining the downfall in quality, depth, and overall enjoyment of Side Easter Eggs & Side Quests in Call of Duty Zombies, ever since Black Ops Cold War and now into Black Ops 6!
Intro 0:00
What are Side Easter Eggs/Quests? 0:28
Side Easter Eggs that aren’t really Quests 0:53
The Rise of Side Quests 2:16
The Downfall of Side Quests 8:02
The Problem with Black Ops 6 Side Quests 10:18
How to Fix the Problem 12:46
Examples of What the Side Quest Rewards SHOULD be 14:25
The Importance of Complex Side Quests 19:28
Why this NEEDS to Change for the Future of Zombies 20:43
BO6 Side Easter Eggs can still be Saved! 21:45
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Side quest used to give you unique things on the map that you could only get from the side quest. Now they legit just give salvage and equipment. Makes the maps feel all the sand tbh
Hey Xpert, great video. Put this on your last vid too but not sure if you saw it… I have a video idea for you in hopes you could shed some light on it because I believe you would agree and is directly hindering the replayability of modern zombies. The bo6 gameplay loop is very linear as you know due to the point system giving the same points every round and not allowing for much freedom in choice where to spend and also the loadout system making the mystery box pointless and how it’s designed for you to keep the same gun the whole game. This goes very much against how we used to shuffle guns all the time which added variety to each game. But also, something I think you could add to this in a video is the linear quest design in bo6 and I think this greatly hinders replayability. Mainly, the PAP quests which are the core of the setup process of course. However, the quests are very linear and there are no different approach options game to game to complete them. For example, in all bo3 maps the PAP quests can be done in different orders each game such as shadows requires 4 rituals but can be done any order, DE parts can be teleported any order, Zetsubou any route can be taken to get any one of the 3 parts in any order, GK is random where the modules fly in and random which code cylinder you get, rev the 4 rituals can be done in any order, origins generators any order, mob plane parts any order, etc. What I’m trying to get at is the bo3 maps offer quests that can be completed in different orders and ways every game and without the loadout and new point system guns used to be shuffled all the time. There used to be a lot of difference in approach each game because the game offered lots of variety. Bo6 quests and gameplay is so very linear there is no variety game to game and this strongly hinders replayability for me. I enjoy learning the new maps, but once I do, the gameplay loop does not appeal to me to replay where as in bo3 maps can be played so different every game. I felt the same way about Cold War as I do bo6 as they share the same systems. It would be really great if you could share this view in a video because I know I am not alone with this view and I think you would agree. Maybe go further and look at the design of the main ee steps as well. Something else is the early rounds are very very easy. But mainly I just miss the variety and options game to game within the gameplay loop and quest design. Really hope you can share this view in a future video as the biggest issue with bo6 for me is the replayability and it is mainly due to these things. Maybe title the video “The Downfall of Zombies (PAP) Quests” or something. Thanks!
Like even bo6 not having specialist weapons hinders a lot of fun side quests they could have
I wonder how many devs who made the side ee's in bo3 and bo4 are still there at treyarch.
I really hope they go back to these maps during seasons with little zombie content and put more side eggs into them. A map like Citadelle is fun to play on with the swords but the only side eggs I've done is the rat king, free phd, Maya, and free max ammo. And even then, I rarely go back and do it. This game has so much potential in terms of side quest, they could have a character specific quest for each character like how they did Maya. There could be other people who still survived the recent outbreaks, and you can interact and help them, Liberty had a great opportunity to do that, but everyone is already dead. And there is also the super easter egg which I doubt they'll skip, so I hope you have to interact with things that seemingly have no purpose on a map. The throne with the nuke, the machine next to the briefcase in Terminus, which already changes the more you go through the easter egg. And hopefully with Citadelle having a map specific equipment in the spells they realize they can have unique equipment on maps going forward to feel unique.
Man, I've been saying this for years and people always say I am wrong or too critical.
I think BO6 has the most fun side Easter eggs for the most part. Rewards may be a bummer but I enjoy doing them at least. The lack of a reward does reduce their replay ability unfortunately. Like a few other people have mentioned, specialist weapons like in BO3 were fun to work towards and always worth it but they eventually left in BO4. Also, craftables not being present makes all the focus go to these side Easter eggs and while the experiences may be fun, the pay off is poor.
I'd like to Highlight a bit more of the side ees of WW2 zombies: It is common knowledge that there is a Classic PPSh ee on The Final Reich and The Shadowed Throne, But There is Actually a Classic PPSh ee on Every Map: (except survival maps) The Darkest Shore has one, (but was unfortunately poorly documented for a long time) all 3 TTP Maps have one, and The Frozen Dawn has one. Dawn is the most special of them all because you don't have to get it out of the box after doing the quest, and that ee introduces a New Variant: The Vintage MG42. You can Choose Between the newly added Vintage or the Classic before you start the ee. I'd say these classic ees are SHG's equivalent of a song ee since WW2 is the only game with no main song ees.
There is also the sword of barbarossa side ee on the TTP survival maps which gave you one of the most powerful wonder weapons in the game. For a while it was believed altar of blood (and the tortured path mode itself) was the only map that had that weapon, but bodega and olympus also have it. (Recently discovered) If you completed The Tortured Path main easter egg once, you permanently unlocked this side easter egg on all 3 survival maps. This wonder weapon had a lot of features to say the least, one of which included regaining armor. (Everybody's favorite feature)
There was also the raven claw revolver in frozen dawn which was exclusive to that side quest and map. (It could refill your bullets if you landed a headshot and when paped a headshot would summon a raven to attack a zombie)
There is also another weapon side quest on frozen dawn for a free paped blunderbuss… but that isn't worth the effort Because the blunderbuss isn't that great of a weapon on ww2. It is a pretty involved quest though.
I know this is all a bit overkill, but because WW2 is even more underrated than IW, it is even harder to rediscover these interesting forgotten ees. So i'd thought i'd give a bit more detail and shine some attention on them.
I wish there was a side quest to unlock an upgraded pack a punch. Like making it cheaper, or you can upgrade your weapon one more time or something. It would make a great reward assuming the side quest took skill to complete.
Sounds like bo4 was the goat of side eggs
Great video, 100% agree.
Lmao okay
I think your to critical of Bo6 zombies as a game nothing in the game will ever be enough you’ve summed up dlc 3 and 4 as terrible maps simply because there connected to liberty and never seems to appreciate the effort they put in you seem to constantly compare the good of Bo3 and Bo2 to Bo6 yet never speak of the bad of those prior games
Should be a side Easter egg on every bo6 map that upgrades the power of your legendary weapons to the yellow tier that wonder weapons have or an upgrade to the pack a punch to up the fire rate on all guns
Another reward that wouldn’t take much development time would be to give you a wonder weapon from a different map.
I do preach about it from time to time, but side quests are the main reason I love BO4, especially Voyage. Out of all of the maps, Voyage has the most at a whopping 18 side quests (most are ciphers, but its still a lot). They all have a very good reward for completing any one of them. Great now i want to play BO4 again
12:45 Fusion does bowling ee and misses every zombie all three times lol…
Excellent video!
How about a side ee that activates when you activate all other side ee's on the map which makes a SUPER MAP having powerful permanent buffs like always-on traps or perma insta-kill….
every ee in bo6/cw can be summed up as "collect 5 things to get some scrap"
also removing the perk limit made perks as rewards completely pointless when they used to be my favorite type of side ee
You and I have a very different opinion on how the side EE are done,
I prefer quick and easy side EEs, something that I can do just by looking it up once,
Your prefer longer, hidden and more complex side EE, ones that might be harder then the main quest
The fact that the swords are so easy to build and they are so weak (at least before the buff) and there is now additional quest to upgrade them is a crime
10:29 I mean the devs said this a gazillion times but I don’t believe it. Voyage has more quests, so much that you can’t even name all of them
Quests I’d like to see is one that upgrades your guns so you can run 2 ammo mods on it, would be fun on something like terminus so you can run shadow rift and napalm burst against both amalgams and manglers. The second thing I’d like to see is an upgraded mutant injection that turns you into an amalgam or abomination.
The biggest issue is the fact that we have access to special abilities directly and we also do not have any buildables.
In the past we could built neat stuff like the skull etc.
Nowadays side eastereggs only give things which we already have access through other methods.
I wish we would get those back
The side easter eggs on bo6 are better than cold war, I dont know if cold war even had any apart from forsaken but the bo6 ones still arent as good as some of the ones in bo3 and bo4. Im happy theyre trying though
Cold wars last map had lots of quests of the side variety
NGL the bowling EE is amazing
The aetherella easter egg should have been an upgrade for the mutant injection. It would be awesome that once you complete that side quest, you become aetherella when you use the injection
They're making zombies for smooth brains now. Every main and side quest is going to be super easy and straight forward because if newcomers struggle they are not going to want to keep playing. Which is really backwards because all of us who love zombies want that challenge and get a sense of accomplishment when we do these difficult quests. This new treyarch just doesn't understand the community and will not make a game or map we want in the future
Terminus pirate side easter egg is pretty fun , i won’t lie
I’ve been saying this for a long time. That’s why I loved bo4. They had so many cool unique side Easter eggs!
I’d say yes there were some side Easter eggs that were for the main Easter egg. But in themselves feels like their own thing. The incantations in citadel are cool and a step in the right direction. But you can just tell that it’s only for the main Easter egg.
They need to give two grenades after every round again
A mutant injection quest on terminus could be like, “hey there’s a secret laboratory that Dr.Modi had a secret project to strengthen the manglers..” so you open a secret area of the map like an underground bunker which is more taken care of, maybe like there were test tubes surrounding the room filled with the upgraded mangler, and then it gives you the mutant injection, and you have to do kinda like a gauntlet deathmatch with you vs the upgraded manglers. (Obviously this would be like the pinnacle of the quest) there would be other steps included on that.
Anyone needing someone to run bo6 zombies add me
My Id is DELLBOY
BO6 is easier than CW by a mile. You even spawn in with armor and you’re a 9 hit down. Compare how hard Mauer is compared to CDM. FBZ is even harder than Lib Falls. Yeah Terminus is harder than DM tho.
would be cool if they did something like the ix electric guitar easter egg
Yay more complaining
hear me out…augments for power ups and killstreaks..
I'm so conflicted on this. Overall, you are absolutely right about the decline of side ees but on the other hand I had so many problems with the old ones as well. In terms of the BO6 ones, you're right that it absolutely sucks that the rewards haven't been unique. The talisman is great but it's pretty lame in terms of what came before it in terms of use and effectiveness, but what I like about the BO6 ones is that they're decently short and easy to master and despite most of the rewards being regular loot and/or free perks, that can be helpful with faster setups in the long run, so it's still worth it.
But on the other hand some of those side ees from the older games, despite having unique and cool rewards like upgrades or new weapons entirely, is there were plenty of quests that I found were way too long and tedious to ever wanna do more than once, if at all, and don't really serve a necessary purpose that I would even want to do them. Examples being the Redeemer and Spork Knife in Blood or Savage Impaler on DOTD or the Ice Shield in Voyage or others. Those quests, though definitely cool, just suck to do and are ultimately useless where you never wanna do them every game you play. And once I did them once, I never wanted to do any of them again because it was just daunting.
So I'm conflicted because I definitely want unique rewards no doubt but I also don't want those long quests that aren't ever worth doing more than once. I think they had a good balance with that Talisman and if they can keep it up in the future, I'd be satisfied. That's just me though, I know people loved the old side quests regardless and I respect that.
It's quite incredible, because you and I have essentially identical opinions on this topic, as well as Zombies in general from what I've seen from you. I've played since BO1, and it's crazy because very often (especially this video), it feels like you've taken my exact thoughts and repeated them out loud, hah! Great video, great channel, subscribed!
bo6 has some of the best side Easter eggs ive seen tf