CoD Black Ops 6: The Squid Games 2 Event and The Cleaver Melee Weapon Review

The latest event in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, the "Squid Games 2" event, brings some exciting new content, including a battle pass-style event and some awesome melee weapons. Let’s dive into all the details and see what’s worth checking out!

The Squid Games 2 Event – What’s New?

First off, the event itself is a nod to the wildly popular Squid Game series, which has now made its way into Black Ops 6. Much like previous events, there’s both a free and a premium version of the event. The premium battle pass for this event costs 1,100 COD Points and brings some solid rewards, especially if you're a fan of melee combat.

Melee Weapons: The Cleaver and More

Now, let’s talk about the standout feature of this event – the melee weapons. One of the coolest additions is the Cleaver Melee, something we've been waiting for months to get our hands on. The Cleaver is a free-to-earn melee weapon, which means that with a bit of dedication and XP grinding, you’ll be able to unlock it without spending a dime. However, if you’re looking for an easier route, there’s also a bundle available for 1,200 COD Points, which includes the Cleaver along with a few other melee weapon blueprints: the Menace Meat, a bloody Filer knife, and the Batter Down baseball bat.

While the Cleaver itself is an exciting addition to the game, it’s a little underwhelming in terms of gameplay mechanics. The weapon looks solid and feels decent in terms of movement speed, but when it comes to the actual combat experience, there’s something off about it.

Blueprints and Execution Animations

The Cleaver blueprint is part of the premium event rewards, and while the knife blueprint looks cool, there’s a bit of a disappointment with the execution animation. There’s a cool Rope-In execution move, but unfortunately, it’s been buggy for many players – I had a lot of trouble trying to preview it. It seems that the execution animation doesn’t always work as expected, and it can be frustrating when you’re trying to get that perfect kill animation. Still, it’s nice to have something different than the usual killstreaks and animations, but they could improve it.

How Does the Cleaver Perform?

In terms of performance, the Cleaver is essentially a modified knife, which means it doesn’t feel drastically different when you’re swinging it around. The damage output isn’t any more powerful than the standard knife – it’s still a one-hit kill. But what I was hoping for was a more dramatic impact with a weapon that took so long to be released. Maybe something like a heavy melee attack, akin to the Power Drill, which made an impact on enemies. Unfortunately, we didn’t get that with the Cleaver.

For some reason, when swinging the Cleaver, the lunge just doesn’t feel as effective. Sometimes, the melee feels a little off, and I find myself missing kills I should have landed. If there’s one thing I wanted from this weapon, it’s that extra lunge to bring that satisfying melee kill. Sadly, it seems like the Cleaver doesn’t have that.

Heavy Melee – Is It Bugged?

One of the most interesting – and most confusing – aspects of the Cleaver is the heavy melee feature. At first, it seemed like there wasn’t any heavy melee animation tied to the Cleaver, just regular swipes. But after a bit of experimenting, I discovered that the heavy melee animation does exist – sort of. You need to hold down the melee button, and that’s when the heavy melee will trigger. It’s pretty random, though, and there were times when I’d get a heavy swing without intending to, while other times, it wouldn’t trigger at all.

The problem with the heavy melee is that it doesn’t feel consistent. The animation is weird, and while it pushes the enemy’s head to the side with a bit of blood, it doesn’t feel as impactful as it should be. I was hoping for something a bit more dramatic, like the drill’s neck-breaking animation, but instead, it feels like the head just gets nudged to the side. Hopefully, this is something they can tweak with future updates.

Cleaver Gameplay – Is It Fun?

Despite the issues with the heavy melee and the lunge not always being on point, using the Cleaver in-game is still pretty enjoyable. The weapon’s movement speed is on par with the regular knife, and it feels just as fast and fluid as the standard melee options in Black Ops 6. There’s something inherently satisfying about running around with a big cleaver, slicing and dicing through enemies, even if it isn’t as powerful or flashy as other melee options.

However, I will say that the weapon doesn’t quite live up to the hype. After all the months of waiting for it, I was hoping for something a little more groundbreaking. Still, I’m having fun with it, and it’s definitely more exciting than just using the standard knife, which is a plus.

Final Verdict – Cleaver Melee and the Event

At the end of the day, the Squid Games 2 event and the Cleaver melee weapon bring some fresh content to Black Ops 6, but they’re not without their flaws. The Cleaver itself is a fun weapon to mess around with, but the lack of a true heavy melee and the inconsistencies with the animation hold it back from being a truly great addition. If you're a fan of melee combat, it’s still worth grinding for, but if you're expecting something game-changing, it might leave you a bit disappointed.

As for the event itself, the rewards are decent, but again, the lack of polish on some features – particularly the execution animations – makes it feel a little rushed. For now, I’m still enjoying it, and I’m looking forward to seeing if future updates will address the bugs and improve Cleaver’s overall performance. And best BO6 Bot Lobbies for sale, CoD BO6 Boosting and more great Call of Duty BO6 service on MMOexp.com, 24/7 online help you.

MMOexp COD Black Ops 6 Team