One of the most infamous items in Call of Duty is the riot shield, and it’s making its Black Ops 6 debut–but not how you might think.
Now that the Season 4 update has gone live, the new battle pass is out, too, and one of the rewards is a riot shield-themed finishing move. As you can see in the video below, the finishing move animation involves the attacker smacking their foe with the shield and then hitting them with a pipe. The finishing move is called “On the Ground” and it’s on page 9 of the battle pass.
People have pointed out that it appears to be the Call of Duty: Vanguard-era riot shield that’s now in Black Ops 6.
Activision confirmed prior to Black Ops 6’s launch in 2024 that the riot shield would not be in the game upon release, and indeed it’s still not in the game for functional gameplay purposes beyond the finisher.
The riot shield can be particularly frustrating to run up against in matches because it deflects incoming fire and requires players to try different tactics to defeat a player using it. Skilled players who successfully utilize the riot shield can sway the flow of any given match, especially so in certain modes like Hardpoint and Domination. Some people love the riot shield and others very much do not.
Black Ops 6 does already have a shield, of sorts, as players can use their enemies as a “meat shield” similar to the long-running feature in the Gears of War games. If a player can successfully sneak up behind an enemy, they can choose to use them as a body shield for a period of time, or execute them immediately.
For more, check out GameSpot’s rundown of all the new maps and guns in the Season 4 update, along with our breakdown of what’s in the new battle pass. The Zombies mode, meanwhile, gets a big update with the introduction of Grief mode.
