The new Call of Duty Zombies mode is bananas: players are going bowling, turning into superheroes, and crafting jet guns

The vibes are good in Call of Duty Zombies this year. Black Ops 6's latest crack at the beloved PvE mode is a genuine hit with fans so far, and it's easy to see why: This is the first CoD in four years with traditional round-based Zombies developed by the mode's creators, Treyarch, and the wacky, unbelievably elaborate Easter eggs the mode has become known for are even wackier and more elaborate than usual.

The bewildering Zombies clips bombarding my social feeds look like they're from a completely different series, even when compared to older Call of Duty Zombies modes, which you're not wrong to remember used to just be fairly regular horde defense modes with some cute Easter eggs..

Note: These Zombies Easter eggs are popping up online everywhere right now, but if you prefer to see these secrets yourself for the first time, don't read on.

My favorite discovery so far is pretty absurd, yet is somehow only considered a "side Easter egg" among Zombies experts. There's a comics shop on the Liberty Falls map with a statue of the hero Aetherella. Naturally, the statue doubles as a zombie trap that shoots lasers from its eyes, but apparently it's possible to literally become the Aetherella statue, too.

As shared by YouTuber Glitching Queen, tracking down every Aetherella figurine on the map will temporarily transform one player into the life-sized statue with laser eyes at full blast. You can move around in statue form and melt straight through hordes of zombies like they're nothing. I've yet to spend much time in Zombies, but I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess Aetherella form is one of the best power-ups in the game. It's a shame (but sensible) that it only lasts a few minutes.

Oh and of course, you can't even reach some of those Aetherella figurines without first crafting Liberty Fall's wonder weapon: the Thrustodyne M23, or "jet gun," as players have already begun calling it. Crafting the gigantic cannon is its own 6-step process, but it's worth the trouble: the jet gun unmakes anything that steps in front of it and its alt fire is a vacuum mode can pick up items otherwise impossible to reach.

Even wilder than Aetherella is another secret that requires a scavenger hunt on Liberty Falls—I'm gathering that most secrets in CoD Zombies are accomplished via picking up or shooting well-hidden objects. You gotta find a bunch of nasty bowling shoes, and once you do, the whole squad is teleported to a haunted bowling alley managed by Mister Peeks, a grungy stuffed rabbit who has certainly killed a man. As shown by Maka91Productions, it features a legitimate bowling minigame that challenges players to knock down as many zombies as possible as they shuffle back and forth down the lanes.

I can't believe how much work went into this secret that most players will probably never see. It would've been one thing to make a bowling alley with a button that shoots balls down a lane, but the bowling balls are actually fully modeled and animated weapons that you pick up and hold to charge before rolling. You can play the minigame competitively in co-op, but reaching a score threshold as a group will reward the team with upgraded weapons.

COD Black Ops 6 Zombies - Bowling Alley Easter Egg - Sporting High Score (Liberty Falls) - YouTube

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Another sports-related secret was found just today on the Terminus Island map. Streamer Smartguy316 discovered a basketball on the roof of a building on Terminus that, when shot at the right angle, bounces over the roof and into a hoop on the other side, triggering fireworks and showering players with 2,000 free points to spend on upgrades and map unlocks. Not a bad way to start off a Zombies round.

When I see all the love and attention to detail in each new Zombies mode, and how much fun Treyarch clearly has designing its escape room-like maps, I get a bit jealous. Why does standard multiplayer, my preferred CoD mode, have to take itself so seriously by comparison? In my humble opinion, every 6v6 map should have a 10-step hidden puzzle, the solver of which is granted an instakill wonder weapon for the rest of the match.

Unbalanced? For sure, but it would instantly become the most interesting thing about of Black Ops 6 multiplayer.