Black Ops 6 will let players talk directly to their meat shield hostages, and people are already bracing for heretofore unseen levels of toxicity and abuse

This is the best worst idea in videogames I’ve seen in a very long time: Treyarch says Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will give players the ability to talk directly to the people they’re holding hostage and using as meat shields.

The meat shield, for those not familiar with the maneuver, works like this: A bad guy is stunned or wounded but still on his feet, so you grab his shoulder, spin him around, put your arm across his throat, and march him forward into the gunfire that would otherwise turn you into a sticky mess. Here’s a great example of the move from the classic Arnold Schwarzenegger flick Total Recall, which I will link but not embed because it’s pretty bonkers in the way that only ’90s action movies are. (I will also note that the guy in this case isn’t so much bad as just really unlucky.)

Anyway, there’s not a lot of space between the shield and the shielded, and someone at Treyarch has decided that forced closeness would be a great opportunity for people to get to know each other better:

I have to assume these conversations would be relatively short-lived—it would be a little strange if the dance partner up front kept on talking after being thoroughly perforated by his teammates, after all. But even so, the potential for comedy is obviously there, and an awful lot of people replying to Treyarch’s tweet seem genuinely excited for the feature.

Unfortunately, as noted in other replies to the tweet, there’s far greater potential for abuse. “Can’t wait to be held hostage whilst being called the F slur 1,000 times,” Camelcastoff tweeted. 

(Image credit: Angelica_Reed1)

Even more common than expressions of concern, though, is the eager anticipation for bad behavior that some players are clearly feeling: “This is the most toxic thing you could have added,” vivakingtone tweeted. “I love it.”

(Image credit: Nostrildamus88 (Twitter))

The reactions really do set the table: Black Ops 6 isn’t even out for another two months and people are already telling their imagined victims that they need to get a thicker skin. The “be nice” at the end of Treyarch’s tweet did not go unnoticed either:

(Image credit: Risen_SzN (Twitter))

Look, this is obviously a bad idea. It’s a great idea, yes, and one that I think would be a lot of fun with friends, or even well-vetted strangers. But do I want this kind of power in the hands of amped-up kids who’ve hung their entire sense of self-worth on how badly they kick my ass in Call of Duty? I do not. 

Fortunately for people who don’t want racist and homophobic abuse injected directly into their brains, Treyarch confirmed that there is an option to turn off proximity chat, so you don’t have to deal with this if you don’t want to. 

I have to admit, I probably wouldn’t switch it off right away—I’m too curious for my own good, and there’s always that possibility of being taken hostage by someone genuinely nice or funny or interesting to talk to—but I don’t think it would last. Hell, I remember kicking people out of our Quake clan back in the day because they wouldn’t stop being abusive jerks to their own teammates! Some people (a lot of people, it sometimes seems like) just can’t help themselves.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 comes out on October 25. The early access beta, for those who preordered the game, is live now and runs until September 4; the open beta is set to go from September 6-9.