It’s no secret that the Call of Duty machine practically churns at the end of every year, working on the next annual project in hopes of moving the Modern Warfare or Black Ops series forward. Funnily enough, we got Black Ops 6 and Black Ops 7 one after the other, so it seems the next Modern Warfare will just have to wait.
While Black Ops 6 delivered one of the strongest overall packages in recent memory, complete with an intriguing campaign, solid Zombies mode and various satisfying multiplayer modes, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 feels like a sharp turn in the wrong direction. While the gunplay is still as solid as ever, the cooperative campaign simply drags the experience back as a whole.
Co-Op Campaign
We’re going to hit the ground running here and tackle the hardest portion first. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s campaign is set a decade after Black Ops 2 in 2035. Antagonist Raul Menendez has seemingly returned from the dead, threatening the world with a new type of hallucinogenic gas, touted as a new weapon for psychological warfare. This prompts David Mason, the son of fan-favourite protagonist Alex Mason, to step back into the fold with his squad to see what all the fuss is about.
The team are soon trapped in a battle of the minds, affected by Menendez’s new weapon, with all types of crazy visions and situations for Mason to weave through and escape from. The story lasts around 5-6 hours in total before you’re able to access some additional content known as the Endgame, and while it’s blisteringly paced, it really has a hard time making any sense.
For the most part, Mason and his team are aware that they’re fighting various hallucinations, even if they’re unbelievably chill about it all. While the story takes little time to ramp up again and introduce a secret opposing agency known as The Guild, so much time is spent in these hallucinatory missions that it really lowers the stakes, even as it’s trying to dive into David’s past. Even so, it becomes hard to tell what’s in Mason’s mind or out in the real world for us as players, as the game rarely addresses where they actually are or what they’re doing while they’re tripping out.
I commend the franchise for trying something different, but this just isn’t it. To top it all off, the campaign is marketed as a Co-Op Campaign in which you’ll automatically group up in teams of four before jumping into a mission. While you can play solo, you can’t even pause the game during missions, and you will get kicked for being inactive for too long.
It’s a strange choice nonetheless, and it’s clear that the franchise is in the middle of some sort of identity crisis. I can’t tell if the franchise is trying to please fans who want some sort of story and stakes, while also trying to invest most of their time and effort into multiplayer and Zombies modes. Either way, it feels like a double-edged sword. Finishing the campaign also leads to a chapter called Endgame, which allows players to drop into an open version of the city of Avalon to complete additional side-missions in an exfil-style mode.
It’s still a tough pill to swallow for most of us, as the campaign feels stitched together with elements from those other modes, ultimately watering down the cinematic quality of each mission. You’ll have way more ammunition than you need, and weapons are subdivided into damage tiers that can be upgraded at certain stations. Enemies now feel like bullet sponges thanks to either copious amounts of armour or exclusive labels like ‘special’ or ‘elite’ enemies, which simply absorb more damage.
I wouldn’t go as far as to say the campaign is boring, or even a waste of time. Given that it will only take a couple of days to get through, it’s worth checking out. But it’s such a deviation from the norm in terms of both its narrative and structure that I’m sure most fans invested in Call of Duty campaigns will realise rather quickly that this isn’t the way to go moving forward.
Multiplayer
On the other hand, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s multiplayer offerings are fantastic. General gunplay and pacing are fantastic, and the addition of wall jumping adds a nice level of verticality and speed to the gameplay, without ever feeling overbearing.
The Omnimovement system introduced in Black Ops 6 also returns here, and feels just as good, allowing players to sprint and dive in various directions with accurate body and weapons movements. Players can also wall jump up to three times off a surface here, which also feels easy enough to do at any given moment, and most maps cater for it too, so it never seems wasted and always adds a sense of speed to each encounter as you traverse across 18 launch maps, 16 of which cater to standard 6v6 modes, and 2 of which cater to larger 20v20 modes.
Skirmish is also new to Black Ops 7, a 20v20 mode that feels very much like Battlefield’s Conquest mode. Here, players spawn in the air with their Wingsuit and must capture various objectives on a much larger map compared to the ones you’ll find in those Core lobbies. It’s a fine mode if you enjoy that sort of pace, but it does slow things down considerably, and depending on where you spawn, you will see yourself getting shot out of the sky quite quickly. I’ve always enjoyed Call of Duty for its short bursts of chaotic fun, which I feel are a little lost here, but I commend them for trying.
There’s also a new Core mode called Overload, which sees players picking up an EMP device at some point on the map and running it over to the opposing team’s safe zones. It’s pretty much Capture the Flag, but it fits in so well in terms of pacing that I’m surprised it took this long to implement.
I also wanted to take the time here to touch on skill-based matchmaking (SBMM), as I understand it’s been a tricky topic to navigate over the past few years. Essentially, previous Call of Duty games would assess your statistics and pop you into games with players of a similar skill set. The issue there was that, as there was no way to tell when and where that was going to change, it affected the outcome of that next match.
Did you find yourself dominating one match and then absolutely sucking the next? Yeah, plenty of us did too. Now, SBMM is off by default, although you can turn it on and access SBMM lobbies if you wish. The real issue with this change is not that Treyarch have listened and allowed players to turn this off, but at certain times of the day, your skill will be tested. Playing at night when most players are active? Get ready.
Overall, you’ll find most of the remaining features feel similar to Black Ops 6, in the best ways. Weapons all feel punchy and balanced, and progression across the board is jam-packed with things to keep you engaged, no matter how you choose to play. The improvements haven’t necessarily changed the game, but are certainly welcome additions to an already fantastic experience.
Zombies
Zombies will immediately feel familiar to fans of this mode, but the new map, Ashes of the Damned, is a real highlight. It serves as the map for the standard Zombies mode, and it’s absolutely massive. It’s so massive that you’ll be driving a pickup truck named Ol’ Tessie through its various zones. You’ll need to keep it safe and, at times, repair and upgrade it to the point where there’s a travelling Pack-a-Punch machine on the back of it, which is a nice touch.
You’ll be able to play through Ashes of the Damned in the Standard or Directed modes of Zombies, the latter of which feels similar to the Standard mode, but with objective-based markers to help you out as you progress. There are also a few neat easter eggs to find, which I won’t spoil here. You’ll still find your GobbleGums and Perk-a-Colas as well for some extra fun perks.
There is a new Cursed mode, which feels like a much more minimal version of the Standard mode, where you’ll have to find your own way around the map. Exploration is key here, and you’ll need to find certain relics to unlock abilities and increase the overall challenge. There’s no mini-map or points system here, so prepare for a serious challenge.
There’s also a Survival mode, which sees you wasting waves of zombies, and takes place on the smaller Vadorn Family Farm map, which is much smaller, but suits the mode much better. You’ll still need to collect Essence to buy and upgrade weapons, and Salvage to buy gear, but it’s a much more focused mode that’s easier to play in bite-sized bursts.
Finally, there’s Dead Ops Arcade 4, which we haven’t seen since Black Ops Cold War. While the mode itself is a fun twin stick shooter mode that can be played in top-down or first-person perspectives, it is a nice change of pace. You’ll be fighting silverback gorillas here across 80 levels and in 10 bonus rooms. There are also Standard, Casual and Hardcore ways to play, which change how the players start each match, which adds to the difficulty level. You’ll also find all the GobbleGums here as well, and it’s a nice deviation from the standard Zombies modes to warrant a significant amount of your time.
Final Thoughts
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is actually a decent overall package that’s simply held back and let down by its bizarre co-op campaign.
Gunplay is as punchy and satisfying as ever, and it’s actually made even better with the addition of wall jumping and running, which feel so much better when used in conjunction with the Omnimovement system.
While it hasn’t necessarily revolutionised the franchise, there are still things that will keep me around for the long haul, even if it’s not a package that feels as cohesive as Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 felt last year.
THREE AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Highlights: Solid gunplay; Multiplayer is still incredibly satisfying and engaging; Clean visuals and performance
Lowlights: The Co-Op Campaign is a mess
Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software, Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games, High Moon Studios, Beenox, Demonware, Activision Shanghai
Publisher: Activision
Platforms: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Windows PC
Available: Now
Review conducted on PlayStation 5 Pro with a launch code provided by the publisher.
Featured header image also provided by the publisher.
