By Ameer Ammar
Call of Duty is almost always made up of three pillars: Campaign, Multiplayer, and Co op. It is important for each entry to aim to hit a specific quality bar for all three modes. The absolute best, most memorable CoD games are the ones that managed to deliver greatness in all three categories. Last year's BO6 delivered a great campaign, a mixed bag multiplayer, and a divisive Zombies mode that pushed things in a direction that many old school fans took issue with, but overall was quite popular. Going into BO7 just a single year later was risky, and hype for COD, for the first time in quite a long while, felt very low. So how is Black Ops 7? Well, let's get into it.
Co-op Campaign:
It is important to put this campaign into context. Last year's Black Ops 6 campaign was genuinely a great time. It dove deep into a conspiracy spy thriller plot where each mission felt entirely unique. I will never forget that surprise Bioshock esque Zombies mission, or storming Saddam's palace, or the casino heist. Each mission in BO6 was unique, and it had some of the best level design in a COD campaign in recent years, developed by the amazingly talented folks at Raven. Unfortunately, Black Ops 7's campaign has none of that.
BO7's campaign is a massive disappointment. It sets itself up as a direct sequel to 2012's Black Ops 2, continuing David Mason's narrative ten years into the future in 2035 as he goes up against Raul Menendez once more. Unfortunately, this campaign falls apart pretty much instantly in every aspect, both gameplay and story from the second mission onwards. In terms of gameplay, you quickly realize Black Ops 7 is not a real campaign separate from the rest of the game. Instead, this campaign is built on Warzone. Armor plating from Warzone is here, pinging enemies, emoting, doing dance emotes, loot, killstreaks. This is a glorified Warzone lobby in disguise rather than an actual COD campaign with its own unique mechanics and vibe. There is not one unique gameplay mechanic here, and enemies are given massive health pools as it feels like you mow down hundreds of enemies each mission with no real thought or rhythm. All levels are like this.
There are no unique levels or encounters. You will simply be gunning down human enemies, robots, or a re skin of some enemy from the Zombies mode. Most levels take place on Avalon, which we have already played in Black Ops 6 in its campaign, multiplayer, and Zombies. This is a future Warzone map from what we know, and that much is obvious from its structure and design. It reeks of corner cutting and rushing as BO7 was made to meet some arbitrary deadline. The biggest loss of this gameplay and mission design approach is that BO7 has no set pieces, no big scripted moment, no moment where you are following a unit of soldiers through the jungles of Vietnam, no stealth missions, no epic rescue missions or chases. There are not even big explosions, in a Call of Duty campaign. It is a truly hollow campaign with its only idea of a unique mission design being these dream sequences that re use assets from Zombies and other modes rather than giving the campaign its own identity. When BO7's campaign finally tries to do something unique, it takes the complete wrong turn and veers far too much in the silly direction, having you battle a giant plant or a giant Michael Rooker. Being silly or out there has always been part of the Black Ops identity to some extent, but this is way too far in the crazy direction. It does not feel like a Black Ops game anymore, let alone a Call of Duty title in general. The main gameplay positive here is the fact it is co op, so you can at least enjoy this campaign in four player co op. I ran the entire campaign with my best friend and got it finished in four hours. Overall, we had an alright time, but that was mainly because of our conversation, not the content of the game itself.
There is a big note to be made of asset reuse here in this campaign. Reusing assets is an industry standard, and COD has done it countless times, but the reusing of assets here goes far beyond that. Avalon as a whole has already been seen for the most part in Black Ops 6. There are entire levels here that are ripped straight from multiplayer without modifications. There is a mission on Hijacked. It is not Hijacked but customized to suit the story. No, this is just Hijacked identically placed into the campaign. There is a story section that is lifted identically from Black Ops 6 with maybe one or two buildings customized slightly. There is a level of serious corner cutting across this entire campaign that adds further insult to injury of its overall structure.
As for the story writing, it is disappointing. When this campaign was initially revealed, it was alongside a truly great cinematic trailer showing off David Mason investigating The Guild and getting trapped in some sort of horrific dream, having to confront Raul Menendez himself. This cutscene is not in the game and has nothing to do with the narrative. Instead, the story is a flat one that feels like it only exists to get the player from point A to B without having much to say, relying solely on story cliches that you have seen a million times before and nostalgia points as it ticks off some locations from the original Black Ops titles without giving them the respect they deserve. Ultimately, the campaign ends at a spot where it felt like nothing new was truly learned by any of the characters, nothing was lost, and the heroes simply save the day and move on. It is a far cry from the truly mind shattering plot twists of the original Black Ops with Reznov, or BO2's deep character study of generational trauma and the theme of suffering. So much more could have been done here, but in the end, it feels like this campaign only existed to check off the fact that this game has a campaign rather than one that was made out of real love and passion like last year's BO6. Is this the worst campaign ever in the franchise? Probably, and I truly wish it was not. The story here, given real time and care, could have been fantastic if only Raven and Treyarch were allowed to cook for much longer.
Multiplayer:
Call of Duty Black Ops 7 multiplayer is actually pretty good. It is building directly off Black Ops 6, using much of the same mechanics and structure for its unlocks, grinds, menus, general gunplay and feel, the return of omni movement (now with a wall jump), and camos. I actually already liked BO6 multiplayer for the most part, but what BO7 does improve is take the most prominent pieces of community feedback from the last six years of COD MPs and finally implement them. The default playlists in BO7 have finally gotten rid of skill based matchmaking, meaning that you can now play a series of great matches in a row without ending up being matched with Optic clan members. You can finally play this multiplayer casually again without sweating every single match. That does not mean there are no sweaty matches, but there is now a real balance and a real chance that you might play a sweaty match or an easy chill match. It brings back that old feeling of wanting to improve your own skill at the game because you will no longer be actively punished for doing so. Instead, you will start to see yourself actually improve. It is crazy how much of a difference this makes for the general fun of the game. I actually want to hop back on after playing a series of great matches because I finally know that, for once, I will not be going up against world champions afterwards.
In terms of gunplay, I would say the game feels nearly identical to BO6. Obviously, now with futuristic weapons, many of them are returning from Black Ops 2, which is a nice nostalgic touch. The new omni movement wall jump mechanic I have not seen used much by average players. It seems to help mobility in some aspects, but overall I see it being very lightly used by most people. It definitely is not as prominent a mechanic as, say, slide cancelling, which is here and works fine. Where gunplay feels much better is the fact that tac sprint is no longer a default ability. We are back to the classic COD feel, and I vastly prefer this. You will no longer be needing to mash down the sprint button just to get that slight boost that throws off the overall flow. Tac sprint was fun for a couple COD games, but I am over it. They do have a perk here that brings it back, if you are interested.
There are some new mechanics here with how combining different colored perks can now give you new abilities, and they are overall more interesting than the ones that were in BO6, but overall, this is just Black Ops 6 with community feedback implemented. If you did not like BO6's fundamentals, I doubt you will like BO7.
Map design is better than BO6 but nothing impressive. There are some BO2 returning maps like Hijacked, which play great here, but the new maps range from pretty good like Homestead to mediocre like Den. There are more interactable elements on most of these maps than the last few COD games, but overall, it is a fine selection of maps that would not blow anyone away. It is important to note that they all have a beautiful art style for the most part, using vibrant colors that remind me a ton of Black Ops 2's iconic colorful art style.
Overall, this year's multiplayer is generally great for COD fans, but if you are a fan who is fatigued of the COD formula or especially of last year's BO6, BO7 does not offer much new in the sense that you would get a different experience, but for COD fans who are still eagerly playing every year, this multiplayer gives them much of what they have asked for, for years, and satisfies the Call of Duty arena shooter itch well enough.
Zombies:
Zombies is by far my favorite element of Black Ops 7 with its launch map, Ashes of the Damned. Last year's BO6 Zombies was a great time, but it did lack in many areas, especially atmosphere, where many of the maps felt like they lacked that iconic horror, dark feel that COD Zombies is so well known for, and BO7's Ashes of the Damned brings that back in full force. The map is gorgeous, filled with atmosphere and intention. Taking place in the Dark Aether, you really get a sense of identity in this map and its locales. It is a successor to Black Ops 2's Tranzit, but where that map failed to take proper advantage of its scale, BO7's Ashes of the Damned feels like that Tranzit vision has finally been realized. One of my main complaints with BO6 Zombies maps was that they all felt too compact for me. I missed the sprawling giant feeling of the maps in Black Ops 3 in specific, and Ashes of the Damned is finally a map that satisfies that itch for me.
Ol' Tessie is a truck that you can drive around the entire map of Ashes of the Damned freely. It is seriously fun to finally be able to drive in a classic style Zombies map and run over zombies. The vehicle itself serves as your home base. You can upgrade it over the course of the main quest, and early on, you get to attach the Pack a Punch machine to it, which is maybe the most unique Pack a Punch we have had as far as I can remember. Diner and Farm are particularly memorable spots returning from Tranzit but expanded quite a bit to allow more interesting gameplay, and thank God, lava is gone. Ashwood is by far my favorite new location added here. It is an old western town (Buried vibes) that is quite vertical in structure, meaning that you can be fighting way at the top rock while your friends are in Ol' Tessie below on the road. The map as a whole is a great time to explore, and while I have not done the main quest yet, I have heard it is one of the most fun ones in recent memory. I will definitely be attempting it at some point soon.
Gameplay wise though, at its fundamentals, BO7 Zombies does not innovate. It is very much BO6 again, and I really wish it was not. Things like armor plating could have had more work done to make them more in line with a Zombies theme considering how important it has become since BO6, and in general the entire grind, level up, game flow, gobblegums, augments, they all work almost exactly as they did in last year's Call of Duty. So if you did not enjoy BO6 Zombies from a fundamental level, it is unlikely BO7 Zombies will do much for you.
One important addition that may change your mind, however, is Cursed Mode. This is that long requested Classic Mode that us old fans have been requesting for ages. It removes the mini map and loadout system. You are back to a starting pistol and having to memorize the map in your mind. I love this mode so much, and it even brings back the classic point system. Each hit to a zombie rewards you exactly 10 points again. This overall has become my preferred way to play Ashes of the Damned. There is a sense of fear that comes back into COD Zombies where a small horde can absolutely take you out in round 5 if you are not careful enough since you are no longer armed with your amazing weapons from loadouts. Going for the mystery box and wall buys becomes the only way to play again, just like pre Cold War COD Zombies.
The return of the classic Primis Crew is an interesting one, and there has not been any in game explanation for this. I am hoping we get to see more of why this happened further down in the narrative, but so far, the story of BO7 Zombies is interesting at the very least. It is too early to judge the story, but I am super glad that the Primis Crew is back as their classic quips are once again genuinely hilarious as they have always been.
Overall, I like this year's COD Zombies a lot. While, just like multiplayer, it does not innovate much from the established formula of last year's BO6, it does a lot to address community feedback and deliver a genuinely great new map and especially Classic Mode that brings it all together for me.
FINAL VERDICT
Call of Duty Black Ops 7 is a mixed bag overall. It delivers a poor campaign without many redeeming qualities, a good multiplayer that, while not innovative in any sense, does make great strides in addressing the community's biggest requests and pieces of feedback of recent years, and a Zombies mode that, while also not innovative, is a genuinely great time that also addresses the biggest community requests and feedback of recent years and does much to bring a real sense of atmosphere to the mode again.
I am rating Call of Duty Black Ops 7:
Campaign: 4/10
Multiplayer: 7.2/10
Zombies: 9/10
Special thanks to Activision for providing a review copy.