Call Of Duty: Black Ops 7

Platforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S|X, PC

Black Ops 7 arrives to turbulent waters for Call of Duty. Despite releasing one of the best entries in years with 2024's Black Ops 6, Activision has been haemorrhaging that resulting goodwill with one garish brand integration after another, desecrating the game's identity with ill-conceived pop culture crossovers, from Seth Rogen to Squid Game. Its sequel also has the unenviable task of competing against Battlefield 6, a no-nonsense military shooter positioning itself as the grounded antidote to Call of Duty's increasingly farcical firefights.

That's an unfortunate climate for any entry in the series to release to, but even when played in isolation, Black Ops 7 shuffles where it ought to be sprinting, with a misguided campaign, muted multiplayer, and prosaic Zombies experience which together offer a well optimised but largely forgettable package.

In spite of any potential fun mustered from enjoying a Call of Duty campaign with friends, Black Ops 7 ultimately fails to make an effective case for co-op as a suitable franchise fit.

Narratively, Black Ops 7 is a mess. Confusingly pitched as a sequel to both Black Ops 6 and 2012's Black Ops 2, the near future campaign follows the marching boots of Milo Ventimiglia's David Mason, as he uncovers an insidious plot involving new foes, returning faces (including Michael Rooker's Harper), and the continuation of a decades-spanning storyline that remains difficult to follow even for the Black Ops faithful. The key difference this time around is that up to three other players can join your campaign as the other members of David's squad, and while running solo remains an option, the raid-style, always-online structure of each mission aggressively discourages it.

The last time Call of Duty attempted a co-op campaign in 2015's Black Ops 3, it did not go well, trading authored set pieces and character-driven drama for flavourless PvE gauntlets. Campaign developer Raven Software's efforts fare slightly better here thanks to some inventive backdrops and fan-pleasing callbacks, but from the bullet sponge enemies to an unsustainably breakneck mission flow, this iteration can't help but run into those same pitfalls. In spite of any potential fun mustered from enjoying a Call of Duty campaign with friends, Black Ops 7 ultimately fails to make an effective case for co-op as a suitable franchise fit.

Another gambit that doesn't pay off is the campaign's epilogue, which takes the form of an online, replayable "Endgame" mode, where players complete objectives across a larger, battle royale-style map in a disorienting blend of modes and ideas dredged up from the Call of Duty back catalogue. Whether this was a well-intentioned creative risk on Raven's part or a cynical attempt to bleed live service elements into the tail end of singleplayer, the payoff falls flat, not just because the mode itself feels repetitive and uninspired, but its very existence within the story only serves to further dilute a campaign that already felt compromised to begin with.

When it comes to multiplayer (handled once again by Treyarch), Black Ops 6's returning omnidirectional movement system does, at least, continue to pay dividends, buffeted further via the added ability to wall jump, which players can chain together for forward momentum or a strategic height advantage. This renewed verticality is supported by the map design, which returns to the more traditional three lane structure, and flavours its shooting galleries with ledges, mantles, and gaps that offer both risk and reward for the players that harness the new movement kit effectively.

Movement speed has also been increased at the expense of tactical sprint (now relegated to the Perk system as an optional ability), while Treyarch leans into the 2035 backdrop to offer more specialist gadgets and killstreaks, such as a deployable pod which launches a series of explosive, heat-seeking drones. Multiplayer purists will also appreciate the dialling down of skill-based matchmaking, enabling casuals and veterans to play together without such a stringent ranking system maintaining competitive silos on the backend.

It all makes for a well-tuned package of fairly negligible changes, then, even by Call of Duty standards. That's not necessarily a great tragedy, given the strength of the fundamentals established by Black Ops 6 last year, but for those looking for more novelty, Black Ops 7 may feel less like an ambitious sequel and more an iterative expansion pack.

Perhaps the most encouraging gift that Black Ops 7 offers for Call of Duty fans, then, is its tempered approach to sustaining its own shelf life.

Zombies, too, follows in that same vein, remixing existing ingredients with pinches of new seasoning rather than experimenting with a fresh recipe altogether. The flagship map is, to its credit, a sizable one, traversable via a custom off-roader that can accommodate your entire squad, complete with mounted gatling gun.

Treyarch have introduced unique enemies to balance out any power scaling afforded by your new set of wheels, too, including a zombified bear covered in beehives, which — unlike the legions of undead — cannot be simply mowed down for roadkill. Other than that, and the return of fleetingly fun, top-down Dead Ops Arcade mode, it's par for the course for this wave-based horde experience, and you likely already know whether it's something that will keep you fighting the undead till the small hours, or avoiding them entirely.

Perhaps the most encouraging gift that Black Ops 7 offers for Call of Duty fans, then, is its tempered approach to sustaining its own shelf life. Treyarch has wisely rowed back original plans to let players carry over their skins from Black Ops 6, for example, thereby preventing legions of Beavis & Buttheads filling up the lobby, while several of the game's more outlandish cosmetics have already been toned down alongside a new commitment to only entertain IP crossovers that align with the series' distinct tenor.

Still, the fact that this return to a starting baseline marks one of Black Ops 7's highpoints only serves to illustrate its relative banality within the wider Call of Duty canon. Aside from a handful of minor grace notes, the game primarily serves as an adulterated continuation of its predecessor's state of play. How much you enjoy that existing status quo as a Call of Duty player will be entirely dependent on your tolerance for more of the same.