Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Review (PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, & PC)

As inherently satisfying as Call of Duty’s multiplayer offering may be, you cannot deny how emotionally gripping the exaggerated campaign set pieces can be. Infiltrating military camps and leaving a massacre in your wake has always been a guilty pleasure. Plus, global conflicts and apocalyptic terrorist threats make for thrilling drama, which the series has so expertly polished and refined over the years. By all means, not all of the Black Ops dramas have been cinema-worthy. But they definitely have dared to be extreme and different from the more serious undertones of Modern Warfare. 

The new Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, in more ways than one, thrives on choosing the peculiar path. It wears its whackiness and strangeness on its sleeves, resulting in an occasionally attention-demanding sequence of events. But it doesn’t always hit the mark in plotting a profound and sensical narrative. Moreover, its focus on a co-op experience may shun away solo groovies. Still, the post-campaign Endgame content, Zombies, and multiplayer modes make up for any deficiencies in pretty redeeming ways. There’s quite a lot we’ll be expounding on today. So, sit tight as we break down our review of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 below.

Setting the Stage

Without delving too deeply into the plotlines Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 navigates, you’ll be met with many takes on military and global conflict. The conspiracies of private corporations profiting from warfare in the name of restoring peace. With the timeline set in 2035, you’ll also unravel many futuristic ideas and notions on technology and weaponry. The hi-tech gadgets and fancy weapons you’ll unlock will introduce ecstatic ways of taking down enemies. But it’ll also pave the way for introducing the fantastical, from the setting on the open-world Avalon to the “fear-inducing” red gas pillaging the city.

In terms of canonical order, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 picks up four decades after its predecessor. But more rightly, ten years after Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, where antagonist Raul Menendez is presumed dead. He’s alive, folks. And instigating a new global conflict that private big tech corporation, The Guild, happily steps in to mitigate. But are The Guild’s intentions pure? Certainly not, as your squad, Specter One, is determined to prove. This cues 11 missions involving your usual standard missions of killing a high-stakes enemy, escorting a high-value vehicle to safety, and more. 

Solo Versus Co-op

These can be played solo. However, the default setting is in four-player co-op, which is ultimately the best way you’ll enjoy Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s campaign. Splitting tasks and making it easier to fend off waves of enemies makes sense to tag your friends along for the ride. Not to mention that the difficulty scales per player count. Alone, enemies easily overwhelm you, though you noticeably access more ammo and resources to take them on. In co-op, enemies may be stronger, but you have buddies to help ease the burden. It’ll ultimately be up to you which option you prefer. 

Still, even if you appreciate the tension and emotional payoff that comes with solo play, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 seems determined to make your life harder. It demands online play without any pause functionality. And so, taking breaks, bathroom, coffee, or whatever, can cost you a ton when you’ve not retreated to a safe space. And even then, you risk getting kicked out of the game if you take too long breaks. On the other hand, facing bosses as a team, simultaneously lynching multiple weak points and snagging a quicker, arguably more satisfying win in co-op could make for a better experience regardless of your preference. Hm, leaving that undecided for now.

Overall…

I quite like the direction Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 takes in its campaign. The narrative choices may not make sense, especially without prior knowledge of the previous Black Ops games. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, especially, influences a lot of the cutscenes you’ll digest, only transformed into the version of a terrifying nightmare. See, The Guild manufacturers among its many weapons of mass destruction, a hallucinogenic gas that induces your deepest fears. And the Specter team inhales the gas, resulting in shared hallucinations that revisit their traumatic pasts and distraught events in Call of Duty: Black Ops 2.

Obviously a stretch from usual Call of Duty socio-political drama. But tossing psychological horror in between more serious military missions, in my opinion, helps stitch in a surprising unfolding of events. You never know where you might be headed next in the physical reality or fucked up mental state of your squad’s mindspace. Enemies, also, have the opportunity to be drastically varied and twisted in their monstrosities and ghastly designs. From fighting human soldiers to robots of the futuristic world setting and nightmarish ghouls of your own imagination, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s campaign finds the perfect balance to keep things constantly refreshing.

The Endgame

In an attempt to stray from the usual Call of Duty tropes, Black Ops 7 adds Endgame content in a promising start of future post-launch updates to come. Four zones await up to 32 players in squads of up to four players, each zone increasing in difficulty. The Endgame mode features its own items and collectibles, valuable in further leveling and powering up your soldier. And these character progression arcs carry forward into multiplayer. Granted, venturing solo into Endgame’s increasingly tougher extraction-based zones is almost discouraged. You’re more likely to succeed with a team, and fortunately, skill-based matchmaking is no more.

It’s only the beginning of all that Endgame could be, with the open-world Avalon map still harboring stretches of empty space and potential repetitive play. But the teamwork you can craft here with random online players can make for some genuinely good times. The more enemies you kill and objectives you complete, the more your skills and abilities level up. And you can always choose if it’s enough to extract. Or risk pushing further and losing all of your accrued progress upon dying. That risk versus reward arc helps fuel repeated playthroughs for players still committed to the campaign end of Call of Duty. And with future post-launch updates, Endgame mode has a high chance of becoming a solid returnee in the Black Ops sub-series.

Zombies Mode

Call of Duty: Black Ops’ zombies mode’s success relies heavily on its map. And fortunately, Ashes of the Damned pleases more than it disappoints. It’s packed chock-full of Easter Eggs for the curious and completionist mind. The points of interest are fun to chase and complete. The Deadops Arcade 4 mode returns to satisfying effect, with its change of pace and old-school shoot ‘em up action sequences. Otherwise, you should expect an authentic, typical, rounds-based zombie experience you’re used to from previous entries. However, props have to be given to exploration aboard your Ol’ Tessie pick-up truck. You can ride it solo or with your friends. And use it offensively, installing an explosive turret or straight-up running over the undead.

Multiplayer Fun

And finally, the core of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, debateably. Well, it mostly earns the recognition it receives because of the snappy and tight gunplay Call of Duty has polished and refined over the past two decades. No franchise can rival the responsive shooting here, with precise aim assist and satisfying feedback. Even against robots, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s bullets pierce through their heavy armor with power and weight. It all neatly ties together into an addictive multiplayer shooting funfest, regurgitating old and new maps across returning and new modes. Whether Domination, Hard Point, Deathmatch, or the new Skirmish and Overload modes, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s look and feel of its guns holds its own.

The weeks and months to come will determine how Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s multiplayer resonates with its player base. Whether the new 20v20 Skirmish battles and the 6v6, objective-based Overload modes feel fun enough to become returnees in future iterations. It’s awesome, though, that Treyarch and Infinity Ward continue to push themselves, adding the wall jump ability as well. It meshes well with the enhanced omnimovement, grappling, and wingsuit gliding traversal mechanics. Plus, a ton of weapon loadout customization options that you can copy-paste. These all culminate in players enjoying the tactical freedom to experiment and surprise opponents with moves they never see coming.

Verdict

Having the campaign play better in co-op isn’t something I can hold against Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. At least not in totality when the co-op experience looks and feels fantastic. Here’s a place where you’ll have so many strategic and chaotic shootouts against soldiers, robots, and monsters alike. For purists, the psychological horror narrative direction may rub them the wrong way. Plus, features like strict online play and PvE only in Endgame may discourage you from returning for more playthroughs. But head on to zombies and multiplayer, and you enjoy more content, offering more replayability. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is simply rewarding, even if that feeling might fade upon closer scrutiny of its minuscule features.