Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 review – Worst campaign ever saved by great multiplayer & Zombies

For over two decades, Call of Duty has dominated the shooter genre, selling more than 500 million copies worldwide. But with Black Ops 7, the series arrives as the underdog.

The Battlefield series is back to its explosive best with Battlefield 6, and ARC Raiders  is one of the most adored multiplayer shooters since Overwatch. Meanwhile, the hype going into the second Black Ops in as many years has been low. This is partly down to what it’s up against, but also the feeling that Treyarch releasing another near-future CoD isn’t groundbreaking.

Now that it’s finally here, can Black Ops 7 compete with Arc Raiders or Battlefield? That depends on which of the game’s three modes you call home.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 screenshots

What is Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 about? 

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s campaign picks up 10 years after the events of 2012’s Black Ops 2 and the supposed death of Raul Menendez, leader of Cordis Die. Set in 2035, you play as David Mason, son of Alex Mason from the original Black Ops, as he and his JSOC team investigate Menedez’s surprise return.

As always with Black Ops, there’s also a fresh Zombies mode inspired by TranZit from BO2, and a futuristic multiplayer with 18 maps and 30 new guns.

Activision

Multiplayer is as strong as ever

Call of Duty still has the best gunplay around. Black Ops 7’s fast, frantic shootouts are as satisfying as ever, from the first kill to the thousandth. 

The look, feel, and sound of every weapon are best in class, and each individual gun feels much more distinct than Black Ops 6 when it was tough to differentiate between Assault Rifles such as the Model L and XM4.

The time-to-kill is largely unchanged from last year, and it’s a perfect balance between keeping the pace high without being too punishing. Fights are fast enough that they reward smart positioning and accuracy, but also give high-skill players time to react so that being caught off guard isn’t an instant death sentence.

Activision

One of the biggest talking points heading into BO7 was aim assist, which was nerfed heavily from the beta in the day one patch. I’ve only played on controller, and the change is instantly noticeable, especially at closer range, forcing you to be much more precise to get any help.

While it made some of those early matches a little brutal, it doesn’t take long for it to feel natural. They may need to dial it up slightly to prevent casuals from being tortured, especially without skill-based matchmaking, but overall, a healthy skill gap is good for the game. 

Omnimovement also returns, allowing you to sprint, slide, and dive in any direction, but with one huge addition – the ability to wall jump. Running and jumping at any wall and hitting the jump button again pushes you off, allowing you to reach higher vantage points and hit some montage-worthy trick shots. 

Don’t worry, it’s a far cry from the insane mobility of the jetpack-era CoDs, but it feels slick in action, and the maps have been designed in ways that make it essential, not just a gimmick.

Maps are a return to form

Black Ops 7’s selection of maps is a huge step up from Black Ops 6, which squandered its great gameplay with dull battlegrounds. Now we have simple maps that mostly use the three-lane setup the series is known for. 

Homestead, set on a frozen lake, is the standout – with the Northern Lights shimmering overhead, it’s one of the most gorgeous maps the series has produced to date. Raid, returning from Black Ops 2, also shines after getting a striking future-Japanese makeover.

Activision

They’re not all home runs. Flagship, which sees you fighting underneath an old aircraft carrier, is a boring yard full of metal containers that lacks any real flow, and the tiny Blackheart is pure chaos that only Shipment and Stakeout fans will warm to. 

But despite the odd miss, Treyarch has righted the wrongs of last year and produced a lineup of maps that are genuinely hard to choose between in the pre-game vote.

Fun but familiar

All of this adds up to a great multiplayer that will no doubt keep players hooked for months to come. But while it’s a lot of fun to play, there’s nothing new here to get excited about.

Weapon prestiges offer some extra rewards for levelling up your favorite weapon, and the new Overclock feature brings some powerful upgrades to Scorestreaks and equipment, such as UAVs that are tougher to kill or Sticky Grenades that can be cooked. None of it is quite as game-changing as Black Ops 6’s omnimovement, though.

Campaign is a new low

While the multiplayer is more of what fans expect, the heavily marketed campaign misses the mark entirely. What was sold as a mind-bending story that celebrates Black Ops’ history is actually a boring slog that’s all style and no substance. 

Long-time players will no doubt welcome the Black Ops 2 cameos, but they’re never used for anything other than nostalgia bait. Confronting past demons doesn’t lead to any real breakthroughs or emotional beats for JSOC, who all remain painfully one note from start to finish. 

Activision

All of this would be forgiven if the action were on point, but Black Ops 7’s missions offer none of the spectacle we’ve come to expect. Most levels involve running across the Warzone-style Avalon map, shooting the same bullet sponges, interacting with an objective, and repeating. There’s nothing to mix it up, not even the sniper missions or vehicle levels you can usually bank on. It’s just one big shooting gallery after another. 

Then there are the boss fights, which range from dull to hilariously weird. An early showdown with BO2 villain Menendez sets the tone, tasking you with waiting around to pick up a Killstreak that drops comically big machetes from the sky to take him down. 

But the real low point comes around the halfway mark, when you have to – and here’s a phrase I never thought I’d write – shoot a hundred-foot-tall Michael Rooker with glowing eyes for what feels like hours. 

The four-player co-op eases the pain of trying to kill enemy after enemy with frustratingly high health and no AI teammates to help, but even with friends, this is the worst Call of Duty campaign of all time.

Activision

Endgame almost makes it worth it

If you do get to the final mission, you’ll unlock the new ‘Endgame’ mode, which gives you and 31 other players free rein to explore Avalon and tackle new challenges. 

These mostly involve taking out the same enemies you’ve spent the last five hours slogging through, but the added loop of collecting loot, progressing through Skill Tracks, and the pressure of extracting before the time runs out make it much more engaging. 

This is where the Avalon map really starts to shine, too, combining new areas with some familiar multiplayer maps like Skyline to make exploration a constant reward. It’s the best Warzone map we never got. 

Activision

If you’re someone who likes to take a break from multiplayer and misses the now-defunct DMZ, then this will likely scratch a similar itch.

Zombies is far from dead

Zombies is a refreshed take on TranZit from BO2, dropping you into the sprawling Ashes of the Damned map – the biggest in the series to date. The entire map takes place inside the parallel dimension known as The Dark Aether, and is made up of new and old locations connected by The Fog, which is home to deadlier abominations that can end your run in a heartbeat. 

It’s pretty much impossible to make it between areas on foot, so you’ll be relying on Ol’ Tessie, a banged-up truck powered by a talking severed head, a shield, and a Pack-a-Punch machine to upgrade weapons all in one. 

At first, having to manually drive between spots on the huge figure-eight map can seem annoying, but once you’ve got your bearings, it will become one of the best and most diverse Zombies settings since Shadows of Evil in Black Ops 3.  The layout forces you and your team to make game-changing decisions quickly. Do we stay in the town of Ashwood, or brave a journey over to Vandorn Farm to grab the Perks we just lost, knowing full well it could spell a trip back to the lobby? 

Activision

These constant choices always keep you on the move, meaning you can never just rinse and repeat the same strategy like you could in previous versions.  

As always, Ashes of the Damned is absolutely packed with secrets and Easter eggs to find. In the dozen or so hours I’ve put in, I’ve tracked down music players to unlock a hidden tune, and fed guns to a talking trash can to get a free Ray Gun. And I’ve only scratched the surface. With more maps coming in future updates, it’s set to be another fantastic year to be a zombie slayer. 

Verdict

Black Ops 7 is a mixed bag. If you’re a Zombies die-hard, then you’re in luck, as this year’s version is another addictive descent into hell with plenty of secrets begging to be discovered. 

Multiplayer is also very strong, delivering the exceptional gunplay we’ve come to expect with a brilliant new batch of maps that can go toe-to-toe with the franchise’s best, but it is hard to escape the feeling that it’s all a bit safe. The one area that does attempt a bold new direction is the campaign, and it fails in virtually every way. 

However, Black Ops 7 proves that Call of Duty can still compete on the multiplayer front, even if you wouldn’t blame anyone if they skipped this year and spent their money on something new and fresh like Battlefield 6 or Arc Raiders. There’s work to be done if it wants to hang onto its crown for the next two decades.