Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is all about having fun – in the most hyperactive way possible. The 22nd installment in the Call of Duty series is a follow-up to last year’s Black Ops 6, and while it doesn’t reinvent the wheel, it does unscrew it with a nearly five-hour story campaign that sees Black Ops 2 combine with a “weird new” genre, a larger, round-based version of Zombies called Ashes Of The Damned, and a refined approach to multiplayer anchored by the best selection of maps in the up-to-date Call of Duty era. Most of the time it’s unforgiving and absurd, but Black Ops 7 is an accessible action shooter designed for any play style that moves towards it.
While 2020’s Black Ops Cold War and last year’s Black Ops 6 combined shades of films like Night movements, AmericanAND Tinker Tailor Soldier SpyTreyarch and Raven Software have chosen to trace their sociopolitical viewpoints through a psychological narrative that is noticeably more Kubrick than Reagan. Black Ops 7 takes place in 2035, almost ten years after the events of Black Ops II. Black Ops 7’s plot follows a co-op story that follows David “Section” Mason (Milo Ventimiglia) and his “Spectre One” squad running JSOC as they investigate the return of Nicaraguan terrorist Raul Menendez and the deceased’s threats to burn the world down in three days. Their discoveries lead to The Guild, a robotics corporation run by CEO Emma Kagan (Kiernan Shipka), and the result is a hallucinogenic romp involving a psychochemical virus that forces a special forces squadron to relive their nightmares.
As for the plot, it misses the point. There are paranormal messes, mind-altering set pieces that bleed Control and Alan Wake, and nods to Frank Woods, Alex Mason and Battle of Los Angelesand it’s all done through a made-for-TV script that has no certainty about its target audience. It’s not a terrible approach for a campy co-op military shooter that sticks to the Call of Duty mantra of “rinse, plate, repeat,” but not when it tries to conceptualize its own take on science fiction. It uses close-quarters combat to create intense moments, but the variety of campaign missions is not significant as Mason and JSOC are either clearing laboratory facilities or decrypting data disks.
With a darker tone that uses atmosphere as a fear gauge, Zombies in Black Ops 7 goes back to basics with curated experiences that refresh the core mechanics rather than threaten their identity. The latest release, Ashes Of The Damned, is Treyarch’s largest round-based map to date, distinguishing itself from Black Ops 6’s Terminus with an open-world layout that’s heavily inspired by Black Ops II’s TranZit and inviting players to visit six recent locations – including Janus Towers, Blackwater Lake, and Zarya Cosmodrome. The map is built around Ol’ Tessie – a recent Wonder Vehicle and 1970s junker pickup truck that can be upgraded, repaired and under the guidance of TEDD himself – and as an honorary fifth member of the squadron, it is used to navigate the mode’s main quest, which picks up where Black Ops 6 left off.
Players have the opportunity to explore Ashes Of The Damned with Grigory Weaver and his team or the original Zombie crew in three modes: Standard, Survival and Damned. The recent Cursed mode offers the classic Zombies experience, without a minimap, without rechargeable weapons, and with a points system inspired by Black Ops III. The only Survival map, Vandorn Farm mimics the replayability of Liberty Falls with a playground full of wall purchases, Perk-a-Cola, Gobblegum dispensers, and a solid expansion of the upgrade system from Black Ops 6 that includes over 60 recent upgrades.
This level of detail puts Black Ops 7’s multiplayer in a league of its own. Call of Duty fatigue has become a lingering feeling over the last few years, but despite reboot sequels, Beavis and Butt-Head commercials, and whatever Modern Warfare III (2023) was, Black Ops 7 isn’t just another rehash. It’s not because of open matchmaking playlists and persistent lobbies, or an exponential indifference to Gunsmith and fetishizing franchises. That’s because Black Ops 7 offers the most promising collection of 6v6 starter maps since 2018’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 4.
There’s an argument to be made about the Cold War in Black Ops, but Treyarch’s latest map pool offers recent versions of Black Ops 2 classics Raid, Hijacked, and Express, as well as 13 larger, original locations designed with community feedback in mind. Cortex and Scar combine simplicity with elevated sightlines and flanking routes; Blackheart and Flagship turn lively offshore jobs into “accidents” that reward ingenuity; and Den, a mid-sized map set in a Japanese technological domain turned feudal castle, is on the cusp of being an S-rated addition to the Treyarch portfolio. There are a few duds like Exposure and Recovery, but they still clearly highlight visibility with manual doors, bay windows, and broken ASMR glass.
Even though fully automatic shotguns were part of the 30-weapon lineup at launch, Black Ops 7 avoids fatigue by introducing a recent 6v6 target mode (“Overload”) inspired by Uplink and Capture The Flag, and a revamped arsenal of weapons and gadgets that are a little more near-future and a little less 90s. Assault rifles like the M15 and Peacekeeper MK1 provide multi-range versatility, while submachine guns, such as the Dravec 45, excel in close combat despite needing reinforcement for balance.
They seem a bit unfair, but Treyarch’s recent “Overclock” system adds powerful improvements to the hardware. Each item comes with two levels of overclocking, which can speed up the loading of trophy systems or make lure grenades only play footstep sounds. They don’t break gameplay, but they add variety to the weekly challenges and weapon prestige in Black Ops 7, which returns for the first time since 2018 with unique prestige camouflages and perks, as well as a recent Weapon Prestige Master tier that includes retro camos like Bacon and Weaponized 115.
The Treyarch Omnimovement system from Black Ops 6 also returns, but thankfully swaps Tactical Sprint for a recent movement tech in the form of wall jumping, which is mainly used on maps to preview cover before dashing towards a spot or advancing a position. Gunfights still play out like Call of Duty, but the added customization adds an engaging level of unpredictability that hasn’t been seen since specialists were included in Black Ops III. Add to that Treyarch’s nerf to rotational aim assist, which includes requiring the player’s right stick movement to track an enemy target for aim assist to activate at full power, and it’s clear there’s a recent learning curve to be had.
Despite its shortcomings and lack of campaign variety, Black Ops 7 is a solid entry purely for establishing recent ways to play while making Call of Duty the social space it once was. Treyarch and Activision’s commitment to additional modes continues to cannibalize their storyboards, and while it remains to be seen whether their open stance on skill-based matchmaking (SBMM) is merely a PR tactic, they are still able to deliver an engaging multiplayer and Zombies experience that improves with each round. Black Ops 7 may not be the sequel some people dreamed of this year, but in the most BO4 way it emulates individualism, setting a recent bar worth exceeding.
