Introduction

I will never tell someone I’m good at FPS games; they aren’t my forte in the gaming spectrum. I’ve played numerous titles like Halo, Call of Duty, and Battlefield, but I’ve always been just average with them. Still, I will never turn down playing some multiplayer with friends and playing some campaign when I can. That’s why I was excited for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. Not only did the multiplayer return with a multitude of new and old maps, but the campaign has co-op for up to four friends! Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 should have been a home run for developer Treyarch, but after putting several hours into multiplayer and the campaign… I can honestly say this might be one of the weaker Call of Duty games in the last few years. Here’s my review of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 for the PS5.

Gameplay

I’m going to hold off on the campaign talk for a minute and first talk about the multiplayer. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 has plenty of multiplayer modes—Zombies, TDM (Team Deathmatch), Domination, Hardpoint, and Overload—which is nice, but what you probably care about is how they play. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 feels like a mixture between Black Ops 3 and Black Ops 6. Players can wall jump, shoot while sliding, and lie down while aiming between their feet. I was excited, as Black Ops 3 was my personal favorite of the franchise and this seemed geared towards it. Sadly, it can be fun but also extremely frustrating.

First, the scorestreaks. Honestly, I am used to seeing some annoying scorestreaks, but in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 the annoyance is amplified by a good dozen. The DAWG, for example, is a bullet sponge that can kill numerous enemies before being taken down. Then you have the VTOL, which is a flying fortress of death for anyone in the open. My least favorite, The Rhino, is literally Iron Man and will destroy teams not coordinated to deal with its insane health. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 has some annoying scorestreaks—especially when they are used against you—but this is just one of the few annoying elements to Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s multiplayer.

Maps are… a mixed bag. I won’t say I hated any of them in particular, but some just don’t work. Homestead is an Alaska-based map where it has one central house and the rest of the area is a mix between snow and ice. The house itself becomes a breeding ground for grenades, campers, and explosions regardless of the game mode. Imprint is a medium-sized map with a movable platform and strange rotating design. Maps like Raid, Hijacked, and Standoff return from previous BOPs titles and they are fun still, but it seems most of the older maps hold Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 up, which isn’t a great thing.

Gameplay-wise, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 works fine. The frantic shooting and movement system keep battles quick and snappy. I didn’t ever feel my lack of skill was the game itself—just me. There are obvious signs of people cheating already—using floor exploits and auto-aim bots—but knowing Treyarch they will eventually fix these problems in future updates. For the most part, if you liked Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, you’ll like this seventh entry in terms of FPS mechanics.

Now notice I didn’t talk about the co-op/campaign until now. I saved the worst part of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 for last. I have played most of the campaigns in Call of Duty—Black Ops or just normal—and usually can find some enjoyment from them. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is without a doubt the worst campaign from the entire franchise. Set once more in the future of 2035, David Mason thought he ended the evil terrorist Raul Menendez, but a video appears showing he’s apparently still alive. David assembles the JSOC team once more and attempts to raid a new group called The Guild. However, they end up being deceived, and The Guild’s leader Emma Kagan hits David’s team with a neurotoxin that causes them to hallucinate. They survive the hallucination but discover the toxin escaped into the populace and now is causing mass panic. That’s as far as I’ll go with the story, as it becomes obvious what the team needs to do, but it’s also where Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 goes off the rails, and not just the story.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s campaign has a multitude of problems and it starts with the most glaring… no pause button. Let me first explain that you can play Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 solo—you will literally be alone though with no bots or any teammates to help you—but even playing solo means you can’t pause the game! On top of that, if you need to step away for a few minutes and find a safe place to do so… Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 will deem you idle and kick you. Who thought this was a good idea? It makes sense maybe if I’m online playing with friends, but I’m by myself.

Next, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s campaign has some weird design choices. When you enter a map you will find enemies with health bars, loot boxes, and strange monsters/enemies that mirror themes of a comic book. I don’t know why Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 made these design choices, but they ruin the core gameplay. I would go up to a loot box, find an insane item, and now be a walking killing machine, or find nothing useful and now struggle. There are bosses like this is an action RPG and literal machetes that can be called from the sky. Nothing makes sense in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s campaign, and even playing with friends doesn’t make the experience enjoyable.

Overall, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 feels like an attempt at being so different than the past games, but ends up being just a mosh pit of insanity. Zombies is probably the only experience I kind of enjoyed, and even that is flooded with new content that just makes it like an information overload on the mind. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 gameplay still is arcade-themed with fast shooting action, but it also feels like it fused with an RPG, and that isn’t an experience I wanted…

Graphics

Like the gameplay, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 suffers from good and bad. Visually, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 can look decent with some sharp character models based on actor likenesses like Michael Rooker (The Walking Dead, Guardians of the Galaxy), Milo Ventimiglia (Heroes, This Is Us), and several others. Their face models look great and the scenes where the action happens can almost be like a movie. Sadly, there are times where the visuals can dip and characters look almost Barbie-like. Characters also have a dead-eyed look to them, which ruins the immersion.

When Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 compares to games like Battlefield 6, you will also notice a lack of extreme detail. Cars act like walls when shot, tires don’t explode when shot, and explosions just seem silly. I don’t usually like comparing two FPS games that play radically different, but for $69.99 I’d say Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 didn’t try hard enough to be a visual stunner like past games that cost less.

Sound

Not much is bad in the sound department at least. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s OST is still very simple and rarely is noteworthy, but that won’t matter much for those who are playing online. Voice acting is where Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 shines due to these being actors behind the characters, and they do try their best to give the game some star power. Other than that, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is more or less the same as all others before it in the sound department.

Story

Absurd feels like the proper word to explain the story of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. I won’t even say I ever enjoyed the story in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. Mason—who I like as a central protagonist—didn’t do much for me this time around and his band of allies equally feel disjointed. There’s an attempt at chemistry with the story and characters, but it never does enough to make it engaging. I couldn’t even finish the story for myself and relied on just watching let’s plays on YouTube to see if the story ever gets better… it doesn’t. The ending too just leaves you wishing you didn’t waste your time with the campaign.

Overall Impression

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is a letdown, I will just be honest. With friends, there’s still some enjoyment to be had and the FPS gameplay still works, saving the game. However, the campaign even with friends is terrible, the numerous maps are a mixed bag, and I feel there’s not a lot of content in here worth the $69.99 price tag. I don’t think Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is the WORST COD game released, but against past entries, it’s one of the worst.

Conclusion

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is a disappointing entry in the franchise. Yes, I find fun to be had playing with my buddies online, but when I’m alone… I can’t find any enjoyment in this game. The campaign is boring, the multiplayer is very unbalanced, and Zombies is just too much. I’ve asked several friends what they would review Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 as, and most scored it even lower than I did. I think if Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 came out before games like Battlefield 6 maybe I’d score it higher, but for the price and how this game compares to previous entries… Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 just doesn’t do it for me and I know I’m not alone.

—Aaron