Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Review – A Franchise at a Crossroads Black Ops 7 delivers engaging multiplayer and zombies action, but its campaign leaves much to be desired.

🎮 Campaign: A Disappointing Journey

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 sets its campaign across Avalon, seemingly foreshadowing the next Warzone map. Unlike past blockbuster set pieces, this year’s campaign trades cinematic flair for uninspired shooting galleries and lackluster objectives. Boss fights, such as a surreal encounter with Raul Menendez, rely more on absurd mechanics than skill, leaving little sense of stakes or narrative progression.

Players step into the shoes of David Mason from Black Ops 2, but don’t expect meaningful story development. Characters appear more as window dressing than integral figures, while bizarre moments, like battling a soldier that damages you by burping, push the campaign into territory that borders on unintentionally comical.

🏹 Endgame: A Bright Spot

Despite a lackluster campaign, Treyarch shines in Endgame, a PvE extraction mode that blends Modern Warfare 2’s DMZ style with roguelike progression. Players tackle contracts across Avalon to upgrade characters and extract within time limits.

Endgame features:

Multiple class archetypes
Extensive player upgrades that influence combat
A hybrid of PvE and roguelike mechanics
Post-launch support plans with exclusive events

Endgame offers depth and replayability that might define Black Ops 7’s long-term appeal, compensating for the underwhelming campaign.

🏈 Multiplayer: Evolution of Replayability

Multiplayer remains largely familiar but introduces key updates to enhance longevity. Prestige attachments, a return of Black Ops 4’s operator mods, allow weapons to be fundamentally altered, improving variety and strategic choices. Account prestige systems and mastery camo grind further reward long-term play.

New movement mechanics, like wall bounces, add surprising depth: players can traverse maps in creative ways, opening up outplay opportunities in duels. The omnimovement system returns with minimal changes, reinforcing fluidity in combat.

Notably, the removal of forced skill-based matchmaking (SBMM) creates dynamic, unpredictable matches, restoring a sense of competitive excitement for many players.

🧟‍♂️ Zombies: Tranzit Reimagined

Black Ops 7 reinvigorates Zombies with Ashes of the Damned, a reimagined take on the classic Tranzit map. The mode seamlessly combines old map inspirations like Ascension and Buried with modern gameplay mechanics.

Key Zombies features:

Optional cursed mode with difficulty modifiers
Hit-based scoring reminiscent of classic Zombies
Rich environmental design enhancing immersion

While technical issues on PC—such as crashes and quest bugs—can hinder the experience, once patched, this Zombies iteration could rank among the best in the franchise.

⚠️ The Franchise Dilemma

Call of Duty’s scope may now be a double-edged sword. Black Ops 7 illustrates how post-launch priorities, like Endgame, can overshadow the single-player campaign. While multiplayer and Zombies retain appeal, the franchise risks stagnation, relying on familiar mechanics instead of pushing innovation.

Fans will enjoy Black Ops 7’s depth and replayability, but new players may find it hard to justify investing in a game where narrative ambition takes a backseat.

📝 Final Thoughts

Black Ops 7 is a mixed bag. Its campaign is arguably the weakest in the series, yet Endgame, multiplayer, and Zombies deliver substantial content for veterans. Treyarch’s post-launch focus is clear, but at the cost of narrative innovation. This is a game made for loyal fans, not newcomers.