"Call of Duty – Black Ops 7" Review: A Game Divides Fans

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Surreal co-op campaign, mandatory online, and AI art – "Call of Duty: Black Ops 7" divides fans. It's almost overlooked that the latest installment in the successful series is enormously extensive. With the three game modes Story, Multiplayer, and Zombies, the development studios Treyarch and Raven aim to cover almost everything that has made the first-person shooter series famous in recent years. Not always successfully.

Surreal Sci-Fi Shootout

The approximately six-hour story takes fans to the year 2035. Elite soldier David Mason, known from "Black Ops 2," takes on a shady company called "The Guild" this time, which threatens our world with a biological weapon. But Mason and his team have no idea what they're getting into. What looks like a normal mission turns out to be a surreal drug-induced dream where fiction and reality blur.

Zombies, giant killer plants, and ghost soldiers – veteran "CoD" players will have to hold their breath with this science fiction shooter. Although much remains the same in terms of gameplay, the different scenarios in the story plunge fans into a nightmare that offers a lot of variety, from the classic military shooter to horror sequences in the style of "F.E.A.R." or "Control." Just not the usual "CoD" monotony.

Flashy Presentation

The story is designed as a co-op campaign, similar to "Gears of War," but during our play sessions, tactics or team strategy were not necessary. Just charge straight through the middle, and the not-so-cleverly acting enemies posed no challenge. Only when a giant soldier rose before our eyes in the boss fights, attacking us with punches in the style of Japanese prehistoric monsters, or emitting deadly gas, was a hint of teamwork needed.

The rest is straightforward shooting. No stealth, just a few jumping sequences – especially considering "Black Ops 6" from 2024, the series has been more varied before. The weapons now have different names but are just as effective as their predecessors. Anyone who has played a "CoD" before will feel right at home. Slide quickly across the ground, aim at the enemy, and pull the trigger. The only new additions are wall jumps and a wingsuit for covering larger distances.

On the other hand, the game delivers plenty of explosions, and the development studios Treyarch and Raven prove that hardly any competitor can match them in terms of presenting thrilling action scenes. The story of "Black Ops 7" is an entertaining, quirky-surreal action film where players storm enemy fortresses with zombies but shouldn't think too much about the meaning or purpose of it all. Familiar Hollywood actors like Milo Ventimiglia ("This is Us"), Kiernan Shipka ("Sabrina"), or Michael Rooker ("Guardians of the Galaxy") lend their faces to the project.

Nevertheless, it should not be forgotten that "Black Ops" has always played with hallucinations and surreal elements. Where the big brother "Modern Warfare" celebrated straightforward war with elite soldiers, in "Black Ops," the soldiers are cannon fodder manipulated and even drugged by politicians. Treyarch and Raven consistently push this narrative to the extreme with the new campaign.

Unusual: After the last mission, it's far from over. The team can continue to fight "The Guild" in the game area Avalon. Gameplay-wise, this resembles a typical Ubisoft shooter in the style of "Far Cry." There are missions all over the map where players engage in small skirmishes with enemies or complete tasks. Afterward, players are picked up by a helicopter, like in an extraction shooter. Of course, not without defending themselves against a horde of enemies beforehand. Overall, however, this is interchangeable and lacks variety.

Proven Multiplayer Modes

But that's just the beginning. Activision boasts that the game is the biggest "CoD" ever. Numerous multiplayer game modes spread across 18 maps offer a lot of fun, even if some maps are recycled from previous games. Fans shoot their way through a big city, forest areas, a luxury yacht, or a snowy landscape. It's all fast-paced and entertaining as usual; speed is everything. Anyone who takes a short breath here is quickly history. The hit feedback is excellent as usual, and the sound is powerful.

Besides classic modes like Deathmatch, players can also defuse bombs, fight for control of areas in "Domination," or engage in 20v20 battles on large maps in the new "Skirmish" mode. However, without a well-rehearsed team, this is just great fun for quick-reflex "CoD" pros. Newcomers or players who focus more on tactics will frustratingly put their mouse aside.

With so-called Wildcards, players are also helped by some special abilities that allow them to scout enemies faster or carry more equipment. As always, fans earn experience points with every engagement and increase their weapon's combat value. Almost every new level offers new equipment, such as sights, magazines, or stocks for the weapons. Important: The upgrades apply to all game modes. Unlocking weapons and equipment in multiplayer, the story campaign, or the zombie mode benefits you everywhere.

More Brains

An alternative to the hectic multiplayer modes is the cooperative "Zombie" mode. It's a game within a game with its own story, following a few adventurers in their fight against demons from another dimension. The first map, "Ashes of the Damned," seamlessly picks up where the zombie mode of "Black Ops 6" left off, as the unwilling heroes land in the so-called Dark Aether, teeming with zombies and monster bears.

To face the final boss, up to four players must complete a series of tasks known among fans as "Easter Eggs." These are challenging: obtain items for a serum, revive a robot, and solve puzzles spread across six areas, which can be reached with an upgradeable truck. As usual, players upgrade their weapons, use certain abilities like electric shocks, and chew gum for buffs.

The developers make no compromises and throw players directly into the fray. While "Black Ops 6" introduced the game concept slowly, this one gets straight to the point. A complex and tricky adventure that gets harder round by round. This can quickly overwhelm newcomers to this game mode, but it's a dream for "Zombie" pros. More maps will be released in the coming months to continue the story. Additionally, there's the independent top-down shooter mode "Dead Ops Arcade 4," where players fight for survival in small arenas.

One Game, Many Questions

However, many fans are now wondering about the future of "Call of Duty" overall. Shortly after release, the co-op campaign was met with little enthusiasm because it deviated from the usual military shooter action. Add to that the mandatory always-online requirement for solo players. Furthermore, there are indications that the development studios incorporated AI artwork into their game, an accusation that was similarly not well received in "Arc Raiders". Moreover, there are the familiar microtransactions, with which players can buy skins or soon the battle pass.

The result: a Metacritic user score of currently 1.7, the lowest in the entire Call of Duty history. The usual sales success reports from publisher Activision are also slow to arrive. Our impression: "Call of Duty" is a brand at a crossroads. The developers dared a lot and bet on new ideas but misjudged the fanbase. The annual release cycle may also be contributing to player oversaturation. In the coming months, publishers and development studios must show that "Call of Duty," the market leader, will still be a force to be reckoned with in the future.

Conclusion

"Call of Duty: Black Ops 7" is a packed first-person shooter package that won't please everyone. The unusual story campaign divides fans, and the multiplayer modes focus on quantity without adding truly new ideas to the genre. What remains is fast-paced action for quick-reflex fans. The highlight of the game is surprisingly the zombie mode, which sets new standards within the series in terms of complexity and scope with its first map. This is enough for entertaining fun in the coming weeks as a complete package, but it must fear the competition from "Battlefield" & Co.

"Call of Duty: Black Ops 7" is released for Windows, Playstation 5, and Xbox Series. It is included in the Xbox Game Pass. USK rating from 18. It costs approx. €80. For our review, we played the Windows version.

(cku)