Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Review — What’s All the Fuss About?

Never has there been so much contention around a new Call of Duty release. Black Ops 7 marks the, well, seventh primary iteration in Call of Duty‘s mind-control, espionage spin-off of the main series, taking the franchise further in its off-the-wall trajectory. Now, this could be a good or bad thing depending on how you feel about the series.

Since the game’s origins, the Black Ops series has leaned into the psychological themes of war, and Black Ops 7 doubles-down on this approach. Admittedly, the whole Black Ops timeline has got pretty confusing, but this one is set in 2035 and follows David Mason, the son of Alex Mason from the original Black Ops. He is tasked with investigating the resurfacing of terrorist Raul Menendez, who originally appeared in Black Ops 2. Menendez is wielding a mind-altering toxin called “the Cradle,” which causes hallucinations drawn from victim’s past traumas, forcing them to confront twisted visions of their memories.

As you could guess, this plays a lot into the campaign, where you end up in some pretty bizarre and whacky scenarios. It’s a big change of pace from the secret missions and more grounded vibe of the first couple games, and feels more like Black Ops 3 (if you remember that whole cyber-mind-bending-simulation story there). I admire the team at Raven Software for taking such a bold angle, but it’s hard not to feel the missions are a little all over the place, even with the weird premise in mind.

Additionally, a lot of the campaign missions feel like training ground spins on the multiplayer modes: there are open-world-type missions that feel like Warzone, horde-type situations that are pulled straight from a Zombies match, and then a whole wealth of sporadic linear missions that, while better, are just a little ‘meh’ in comparison to CoD set-pieces of years gone by.

As for the multiplayer, the game is a bit sharper in this department. The gunplay is as snappy and responsive as ever, and due to the thematic elements of the campaign, you get some truely interesting maps to memorise and take advantage of. Wall-running and wall-jumping plays a way more important role around these maps too, allowing you to feel a lot more mobile and use these movement abilities to get the upperhand in matches.

Another interesting change is that Black Ops 7 has two types of multiplayer skill-level matching: Standard, pairing players with similar skill levels to even the playing field, or Open, which is basically a lucky packet of who is thrown into the lobby. Unless you’re a masochist, it is enjoyable to play with people who aren’t ridiculously overfamiliar with the game, and for that, the Standard mode is a welcome adjustment.

Of course, there is also Zombies, which hasn’t changed much since the last few entries, but you get a handful of new levels and that same familiar co-op action as you blast your way through hordes of the undead. However, there is a new challenging, old-school mode called Cursed. This mode ditches the mini-map and loadouts, which feels more like the OG Zombies, relying more on a points-based system and encouraging exploration to find new weapons and perks to stay alive, rather than hinging on one good gun.

As a whole package, there’s a lot in Black Ops 7. You’ll realistically only spend a few (uninspiring) hours in the campaign, but there is still a lot to enjoy if you like the twitchy multiplayer combat loop. It’s definitely one of the more chaotic CoD releases, which is a little disappointing, as I believe a more definitive and clear approach to what the game is about, often makes for a better campaign, multiplayer, and overall experience.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is available on Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC.