Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 arrives at a key moment for the franchise. After years of turbulent identity shifts, a community divided over design philosophy, and an increasing reliance on shared systems inherited from Warzone, this year’s entry steps forward with plenty of ambition. It is, without question, one of the most content-rich Call of Duty games to date, with a campaign, an extraction-style Endgame mode, a packed multiplayer suite, and an expanded Zombies experience. Yet in attempting to deliver something for everyone, it finds itself compromised in places.
The Black Ops 7 campaign reintroduces players to David Mason in a campaign set a decade after the events of Black Ops 2. On paper, the premise is promising, with a return to familiar characters, a technologically advanced setting, and a mystery surrounding the reappearance of Raul Menendez. In execution, however, the campaign represents one of the game’s most divisive components, and for good reason.
Rather than delivering a traditional cinematic single-player experience, the campaign is built around a co-op, looter-shooter framework. Missions integrate armor plates, enemy rarity tiers, revives, and abilities, echoing mechanics more familiar to Warzone, Destiny, or Borderlands. Boss fights, open areas, and special skills, such as invisibility, bubble shields, high jumps, and grappling hooks, make for moments of spectacle. This is undeniably the flashiest campaign Treyarch has attempted in years, with tight gunplay and technical polish keeping things engaging.
But while it delivers on big action, it falters almost everywhere else. The story feels fragmented and reliant on nostalgia for characters and references newcomers may not recognize. Missions are frequently padded with dreamlike sequences and abrupt tonal shifts that add spectacle at the cost of narrative coherence. The pacing is uneven, the antagonists lack presence, and the beats never land with the force Black Ops campaigns are known for.
Worst of all, the campaign too often feels like a vehicle built only to usher players toward the Endgame extraction mode. Structural decisions such as the always-online requirement, even in solo play, the lack of a checkpoint system, and the inability to pause missions make things needlessly frustrating. At roughly five hours in length, it’s entertaining in bursts, especially with friends, but ultimately forgettable.
Following the campaign, players unlock Endgame, Black Ops 7’s new extraction shooter mode. Inspired by DMZ, Blackout, and Zombies, Endgame places up to 32 players into the sprawling city of Avalon to complete missions, secure loot, level up, and extract.
On a surface level, the mode is immediately compelling. Avalon is enormous, visually varied, and smartly structured around escalating difficulty zones. The blend of objectives, exploration, and character progression makes for a loop that is satisfying and surprisingly addictive, particularly in coop. As a PvE-focused experience, it offers a more relaxed alternative to traditional PvP multiplayer or chaotic Zombies sessions.
Yet Endgame ultimately suffers from the same issue that plagues the campaign, i.e., its great ideas are executed inconsistently. Without PvP, the tension that defines the extraction shooter genre feels muted. Loot is functional but rarely exciting, enemies lack threat, and the overall rhythm risks becoming repetitive after the novelty wears off. It’s a mode packed with potential, and future updates could elevate it dramatically. As it stands, however, it feels more like a strong foundation than a fully realized pillar of the game.
Where Black Ops 7 unquestionably regains its footing is in multiplayer. Treyarch has learned from community feedback obtained via the beta and refined the core experience into one of the most satisfying online offerings the series has seen in years.
Time-to-kill is balanced and fair, rewarding accuracy and awareness rather than pure reaction time. Gunplay feels smooth, responsive, and weighty, while the new movement refinements, particularly the wall jump, add mobility options without tipping into chaos or unintended exploit territory. The omni-movement from Black Ops 6 has been toned down but remains an intuitive part of traversal.
The removal of restrictive Skill-Based Matchmaking (SBMM) is one of the game’s biggest victories, restoring a sense of unpredictability and excitement to matches. Some games you dominate, others you scrape by, but each feels dynamic rather than artificially curated.
The map lineup is another high point. Launch maps include returning classics like Express, Hijacked, and Raid, alongside worthwhile new additions such as Homestead, Toshin, Scar, and Blackheart. Only a few, such as the flat and forgettable Exposure, fall short. Meanwhile, new modes like Skirmish (20v20) and Overload add some diversity to the playlist.
If multiplayer is the heart of Black Ops 7, Zombies is its soul. Treyarch once again proves mastery over the undead formula, offering a mode that is both expansive and replayable.
Ashes of the Damned, the largest Zombies map ever created, is packed with secrets, objectives, and traversal opportunities, including a drivable, upgradable vehicle that adds new layers of strategy. Traditional round-based Survival returns via Vandorn Farm, catering to purists who prefer tight, escalating challenges. Meanwhile, Dead Ops Arcade 4 adds a frantic, arcade-style top-down alternative ideal for quick sessions.
The sheer variety of mechanics, crafting, perks, GobbleGums, and weapon upgrades ensures that no two play sessions feel the same. The mode’s scale and creativity make it feel like a fully independent game, and it easily outshines the campaign and Endgame in terms of depth and variety.
All in all, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is massive in scope, generous in content, and often thrilling, but held back by structural decisions, inconsistencies, and a campaign that fails to live up to its legacy. The package as a whole feels pulled in too many directions. That said, fans of the series will find endless hours of entertainment in its cooperative and competitive offerings.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Game Information
- Price: $69.99
- Publisher: Activision
- Developer: Treyarch
- Platform: PS5 (Reviewed)
- Disclaimer: A review code was given by the publisher
