Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 - review

The Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 campaign represents one of the most significant and controversial titles in the long-running series, which has long been synonymous with shooters featuring strong stories and intense action moments. This installment, set in the near future of 2035, tries to simultaneously maintain the traditional Black Ops identity while responding to modern demands of multiplayer services, co-op play, and an always-online architecture. Such a balancing act leads to a complex product that, although technically impressive and aesthetically powerful, suffers from clearly expressed design compromises that inevitably divide the audience.

The campaign in Black Ops 7 focuses on David Mason and his JSOC team in their mission to uncover a threat from the shadows of the Guild corporation, as well as the mysterious reappearance of the historical antagonist Raul Menendez. The plot, although set a decade after the events of previous Black Ops titles, offers a motivational framework characteristic of the series: deep manipulation of information, psychological warfare, technological dystopia, and conspiracy theories. Avalon, a futuristic city filled with advanced technologies and digital threats, becomes the stage for conflicts where the lines between reality and digital illusions become blurred. This is a preservation of the essence of Black Ops stories, which explore the dark sides of power and influence. But, while this narrative provides an intriguing thematic basis, its execution suffers from a lack of emotional depth and coherence. Characters such as Mason and Menendez often act as shadows of their earlier incarnations, and the story feels fragmented, composed of edited set pieces and psychedelic visual experiences that don't always have a clear narrative line. Instead of deep emotional involvement, players often get the impression they are following a “best-of” compilation of earlier Black Ops moments, without satisfying character development or relationships.

Cooperative focus and mission design

The campaign is conceived as a co-op adventure for up to four players, which is a clear shift from traditional solo experiences. Missions range from directed linear sequences to semi-open arena phases, with eleven in total. The campaign length is around four to six hours for the entire story, which is shorter than some previous CoD titles, but in line with today's trend toward shorter campaigns and a greater emphasis on multiplayer components. In addition to the core missions, the game offers an endgame mode set in Avalon that offers recycled locations and tasks in the form of PvE content, which is an attempt to increase replay value.

Co-op gameplay brings new dimensions of tactics and interaction: coordination between players, division of roles, and rescuing teammates provide exciting moments that refresh the gameplay. However, for solo players, the campaign often looks like a compromise product that doesn't function best without a team. Enemy and mission design is tailored for co-op play, so in solo mode, one often experiences repetitiveness due to the constant spawning of waves of enemies and a lack of environmental dynamism. The tasks in the campaign significantly resemble those from the Warzone sandbox, focused on collecting points, controlling zones, and maintaining territory, and less on narrative goals or innovative action sequences.

Technical hurdles and design compromises

One of the most serious problems of the campaign lies in technical and design decisions introduced during development. The game requires a constant internet connection even for single-player mode, which is unusual for CoD campaigns and frustrates many players. Furthermore, the absence of traditional checkpoints and the inability to pause means that interrupting the game can often result in a loss of progress, which is illogical and impractical for this type of experience. Although this architecture is understandable from a live service and cooperative play perspective, in solo mode, it acts as a serious obstacle and can ruin the experience.

To further complicate the situation, the game also suffers from technical flaws such as occasional performance drops on some configurations, DLSS artifacts, and bugs. These problems reduce the impression of polish and further underline the impression of an unfinished title at the time of release. Such technical difficulties further emphasize player frustration, especially among those who expect a smooth, high-budget experience.

Gunplay and production value

Despite criticisms of the narrative and technical decisions, the Black Ops 7 campaign continues the series' tradition as a mecca for explosive shooting mechanics. The weapons are executed with attention to detail: they have a sense of weight, the control is clean, and the recoil is clearly readable. The arsenal is well-balanced, combining classic assault rifles and SMGs with futuristic elements like drones, gadgets, and specialized abilities. The introduced vertical mechanics such as wall run, super jump, and grappling hook bring an extra dimension to movement and strategy within missions, providing a fluid and fast combat style that is dynamic and kinetic.

The level design is diverse and visually impressive, with futuristic panoramas of Avalon, complexes, and dark, psychedelic sequences that depict the mental struggles of the characters. However, the mechanics often remain linear and repetitive, and the enemy AI fluctuates between overly aggressive behavior and passivity, making some combat situations predictable and sometimes frustrating.

High production value and aesthetic execution remain among the stronger sides of the campaign. The music perfectly follows the paranoid tone of the story, combining orchestral and electronic elements that create an atmosphere of unease and tension. The sounds of weapons, explosions, and the environment stand out for their high quality and contribute to the player's immersion in the world. Visually, the campaign brings to life a dystopian near-future scenario with numerous details such as digital ghosts, hyper-tech cities, and an atmosphere that underscores the thematic framework of psychological and digital warfare.

Yet, this high polish of visuals and sound partially surprises in the context of technical and design compromises, as some aspects of the experience still feel like an underdeveloped experiment in a service where the main value lies in multiplayer functions, rather than in the standalone campaign.

Final verdict

The Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 campaign represents a complex blend of legacy and a new direction. On one side, it remains faithful to the core values of the series that made it popular: exciting shooting mechanics, recognizable motifs of paranoia and manipulation, and high production standards. On the other side, design changes have been introduced that dictate a focus toward cooperative online play and live service models, which compromises the solo player experience, prolongs frustration due to technical requirements, and leads to a fragmented story.

The campaign is relatively short, with repetitive missions adapted for co-op and minimal narrative development, but it offers exciting moments and gameplay that will satisfy those seeking a fast and intense action experience with friends. For traditional fans of the Black Ops narrative, this chapter may leave an impression of disappointment and an experiment that did not bring the expected depth and coherence, but ultimately, the Black Ops 7 campaign remains a significant and detailed addition to the series that pushes the boundaries of the online shooter genre in its own way.