Very Huge, Very Bizarre, Very Unhealthy

It was across the time that I used to be preventing an enormous plant monster in a chemically induced hallucination themed round hate and guilt that I spotted this 12 months’s Name of Obligation is a wierd one. However moments of strangeness, even a number of memorable or impressed ones, can’t conceal the truth that this newest installment is the digital equal of throwing stuff on the wall and seeing what sticks. 

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s co-op marketing campaign is a direct sequel to Black Ops 2, that includes many characters from and references to this fan-favorite entry. But ultimately, all these nods to BLOPS2 simply function a reminder of how a lot better that marketing campaign was than this assortment of random concepts you can play both solo or with as much as three different buddies. 

After which…after which…after which….

If I had been to explain the plot of Black Ops 7 to you out loud, I’d sound like a 6-year-old child who was requested to provide you with an enormous action-packed story on the fly. 

“Okay, so some soldiers go to a secret island to fight a bad lady and her evil company, but it’s a trap, and they are drugged with a gas like from the Batman movies that makes you see scary stuff from your memories and past. Oh, and they are all connected via brain chips, so they all see the same things. And then they fight bad soldiers. Oh, and robots! And also zombies. And then a giant plant monster. And then a giant person. And they go to Tokyo. And then fight some spiders. And then they uh, oh, start a prison riot with undead inmates and uh go underwater to fight giant mechs using big missiles before winning and saving the day. The end!” 

It’s borderline nonsensical and solely barely works as a narrative in any respect due to some nice voice performances and a few extremely expensive-looking cutscenes. It’s a disgrace that your complete four- to five-hour marketing campaign feels cobbled collectively in a brief period of time, however contemplating Treyarch, which co-developed this sport, was additionally the lead developer on final 12 months’s Black Ops 6, it’s not stunning, both. 

At the least the weapons nonetheless really feel good, and I wasn’t bored as a result of if you’re coping with this stage of batshit nonsense, it’s at the least fascinating to see what ludicrous state of affairs the sport is gonna throw you into subsequent. Capturing, sliding, leaping, and now wall-jumping (extra on that later) are enjoyable no matter what I’m killing. Much less enjoyable and extra annoying is that RPG parts have woven their method into the marketing campaign, so that you attain factors the place enemies take numerous bullets to kill, and it’s important to watch for the sport to resolve to finish your ache and offer you a harm improve. Bleh. No good. Don’t like. By no means deliver this again, thanks. 

Talking of annoying issues I by no means wish to see return, Black Ops 7 introduces an always-online open world to discover between greater missions. Regardless that I performed solo, generally different gamers would communicate throughout cutscenes once I was teleported again to this a part of the marketing campaign, which acts like an always-online pseudo-hub between some missions. And there’s little to do in these moments. It’s bizarre, provides nothing, and is likely the reason I can’t pause BLOPS7 while playing the campaign, which is but yet another unusual alternative so as to add to the pile of strange choices that make up this 12 months’s Name of Obligation. 

Okay, no matter, what about multiplayer!? 

I’m not silly. I do know that Name of Obligation is a multiplayer franchise. Most individuals are shopping for these video games not for the single-player journey, however for the months of deathmatch they’ll get to play with associates and randoms. And fortunately, this a part of Black Ops 7 is so much higher than the marketing campaign. However should you performed final 12 months’s Black Ops 6, you’ll possible really feel an enormous sense of deja vu. 

BLOPS 7 multiplayer feels very, similar to that of the final entry, all the way down to menus, perks, and gunplay. Now, that’s not inherently horrible, and contemplating how profitable BLOPS 6 was, it is smart to construct upon that for the follow-up. 

Nonetheless, I discovered numerous the weapons in Black Ops 7 to really feel very same-y and never distinct in any respect. I bounced round a number of weapons within the dozen hours I spent with multiplayer and by no means discovered one I notably favored or hated. All of them simply largely blended collectively, with the one distinction being “Oh, this one is burst fire” or “This is a sniper.” I keep in mind the weapons in BLOPS6 being way more distinct and fascinating, and swapping between them was much more thrilling in consequence, as had been the firefights towards different gamers. 

Maps aren’t a robust ingredient of Black Ops 7, both. Some are genuinely excellent, however these are largely the maps ripped from previous Black Ops video games, like Hijacked (which additionally seems as a stage within the sport’s marketing campaign). The brand new maps felt too large for the variety of gamers present in most sport modes, and none of them have caught in my mind. Perhaps in a number of weeks, a few of these new maps will be a part of my checklist of greatest Name of Obligation maps ever made. However in the intervening time… ehhh. 

Maybe the largest change present in BLOPS7’s multiplayer is the flexibility to wall hop. This builds on the improbable omnimovement that debuted in Black Ops 6, which let gamers dash in any path and made CoD sooner than ever. 

Wall hops add a brand new device to the motion package, and I like it. With the ability to bounce up a wall right into a window or over a storage is a lot enjoyable. It may also be used to flee an enemy, ambush a bunch of unsuspecting gamers, or attain an out-of-the-way spot to do some tenting. Shut up, it’s a respectable technique. 

Whereas my old-man thumbs and fingers generally fail to maintain up with the youth and their fancy slides, I nonetheless largely had fun with BLOPS7’s multiplayer, even regardless of the maps being meh and nobody gun calling to me. Wall bounces add simply sufficient further taste to fights to shake issues up, whereas not getting in the best way of the hyper-responsive FPS motion CoD has lengthy been identified for. 

I do, nonetheless, wish to flag that on PS5 Professional, I ran right into a ton of random efficiency points throughout multiplayer. This actually soured my expertise. Even a foul Name of Obligation sometimes runs effectively, so I used to be stunned to see so many dropped frames and slowdowns occur in BLOPS7. Hopefully, a future patch can enhance the state of affairs. 

Zombies and the Battlefield-sized elephant within the room

I’m not a CoD Zombies skilled, so I can’t communicate to specifics concerning the mode on this 12 months’s entry, however I can say that I loved my time with it. In numerous methods, Zombies in BLOPS 7 looks like a return to the variations present in older Name of Obligation video games, and I like that. 

You possibly can play a traditional rounds-based model of Zombies set in a single map. I additionally admire that for the primary time ever, when taking part in solo, you possibly can depart a Zombies match and are available again later and choose up the place you left off. Fucking wild that Zombies has a pause possibility, mainly, whereas the marketing campaign doesn’t. Unusual!

I’d attempt to clarify the story of Zombies, however it’s so obtuse and deep at this level, involving a number of dimensions and a dozen characters unfold over a number of video games and timelines, that I’m simply not going to aim it. There’s a brand new cowboy-like demon zombie who is de facto unhealthy, and I believe I’m presupposed to kill him by finishing the primary quest discovered within the major Zombies mode. To elucidate extra would require a visit to the CoD Zombies wiki, and I’m not fascinated by falling down that wormhole. 

In a vacuum, this 12 months’s Name of Obligation is a bizarre, actually large, and largely unhealthy misfire that I doubt hurts the franchise all that a lot in the long term. But when we glance past Black Ops 7 and think about the bigger context, this could be the worst model of Call of Duty for Activision to have launched in 2025, because it’s going up towards the tremendous standard, grounded, and back-to-basics Battlefield 6. 

I bounced between each video games over the weekend, and I believe that after once more, moment-to-moment, Name of Obligation seems sharper and performs higher than Battlefield. This has lengthy been the case with these two FPS rivals. However with regards to content material and delivering what followers need, I believe Battlefield 6 wins palms down. 

Make no mistake, each video games have flaws. However BF6’s issues will be solved with some patches and some large maps. Black Ops 7 can’t be fastened as a result of it isn’t damaged, it’s only a bizarre and incoherent mess that feels extra like a fan mod or large replace for BLOPS6 than a correct sequel. And it actually doesn’t seem to be the sport Name of Obligation wanted in 2025, however reasonably simply the one we acquired as a result of Activision can’t let the franchise take a break. Ah effectively, there’s at all times subsequent 12 months…