It’s hard to believe it’s that time of the year again. Hot off the heels of Black Ops 6, with what some thought to be the best Call of Duty campaign ever, can the teams at Treyarch and Raven Software give us another superb experience with Black Ops 7?

Fear is the Mind Killer

Black Ops as a series has always been about espionage, covert ops, and mind-bending psychological warfare. Black Ops 7 grabs that idea and runs for the hills.

The story follows David Mason (Milo Ventimiglia) and his team as they track down the mysterious return of one of the series’ biggest villains, Raul Menendez. The year is now 2035, and The Guild has evolved from a criminal organization (Black Ops 6) to a global private military security force that manufactures military technology and weapons. Run by Emma Kagan (Kiernan?Shipka), who wants to exploit fear for profit.

Straight off the rip, David and his team are exposed to an experimental fear toxin, and over the next 11 missions, we are taken on a mind-bending trip across different realities and the globe, as well as a nostalgic trip down memory lane. A lot of the destinations are from previous Black Ops titles, including a very familiar yacht from Black Ops 2.

I’m going to quickly put this in here because I’m not sure where else to put it. Milo did an excellent job returning to David, a more experienced, emotional leader of JSOC, along with the supporting cast. It was cool to see Kiernan Shipka take on the role of Emma Kagan. I loved her in Sabrina. Unfortunately, the poor writing of the character didn’t allow Kiernan to shine. Compared to David and the JSOC squad, the character of Emma felt empty and unbelievable as a leader of a paramilitary organization.

You Better Have Some Friends

The story itself touches on some very interesting ideas about trauma and letting go of your past, but there is something missing. It feels like the story rushes from point to point. There are no epic set pieces, which is what Call of Duty is known for.

The campaign is called Co-op Campaign. It’s obvious Black Ops 7 is meant to be a co-op experience; it’s always online and cannot be paused, even in solo play. I played through the campaign solo, and it was a weird experience. I felt very alone. Your squad, who are with you in cut scenes disappear, and it’s just you fighting through enemy forces as they yabber in your ear through comms. It would have been nice to have them computer-controlled like previous titles, with the option of having your friends jump in.

One Step Forward, One Step Back.

To their credit, Call of Duty has never been afraid of trying new things. Modern Warfare 3, to mixed reviews, introduced open-world style missions. Black Ops 7 has gone down this path again, kind of. In between your trips into madness, David and his team spend their time in Avalon tracking down members of the Guild. Avalon is an open Warzone-like map that you can drive, grapple hook, or wingsuit around. These parts make more sense when you reach the Endgame, but they feel tacked on to make the story feel longer.

Some interesting choices surrounding weapons and abilities have been made. You cannot pick up enemy weapons. Instead, you must find loot boxes hidden around the different areas to possibly find different guns and equipment. You didn’t get to keep your guns long though. Each new sequence changes your loadout, forcing you to use different weapons.

We Should Probably Stay. Right?

After fighting through memories and overcoming some crazy boss fights, the power of friendship prevails. Now, if this were the end, I would have been extremely disappointed with Black Ops 7. However, our tireless heroes aren’t done yet. Introducing Endgame.

Right from the start, the developers of Black Ops 7 have been talking about a massive co-op endgame, and I have been super excited to try it out, but it is not available until you finish the campaign.

Endgame is an entirely PVE extraction shooter experience. Having a PVE experience that’s not zombies is exactly what I have been after. It feels like Call of Duty is trying to cater to every type of player.

Once you finish up with the story, you can load into Endgame whenever you like. Choose your operator from the multiplayer roster. Next, grab your weapon and select some perks. Then it’s go time.

The idea of Endgame is simple. You load in, gear up by completing quests and activities located randomly around the map, and push for the higher zones.

If you ever played the DMZ part of Modern Warfare 2, the quests will feel familiar. Open safes, kill HVTs, and destroy fear toxin-spewing walkers are some of the available activities.

The map is split up into 4 separate zones. Each zone has a recommended level you should be at. You can enter any zone at any time, but if you are under the recommended level, you will take significantly more damage and do very little damage in return. If you die, you lose all progress and must start again. Which is devastating. I managed to get to the third zone, which is a level 45 requirement. I jumped off a building, forgot to activate my wingsuit, and plummeted to my death. Unfortunately, there was no one around, and I died, losing hours of work.

Verdict

Visually, Black Ops 7 looks fantastic on Xbox Series X. Gunplay is sharp, movement feels fluid, and some of the missions have great atmosphere. However, without the epic ‘Call of Duty” set pieces, it feels hollow.

It’s clear Treyarch took risks trying to blur the line between campaign and a PVE experience, which could pay off if continued support and updates keep flowing.

I’m really enjoying my time with the campaign of Black Ops 7. I wish they had kept all the open world stuff to the Endgame, and we just had a balls-to-the-wall acid trip down Black Ops memory lane for the story. Endgame is Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s saving grace. I absolutely love jumping in and causing hell for the Guild.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 was reviewed on Xbox Series X

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series (available on Game Pass), and PC (via Steam)

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