I've played every major Call of Duty game, and Black Ops 7 is both fun and frustrating

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is the latest entry in the juggernaut shooter franchise. It brings the long-running Black Ops sub-series to a... wait a moment, that's the exact sentence that started my Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 review.

You’ll have to forgive my confusion, because unlike previous years, where publisher Activision does a non-Black Ops iteration of COD before returning to the most out-there version of the beloved shooter franchise, this year it’s straight back to Black Ops. Going straight from Black Ops 6 to Black Ops 7 makes 2025’s COD feel even "more of the same" than ever.

Sure, the single-player campaign offers some new ideas, and the zombie mode is deeper than ever, but it's still a Call of Duty experience that feels familiar.

And I love Call of Duty. I've played every major COD game (yes, even the pre-Modern Warfare installments), so I'm always excited to get my hands on new maps for multiplayer and start grinding those prestige levels all over again.

Putting my fandom aside, it's hard to say Black Ops 7 does anything special enough to bring in new players or bring lapsed fans back. It's a good game, sure, but it's nothing we haven’t seen before.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7: The basics

• What is it? Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is the latest first-person shooter video game in the long-running annualized franchise. It has all the usual components. A campaign with a live-service end-game that borrows from the popular extraction shooter sub-genre, round-based zombies and, of course, competitive multiplayer.
• Who is it for? This game is clearly targeting Call of Duty fans who are already invested in the series. It doesn't do enough to change the classic formula to bring back lapsed fans or attract the Fortnite generation.
• How much does it cost? Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 standard edition costs $69. There is also the Vault Edition for $99, which includes the digital extras. Or you can play Black Ops 7 via Game Pass on Xbox and PC.
• What other games has the developer made? Treyarch and co-developer Raven Software are best known for their work on the Call of Duty series. Non-COD releases feel like a lifetime ago, but Treyarch also made fantastic Spider-Man games during the PS2 and PS3 generations. Remastered editions, when?
• What games is it similar to? Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is like several other Call of Duty games, especially the other Black Ops games. It's a first-person shooter, which is a well-worn genre with lots of similar games. Those tend to stray further from the realism themes in Modern Warfare and some other sub-franchises. The endgame of the campaign also blends elements of extraction shooters like Arc Raiders.

An unpausable campaign

It seems someone at Treyarch, Raven or Activision woke up one day and said, "Let's make the Call of Duty campaign co-op; people like multiplayer games." Everyone in the office probably cheered.

Another person apparently followed up with, "Let's make it only co-op even when you're playing alone." You'd think the team would have revolted, but they approved the idea, launching a four-player campaign that you can't play offline or pause, even if you're playing alone with AI squadmates.

Now that one of the most baffling decisions in video game development history is out of the way, let's actually talk about the actual campaign: this is proof that the Call of Duty franchise can get weird. It becomes bizarre, with so much supernatural dream content and giant monsters, that it feels more like playing Destiny or Doom than Black Ops at times.

It's a good campaign, though. The five-hour or so story takes some surprising turns before sending you into the endgame sandbox. That's right, Call of Duty has its own form of extraction shooter to keep you playing for the long haul (as if the endlessly addicting Zombie and multiplayer modes weren't enough to suck up your gaming hours).

You probably already know if you like Call of Duty's campaign structure, and nothing I can say in here will change your mind either way. Unless you like taking frequent bathroom breaks in the middle of hectic firefights, your opinion may be swayed by the lack of pauses.

Zombies, still not for me, but robust

I've never been a fan of Zombies mode. No matter how robust they make it, I can't get into it. Whether it's open world, small confined maps or whatever other ideas the developers throw at the wall, I find myself trying it out but moving on sharpish.

The Zombies mode in Black Ops 7 is robust, filled with multiple modes that'll let you play the game the way it was when Zombies first launched in World at War or with the more modern, open-world twist. It’s good to see Treyarch offering the mode in a way that made it popular in the first place, while also giving those who've moved on to the mode they've grown to love.

The Standard mode is the one you know and love. It features the odd, nonsensical story players have come to expect, along with all the Easter eggs you could ever want. If you want your Zombies gameplay to offer a sense of progression with story, this is the mode you’ll spend most of your time in, especially if you’re an experienced player.

Next, there's Directed, which gives you guidance and on-screen instructions for the main quest. It’s like Standard, but with more guidance. If you want hints to help you find the easter eggs and progress the story, this mode is for you. I played this mode mostly during the review, as I like having guidance while still experiencing what the mode has to offer.

Survival mode harkens back to the old-school days when Zombies didn't have a story. You just kill waves of zombies for as long as you can, and eventually you all die. This is how I remember Zombies, and while the mode has largely moved on to Standard, this throwback is a nice diversion if you just want to shoot some zombies.

Finally, there's Cursed, which is described as an old-school mode for veteran players. I wasn't able to try this mode as it was locked during the review period, but it is now available to all players.

Most importantly, across all modes, the Call of Duty shooting mechanics and overall feel we know and love remain untouched. The aiming feels just as snappy and accurate as it does in the other modes, which makes fighting the never-ending hordes more enjoyable. The new movement also makes it easy to Zombies, giving you new ways to avoid certain doom when that’s the sensible tactic.

Great, familiar multiplayer

I come to Call of Duty for one thing: the competitive multiplayer. I dabble in campaign and zombies with every release, but I generally come back to the multiplayer over and over throughout the year until the next one comes out. About a month ago, I put Black Ops 6 down to give myself a break before Black Ops 7 launched. It's always good to take a break before jumping into the game again — well before jumping into a new game, but as we're about to get to, it feels very similar to BO6.

Call of Duty maps are perhaps the most subjective part of the game. At this point, the maps are always (mostly) balanced into the three-lane structure with different variations and points of interest. Players will likely complain about the maps they like and the ones they don't, and you might like the exact opposite ones I do. All I can say is the maps feel balanced, and I haven't found any where one side feels overly advantageous over the other.

The core progression remains more or less the same, but changes to the custom class system give you a little more control to fine-tune your equipment kit to your playstyle. For example, you can add a mix of perk classes to create more Combat Specialties. Previously, you had to choose three from the same category, so being able to mix and match without sacrificing a Specialty is an appreciated upgrade.

Another fun change is the Overclock System, which allows you to tweak field upgrades and other aspects of your build for improvements. For example, you can use the Drone Pod field upgrade in conjunction with an Overclock System, which enables you to deploy them faster.

Ultimately, I thoroughly enjoy the multiplayer aspect of Black Ops 7. I can't say I love it. Sure, it has some small tweaks to the custom class system, but if you weren't deep in Black Ops 6, you'd probably think they were the same game.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7: Verdict

If I were reviewing Black Ops 7 in a bubble with no previous Call of Duty experience, I'd probably think it was the most feature-complete shooter I’ve ever played. But I'm not. I played my first COD game in 2004 and have spent more hours with the series than I can count.

The fact is, there aren't many innovations or exciting new additions to this game compared to the one that came out just a year ago. It’s more Call of Duty, and I love that. However, it’s also just more Call of Duty. I'd like to see something new added to the formula to justify the $69 price tag for players who aren't content with merely new maps, operators, and unlocks.

So while Black Ops 7 is a great Call of Duty game, I have a hard time recommending it to anyone who isn't eager for more of the same COD we've been playing for decades.