Call of Duty Black Ops 7 is the best game in the franchise we’ve gotten in over a decade. For the first time since Black Ops 3 we've gotten something truly special, which I feel is rather fitting since Black Ops 3 shares some of its positives and negatives such as an awful campaign, but great multiplayer and zombies. Honestly, given how all the new maps and weapons are not locked behind DLC packs or lootboxes like how they were during Black Ops 3, this game may potentially surpass it for me personally
First I'll talk about some aspects that are shared across multiple modes. Classic prestige is back from BO6 thankfully, and it's great to have once again. It boggles my mind that Infinity Ward pushed so hard to remove it from the franchise, but I'm glad Treyarch was able to finally get it back in with BO6 and am happy it remains in BO7. Admittedly, the blueprint rewards for hitting a new prestige aren't as impressive as BO6. In BO6 you could get blueprint prestige rewards that could change the appearance of a gun such as turning the C9 into the Thompson. In comparison, the prestige rewards are a bit more lackluster, but appreciated nevertheless and the grind to reach master prestige is fun
Weapon prestige also returns after having been absent for several years. It's a long way to hit weapon prestige 2 max rank, but the attachment grind itself is fast so it's more just if you want to max out your weapon level and get a special camo. Overall I feel it's the best it's ever been and I'm happy they brought weapon prestige back after so long
Campaign: It’s awful. One of the worst in the franchise. I’m not entirely sure I’d say it’s the absolute worst as I can appreciate how they tried to make a more personal story for the characters and it’s comprehensible at least, but it’s definitely a bottom of the barrel campaign alongside the likes of Ghosts, Black Ops 3, and MWIII. They essentially took that one mission from Black Ops 6 that was really unique and made an entire campaign based on that. It's too much, and honestly feels like Raven Software and Treyarch only cared about the BO6 campaign because the BO7 campaign is such a step down in comparison. Even in some of the better moments, as few of them as there are, there is a possibility they are interrupted by tons of pop ups for leveling up your rank and your guns, and it can ruin the immersion.
The half-hearted co-op mode also does the game no favors. Campaigns in COD games are traditionally a solo experience, but even in games with co-op like World at War or Black Ops 3 you’d still get the prominent NPC characters fighting alongside you, but in Black Ops 7 if you decide to play solo it is truly a solo experience where you will NEVER see your squadmates alongside you during gameplay. Truly awful
Multiplayer: The best since Black Ops 3. After Black Ops 3, it felt like Treyarch had been in a downward spiral with their approach to map design culminating in Black Ops 6 where we had the worst launch maps ever in a Treyarch game. When Black Ops 7 was first announced, I honestly hoped that the game would launch with all the Black Ops 2 maps. I hated that MWIII did this with the MW2 maps, but I had grown skeptical that Treyarch was able to design good maps after Black Ops 6, but Black Ops 7 was such a massive improvement in terms of map design that it gave me whiplash
Furthermore, the matchmaking is more reminiscent of pre-MW2019 games. The focus is more on finding a lobby with the best connection and THEN balancing the lobby rather than how it was from MW2019-BO6 where skill was the biggest consideration often coming at the cost of ping. Lobbies unfortunately do still disband eventually, but they don’t break up immediately and will do so after several games in a row. I personally wished that they wouldn’t disband at all, but I do think it’s a major improvement to the matchmaking when you consider that MW2019-BO6 matchmaking would disband lobbies after almost every game. When you combine it with things like having tac sprint disabled by default and the wall jump mechanic being a fun addition that doesn’t completely shake up the flow to its core, as well as some positives from previous Black Ops games like the omnimovement from BO6 and the higher TTK, and you have a great multiplayer experience
Zombies: I am a casual zombies fan, but from what I’ve seen it continues to improve on the approach to round-based zombies that Treyarch has been chipping away at since Cold War. I have a lot of fun playing all of the various maps whether it’s the regular maps or survival maps, and it seems that the zombies community seems to enjoy this game overall with the most recent map at the time of writing this, Kowakujo, being a big hit with the hardcore zombies fans
Endgame: This mode is more of a continuation of MWZ from MWIII and it has a lot of nice QoL improvements. A part of me does miss the build-up of earning points and buying perks and PaP from MWZ, but I think overall with the better objectives, ease of getting around with things like the wingsuit and grapple hook, and the overall gameplay loop it’s a noticeable improvement over MWZ. Whether you're going for the major objectives or simply grinding out the mastery camo for the mode, it's a fun time
Post-launch: This is possibly the best post-launch support a COD game has ever gotten. As of writing this, the game is about to hit its 5th season and while the roadmap is not as impressive as the first 2 seasons of BO7 it is still a good amount of content. Furthermore, there is still a ton to chew on whether it’s the new multiplayer maps, new zombie maps, all the new weapons, or the new missions in Endgame that have been released from the previous 4 seasons. You will not be starved for content
Microtransactions/Skins: The skins as of right before the launch of Season 5 are more toned down from Black Ops 6. There are no animal head operators, nor are there operator skins that completely break the art style of the game like how the anime girl mechanic or the cartoon crossover skins from Black Ops 6 did for that game. The skins and bundles are much more reminiscent of how they were in Black Ops Cold War which I feel is a good place for Treyarch games to be
I personally feel that Treyarch is able to get away with more weird skins compared to Infinity Ward since Infinity Ward focuses so much more on a dark and gritty style while Treyarch games are known for being more colorful and have the benefit of the zombies mode allowing for more flexibility, but even Treyarch games have their line and they have not crossed it yet and I hope they never do for Black Ops 7
If you can’t stomach any kind of skins that are even a little weird and wacky then this game is probably not for you, but then this franchise has not been for you since Advanced Warfare so you should start looking elsewhere at this point unfortunately
BO7 is truly a great time. The campaign is awful, but multiplayer, zombies, and endgame are great. Given how late in the lifecycle it is, i can't help but hesitate to recommend buying this game at the full $70 price but given the replayability of multiplayer, zombies, and endgame, as well as the stellar post launch support this game has gotten I truly believe this game has the best value out of any COD game in the last decade. If it's on sale I believe it's truly worth it.
As with almost any COD game, it's fallen victim to the COD cycle, with many decrying the game, but once it’s time is over it will become more appreciated in the years that follow, but there’s plenty of good here already. I don’t blame anyone who skipped out on BO7 (especially after BO6 disappointed with its launch content and poor post-launch support), but I truly believe those that did missed out on the best COD game we’ve gotten in a VERY long time. I just hope that, awful campaign aside, BO7 can be the gold standard in terms of content at launch, and post-launch support for future COD games
