Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Review (PS5)

Call of Duty has well and truly gone off the deep end. In Black Ops 7, the latest Treyarch effort, any hint of realism the series may have once possessed is gone.

In its place are controllable machetes the size of buildings, boss encounters on a scale that would make God of War proud, and friendly zombies. The campaign is so far removed from the franchise’s 22-year history that it dominates the framing of the entire release, overshadowing anything it manages to get right, such as another extensive multiplayer suite.

This is Call of Duty at its most absurd, and Black Ops 7 represents a new kind of low: it feels desperate in a year with stiffer and better-quality competition.

Usually the most disposable part of the package, the campaign and all its failings are what’s driving the conversation around this year’s release. It’s no longer a single player story; instead, you matchmake into co-op missions for up to four players. It is possible to go alone, but you put yourself at a disadvantage with no AI teammates to help.

The reliance on co-op means you must maintain an internet connection to experience the narrative, and any server updates from Activision’s side force you out of a level to update. You won’t receive a checkpoint from the mission you were playing, meaning it has to be started over again. You also can’t pause the game, and you’ll be kicked from a mission if you leave it to idle for too long.

It’s a mess.

That’s all before the actual contents of the story mode: 11 missions bordering on farcical. Set 10 years after the events of Black Ops 2, a villain from that instalment has reappeared and released a fear toxin that forces the lead unit Spectre One into multiple nightmare sequences usually fit for horror and sci-fi games… or something like that.

Nonsensical is putting it lightly, and the same can be said for most set pieces bringing the plot to life. There is a certain charm to the absurdity, with the excellent feel, controls, and gunplay of a Call of Duty game making each combat encounter enjoyable. It’s just the setting, tone, and objectives of Black Ops 7 so wildly contrast the two decades of games before it that the whole thing is played so bizarrely.

Because of this, some genuinely fun sequences are getting lost in the chatter surrounding the sheer stupidity of the game’s premise. The campaign in Black Ops 7 is really dumb and really daft. However, there’s still some joy to be found in its silliness.

Luckily, all of that is reserved for the campaign, allowing the multiplayer to remain one of the best examples of online action in the business. If you’ve invested in any Call of Duty game’s multiplayer modes of the past 10 years, then there’ll be very few surprises, but the content offering is once again substantial enough to support another year of play before the next title comes out.

19 maps and a wide range of modes allow you to invest in your account level and character unlocks, with much more to come in free seasonal updates. It’s a fast-paced version of online multiplayer that incorporates a wall jump, but it still manages to mostly be a “boots on the ground” Call of Duty.

Entirely new attractions like Overload and a 20v20 Skirmish mode that incorporates the abilities and gadgets from the co-op campaign are then welcome additions to the overall package.

It’s a relatively familiar and unexciting offering because Call of Duty is so fine-tuned to offer enough deep levelling systems and cosmetics to keep its hardcore players coming back for more. You can go through the main levels system and prestige 10 times over, and then there’s even more after that. You can also level up and prestige your weapons, complete challenges, and, in a couple of weeks, work through a Battle Pass.

Black Ops 7 multiplayer is the same as it’s been for years now because this is what works — there’s almost too much to do, so that its most committed players are satisfied for the 12 months to come. And then the cycle repeats.

The one and only good thing to come out of the campaign’s insistence on an Internet connection is you can actually get a head start on the multiplayer through persistent progression across all modes. Now, you can level up your character and guns in missions and carry those unlocks over for instant use online.

It won’t make up for random disconnects, lost progress, and annoying teammates, but there is at least one very slight benefit to the requirement.

Zombies rounds out the package and impresses once again with tons of depth and the biggest map the mode has ever had. You’ll use a vehicle to navigate it, either trying to get to the highest round possible or working on secret missions and easter eggs.

By this point, you already know if you love Zombies or not, so it’s another solid addition that plays it safe enough to where it’s unlikely to attract any newcomers. What’s there at launch is at least really strong.

At least this year, the visuals aren’t there to match it, however. Recent Call of Duty titles have delivered absolutely sublime PS5 graphics, particularly during single player cutscenes. The online requirement may be playing a part here, but the cinematics of Black Ops 7 are a step back compared to recent entries.

Despite a fairly comprehensive offering and more examples of quality than trash, the game is never going to shake the absurdity as its main talking point. It’ll forever be known as the one with the silly co-op campaign. In reality, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is actually decent, but in a year with ARC Raiders and Battlefield 6, that’s nowhere near good enough anymore.

Conclusion

The most ridiculous Call of Duty has ever been, all of Black Ops 7’s multiplayer strengths are overshadowed by the silliest campaign in the franchise’s history. It’s still quality online, and the Zombies mode is as solid as ever. They don’t matter quite as much, though, when a co-op campaign manages to reframe an entire release into one of stupidity.