Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is an odd duck. It’s the kind of release that feels torn between playing it safe and throwing everything at the wall just to see what sticks. You can feel the ambition - you can also feel the panic. Between the campaign leaning into psychedelic chaos, multiplayer trying to reinvent movement (again), and Zombies quietly carrying the entire package on its back, this game is a mixed bag in every sense.

So, let’s break it down properly: what works, what doesn’t, and whether Black Ops 7 actually deserves the backlash it’s getting… or if people are just yelling because it’s Call of Duty and yelling is tradition at this point.

Campaign



I didn’t hate the campaign as much as the internet seems determined to. But let’s be honest, it's a tonal identity crisis wrapped in a nostalgia trip. It’s fun enough to blast through on your own, yet it constantly slips into cheesy, kitsch territory. Boss fights literally feel like someone dusted off a 90s monster-of-the-week script and said, “Yeah, let’s do that.”

I didn’t hate the campaign as much as the internet seems determined to. But let’s be honest, it's a tonal identity crisis wrapped in a nostalgia trip.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 felt like Warzone Lite. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s campaign feels like Zombies Lite. With Battlefield 6 and ARC Raiders dropping the same year, it really comes across like the developers panicked and tried to “be different” for the sake of being different. It doesn’t land, not for the franchise, and not for the tone Call of Duty has built over two decades.



The writing is a massive culprit. With the cast they had, the voice work shouldn’t sound this flat - yet the cringe dialogue made entire scenes painful. And the repeated in-your-ear prompts (“5–9 something…” on loop) made me mute the game more than once. A first for me.

The Cradle sequences, which are basically you tripping your way through twisted memories, had their moments. Revisiting iconic maps through a warped lens is clever, but some sections are too far into “what are we doing here?” territory. Trying to squash a ghost with a sky-machete? Shooting into your teammate’s kaiju-sized mouth? That’s not psychological horror, that’s a fever dream you should probably talk to a psychiatrist about.

I have a very pressing question that I need to ask: if Cradle is supposed to manifest your fears, why does every game developer ever insist on spiders every single time? And more importantly, why are they in Call of Duty?

Multiplayer



Movement is smooth, fluid, and clearly the star of the show. Omni-movement and wall-running are back, and the lighter aim assist (which we all know will be buffed soon) gives movement players more to do. But there’s a problem: sometimes it feels like mashing the right combination of inputs gives you better results than actual skill. In a game where competitive play keeps the whole ecosystem alive, that’s a problem.

Sometimes it feels like mashing the right combination of inputs gives you better results than actual skill.

Overload initially hooked me - it’s essentially Capture the Flag with a twist. However, it quickly devolved into a spawn trap simulator. Either you’re camping the other team’s spawn or you’re getting steamrolled. There’s no middle ground.



Skirmish, on the other hand, is a solid addition. Stage-based, Hardpoint-adjacent, and big enough to reward actual strategy. It stands out. Map variety is solid. Some Black Ops 2 classics return (hello, Raid), mixed with new locations pulled from the campaign. But visually, multiplayer is too loud. There are too many neon pops, reflections, and shiny surfaces that do nothing but distract. It’s the kind of art direction that fits a story mode, not a competitive arena where every frame matters.

Visually, multiplayer is too loud. There are too many neon pops, reflections, and shiny surfaces that do nothing but distract.

Audio is also… off. Phantom gunshots and misplaced directional cues (no, I promise that it wasn’t decoy grenades) and footsteps sometimes don’t match the enemy’s actual location. It’s not always subtle, and again, I promise the decoy grenades aren’t causing it unless there’s an unlimited supply that everyone is using on every map. It genuinely feels like the acoustics are bouncing off all the overly reflective clutter.

Zombies



Zombies is where Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 looks like it actually remembers who it is. I’m not a Zombies deep-dive, lore-thumping type of person, but Zombies here feels properly grim, atmospheric, and relentless in the way fans want. The map design nails that darker, creepier tone, and pushing higher rounds feels brutally challenging. It’s a good kind of frustrating that keeps you coming back. At least that is what I keep telling myself.

Ashes of the Damned is your classic story- and secrets-driven Zombies experience, while Vandorn Farm scratches the itch for pure chaotic survival. I’m nowhere near cracking the secrets in Ashes - and I don’t think most of the community will be for a while - but Vandorn Farm has become my stress-relief punching bag. And yes, the camo grind is absolutely worth the time.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 isn’t a disaster per se, but it’s definitely not the confident, refined entry it should’ve been. The campaign is confused, multiplayer is fun-but-frustrating, and Zombies is doing all the heavy lifting. It feels like a game caught in transition - a team experimenting while the industry around them is shifting faster than they can keep up. Is it worth playing? Yeah. There’s fun here. But is it a must-play, era-defining Call Of Duty? Not even close.

PS5 Review code provided by Activision | Reviewed by Sheree Steenkamp