Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 | Complete Review

It’s that time of the year again – a new Call of Duty is upon us. This one not only promises to be the biggest in terms of content at launch, but it also acts as a direct follow-up to arguably the peak episode of the franchise: Call of Duty Black Ops 2.

The XboxEra team have been playing through things in advance and we’re glad, because there is a lot to cover. After completing the insanity of Campaign, enjoying the co-operative thrills of Endgame and diving into the sizeable Multiplayer suite and Zombies modes, we feel pretty confident in providing you with a verdict.

This is our massive, all encompassing review for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7.

Buckle up, it’s a long read.

THE STORY SO FAR

Days of Future Past
Written by Gyozo Baki

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, on paper, feels like an episode made specifically to deliver for fans of the series peak. An attempt to deliver a sort of “Black Ops 2.5”; taking some of the best aspects of Black Ops 2 and 3, but reworked with the tight, snappy and more modern COD gameplay, which has had plenty of tweaks and improvements. A bit of nostalgia bait perhaps, but it’s hard to overlook a tremendous number of positive additions, changes and new high quality content. This is Black Ops 7, led by Treyarch: the masterminds behind the Black Ops sub-series.

Set in 2035, ten years after the events of Black Ops 2, Alex Mason‘s son David and his unit of highly trained soldiers must stop what appears to be a familiar threat – Raul Menendez, who may be more alive than we last thought. This is the context around everything seen in the game, defining both the campaign’s plot, its setting, but also the games multiplayer design philosophies and more.

We’ve split our review into several sections, with our Reviews Editor Jesse taking you through the sheer insanity of Black Ops 7’s (Co-Op) Campaign, in addition to the innovative new ‘PvE’ ‘Endgame‘ set in the giant Call of Duty sandbox of Avalon.

It is I, the Multiplayer and Zombies aficionado Gyozo Baki who will be then tackling the massive Black Ops 7 Multiplayer and Zombies experiences, including a look at Dead Ops Arcade. Without of course forgetting about our “boss” Jon Clarke and Predrag Nikolic, who’ve both done a lot of terrific work – both in the game, mauling enemies with us, and of course some of the art, formatting, videos and content you see.

We’ll then bring it all together for a final verdict. See you on the other side!

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CO-OPERATIVE CAMPAIGN

Written by Jesse Norris

Mason!

The campaign and its ‘Endgame’ component can be played solo or with up to four total players. As David Mason (Milo Ventimiglia), Mike Harper (Michael Rooker), Eric Samuels (John Eric Bentley), and Leilana a.k.a. 50/50 (Frankie Adams), you’ll traverse the sprawling playground of Avalon as you hunt down Emma Kagan (Kiernan Shipka) and her paramilitary/security group, The Guild.

Without spoiling too much of the games plot, there is a toxic gas similar to The Scarecrow’s ‘fear toxin’ from the Batman Arkham franchise. Inhaling it drives people insane, eventually leading to their death after they become incredibly violent. Thankfully, our heroes have state-of-the-art ‘C-Link’ chips installed in their domes, so instead of death they end up in a shared series of nightmarish worlds.

The campaign sees you jump between these real world and more nightmare-fuelled missions, sometimes three or four times in a single section. While this isn’t a more traditional globe-trotting ‘HOO-RAH’ or spy adventure like previous Call of Duty titles, it might be the craziest. The nightmare part of this aptly codenamed ‘Worlds Collide’ campaign gives us some of the biggest, gnarliest, and stupidest Call of Duty set-piece moments ever.

It gets dumb – really dumb -full of ham-fisted ‘tough guy’ one-liners flying continuously. Each character gets a small amount of growth through each of their shared-nightmare levels. None of it feels particularly earned, and by the end you’re left grinning so damned much because of how amazing it feels to play.

Omni-improved-ment

Call of Duty Black Ops 7 takes the Omn-imovement system which debuted last year in Black Ops 6 and damned near perfects it. The running and gunning is perhaps my favorite in FPS history, and every part of it feels so good! Your characters are insanely fast, the new wall jump mechanic feels shockingly easy to use, and the over-the-top near future tech abilities let you pull of dazzling manoeuvres on a short cooldown.

At this point, everyone knows the gunplay of a Call of Duty title. New hit markers let you know how much health your human and robot enemies have left. Thankfully, the robots are not overused, instead augmenting their human cohorts by being less lethal but far ‘tankier’. Outside of your two main weapons, which you can change at various ammo depots around each level, you’ll have a tactical slot and minor and major abilities to use.

The tactical ability works mainly on a short cooldown and is made up of various grenades, straight line exploding drones, stim shots and more. The minor and major abilities however, let you change up the gameplay in some pretty crazy ways, like having a super jump or a grappling hook, which lets you fly around the game’s larger maps like a ridiculous looking human squirrel thanks to the wing suit. Sidenote – the grappling hook may be one of the best I’ve used in a game – it can latch onto anything and the forward momentum you get would tear the shoulder of any real human being’s socket.

Major abilities operate on a longer cooldown than their minor counterparts, and offer up toys like rapid-fire grenade launchers, explosive drone armies, and the ability to teleport enemies into the sky after which they fall to an instant death. There are more to find as they are dotted throughout each level and are rewards in the ‘Endgame’ mode, which we’ll get to in a bit.

Just Long Enough

I beat the campaign in roughly five or so hours playing in co-op with our Editor-in-Chief, Jon. The amount of times we both yelled “this is so stupid… and amazing”, must have been in the dozens. It is an enormous, gorgeous campaign that ran incredibly well on everything I tried. Xbox Series X ran the game at a clean, gorgeous 4k/60. My PC held a near locked 120 FPS at max 4k everything. It ran at a steady 60+ fps on my ROG Xbox Ally X as well at medium to low settings and 1080p.

Call of Duty Black Ops 7 features a solid cast of actors. Despite that, the writing was of such a high level of cheese that there was no making it sound cool. Michael Rooker did his best, being the cantankerous old-dog of the squad, but no level of talent could make those lines sound like anything other than pure cheese. Pleasingly, that is not the case for the soundtrack.

Featuring a main theme by Trent Reznor, the soundtrack for Call of Duty Black Ops 7 is amazing. It’s about as epic of a soundtrack as I can remember a Call of Duty game having. There’s no hard rock here, it’s all bombastic orchestral, high-tempo music and it rules. While the sound effects aren’t the best I’ve heard in the genre, they got the job done as far as letting me know where enemies were and what type of weaponry I would be facing.

The Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 campaign is an incredibly fun, polished, and stupid experience. The story, while nonsense, allows for some of the craziest experiences I can remember in a video game. Giant machetes falling from the sky, twisted highways and more are just some of the amazing playgrounds you’ll spend time in for some of the best gameplay around.

ENDGAME

Written by Jesse Norris

Call of Duty and crazy campaigns is nothing new, especially for the Black Ops part of the franchise. What is new is the Endgame system, which takes place entirely on the absolutely gigantic Avalon map. After you complete the final mission of the campaign you will automatically jump into this brand new mode.

Endgame is a PvE extraction experience where teams of 4, with up to 32 total players per map, will drop into four different zones. You’ll start at power level 0 and work your way up to 50. Each zone requires you to dish out and take more and more damage. At level 10 your damage doubles, allowing you into Zone 2, and so on.

We’re in the Endgame now

The point of the mode is to level up until you’re strong enough to get into Zone 4. To do this you’ll play what is essentially a ‘friendly’ extraction mode. It’s tough as hell, solo, and if you die you lose all progress with that operator. Each character has their own power level, which rises as you kill enemies and complete objectives in the mode. Fail to extract and those levels are gone.

There’s no worry about other players shooting you to death. It’s strictly PvE, and more of a collaborative ‘defeat The Guild‘ effort amongst the player base. We were shown some of the content coming in the game’s first season, like gigantic undead T-Rex’s and the giant robots from Black Ops 2‘s Origins map, because the Endgame is full of that crazy killer fog from the base campaign. It looks absolutely wild and my hours spent in it during the review period were my dream extraction game.

I’m not a huge PvP guy – I play Call of Duty for the campaign and Zombies modes. Having a new PvE mode, that like everything else, lets me level my guns and account levels has me in heaven. That’s right, the campaign and its Endgame mode now contribute to weapon and player experience levels. You can hit rank caps and prestige without ever touching another mode if you wanted to. By the time I finished the campaign and did two ‘Endgame’ runs, I was up to account level 32.

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Additional Thoughts on Endgame

Written by Gyozo Baki

Before tackling the massive Zombies and Multiplayer suites, I wanted to add a couple words to my experience with the huge Endgame map. Throughout the years since 2019’s Modern Warfare reboot, Call of Duty has attempted to deliver the definitive co-op experience.

That game’s quite awful Spec Ops mode. Various Zombies experiments that kinda went nowhere. The short-lived novelty of DMZ, an uninspired extraction shooter module. I’d argue even some of the PvE-centric events in Warzone haven’t been as good as hoped.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 finally nails it all with Endgame. This mode is an absolute riot. You start in low level areas, fighting against nameless soldiers. Before long, you’re running away from a giant zombie boss, paragliding into a high security base with killer robots and taking down VTOLs with your grenade launcher.

The entire mode is built in a way to allow players of any skill level, any pacing, any gameplay style to find their own fun. It rewards risks, but it also lets players save their progression and levels by extracting early. It is, by all means, the definitive version of what Call of Duty has been trying to to do for years, and I’m excited about the post-launch support it will receive.

ZOMBIES

Written by Gyozo Baki

Worlds Collide… oh wait, that was a different thing

The Zombies module in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is certainly quite large in scope. It features the biggest rounds-based map of the series yet, its Survival variant, and even a brand new Dead Ops Arcade experience.

It perhaps goes without saying that this module also inherits all the core features of Black Ops 7. The same movement system, the same cross-play features, the same graphics settings, down to the unified progression of all modes.

Having said that, let’s look at Ashes of the Damned, the gargantuan new round-based Zombies map. Story-wise, we are catapulted right after the end of Black Ops 6‘s final map, Reckoning. The crew, comprised of Grigori Weaver, Elizabeth Grey, Mackenzie Carver and Maya Aguinaldo, find themselves in the mysterious Dark Aether.

There, they meet alternate versions of the iconic Ultimis crew – namely, “Tank” Dempsey, Nikolai Belinski, Takeo Masaki, and Edward Richtofen. Together, they have to unravel this complex map by defeating a new villain named Great Voice. Plenty of fan service and all sorts of interesting lore ensues!

Black Ops 2 + 6 = 7?

Continuing the running theme of Black Ops 2 nostalgia, it’s a map very much inspired in design by that game’s launch map – TranZit. No bus this time, but a car, one we can drive around alone or with our buddies – like we’d do in multiplayer or Warzone.

This vehicle is used as a connection between 6 macro-areas, inspired by either TranZit‘s areas or other Black Ops classics. The diner and the farm from the aforementioned TranZit, but also references to other Zombies and multiplayer maps of old. The car can even be equipped with its own shock weapons, a Pack-A-Punch machine and more.

Atmosphere-wise, it’s all very dark and menacing, with an ominous purple sky accompanying our every action. The general gameplay is basically what we find in Black Ops 6‘s Zombies maps. Some of the early objectives are pointed out, with later ones needing to be figured out on our own. It has the same management of armors, perks, Pack-A-Punch weapon upgrades, Gobblegums and more. Even exfils are back, allowing players to bail on the mission to cash in on some rewards, rather than dying later.

This map is, by all means, an extension of what we’ve seen in Black Ops 6. That isn’t to say the map isn’t huge and ambitious, though, with the vehicle adding an extra layer of variety, and all 6 macro-areas offering plenty of progression and puzzles to beat. Tons of easter eggs, events, items to juggle – this will need some detective skills to crack. And if this is the launch Zombies map of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, I really have to wonder how crazy some of the post-launch experiences could become…

Alternatives

As was the case in last year’s Black Ops 6, a Directed Mode will arrive – after launch, though. It’s a simplified version of the Zombies experience with level capped undead foes, simplified main story progression and the removal of all the complex easter egg hunts. As was the case last year – the community has to figure it out on their own, first.

With limited chances of playing it in co-op, I can say I did find some pretty neat and convoluted stuff, but I’ll not spoil anything too specific. This map is absolutely loaded, let me tell you that much, with some wild set-pieces and massive boss battles. Maybe not as innovative or unique as Shadows of Evil or The Giant, and navigation in the many corridor-like paths can be a pain on a map this big.

Still, it’s a great Zombies experience, one of the bests in recent years for sure, with many secrets to uncover. If all that easter egg hunting sounds exhausting to you, though, good news: Survival mode is back as well. As of launch, it brings players to the Vandon Farm area of the Ashes of the Damned experience, with every exit closed and none of the meta-progression.

Exfils remain an option, and the player gets access to all perks, upgrades and weapons they would find otherwise – including the Wonder Weapons. Other areas of the map will appear as Survival maps in the future as well, so that’s even more replayable content we’ll see soon enough in Season 1 and beyond.

DEAD OPS ARCADE

Written by Gyozo Baki

PA-PA-YA! PA-PA-BACK!

You know what else is back? Dead Ops Arcade! The full name of this year’s mental experience is Dead Ops Arcade 4: Papaback in Black, and like the rest of the Zombies mode, it treads a familiar ground. The fourth installment of this very un-serious, yet addictive and deep top-down shoot ’em up minigame is bigger than ever, though no revolution is in sight.

Once more, either alone or in a team of 4, we have to traverse 20 different areas (many of which based on classic Black Ops maps), with 4 levels each, to rescue our pet chicken Fidolina. Most encounters boil down to classic top-down shmup gameplay, with new weapons, hilarious power-ups and events mixing up the formula. There’s even coins and gems to grab for high scores, extra lives, bombs and more to manage.

Like many things in this game, Dead Ops Arcade 4 is an evolution of what we’ve played previously. There is, however, a new Casual mode, with a lower difficulty. Interestingly, there are first person segments when picking up a certain power-up. In Casual mode, players can choose a variant when the game is always in first person.

Because apparently every single game mode in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 will receive updates in future seasons, we already have heard from developers that even Dead Ops Arcade 4 isn’t quite done yet. At least two new mode variants will be added in future updates: a Hardcore mode that is predictably a ton more difficult, and one where we can “cash in” our progress and continue from there – not unlike in Endgame.

Zombie Season ’25/’26

In conclusion, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7‘s Zombies segment feels like a somewhat safe, yet big and expansive evolution of what we played in last year’s Black Ops 6. Ashes of the Damned brings a familiar gameplay loop, plenty of fan service, but also a massive playground with countless easter eggs and challenges to complete.

Dead Ops Arcade 4 follows a similar philosophy – familiar, just bigger and more varied. All in all, this ain’t the Zombies module that will convince anyone who already wasn’t a fan, but it’s a very good package all around. Up until the Directed Mode drops for this map and the many new Zombies experiences hit throughout the 12 months of support for the game, that is all from the undead for today.

MULTIPLAYER

And now we shoot each other

Last but certainly not least, we move onto the Multiplayer suite of the Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 experience. Here lie a series of relatively subtle changes in philosophy and design that may not be too obvious for a casual player, but are in fact enormously important to the flow and pace of the experience.

The excellent designs of Black Ops games of old. The ridiculously satisfying gameplay quirks of newer Call of Duty games. And even a handful of genuinely cool new tricks.

I do have to preface this part of the review by saying that I spent several hours playing with other people in online matchmaking. However, this wasn’t the general crowd of players, but a limited group of press, content creators and developers.

The review will be updated shortly after launch, with millions of players online, in case it somehow offers a drastically different experience than that. And now, let’s get to it: how is Call of Duty: Black Ops 7‘s Multiplayer?

More Black Ops, less Modern Warfare

Those with a long history of Call of Duty are probably familiar, by now, with the differences in these games. Most games tend to fall into two design philosophies – those of Infinity Ward, and those of Treyarch. The former of Modern Warfare fame, that latter makers of everything Black Ops – including Call of Duty: Black Ops 7.

The 2019 reboot of Modern Warfare was a turning point for the franchise. We had a vastly updated graphics engine and the launch of the free-to-play Warzone stand-alone game. That reset button came with a cost. A decade or so of balancing, optimizing, eSports-oriented changes and so forth. Gone were the camping strategies for the most part, gone were the OP akimbo guns or the flawless killstreaks, yet they came back with a vengeance in 2019.

Last year, in my review for the multiplayer portion of Black Ops 6, I said that Treyarch has gone the closest, thus far, to undo said damage. Don’t get me wrong – Modern Warfare (2019) did a ton right, and it was a breath of fresh air for the series. But it also brought negative changes aplenty. With Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, we’ve finally undone most of them.

For starters, tac-sprint is gone. Sort of. This “double sprint” of sorts has altered the pace of Call of Duty quite drastically, but Black Ops 7 decided to press the brakes for once. While tac-sprint still exists as a perk, the general sensations in the beta and full game alike are that this is a slightly slower game. Just like Call of Duty games were before 2019.

Remember the good old days of Black Ops? Treyarch really hope that you do…

Treyarch’s philosophy can be felt in every corner in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. Their iconic 3-lane map design, rendered however more vertical by wall-jump paths. A somewhat high time-to-kill (TTK). Smart adjustments, such as the good old Ghost perk only hiding you from UAVs if you’re moving, not if you’re camping. Scorestreaks, not killstreaks, are the jam this year, and most of them have their counters.

There’s a lot of new maps, but also various classic arenas are coming back – predominantly from Black Ops 2. Hijacked, Express, Raid, season 1 will feature yet another version of Nuketown, Standoff, Meltdown… man, it feels good to be back. And the best part is that the new maps feel right at home next to these timeless classics.

The weapon and class system are similar to what’s found in Black Ops 6 – perks and their combos, Gunsmith, you know the drill by now. There’s new mastery unlocks for certain abilities, but it’s overall a familiar feeling. Perhaps the most pleasant addition is being able to copy and share entire loadouts and weapon builds. Someone melted you in 3 shots with a no-recoil gun? You can copy their build with the press of a button. EZ!

The game’s slightly futuristic vibes give us various funky tech and streaks. Robots, laser shooters and more, but grounded in relative realism. Much like Black Ops 2, we’re playing with relatively plausible tech. Well, for the most part. The “red mist” grenades from the campaign show up here, as well, making the players hallucinate players where there are none. Spooky!

We have Battlefield at home

The small Gunfight maps are still in. In terms of novelty however, there is a brand new 20v20 Skirmish mode on so-called Mission maps. This truly feels like a small-scale Battlefield experience, but with Call of Duty’s cut-throat pace. And, unlike most big map modes in recent years, Skirmish flows really well.

Only two maps for now, but more will be added in future seasons. Two teams of up to 20 (and a minimum of 10) launch on opposing sides of medium-to-big arena, using glider wings. This allows them to land on virtually any point of the map, including on top of buildings, towers and so on.

Objectives to capture keep rotating, with points awarded for getting kills and even more for grabbing said flags, in what is a reverse-Battlefield ticket system, but with bases disappearing as soon as captured. It’s a high-pace, big map mode that truly never slows down. Killstreaks can only be obtained rarely, there’s a handful of vehicles, but it’s the gliding that truly forces everyone to stay on the edge. It’s a really fun mode, and while it won’t dethrone the classic 6v6 experiences, it’s my favourite big map variant in years.

Speaking of – Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 offers the usual barrage of 6v6 modes like team deathmatch, search & destroy, domination and so forth. Perhaps most importantly, however, skill-based matchmaking (or SBMM) is functionally gone. Most playlists of the game seemingly favour connections when pairing players, like in older Call of Duty games, rather than skill level. This makes for a more unpredictable and more casual experience. The impressions of the “removal” of SBMM in the beta were positive – I’ll reserve a second judgement in case the post-launch experience isn’t up to par.

The best multiplayer of the new era?

All in all, I’ve been having an excellent time with Call of Duty: Black Ops 7‘s Multiplayer portion. Removing tac-sprint and adding wall-jumps helps with game’s pacing a lot, further improving Black Ops 6‘s already impressive core gameplay. Maps new and old flow well, most balance changes are for the better, and even the new 20v20 Skirmish mode is a blast.

Time will tell how much time I’ll spend on this year’s Call of Duty‘s Multiplayer suite. But as far as I’m concerned, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 may just have the best PvP the franchise has had this decade.

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TECHNICAL ASPECTS

That certified Call of Duty feeling

It is perhaps moot to point that all of this barrage of content, as per usual for Call of Duty, has all sorts of awesome features. Countless accessibility settings, customizable HUD, 120hz and Variable Refresh Rate, Dolby Atmos, custom FOV, full cross-play, keyboard and mouse support even on console.

And, well, the game looks and sounds absolutely fantastic. Okay, we know, the developers threw several billions of dollars into this franchise throughout the years. But it still remains quite wild and impressive to stop for a second, on top of a hill in Endgame‘s Avalon, and see how bright, detailed and crisp everything is.

Indeed, once more it has to be said: Call of Duty is, in many ways, second to none when it comes to core gameplay feeling. The movement is fast, snappy. Aiming feels rewarding with mouse and keyboard, and there’s just the right amount of aim assist on controller to satisfy anyone.

Whether you’re mauling wall-jumping pros in multiplayer or not very intelligent undead hordes, this formula is still extremely fun. Maybe the movement and drivability of vehicles could be improved a bit, as that certainly lags behind something like Battlefield 6, but Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 remains a top-notch shooting experience in almost every way. And the new, shared progression is a great incentive to truly play every mode. And you really should – all of them are pretty damn great this year.

THE FINAL VERDICT

Written by Gyozo Baki

Familiar highs we can not take for granted

Call of Duty has had its share of highs and lows. Some of the best FPS campaigns in gaming, yet also various disappointments throughout the years. Incredible Zombies and other co-op experiences, yet completely missing the mark in certain titles.

Activision‘s studios created some of the most iconic multiplayer experiences in modern gaming history, yet inbetween we had installments that felt ill-conceived in many ways. Even the quality of the post-support seems to fluctuate a lot. It always feels like a balancing act with this franchise, and it’s been a while since they’ve truly delivered on all aspects at once. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 manages to do just that.

Summing it all up… we have an explosive campaign with co-op support and an exhilarating, highly replayable PvE endgame called… well, Endgame. A somewhat safe, yet enormous Zombies experience that’s set to satisfy fans. The most fun and balanced multiplayer experience the franchise had in years, with a ton of content at launch.

There’s even the promise of the most comprehensive post-launch support yet. Of course, haven’t forgotten about Warzone, either – the Black Ops 7 content arrives into the F2P battle royale mode, as always, with Season 1 in December. A season that already promises to bring massive content updates to literally all of the game’s main modes – even Dead Ops Arcade.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is an absolute riot. It’s not afraid to rely on copious amounts of nostalgia, while also pushing the series forward in the most logical direction. Treyarch have looked back at Black Ops 2 and 3 for inspiration, and have delivered a fantastic Call of Duty, full to the brim of incredible content.

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Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 releases on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC, PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 on the 14th of November, 2025 for the price of 79.99 USD/EUR. Over on the Xbox side, it supports just about everything expected from the Microsoft experience. It is Play Anywhere, it is available on Xbox Cloud Gaming, and it’s a day one title for Game Pass Ultimate and Game Pass PC subscribers.