Bucking the usual trend of breaks between numbered sequels, Call of Duty Black Ops 7 is following
just 12 months on from Black Ops 6, and you'd perhaps assume that meant only small tweaks
to what was one of the series' high points last year. But the teams at Raven and Treyarch evidently don't see it that way, and have instead built
one of the most unconventional COD campaigns to date. In many ways it doesn't feel like a COD single player mode, it's more like a multiplayer
experiment squeezed into a campaign shell, playing best when you're accompanied by squadmates
echoing zombies or the now defunct DMZ at times. But it all culminates in a brand new endgame portion that stitches together aspects of
COD's past open world successes and failures in an attempt to become something new
In reality, that post credits content is a repetitive shooting gallery that adds little
to the excitement that leads up to it. I recently criticized Battlefield 6's single player for playing it safe and not taking any risks
and to Black Ops 7's credit, the same can't be said here. The problem however is that not many
of its big swings hit resulting in one of Call of Duty most intriguing yet flawed campaigns
Much of Black Ops 7's intrigue emanates from one fundamental design choice
For the first time in many years, a Call of Duty campaign is fully playable in four player co-op
and it really does feel like it's made with that in mind as the preferred method of play
This comes with both positives and negatives. Teaming up with friends is good fun
with fighting big bosses that have multiple weak points to fire upon simultaneously
or stealthily working through an enemy area tactically, both coming with a good deal of satisfaction
Nice and quiet. But it also detrimentally affects the solo experience, from not having AI companions fill in for you if no buddies are online
or kicking you for inactivity if you're idle for too long, to not even being able to pause due to its online-only nature
Its open areas and endgame portions seem catered towards a group experience as well
and can end up just a little lonely when sipping around by yourself
To an extent, it feels like Activision is finally admitting that most people come to its Hallmark Shooter for multiplayer fun
rather than the single player story modes the series was founded on There are also no difficulty options this time around meaning that in theory it should scale the threat depending on how many players are in your squad In my experience though the number of enemies in a level remains the same leaving me feeling
overwhelmed by foes even in its earliest levels. By comparison, playing in a full squad makes these
encounters a breeze, with not enough targets to go around sometimes. In fact, enemy numbers are
uneven across the campaign as a whole, sometimes swarming you with dozens of rabid rushes
but are others presenting you with a couple of soldiers wandering through a door when you're
expecting an onslaught. It's admittedly a difficult balance to get right, but one that has not been
achieved here. As for the structure of the campaign, Black Ops 7's story is delivered at breakneck
speed, taking me just about 5 hours to reach the endgame. Its 11 missions threw me through
one exotic location to the next, from one time period to another, and deep into nightmare realms
full of otherworldly horrors and delights. The year is 2035, and new threats are here to
instigate a global collapse once again The re of Black Ops 2 villain Raul Menendez thrusts the playable unit Spectre into action and soon has them facing off against an evil tech company called the Guild What follows is a set of missions that throws you
in and out of reality thanks to a fear toxin being weaponized by the Guild
led by Kiernan Shipka's Emma Kagan, who is training in Mad Men for Mad Mechs here
A combination of cliched evil sci-fi tech corp and Batman Arkham Scarecrow-esque antics
leads each level to interesting places from a visual perspective, as long-buried memories of our protagonists are dredged up and morph into horror-filled mazes
I do wish there was a little more in terms of mission variety when it comes to actual level and objective design though
with corridor shooting taking the lead in most of these excursions. If last year's Black Ops 6 leaned more into grounded espionage and subterfuge
7 is a much louder proposition, choosing to demolish the lobby of a complex to gain access to it
rather than sweet-talking the security guard standing in front of it. As a result, there is no shortage of big moments justifying its blockbuster label
Dodging giant falling machetes like you've stumbled into a Looney Tunes cartoon is a one-off joy
as it's taking control of a lavish luxury boat and ramming it into the side of a building
Moments like this feel pinched right out of Christopher Nolan's back pocket
and sit perfectly in the cool of Dune