Indie Gamer Reviews Call of Duty: Black Ops 7

• DEVELOPER: Treyarch, Raven Software, Beenox, High Moon Studios, Sledgehammer Games, Infinity Ward, Activision Shanghai, Demonware
• PUBLISHER: Activision
• PLATFORMS: PC, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5
• GENRE: Shooter / Multiplayer
• RELEASE DATE: November 17, 2025
• STARTING PRICE: 79,99€
• REVIEWED VERSION: PC

I generally stay away from AAA titles, often finding them to be disappointing and not worth the time. While there are certainly unique exceptions, I usually stick to indie games. However, with my Xbox Game Pass subscription still active on my PC (I canceled due to the ridiculous pricing), I decided to check out Activision’s latest offering – Call of Duty: Black Ops 7.

The last entry I played was Advanced Warfare back in 2014, nearly 11 years ago, and none since had piqued my interest. Here’s my summary of the new title: a decent multiplayer experience with solid gunplay, an embarrassing campaign, and a Zombies mode that remains completely stagnant. It is a miserable, intellectually insulting experience, serving as a prime, definitive example of the current state of the industry.

Campaign

I will be honest, I have no idea what the story is about. It feels like we are jumping randomly from one theme to the next. First, we are in a deep, advanced laboratory. Next thing I know, we are fighting inside someone else’s dreams. Then we are in a huge open world chasing a sniper, followed by fighting against machine guns, and finally, I am fighting with zombies. I was completely confused by all of it. Is this supposed to make sense? What is actually happening? Is this game meant for children? Am I missing something? Does any of this connect to the older games?

Because the story was so confusing, I had to do my own research to figure out the main plot. I found out that the true villain is Emma Kagan, the CEO of The Guild, a criminal group from Black Ops 6. We are apparently exposed to The Cradle, a device that previously caused hallucinations and chaos. Unfortunately, the dialogue and pacing are terrible throughout the entire gameplay, which only lasts for five hours.

The characters don’t talk naturally, the plot is disorganized, and I truly don’t know what the developers were thinking when they made this campaign. Also, every single map lacks interesting locations or side tasks. Plus, the boss fights feature big HP bar small or huge enemies, but the game simply tells you exactly where to shoot, which shows little respect for your intelligence.

Not Worth Your Time

The story constantly uses silly tricks to force in awkward jumping puzzles and tiny objectives that require no thought, for example, when it comes to hacking. There are no memorable moments or unique gameplay mechanics. Everything in the game is too structured and linear. This means there is almost no chance to explore or feel rewarded by finding a special weapon or upgrade. Most of the exciting cinematic scenes are just cutscenes, and the actual gameplay is mostly just entering a room, shooting, and trying to stay alive.

Enemies are super dumb: they can shoot you up close and then forget you exist right after. I can’t believe they chose to make the main story based on playing with others, just why? Also, guess what? You cannot pause when playing alone, and you cannot quit and save your progress because there are no save spots. Missions aren’t super long, but if your internet goes out at any point, you are forced to start the whole mission over.

Call me crazy, but I feel like Microsoft and Activision are forcing me to finish the campaign in one sitting. I can’t believe this costs 80 euros. Even though I played it on Game Pass, I still wonder who thought this was a good idea. Luckily, the multiplayer part was a solid experience for me.

Multiplayer & Zombies

The good news is that even when playing the campaign, you level up, unlock weapon skins, and get unique rewards that instantly carry over to the multiplayer. There are definitely some interesting maps with plenty of walls to jump and maneuver around. Just as I remember, there is a lot of fast action, camping, positioning, and general skillful play. The multiplayer is without a doubt decent. It was enjoyable and something you could easily return to. However, I personally won’t be playing it much, as Battlefield 6 offers a much better experience for me.

I didn’t run into any technical issues, connection problems, or major problems with weapon balance. There are also a few fun game modes, especially the ones focused on objectives. At the end of the day, multiplayer is always multiplayer, you either enjoy it or you don’t.

Finally, there’s Zombies. I actually liked what it offered. The mode focuses on building a special vehicle and driving between many connected locations, completing goals like installing a Pack-A-Punch machine onto the vehicle. You can still stay in one spot and fight off waves, but if you do, you miss out on extra benefits. Overall, the mode is just fine. The normal cycle remains: survive to get better (higher-rarity) weapons, upgrade them with Pack-A-Punch for more damage, improve your armor, and gain new perks. Also, the enemies themselves feel too simple because there is not much variety.

For those who want a more traditional Zombies experience, there is one survival map called Van Dorn Farm. It has a small layout with several secrets to find, but again, it is fine. It is fun to gather zombies and kill them all, or fully upgrade a legendary weapon. Even though there are many ways to customize your playstyle, the core gameplay is still the same.

Conclusion

To sum up the whole package: the campaign is awful, the multiplayer is decent, and the Zombies mode feels too safe. If you already love the multiplayer in this series, the new features, maps, and the large amount of unlocks might make it worth playing. If you want to play the campaign, it is not worth your time, not even for a laugh.

As a €80 package, Call of Duty Black Ops 7 is simply embarrassing. This is a multi-billion-dollar franchise, and the best they can offer is a decent multiplayer and a passable but unnecessary Zombies mode? I think there are much better games available, and if you no longer have Xbox Game Pass, there is absolutely no reason to buy this game.

Review based on the version available via Xbox Game Pass