Following Call of Duty’s incredible commercial success with Black Ops 6, the series has returned with yet another entry for its popular Black Ops IP. Black Ops 7 offers a direct follow-up to the events of Black Ops 2, bringing back fan-favourite characters like Raul Menendez and David Mason.
Set 10 years after the events of Black Ops 2, Black Ops 7 promises a thrilling campaign with both familiar and new faces. However, initial impressions suggest it has completely missed the mark. In fact, many believe the campaign is even worse than Modern Warfare 3 and Black Ops 3’s single-player components.
According to dedicated Call of Duty content creator ModernWarzone, Black Ops 7 is among Call of Duty’s worst campaigns of all time. The content creator gave the game’s single-player component a score of just 3/10, comparing it to Modern Warfare 3 and Black Ops 3, two campaigns largely considered to be among Call of Duty’s worst offerings.
I can confidently say that is one of, if not the worst, Call of Duty campaigns. -ModernWarzone
Other Call of Duty content creators, like Nick, echoed a similar sentiment, stating that Call of Duty has gone creatively bankrupt. It seems general audiences are in disbelief at the fact that such a single-player offering was greenlit as a sequel to Black Ops 2, one of the series’ most beloved entries.
Similarly, gamers on Reddit highlighted that Black Ops 7 makes past poorly received campaigns from Call of Duty look much better than they were. In particular, Redditor u/CyanJayOfficial noted that perhaps the fandom was too harsh on Black Ops 3 when looking at the quality of Call of Duty’s latest single-player adventure.
All in all, the major criticisms regarding the campaign appear to stem from an overreliance on sci-fi hallucination sequences. Gamers have also found Call of Duty’s overuse of zombies in the campaign quite disappointing, with many even mocking the over-the-top boss fights presented throughout the story.
Others have pointed out inconsistencies like the lack of AI companions when playing offline. It seems the game continues to present dialogue from these characters without having them be present during the missions, making for some very interesting situations throughout the game.
Of course, the campaign also appears to be quite short for a Call of Duty story. This became a major point of contention for Modern Warfare 3’s campaign, and it seems Black Ops 7 has followed suit with a story lasting just over 4 hours. Moreover, it seems the story does little with returning characters like Woods and Menendez, something fans don’t appear to be too fond of.
Player impressions make it clear that fans hope to return to a more realistic and military-focused style of campaign for future Call of Duty titles. The good news is that the series is rumoured to be returning to the Modern Warfare franchise next year, and Infinity Ward’s games usually offer more realistic experiences.
