If there’s one thing that this girl loves, it’s some Call of Duty. As someone who really began playing with the original Black Ops game, and thrived on Black Ops 2, you could imagine the excitement coursing through me to know we’d finally be tying things back to Cordis Die and David Mason with the latest release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7.

And while I really loved coming back to a plot-line that felt familiar, I can see that Black Ops 7 may have just not delivered on the assignment that the players who loved this story deserved. Let’s unpack all of this.

Story and Gameplay

The first thing to talk about is the story, and honestly, it starts pretty interestingly enough, but even before the first mission, it seems the veil on the game’s big twist villain has already started slipping. It’s a twist that I personally really liked, but one I wish had seen more of an air of mystery for a bit longer. Bringing back Mason and Harper was a nice thing to see, especially with how well both characters and the villain Emma Kagan fit into the plotline.

But the most egregious thing about the story itself stems from its multiplayerization of what should’ve been a single-player story. What I mean by that is the fact that the game forces you to be online at all to play this campaign, loading up as if you were dropping into a multiplayer lobby. To make matters worse, the levels within the game also feel very multiplayer-like, as if ripped from the cursed MW3, at times. Just very open and mindless. This is a COD story at its worst, in terms of mechanics.

Where the game shines, though, is in its standard multiplayer and, of course, zombie mode. The zombies mode feels like a return to form, but with new flourishes that make it feel like a proper move into the future. The environments are large but don’t feel as open and empty as the one in Cold War.

Personally, I really enjoy TDM and have found myself absolutely loving what the multiplayer has to offer. There’s even a tutorial showing off the game’s new movement capabilities of wall planting, which I find to be a nice addition to spice up gameplay. The wall running of Black Ops 3 and the boosting of Advanced Warfare are long gone, but this feels like a grounded, realistic take on how we can do more with movement in an FPS title.

TTK (time to kill) is finely tuned here, and honestly, this is the best gunplay I’ve felt in a Call of Duty title in years. It’s such a smooth experience to move in this world both with your body overall, and your aim. What I don’t love about multiplayer (and even the campaign) is the fact that, at least on core, enemies have a health bar. I think it’s kind of a bit of handholding that isn’t warranted and takes away the impact of those exhilarating, tight confrontations with an enemy who has the same skill as you. If you know exactly how much health they have, you’re more apt to do something boring than act on instinct.

Graphics and Sound

Visually, this game is beautiful. Mason, Harper, and Kagan all look exactly like their phenomenal actors, and their visual performances are only furthered by the great voice acting we’ve come to expect from a COD title, thanks to Milo Ventimiglia, Michael Rooker, and Kiernan Shipka, respectively. This truly is the best COD game from a visual standpoint, and I can’t wait to see what kind of new operator skins and new maps enter the fold to take advantage of the visuals.

Audio is a favorite of mine with any COD title, though futuristic, guns in Black Ops 7 thankfully still run on bullets. Because of this, guns really pack a punch and sound so realistic. Voices carrying through hallways sound as distant as they should, and footsteps are accurate to the instant. Playing with headphones or earbuds is an absolute must in this title.

Feedback and Verdict

Black Ops 7 really is an enjoyable and highly fine-tuned FPS for players. While the campaign suffers heavily from some missteps, both in its storytelling but majorly in how it handles the campaign, this is the FPS to play in 2025/2026. Gunplay is so satisfying, and the zombies mode is at its absolute best right now. But I cannot overstate just how disappointed I am in the accessibility of its campaign, which I was just so excited about. If you’re here for multiplayer, it’s a no-brainer to purchase; if you’re here for the single-player campaign, it just isn’t what’s expected, so tread carefully.