You’re going to go to Avalon, where there are no loadouts and all of your killing tools must be scavenged off the bodies of your enemies. It’s a massive place with an ever-shrinking boundary in which your squad of four must fight for every inch of ground you gain against no less than 25 other teams.

Your loadout is dependent on what you’re able to find, but upgrading gear is shaping up to be quite seamless, per this deep dive on the official website for those who want the full rundown of what this one brings to the table. The short version is that your weapons come with unique Archetypes, and finding one you like lets you upgrade it via Attachment Kits, improving on its rarity with apparently immediate effects. You’re going to need every advantage you can get as your opponents are going to come at you on land, from the air, and even from the water, depending on the vehicles they’re able to gain access to.

Of course, the same goes for you and your team. It’s a free-for-all with a lot of cool stuff, and it should keep Call of Duty: Warzone fans occupied for hours. Blackout players will find a lot of familiar tools like the Sensor Dart, Trauma Kit, Grappling Hook, and the return of the Perk System, albeit in a streamlined form.

Blacks Ops Royale is free to play and drops on March 12 at 9 PM PT. You can check out the trailer and all its chaos below.

However, the latter serves as the MVP when it comes to overall hardware spending. At $248 million, it’s up 16 percent over the previous year, which was enough to offset declining sales for the PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Switch 1. The fact that it achieved this while ranking second in dollar and unit sales is equally impressive.

The only new game release was Bandai Namco’s Code Vein 2, which reached 11th in the overall charts. However, it topped the PC sales chart that considered all storefronts. Perhaps even more surprising is that Final Fantasy 7 Remake re-entered the top ten charts, going from 225th place in December 2025 to ninth, thanks to its Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch 2 ports.

If that’s not a good sign that Square Enix made the right move to go multiplatform with the trilogy, we don’t know what is. The next entry, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, is out on June 3rd for both platforms.

Why is that a problem? The Call of Duty App doesn’t just include Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, which launched last year to underwhelming reviews due to its campaign. It also tracks Black Ops 6, Warzone, the Modern Warfare series, and much more. Keep in mind that these player counts follow Holiday discounts and even a free week. The sad part is that this isn’t even the lowest in the past week, as it reached 39,015 peak concurrent players on January 8th.

Of course, none of this changes the fact that Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 topped last November’s US sales charts (even if Battlefield 6 emerged as the top-selling premium game of 2026). Engagement with the app on consoles in the region was also as strong as ever, only lagging behind Fortnite and eking out ahead of Grand Theft Auto 5.

Nevertheless, Activision has pivoted significantly by announcing that it would no longer release back-to-back Modern Warfare and Black Ops titles. “We will drive innovation that is meaningful, not incremental. While we aren’t sharing those plans today, we look forward to doing so when the time is right.” Its developers have apparently been building the “next era of Call of Duty,” and judging by the current release cycle, it may be Modern Warfare 4.

In the meantime, check out our review for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 here. We gave it a five out of ten for the multiplayer (despite netcode and hit registration issues), and Zombies (despite the overtly safe gameplay loop). The campaign is an utter disaster, but at least Treyarch released an update to let you skip it and go straight to Endgame.

“Call of Duty has enjoyed long-standing success because of all of you, a passionate community that demands excellence and deserves nothing less,” it said in a recent blog post. “We also know that for some of you, the franchise has not met your expectations fully. To be very clear, we know what you expect and rest assured we will deliver, and overdeliver, on those expectations as we move forward.”

For Black Ops 7, the goal was for “a spiritual successor to Black Ops 2, and the studios have poured their passion into making a great game that all of us are very proud of.” Of course, the results left much to be desired, and Activision is seemingly aware. “It’s one thing for us to say it; more importantly, it’s up to you to try it and judge for yourselves.”

As a result, you’ll no longer see back-to-back sequels for Modern Warfare (which suffered similar criticism with 2023’s Modern Warfare 3). The reasons for this move are “many, but the main one is to ensure we provide an absolutely unique experience each and every year.”

“We will drive innovation that is meaningful, not incremental. While we aren’t sharing those plans today, we look forward to doing so when the time is right.”

It went on to state that the “best days are ahead of us, given the depth and talent of our development teams” and that it’s been building the “next era of Call of Duty.” “It will deliver precisely on what you want, along with some surprises that push the franchise and the genre forward. We look forward to welcoming you in, listening to you, and moving forward together.”

As for the not-so-distant future, there will be a free trial for multiplayer and Zombies, where Activision would appreciate it if you “experience the game firsthand and decide for yourselves.” Not the campaign, though, which it probably wants you to pretend doesn’t exist, please, and thank you.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is available on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5, and PC. Check out our review for more details on why it’s one of the worst entries in the series (so far).

EA Sports FC 26 claimed the top spot again, while Battlefield 6 hopped to third place. While the fall of Black Ops 7 may not seem all that bad in isolation, it’s part of a worrying trend, especially with how middling the reception has been. And let’s not forget that this is the title’s second week on sale.

Black Friday deals also helped titles like Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and Ghost of Yōtei reach the top ten revenue earners in eighth and ninth place, respectively. Otherwise, the only new entry this week is Kirby Air Riders, and it failed to chart in unit sales (digital sales weren’t accounted for).

It reached tenth place in revenue, though, so that’s something, but as Chris Dring of The Game Business notes, “it is a considerably smaller brand in Europe.”

Chris Dring of The Game Business also estimates they’re over 50 percent lower than Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. While the number of players is likely high due to its availability on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass, its sales have proven disappointing. Of course, US sales remain a mystery, so we’ll have to wait for more details on that front.

For more details on why Black Ops 7 has stumbled so hard this year, check out our review. By comparison, Anno 117: Pax Romana had a strong opening week, selling about 2.5 times more than its predecessor, Anno 1800. It’s currently ranked second, beneath Black Ops 7 in a fitting reversal of their debut Steam week sales.

Even if it’s a barely-concealed copy of Zombies from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Endgame is a marked improvement over the campaign. Granted, as we noted in our review, it’s akin to playing in a Destiny Patrol Zone while slowly accruing Combat Rating and unlocking passive abilities, but it’s a step up.

But what about those who suffered through the campaign needlessly? Treyarch offers the gift of one hour Double XP Tokens, three each for leveling, weapons, and the Battle Pass. Zombies players will also get three Perkaholic GobbleGums.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is available for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5, and PC. While Activision has yet to announce sales figures, its physical sales are down 61 percent in the UK compared to last year’s Black Ops 6. Even Anno 117: Pax Romana cleaned its clock in launch week sales on Steam.

In the United Kingdom, physical sales are down 61 percent from last year’s Black Ops 6 and pale in comparison to Battlefield 6. The Call of Duty app, where all things Call of Duty are primarily accessible, barely scraped by 100,000 peak concurrent players this past weekend on Steam. Compare that to last year’s Black Ops 6, which still managed 306,460 players at launch while also being available on Game Pass.

It currently has a “Mixed” rating on the platform – out of a meager 1,432 user reviews, only 41 percent recommend you go anywhere near this disaster. “I despise the fact that someone else paid 79.99 EUR to gift me the game,” says one review. “It doesn’t deserve to be at such a high price.” Another says, “I’ve had viruses on my computer that were more pleasant to install than this,” possibly referring to the laundry list of components you need to deselect to begin installation (including, for some reason, the Black Ops 6 beta).

But there’s one that truly stands out to me. “This game is bad. Feels so cheap yet charges full price. It plays and feels terrible. I don’t know, maybe I’m just getting old. Glad I could get a refund.”

Frustration, bafflement, acceptance and finally, moving on. To say that Call of Duty is inspiring those emotions more and more with each passing year would be an understatement, but Black Ops 7 feels like a new low for the franchise. You should usually take user scores on Metacritic with a grain of salt, but the fact that it currently has the lowest in the series, even below Modern Warfare 3 and Infinite Warfare at 1.7, is saying something.

By now, you probably already know what went wrong. The campaign, which features four-player co-op, is an atrocity. A jumbled mess of sci-fi, hallucinogenic sequences, and Open Combat missions where you “make your own fun” in the blandest maps ever created. No checkpoints, no AI teammates when playing solo – no pausing when solo either. And you better not get disconnected, or else it’s back to the beginning.

Multiplayer offers better maps than last year but still suffers from terrible spawn logic, desync, and overall shoddy netcode, which pairs horribly with its inconsistent time-to-kill and slide-heavy movement. Zombies…works, but it’s surprisingly barebones if you’re only interested in Survival, with only one map. Otherwise, have fun driving around a series of interconnected areas with little by way of new enemies, power-ups or gameplay mechanics.

How did this all happen? It honestly stems from Modern Warfare 3. Reportedly meant to serve as a post-launch DLC for Modern Warfare 2 2022, it was expanded into a full game. Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier reported that Sledgehammer had 16 months to develop the title, which meant overtime and working weekends to meet the deadline. The studio would go on to deny those reports, but the results spoke for themselves.

As did the sales. Despite becoming the worst-reviewed mainline entry – which is still the case after all these years, so breathe easy, Black Ops 7 – it was still a success. In its debut month, it became the second-best-selling game of 2023 in the United States, even with the number of heavy hitters that the year had. That was all the confirmation that Activision needed, apparently, because it’s now embracing this pattern of turning follow-ups that should have been DLC – or an email, really – into bloated numbered sequels.

The problem with this strategy is, surprise, Game Pass. Modern Warfare 3 wasn’t available on the service until about eight months later, when it would have already made the majority of its sales. Black Ops 6 was available at launch on the service, and despite a better reception, both from critics and fans, it reportedly cost Microsoft about $300 million in lost sales. And that was without worthy competition like ARC Raiders and Battlefield 6 hanging around, hogging all the attention (even if they have their own share of problems).

The company seemingly raised Game Pass prices in response, while ensuring that only Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers received access to it at launch. The jury is still out on whether the extra cost helped shore up any losses, but I’m not sure it will, given the negative word of mouth surrounding Black Ops 7.

Of course, as many will note, it’s pointless to complain about Call of Duty and what went wrong because it will still sell. Call of Duty HQ will still top engagement charts in the United States on consoles, regardless of its performance on PC (which you can attribute to Warzone more, but some people aren’t ready for that conversation). But will Activision really carry on like it’s no big deal?

After all, Treyarch did cave to matchmaking changes after years of complaints, finally leaning away from skill-based matchmaking and bringing back persistent lobbies, even if netcode issues persist. There was also that whole attempt to drive attention away from Battlefield 6’s launch by making Black Ops 6 free for a week, including the entirety of its campaign.

Call of Duty will forever exist in its own bubble, where the overwhelming majority of its players buy it year after year, regardless of criticism, as seen with the likes of EA Sports FC or NBA 2K. But if everything is so hunky dory, even with better releases like Black Ops 6, would Microsoft bother with its Game Pass price hikes? Would it have removed discounts on DLC and games for subscribers, simply to get every last nickel and dime from those purchasing Call of Duty Points?

Where Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 isn’t an awfully made game, it’s painfully bland. Look at Avalon, the so-called endgame map for the campaign. Look at the number of remastered maps in multiplayer or the number of returning weapons from last year. Look at Zombies, where the biggest “innovation”, if you could call it that, is driving a truck.

However, longtime fans want to spin it, there’s a concerted effort from Activision to really look inward and examine everything wrong with the series (and no, that doesn’t mean cutting back on the number of goofy skins). It can’t, quite frankly, because it’s not motivated by how you enjoyed the campaign, whether you care about these characters, or if you’re having fun. All it cares about are monthly active user milestones and microtransaction revenue, and in the triple-A industry, that’s never enough.

Until it looks inward and admits there’s a problem, expect any answers to long-running questions to be no better than lies. But if you’re a long-time fan, why ask questions? Simply consume product and then get excited for more product. Activision and Microsoft won’t mind, so long as you’re ponying up the cash year in and year out, regardless of the stress on its development teams, layoffs, and AI usage. And really, isn’t that all that matters?

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Well, it only makes sense to start from the bottom, so let’s dive into the Campaign, or as I’d like to call it, “Not even worth the cost of PC Game Pass.” Raul Menendez is back, except he isn’t – let’s dispel that right away. The actual villain is Emma Kagan, the CEO of the Guild, which was a criminal syndicate in Black Ops 6. David “Section” Mason is sent to investigate the Guild along with his team to find out if there’s any truth to Menendez’s revival, even as he battles the demons of his past. Oh, and Troy Marshall, the protagonist of last year’s edition, is also here.

After confirming that Menendez is in fact dead, Section and his team are dosed with The Cradle – yet another Black Ops 6 plot device which led to many hallucinatory shenanigans. Except in Black Ops 7, it drives the plot and mission design in monitor-punching fashion. The team must thus fight with it infecting their senses even as the Guild attempts to enact a dastardly plot that even Jerry Bruckheimer would balk at.

"No interesting set pieces or mechanics – heck, most of the cinematic moments unfold in actual cutscenes. Just go in, shoot things, and don’t ask too many questions or try to suffer too much brain damage."

To cut to the chase, the dialogue and pacing are simply horrendous. Characters don’t converse naturally; even in terms of acting, they come across as phony and unbelievable. As for the actual story, it’s like I can hear the writers physically giving up while the higher-ups simply asked, “Why not?” when designing some of the worst missions the franchise has ever seen.

Open Combat missions but set in a barren Warzone-like map called Avalon, which also serves as the basis for the so-called endgame, but without any points of interest or side objectives? Giant entities as bosses, where the game outright tells you to “Shoot the hands” without even skipping a beat – because there is so little regard for the player’s intelligence or capacity to figure things out? Nonsensical plot contrivances that play hacky sack with any sense of plausibility, purely for the sake of inserting awkward platforming sequences and the barest of bare objectives that even Destiny blueberries would laugh at? A blanket “Why not?” to all of the above. You also get betrayed by the least interesting new character in the game, which is impressive considering the bar is somewhere below sea level alongside the finale.

No interesting set pieces or mechanics – heck, most of the cinematic moments unfold in actual cutscenes. Just go in, shoot things, and don’t ask too many questions or try to suffer too much brain damage.

Even if you could choke down this “plot,” there’s very little about the gameplay that shines. A “new” wall bounce mechanic is introduced and comes into actual play a handful of times. On most occasions, you’ll be standing in circles, gunning down approaching foes or activating terminals. There are some “puzzles” required for opening doors and whatnot, but other times, simply look for the power supply on the wall and shoot it. You would think that the Guild, which is so far ahead of JSOC at every given opportunity, might have taken to addressing any of these points while we were tripping out, but apparently not.

Guns are defined by their rarities, which is a nice way of saying you’ll be doing piddly damage without rifles and headshots. Oh, but this isn’t a looter shooter – the actual rarity of weapons is raised when progressing through the campaign, or upon discovering a station to upgrade one. Even then, the damage dealt by a Legendary in the third or second-to-last mission felt nothing like that of the finale. Enemies are also downright braindead, capable of gunning you down in close range and then forgetting you were there after running or flying past. You went invisible right in front of their faces? “Mission failed, guys, we’ll get ’em next time,” apparently.

"The problem, as always, is the netcode. I don’t know if it’s because the player count is abysmal or if it’s trying to prioritize PC players only, but most of my matches were marked as high latency. This resulted in the Call of Duty classic – enemies take multiple bullets to die, while lasering me down in just two."

As a co-op campaign, it’s simply abysmal, but not being able to pause while solo or even quit while saving my progress due to the lack of checkpoints? Just…why? The missions themselves don’t take very long to complete, but if you’re disconnected at any point? Have fun restarting the entire mission again. And then somewhere, somehow, the marketing geniuses at Microsoft will be raising the prices of Game Pass again, blaming the service for eating into Call of Duty sales rather than actually examining why no one would pay full price for this mess. But I digress.

You would think that after such an embarrassing display, Treyarch and Raven Software would simply tell you to go ahead and uninstall it (like Battlefield 6, conveniently enough). Instead, they offer a new villain and the endgame, set in Avalon. If you’ve played Modern Warfare 3’s extraction shooter mode, it’s basically that. No, really. The undead are replaced by “Cradle” monsters who act (and in many cases, look) identical. The Guild does deploy some new units like a giant metal walker, but the vibe is killed even further when you realise it’s just an objective to interact with and, surprise, hold out against waves of enemies.

The overall progression loop has also been somehow dumbed down further. Rather than curating a powerful range of weaponry, your main objective is building Power. Simply complete objectives, gain Power, choose one of two character upgrades, repeat. In that sense, it feels more like a Destiny 1 Patrol Zone except with far less rewarding loot progression and far dumber enemies. There’s none of the tension of an extraction shooter and, more importantly, very little of the cooperation or community engagement that it should inspire, even with the lack of PvP. Also, whoever thought it was a good idea to throw the bullet sponge to end all bullet sponges during the extraction sequence needs to re-evaluate their life.

I could go on, even against my own will. Long story short, Black Ops 7’s Campaign sucks. You could probably find some fun in endgame, but it just feels so sterile and lacking in energy or enthusiasm, not to mention that it was done two years ago (and promptly abandoned despite serving as a separate mode).

Things slightly improve when we get to the multiplayer, key emphasis on “slightly.” The maps are definitely a step up from last year. Thankfully, newcomers like The Forge, Imprint and Blackheart feel distinct enough, striking a decent balance between size and sightlines. Even the places where you can wall bounce don’t feel egregious enough to become annoying or necessary.

Homestead is the one that really stuck out in terms of awkward layouts, but it still felt like a chaotic breath of fresh air from the typical three-lane setup when jockeying for supremacy in the main cabin. The problem, as always, is the netcode. I don’t know if it’s because the player count is abysmal or if it’s trying to prioritize PC players only, but most of my matches were marked as high latency. This resulted in the Call of Duty classic – enemies take multiple bullets to die, while lasering me down in just two.

"If you’re keen on a more traditional Zombies experience, there’s one – count ’em, one – Survival map available: Vandorn Farm. It offers a compact layout with more than a few secrets to uncover, but again, it’s just..fine."

But it goes both ways. There are some places where I should have died and yet emerged with a handful of HP. When it’s not subject to these issues, time to kill doesn’t feel all that bad, though it’s still pretty fast. Personally, I’m not the biggest fan of all the sliding around, especially with its lackluster penalties to accuracy. Weapon balance is also weird at present since snipers can quickly ADS and score a quick kill even when hitting you in the leg (depending on the build, of course). I wouldn’t criticize it all that much if I weren’t capable of simply copying someone else’s build and doing it in the next match, even with the annoyingly high latency, but alas.

At this point, I’m tired of complaining about spawn logic in this franchise, especially when dying multiple times in a row within seconds. Not as egregious as last year, but it’s still a thing, so be warned. Other features, from map voting and persistent lobbies to Specialities and the new Overclock, are welcome. While my biggest instinct is to go all Red Perks and try to gun down one enemy after another with Enforcer, I also found some enjoyment in all Green and gained more scores for objective-based play. It gave me some solace, especially when no one else wanted to gather the dog tags in Kill Confirmed.

Finally, there’s Zombies. I actually liked last year’s launch maps, even if the mode itself didn’t offer nearly enough to keep me hanging around. This year’s edition offers a new experience where you construct a Wonder Vehicle and drive around multiple interconnected locations, completing objectives, including installing a Pack-A-Punch machine into it. None of that stops you from hunkering down in a single location and fighting off the hordes, but you’ll miss out on other notable Perks. It’s…fine.

I don’t really like that any random person can just take the vehicle and ditch it in the pathways between locations before disconnecting or simply driving off, leaving the rest of the team stranded. Overall, however, the standard practice of surviving to get higher rarity weapons, then Pack-A-Punch them for more damage while upgrading armor and gaining new Perks, remains intact. The actual threats felt pretty barebones – the Zersa is a neat addition, but that’s more or less it in terms of anything interesting (I’m indifferent to the Ravagers).

If you’re keen on a more traditional Zombies experience, there’s one – count ’em, one – Survival map available: Vandorn Farm. It offers a compact layout with more than a few secrets to uncover, but again, it’s just..fine. There’s some enjoyment to be had from building trains and gunning them down or fully upgrading a Legendary Akita and tossing some Double Tap in to absolutely shred a Zersa. I would have liked faster research progress on their Augments, but while having such a wide range of options to customize your playstyle is nice, the fundamental gameplay remains the same. For some people, that may be more than enough, but it’s far from a sizable upgrade over last year (and those who hate this direction for Zombies won’t find anything to change their mind).

"As an overall package for $70? Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is simply embarrassing. A multi-billion dollar franchise and the best it can aspire to is “Good enough multiplayer” and “passable but unnecessary Zombies”?"

To summarize everything about Black Ops 7: Awful campaign, waste-of-time endgame, decent multiplayer plagued by some familiar issues and a overtly safe Zombies experience. If you love this series’ multiplayer, then, among all the new quality of life features, the above-average to good maps, and the sheer amount of unlocks, it may be worth checking out. If you must keep informed with the overall development of the Zombies lore, then it might be worth a gander, though it doesn’t offer anything fundamentally new or interesting over last year. If you want to play the campaign, a healthy reminder: Don’t. It’s not even worth the laughs or the decent art direction.

As an overall package for $70? Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is simply embarrassing. A multi-billion dollar franchise and the best it can aspire to is “Good enough multiplayer” and “passable but unnecessary Zombies”? I know it’s pointless to try to convince longtime fans not to take the plunge, or to even say that this is the franchise’s breaking point. But if the practice going forward is to release a new mainline Call of Duty and follow it up with an awful expansion-level addition, then I’m out.

This game was reviewed on PC.

Fast forward to now, and I am simply in awe at how bad this campaign really is. And this is after 2023’s horrendously awful Modern Warfare 3. Spoilers, for those of you who could care.

Set about ten years after David Mason killed Menendez, the latter has seemingly returned with the help of a criminal syndicate turned robot manufacturing PMC called The Guild. Troy Marshal, the protagonist from Black Ops 6, foreshadows having to confront his past, and after infiltrating The Guild’s HQ in Avalon with his squad, things go sideways when The Cradle is unleashed.

Don’t remember The Cradle? I wouldn’t blame you – it was the explanation for all the hallucinations from Black Ops 6, resulting in some of the dumbest missions in the franchise. At the time, I thought Raven Software and Treyarch were just trying to inject some variety into their spy thriller. Once again, being the hopeful idiot, I was wrong. In Black Ops 7, they are the template for several missions. Along with Warzone, and callbacks to previous titles (read: reusing previous maps and missions).

One mission involves fighting an illusory Raul Menendez who teleports with the VFX budget of a Black Widow film. As you’re dodging giant machetes falling from the sky, you eventually unlock a killstreak that lets you drop them on Menendez. All the while, he’s screaming “Suffer! Suffer, I say!” Oh, I am, Raul. We all are.

Somehow, it gets worse. The Open Combat missions from Modern Warfare 3 are back, except even dumber. Avalon is essentially a Warzone map, and you’ll be returning to it often – heck, it’s the foundation of the so-called PvE endgame. On the surface, you would think this kind of massive battlefield, where all hell has broken loose, would result in some chaotic fun. Maybe some random events and assorted mayhem. What you actually get are wide open spaces with nothing going on, and the most obvious points of interest filled with the barest of bones cannon fodder enemies. Much like the Open Combat nonsense, you can ignore all of them for the sake of the objectives. Stellar design there, ladies and gents.

Anyway, in the hand-crafted, linear missions which should be Call of Duty’s bread and butter, Woods turns into a plant monster that you have to defeat. A mission with Section 2, which ventures to Tokyo, feels like it would offer some kind of breather from all this nonsense, but it’s essentially two multiplayer maps, both refurbished from previous games, and a traversal sequence that calls the original Black Ops’ Kowloon mission to mind. The entire mission hinges on finding this Guild member who can grant us access to their second Quantum Computer (don’t ask). When he’s found dead, the team decides to ram the luxury cruiser into the harbor. Wei Lin calls this a “powerful” move, which is probably code for “international incident.”

Remember when Black Ops used to at least try to portend to some kind of covert military premise? The inherent ridiculousness of it all, starting right from “The Numbers, Mason!”, was apparent, but at least it tried to have some basis in reality. At least every mission wasn’t constantly competing to introduce the most mind-numbing action and objectives with faint glimmers of what could have been. The hilarious part is that later missions are even worse. It’s like the campaign is constantly upping the nonsense ante to dare me to quit.

Of course, there are also plenty of technical issues with the campaign. First off, it’s always online, which shouldn’t be all that surprising given the Call of Duty ecosystem as a whole. But that means you can be kicked for going AFK. No big deal, right? Just rejoin the mission except…you can’t. You see, there aren’t any mission checkpoints. Any time you leave before the next mission screen shows up, you’ll need to go back to the beginning and do it all over again.

Solo play has also been absolutely gutted with no difficulty options. What possible incentive could you have for replaying these awful missions aside from collecting any intel to further the “lore”? There isn’t even any pausing, so if you want to take a break, too bad. Activision demands your full, undivided attention for this travesty, and you will give it or get kicked. Oh, but you’re also apparently kicked when the Call of Duty app has a new update.

The best part of playing solo? No AI teammates. You would think this frees you from their incessant banter, but they’re still in cutscenes and chattering through your comms. It makes about as much sense as anything else in this cluster.

Even if you choose to play as intended, the objectives barely rank above a Destiny 1 launch mission. Plant four C4 charges. Scan three bodies. Follow a wire to a wall outlet and shoot it to open a door. And the puzzles are laughably easy, making the Fox statue puzzles from Ghost of Yōtei look like Blue Prince. Enemies don’t drop weapons – you only get them from caches – and there’s a whole rarity/damage multiplier system that only exists because of some tanky armored enemies.

Black Ops 7 rightfully has a 44 percent “Mixed” rating on Steam at this time of writing and only 572 user reviews, because even long-time fans know PC Game Pass is a far better deal. One user review sums it up so succinctly – “Feels so cheap yet charges full price.” Remember when firs person shooter campaigns felt like premium experiences, even with their laughable idiosyncrasies? At least “Press F to pay your respects” was something funny.

This is just a disaster, and I find it very hard to believe that it began development around the same time as Black Ops 6. It’s Modern Warfare 3 all over again – an expansion-style experience but stretched out and padded with utter nonsense. Then again, I don’t think eliminating the Open Combat Avalon segments would have done much to help the rest.

You would think it’s pointless to complain about a Call of Duty title because a large contingent of players will pick it up anyway. However, Microsoft’s decision to make new titles available day one on Game Pass has allegedly led to massive losses. Look no further than last year’s Black Ops 6, which reportedly lost $300 million in sales. This seemingly led to the restructuring of Game Pass prices and restricting its release to the Ultimate and PC tiers.

With even higher stakes to account for, it’s insane that this is the campaign that Black Ops 7 ultimately delivers. It feels like an elaborate joke, or a collective resignation of creativity – simply toss in everything but the kitchen sink and hope for the best. If so, props to Raven Software and Treyarch for creating what very well may be the worst Call of Duty campaign yet.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.