PREVIEW – Is Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 just another shameless sequel dragging the franchise deeper into creative bankruptcy? For twenty years, the series has weathered criticism over predatory monetization, technical glitches, and a lack of innovation. But Treyarch’s latest entry kicks off with an explosive statement: this one might actually be worth the price of admission.

In early August, just days before the official reveal event in Los Angeles, former Blizzard president and ex-Microsoft executive Mike Ybarra took a public shot at the franchise. Posting on X, he didn’t hold back — calling Call of Duty “lazy” and predicting that EA’s Battlefield 6 would “stomp” it into the ground this year, finally pushing the devs to create “real FPS games.” Just weeks earlier, Ian Proulx, director of Splitgate 2, threw shade at the franchise during his Summer Game Fest presentation. At this point, Call of Duty has become the industry’s running gag — the poster child for endless, rinse-and-repeat sequels.

Everyone’s Complaining, No One’s Looking Away

And yet, here we are. Despite all the noise, the franchise continues to sell in obscene numbers — Black Ops 6 was the best-selling game of 2024. Still, a growing number of players are fed up. Gripes range from pay-to-win skins and broken mechanics to Treyarch’s recent experiment with AI-generated content for sale — something that rubbed the community the wrong way, to say the least.

Black Ops 7 seems designed to shut all that down. Launching in November, the game is absolutely stuffed. The campaign alone features big names like Milo Ventimiglia (This Is Us), Michael Rooker (Guardians of the Galaxy), and Kiernan Shipka (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina). For the first time in years, you can tackle the entire story in four-player co-op. Fan-favorite twin-stick minigame Dead Ops Arcade is back, and a brand-new 20-player mode called Skirmish enters the battlefield with sprawling maps, wingsuits, and vehicle combat. Calling this “lazy” would be a bold take.

The game serves as a semi-sequel to 2012’s beloved Black Ops II, having been developed in parallel with last year’s installment. Ventimiglia steps into the boots of returning protagonist David Mason. Set in the year 2035, the world is a war-torn tech haven packed with robotic war dogs inspired by Boston Dynamics, swarms of deployable microdrones, and a sleek augmented reality-style UI. Mason commands a four-person elite squad, and for the first time since Black Ops II, players can experience the full campaign alongside three friends.

Mind Games and Meltdowns

Staying true to the Black Ops legacy, the story dives headfirst into covert ops, psychological warfare, and Silicon Valley paranoia. The returning villain, Raul Menendez, is back with a new weapon — a hallucinogenic compound that causes surreal, shared delusions upon inhalation. In one early campaign sequence, machetes rain down from the sky while Los Angeles’s 405 freeway twists skyward like a giant Hot Wheels track. It’s the kind of scene that feels straight out of the Scarecrow segments in Batman: Arkham Asylum.

To keep players from skipping the story and diving straight into multiplayer, Treyarch has introduced a new “endgame” system. After completing the campaign, players unlock an open-world map set in the fictional city of Avalon. Here, you’ll take on regularly updated missions using customized loadouts and player abilities. “It will redefine what a campaign can be in Call of Duty,” says design director Kevin Drew.

This time, campaign progress also feeds into the broader ecosystem. A new connected progression system allows players to earn XP, level up weapons, and move through the battle pass — even in story mode. “The word ‘connected’ came up a lot,” says production director Yale Miller. “When you’re playing with friends, it’s easier to jump in. Solo, you’re like, ‘What’s going on? I haven’t played a CoD campaign in ages.’ But when you’re in a squad, it just clicks differently.”

Zombies, Nostalgia, and a Dash of Arcade Mayhem

The “go big or go home” philosophy extends well into Zombies mode too. Black Ops 7 delivers Treyarch’s largest round-based zombie map to date, inspired by the classic TranZit map from Black Ops II. Unlike recent entries that focused on lone-wolf survival, this time teamwork takes center stage. Squads must use vehicles and coordinated tactics while encountering alternate-universe versions of the original core cast: Richtofen, Belinski, Masaki, and Dempsey — all making strange returns.

Of course, the fan-favorite Dead Ops Arcade returns as a full-on minigame within Zombies. It’s not just a side dish — it’s a passion project. “Our CTO, Dave King, is completely obsessed with it,” Miller explains. “He and a small team of engineers originally built the first versions of Dead Ops. There’s so much love for classic arcade shooters in this studio… Over half the dev team has been here for a decade or more, so they really carry that legacy with them.”

Shoot, Jump, Grapple – and Then Share It

Multiplayer is launching with 16 maps and an arsenal that includes 16 brand-new weapons debuting in the franchise. A new weapon build sharing system lets you send custom loadouts to friends, including setups for the hybrid Peacekeeper M1 SMG/AR or the beastly Echo 12 shotgun.

The movement system, introduced in Black Ops 6, is getting an upgrade too. Wall-jumping and grappling hooks bring more verticality and momentum to firefights. Among the new abilities is the Drone Charmer — a game-changer that unleashes a swarm of drone allies to track and flush out enemies, reminiscent of the iconic attack dogs from World at War.

This Is Still Call of Duty – Just Meaner, Faster, and Smarter

So, is Black Ops 7 Treyarch’s middle finger to the critics? “I wouldn’t say it’s a middle finger,” says Matt Scronce. “I came from the community. Back in 2007, Treyarch flew me out to test World at War DLCs. I’ve always tried to keep players’ perspectives in mind. Honestly, I’m just glad I still get to be part of the conversation… Because when no one’s arguing about which game is better, that’s when you’re really done. The question is always: how far can we push things and surprise people?”

Sure, annual CoD entries may not rewrite the genre or blow up the industry like they used to, but Black Ops 7 doesn’t feel like it’s phoning it in either. For the price of a single game, you’re getting three interconnected experiences that you can actually enjoy with your squad. It’s a full-spectrum shooter — campaign, co-op, and chaos — and that alone might be enough to keep Call of Duty relevant, no matter what Battlefield brings to the fight.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 launches November 14, 2025 on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox.

-Gergely Herpai “BadSector”-