Futuristic maps and generic weapons make Black Ops 7 lose the vibe I remember from previous installments

I have been a fan of Call of Duty since the first installment of the series—seriously, I've played all its entries and liked most of them. However, I have a problem with Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 because I've spent a few hours with the multiplayer beta, and to put it briefly, it didn't particularly appeal to me.

While playing Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, I didn't feel like I was playing Call of Duty. I'm choosing some generic weapons, playing on generic maps, and I don't see any coherence or specific idea in it. It's not like I'm bored with the series or anything. I actually really enjoy Black Ops 6 and still hop on multiplayer every now and then.

We have Titanfall at home

In my opinion, the biggest letdown with Black Ops 7 is that they're once again trying to mix in future stuff, robots, and sci-fi. The situation of this series is starting to resemble the times when futuristic Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Call of Duty: Black Ops III, and finally the infamous Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare were released, after which there was a sort of reset and a return to World War II settings.

Call of Duty hasn't really been about realism or showing war as it truly is for a while now. But players are generally used to taking down enemies with guns in a more grounded way. Meanwhile, what we've got here is a sci-fi universe where you can jump off walls, almost like in Titanfall (almost, because we can jump on walls but not run on them).

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, Activision Blizzard, 2025.

In the last few installments, at least, there was a sense that the multiplayer map designs had purpose and logic. We fought in grimy favelas, abandoned Soviet military bases, or simply in places that could at least partially be associated with armed conflict.

In the meantime, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 takes us to a future where the maps look like a wild mashup of Halo, Fortnite, and Mass Effect. I also have the feeling that if I entered "create a 6v6 map for an online shooter in an SF setting" into some generator, I would get something similar. It's clear that the developers designed it with maximum usability in mind. There are plenty of places to hide, many walls positioned in a way that invites bouncing off them, and overall, it is quite tight, with an enemy potentially lurking around every corner.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, Activision Blizzard, 2025.

Such designs could be an asset for Black Ops 7, if not for the fact that while playing on these maps, I often wondered what I was even playing. Generally, most associations drifted towards the Halo series. But why should I play Halo when I've launched Call of Duty?

Basics are good, but it doesn't feel that way in the game

Black Ops 7 still holds up well when it comes to the feel of the weapons. Despite the futuristic setting, most of them are classic designs that shoot regular bullets, not lasers or anything like that. I don't feel much difference between Black Ops 7 and Black Ops 6 in this regard – and that's actually a good thing.

Unfortunately, the weapon designs themselves seem rather poor. Similar to the maps, I feel they are just too generic, lacking identity. They look like oversized classic rifles with some extra bits stuck on, a bit more built-up than usual. Ironically, the weapons that look most like their real-life counterparts still perform the best.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, Activision Blizzard, 2025.

The gameplay itself is a strong copy-paste from Black Ops 6, with the addition of a futuristic "twist" in the form of wall-bouncing abilities. I feel like the pace of the game is a bit slower, which is a good thing, but everything else doesn't differ much from what we know from the previous installment.

Time has stood still

I played the Black Ops 7 beta on PC, and I can tell you that the latest information about the system requirements is almost entirely accurate. On my PC with an RTX 5070 Ti and a Ryzen 7 9800 X3D, Black Ops 7 runs almost the same as Black Ops 6. I was easily getting over 100 frames per second on the highest graphics settings.

The low system requirements for Black Ops 7 have a downside – the graphics don't just stay the same, they actually take a step back compared to Black Ops 6. There's nothing eye-catching here; the game looks decent – and that's it. Graphically, it's just average.

The futuristic style brings in a lot of simpler surfaces and buildings compared to Black Ops 6, making everything on the maps feel a bit more sterile to fit that classic sci-fi vibe. It lacks the typical CoD dirt, sand, or destroyed building fragments that remind you, "hey, it's a war after all."

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, Activision Blizzard, 2025.

You can't really judge the gameplay in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 without considering the competition, which is super strong right now. The highly successful beta tests of Battlefield 6 demonstrated that players have a strong desire for relatively realistic and, most importantly, "grounded" shooters—without colorful skins, without Nicki Minaj on the battlefield, and featuring well-designed maps that enable environmental destruction. Moreover, in terms of graphics, Battlefield 6 looks better, almost like a next-generation game compared to CoD from the previous generation.

I don't know which direction we're heading

When I read that the developers of Call of Duty want to improve the brand's image and are worried that players might be tired of the series, while at the same time I'm playing Black Ops 7, which came out just a year after Black Ops 6, I feel a certain dissonance. Honestly, I haven't even gotten bored with the last game yet, so I don't really need the next one. I'm also not a fan of futuristic CoDs because I find them too bland.

It's not like I dislike all future-set games in this series. Take Advanced Warfare, for example—it showed that with a good idea, you can create something really cool. I enjoyed both the engaging campaign and the interesting, fresh approach to multiplayer. So far, playing Black Ops 7 hasn't been all that fun for me. I'm hoping that a solid story campaign and more maps in the full version will turn things around. If not, I have a feeling that I might switch to Battlefield this year, which has been quite rare for me so far.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7

November 14, 2025

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• Call of Duty (franchise)
• beta-tests
• Activision Blizzard
• FPP shooters (FPS)