COD Black Ops 7 could be a game-changer

Given the undeniable success of Battlefield 6, the pressure is on for the next Call of Duty installment. For Activision’s iconic franchise, that means the Black Ops 7 beta needs to impress, and if it fails, a seemingly bulletproof series could suffer its first big loss in years.

Needless to say, community expectations aren’t that high right now, but it’s times like these that hidden gems emerge. For example, Modern Warfare III was heavily criticized at first, but then saw by far the most impressive comeback of all in Call of Duty, and early signs suggest that Black Ops 7 could follow suit.

The escapee recaps

• The Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 beta was pretty fun, offering a big improvement over its predecessor in several ways.
• A reduced skill-based matchmaking playlist was tested, which received high praise and will become standard in the full game.
• The six maps available in the beta were good, with a clear emphasis on the classic three-lane design. However, most of them didn’t compliment the new wall jumping mechanic particularly well.
• New to Black Ops 7, the Overclock system is a great addition, allowing you to customize scores and gear in ways never seen before.
• The mouse and keyboard experience is far from ideal, this is the most professional Call of Duty yet. Treyarch has confirmed that aim assist nerfs will resolve this issue.

The elephant in the room

You can’t talk about the Black Ops 7 beta without acknowledging the most radical change made this time around. For the first time since Black Ops 4, Call of Duty offered a transparent and open SBMM playlist that created lobbies based on connection and not skill.

The community had wanted this for several years and Activision finally gave in. For the beta, this took the form of an experimental playlist, but it has since been confirmed that the full game will feature it as standard. In other words, the classic matchmaking from the games we all grew up with is back!

It’s hard to emphasize what a victory this is. While SBMM is good in theory, it has never worked well in practice, at least not for Call of Duty. The main problem is that it would make lobbies very stressful for just about everyone, creating an artificial experience that would water down wins and make losses downright miserable.

This change alone meant that the Black Ops 7 beta was the most fun many players had with a Call of Duty game in years. For me, it didn’t have that much of an impact, but it’s clear that this change lays the groundwork for Treyarch’s new game to reach levels that most other entries have never even approached.

Treyarch’s iconic map design is back

Of course, these matchmaking changes mean nothing if the gameplay stinks. Fortunately, Black Ops 7 brings some much-needed improvements over its predecessor, especially when it comes to its maps. In the beta, we had access to six multiplayer maps, and they were solid across the board.

The map pool in the Black Ops 7 beta offered a big step up from last year’s game, which contained some of the weakest maps in the franchise. This improvement stems from a renewed focus on symmetry and three-lane layouts, two foundations of many of the best maps in past Call of Duty games.

Moving from last year’s horrors to new offerings like Exposure and The Forge was refreshing. It’s nice to play maps that have a clear flow and allow you to quickly get back into the action. Treyarch deserves sincere praise for listening to community feedback and avoiding making the same mistakes.

However, I fear that these cards were not designed with the new wall jumping mechanic in mind. Unlike jetpacks in previous games, it never felt natural to wall jump. You can remove this feature and the cards will play almost exactly the same. Some may see this as a positive, but I think it’s a missed opportunity that makes wall jumping just a worse version of jetpacks.

You can teach this DAWG new tricks

If the gameplay of Black Ops 7 hardly offers any radical change compared to its predecessor, Treyarch took advantage of this opportunity to introduce some interesting features. Most notably, the Overclock system allows you to customize equipment, field upgrades and score streaks, giving them a new dynamic.

These range from simple adjustments to huge changes that alter the way the equipment operates. For example, you can overclock the DAWG to Sentinel mode which allows it to lock down an area while also acting as a supply pack and trophy system. All of a sudden, this otherwise mediocre scoring streak becomes a powerful option to keep in Domination or Hardpoint.

Granted, overclocking will likely become a bit of a balance nightmare once players get the hang of the meta, but there’s no doubt that it’s a fun addition. Not only that, but it also gives you more freedom to play the game the way you want, which is almost never a bad thing.

Beyond that, Black Ops 7 is also bringing back Weapon Prestige to further flesh out the excellent weapon progression and will add a reimagined version of Ground War called Skirmish. This 20v20 mode should be a lot of fun and chaotic, with everything from vehicles to grappling hooks and wings. Unfortunately, it wasn’t available in the beta, but the premise sounds amazing.

The worst mouse and keyboard ever

It’s worth noting that most of the positives I’ve mentioned here came after making a simple change. After a few hours of playing with the mouse and keyboard, I switched to the controller and never looked back. For what? Because the Black Ops 7 beta was the worst MnK experience in an FPS I’ve ever had.

It’s no secret that Call of Duty is a game designed primarily for controller players, but this particular entry takes that to the extreme. Whether it’s unpredictable movements, excessive muzzle flash, or very powerful aim assist, it’s really hard to compete on MnK this time around.

To Treyarch’s credit, they acknowledged this and confirmed that aim assist nerfs would be coming in some form. Whether that’s enough only time will tell, but in its current state, it’s hard to recommend mouse and keyboard players bother with this input. You are not the target audience and Black Ops 7 makes that very clear.

A Glimpse of Greatness

In many ways, the Black Ops 7 beta showed great promise and gives jaded fans a reason to hope again. Needless to say, removing strict SBMM was the biggest improvement they could make, which single-handedly made it the best Call of Duty experience in years for a lot of people.

Beyond that, the gameplay was mostly fun, with a vastly improved card pool and innovations like the Overclock system to keep things fresh. If there’s one thing that’s for sure, it’s that this new entry is already a big improvement over Black Ops 6, even if that’s not saying much.

However, I think Black Ops 7 is going to struggle simply because Battlefield 6 exists. With DICE’s military shooter peaking at 750,000 concurrent players on Steam alone and reviews universally praising its multiplayer, the market has shrunk for Call of Duty and the beta, while fun, hasn’t done enough to change that.

Despite this, there is a lot of potential here and if Treyarch’s post-launch support is as good as the leaks suggest, there is a real world in which Black Ops 7 becomes a top-tier entry. I just pray that the inevitable sales from Battlefield’s success don’t cause Infinity Ward to roll back major changes next year.

Ask the Escapees

References

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