You can never have enough Call of Duty,” said no one ever, and hence, as we get ready for its second consecutive Black Ops title in a year. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 launches on November 14th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC, Xbox One, and PS4, and sends players back to the future. Somehow, Raul Menendez has returned, and it’s up to David Mason to stop him.
But what else differentiates this year’s entry from Black Ops 6? Let’s dive into 15 of the biggest factors, from new multiplayer modes and scorestreaks to their post-launch support.
Surreal Missions and Landscapes
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It’s 2035. Raul Menendez, somehow evading the spectre of death, is back and threatens to destroy the world. Mason sans numbers and his team obviously want to avoid that, but something else is in the air. Some “fear” toxin that distorts everyone’s perception, resulting in surreal occurrences. Which basically translates into twisted versions of known locations, with spiraling highways, shifting corridors, floating islands, and giant machetes raining from the sky. Long story short, if you were fed up with the few missions that took this approach in Black Ops 6, that appears to be the same approach that Black Ops 7 takes for the whole campaign. Well, almost. We’ll get to that shortly.
Four-Player Campaign Co-op
Campaign co-op is nothing new for the genre, but Black Ops 7 is taking things a step further by incorporating, for the very first time, support for four players. The bad news? No difficulty, options, even if you wanted to play solo. In an interview with IGN, it was explained that developing a co-op campaign requires a different mindset. The goal was to ensure that each mission feels engaging for solo players while still delivering a social experience that’s fun and suitably challenging for groups of two to four players. Does it make the most sense? Not really, but at least Black Ops 6 still offers Recruit, Regular, Hardened and Veteran difficulties.
Avalon and “Endgame”
Look, you can say what you want about Black Ops 6’s mission board and how inconsequential it ultimately felt, but at least it wasn’t an extraction mode like Avalon. As the final mission of Black Ops 7, it’s also the “endgame.” Also, it supports up to 32 players. The goal is to drop in, either solo or with a squad, complete objectives, and then extract before the time runs out. Different areas offer tougher challenges and better rewards. You can curate weapons and customize loadouts to bring into Avalon while unlocking different abilities (including a grappling hook). However, you can lose them on death, effectively wiping hours of progress, and there are PvP elements. It feels like another crack at the controversial DMZ, but tied to the campaign, and right now, the jury’s out on the execution.
Launch Maps
“16” appears to be the magic number for both titles when it comes to the Core 6v6 maps, but it wouldn’t be a Call of Duty title without some remasters. Among the 16 multiplayer maps are Hijacked, Express and Raid, with the latter moving from Hollywood Hills to Tokyo. The biggest difference is in the other maps, namely…
Skirmish
Black Ops 6 took the contemporary formula of quick engagements and minimal downtime, and distilled it even further into four Strike maps. You had access to four at launch with accommodations for 12 players, but they can also be used in 2v2 matches. Black Ops 7, on the other hand, has decided to go in the complete opposite direction with Skirmish. Two teams of 40 players each. Multiple objectives. Vehicles. Wingsuits. Two maps at launch, which may end up feeling even smaller than Battlefield 6’s, but I digress.
Overload
Another new mode is Overload, which is like Capture the Flag mixed with Destiny’s Rift. An overload device spawns at a certain point in the map, and both teams must compete to pick it up and deliver it to one of two drop points on the opposing side. The device carrier can fight back, but is constantly shown on the map, so some escorts are ideal. It’s 6v6 and first to eight points wins, complete with switching sides at half-time.
16 Brand New Weapons
There are 30 new weapons at launch for Black Ops 7, a slight drop from the 33 that Black Ops 6 offered, but that total includes 16 never-before-seen additions. The Echo 12 shotgun, which fires off two shots in semi-automatic fashion; the bolt-action VS Recon sniper rifle; the XR-3 Ion sniper with its three-round burst; and the Dravec SMG, which actually first appeared in Black Ops 6 as a PP-919 blueprint.
New Perks
Combat Specialties are the big new thing, but Perks remain the backbone of your loadout. Slipstream, which increased your base sprinting speed while removing Tactical Sprint, is gone, but in a roundabout twist, Tactical Sprint is now a Tier 1 Perk which also reduces your normal sprinting speed. Furthermore, some Perks have been combined since the beta, like Quartermaster being folded into Gearhead for two Field Upgrade charges and equipment recharge over time. No longer will you have to choose one over the other like in Black Ops 6.
New Scorestreaks
Blame – or praise – the futuristic setting for the scorestreaks in Black Ops 7. Several of the classics carry over from last year, including the Scout Pulse, RC-XD, UAV, Care Package and whatnot. However, you can also send out a Deployable Armor Weaponized Groundcraft, otherwise known as D.A.W.G. (yes, really) or commandeer a hulking robot with a minigun known as Rhino. Perhaps the most awe-inspiring is Legion, a drone cluster that swarms the map, attacking opponents willy-nilly.
Weapon Build Sharing
Finding a broken combination of attachments for weapons is part of the fun in Call of Duty, and in Black Ops 7, it’s easier to share it with others than before. Upon creating your own version of a weapon, it generates a Build Code. When another player imports it into their game, the custom weapon is automatically assembled (assuming they have it and the attachments unlocked). No more having to follow each step of a custom weapon guide exactly. Just import the code and you’re good to go.
New Movement Options
Black Ops 7 is set in the future, which is why there’s wall jumping but not wall-running. The Omnimovement introduced in Black Ops 6 carries over, but there are some new movement options, including a combat roll (which strangely transitions to third-person and back) and the ability to move while mounted up. Not the most revolutionary of changes, but they still ensure that the action remains mostly boots-on-the-ground.
Return of Weapon Prestige
Classic Prestige, with its multiple levels, Permanent Unlock Tokens, icons, themes, and more, returns from last year. However, for the first time since Black Ops 4, there’s Weapon Prestige with two Prestige levels and a 250-level grind through Prestige Master. The rewards range from unique Prestige attachments and camos to charms. Multiply this by 30 weapons and you’ll be busy for quite some time.
Open Matchmaking and Persistent Lobbies
When the Black Ops 7 open beta went live, there was a surprisingly strong sense of apathy from all quarters. Skill-based matchmaking was one of the major factors that turned fans away, so Black Ops 7 introduced the unthinkable: Open matchmaking, prioritizing connection quality over skill after years of complaints. The experiment was apparently a success because the full game will have open matchmaking. If that wasn’t enough, persistent lobbies are making a comeback, so those comfortable in a specific lobby and wanting to keep matching the same players can now do so.
TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot Required
Cheaters may never fully be gone from multiplayer titles, but like Battlefield 6, Black Ops 7 is definitely making it tougher. Secure Boot will be required to play alongside Trusted Platform Module 2.0. The standard Activision account requirement remains, and if you’re playing through Steam, you need to link a phone number (which was a requirement for Black Ops 6 as well).
Comparing Post-Launch Plans
With three Core maps, three Strike maps, seven weapons and two modes among tons of other additions, Season 1 of Black Ops 6 was pretty packed. However, the first season of Black Ops 7 will be the biggest ever with seven Core 6v6 maps, seven additional weapons (including the Maddox, Ballistic Knife, and Crossbow), and much more. It begins on December 4th, but for those who can’t wait, Nuketown will drop less than a week after launch.
Overall, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is shaping up to be a much meatier offering than last year’s, but what are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments.
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