UmGamer Review - Call of Duty: Black Ops 7

Even playing with most graphics settings at medium or low quality, the multiplayer environments remained detailed and vibrant. The lighting is well done, and the character and weapon models are pleasing. However, in the campaign, some textures and animations of the "monsters" may seem a little less refined, and the third-person mode has visual flaws.

Overall, the game is beautiful. The cutscenes are of extremely high quality, and you'll be able to enjoy cutting-edge technology even with a configuration that wouldn’t usually allow you to experience the title at the highest quality.

Regarding sound effects, Call of Duty maintains them as one of its strong points. Gunshots and explosions are extremely impactful, and the 3D audio is precise, allowing you to accurately identify the direction of enemy footsteps and shots.

The soundtrack, when present, complements the atmosphere well – especially in the more tense campaign scenarios and in Zombies mode. The voice acting also maintains its quality.

Call of Duty campaigns have always been known for offering cinematic storylines and memorable action sequences. In Black Ops 7, Treyarch attempted to redefine this experience, but without much success.

The story takes us to the year 2035, focusing on David Mason – son of Alex Mason – and a new conflict involving the enigmatic Guild. The big gamble was the introduction of a chemical weapon that manipulates fear, immersing players in hallucinatory scenarios. Expect to encounter monsters and distorted locations, which represents a drastic change compared to the traditional military battlefields of CoD.

The central problem is that the campaign was clearly designed for 4-player co-op. If you choose to play alone, you'll feel the absence of allied bots, leaving David in solitary dialogues that break immersion and illustrate the gap in the script.

Furthermore, the long-awaited return of a classic villain from the series proves to be a disappointment, being used in a way that can be seen as disrespectful to the original material and longtime fans.

The campaign's endgame features an open-world mode in Avalon, transforming into a generic extraction shooter that, unfortunately, doesn't stand out. There's also the option to play in third person, but this mode, as mentioned, lacks polish and can present bugs, making the classic first-person perspective the most recommended.

In short, the Black Ops 7 campaign is an attempt at renewal, but it falls short due to a lack of focus on the single-player experience and by altering central elements of the franchise.

The campaign was disappointing, but we can't say the same for the multiplayer mode, which delivers a solid experience and incorporates many adjustments requested by the community. Black Ops 7 stands out for making matches more tactical and less frantic than its predecessor. The addition of aim assist is also a huge plus.

With a revamped matchmaking system, Black Ops 7 no longer bases its balancing solely on skill, creating more varied lobbies without encountering the same opponents in multiple consecutive matches.

There's a wide variety of maps, and the good news is that many fan favorites, such as Raid and Hijacked, have returned in remastered form. This nostalgia, combined with refined gameplay and improved matchmaking, solidifies multiplayer as the main reason to dive into Black Ops 7.

It's worth mentioning that, in a post-launch update, the classic Nuketown map was also added with visual enhancements. Check it out:

Black Ops 7 delivers a robust and innovative experience for fans of the well-known survival mode against hordes. Zombies remains one of the series' distinguishing features.

The Ashes of the Damned map is a highlight, described as the largest round-based map ever seen in the history of Black Ops titles. Located in the Dark Aether, it offers vast areas to explore and multiple objectives to complete. The inclusion of vehicles to travel between areas is a welcome addition, facilitating movement and adding a strategic layer to the gameplay.

Furthermore, Zombies mode brings back classic fan-favorite systems, such as chewing gum, which add an element of luck and strategy to your survival.

For those seeking a different kind of fun, the return of Dead Ops Arcade 4, the twin-stick shooter minigame, offers an arcade feel along with progression. There are dozens of levels, scenarios, and upgrades to enjoy, a world entirely separate from Call of Duty.

Don't worry if this is your first game in the franchise; of course, the background from the campaigns of other titles, such as Black Ops 2, adds to the story. But you'll be able to enjoy everything the game has to offer – even if you're entirely new to the FPS genre.

The Multiplayer and Zombies modes offer complete tutorials, highlighting the main shortcuts and providing indicators to guide you through these first steps!

Black Ops 7's performance brought mostly positive surprises!

The only unexpected issue I encountered was needing to update the NVIDIA driver, as well as the BIOS – to accommodate the TPM (Trusted Platform Module) 2.0, a security chip used to prevent hacks. This may’ve been due to my configuration being a few years old, but the whole process took several hours and was undeniably tiring.

The notifications about the updates lead to a forum within the game itself, with explanatory texts, images, and videos—which is very helpful!

With older hardware, as mentioned at the beginning of the article, and the need for several updates, I expected an experience affected by FPS drops and visual bugs. But that was not what happened to me; all the dozens of hours played to create this review were of extremely high quality! From the large campaign scenarios to the onslaught of enemies in Zombies, nothing caused my machine to freeze.

Pros

Cons

SCORE: 7.2

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 could border on perfection; the technical aspects are impeccable – high-quality audio and visuals, extremely addictive and refined gameplay, all combined with incredible optimization. The problem is that disregarding the storyline and the co-op structure of the campaign is impossible; the solo experience basically doesn't exist here.

If you prioritize competitive multiplayer and having fun with friends in Zombies mode, Black Ops 7 is undoubtedly an excellent choice. The changes to matchmaking and the focus on more refined gameplay make it a strong contender to redefine online modes.

However, I don't recommend it for those seeking a story-driven game experience; unfortunately, they’ll be frustrated by a sequence of missions that are lost among themselves and contradict the events of the franchise's past.

Black Ops 7 proves that Call of Duty continues to be a force in the FPS scene, even when it doesn't hit all the right notes. It's a package that, overall, delivers immense fun and a multiplayer mode to lose yourself in for hundreds of hours.