It’s again time for another season of Call of Duty. Black Ops 7 has largely delivered, and despite technical hiccups, is fraught with content. Whether it's good or not is a different story. Although I’ve been delayed in being immersed in Season 4 by Summer Game Fest, now is the time to dig in and see if I’m ready to lock in, or just pause for the eventual Modern Warfare 4 beta.
Black Ops 7’s multiplayer maps and the Black Ops Classic mode are the absolute highlights of this package. Primetime leads the charge, and it is both imaginative and flows incredibly well. A Japanese gameshow setting lends itself well to Black Ops 7, with a lot of color that really pops. Each lane is more open than some maps, but cover is plentiful. While it hasn’t come up as much in the rotation, it’s one of my favorite DLC maps in BO7. Honestly, if not for the water and a couple of dynamic elements (which could be turned off), Primetime would be an awesome competitive map for Ranked Play. It’s fun, it’s vibrant, and the flow is exactly what I want out of a map.
Liminal is the Face Off map of this bunch, and it fits that definition to a tee. Set somewhere in the Guild facility from the opening campaign mission, it’s largely intact beyond the red square obelisk in the center room. Surrounding this room are tight hallways with an occasional branch or conference room adjoining them. It’s hard to call the map tiny, but it’s not big enough to have a proper competitive match. I like it for what it is, a small map where you get heavy engagements with a chance to pop off for a bunch of kills.
Vertigo is this season’s launch remaster, and it’s a blast. I didn’t play as much Black Ops 2 multiplayer, so this map is new to me. Set on the top of a skyscraper with a helipad, it's somehow both a tight map but with open spaces. While the lanes may not fit as cleanly as other three lane designs, Vertigo’s flow is outstanding. I especially like that there are plenty of flanking routes accompanying several high and low ground options for setups. This map just works, yet another triumph in how well Black Ops 2 map design was handled, and in how it's been brought forward into Black Ops 7.
Moving into Black Ops Classic, this mode takes several remasters and rips up the BO7 movement formula, dumbing everything down. There are no overclocks, combat specialties, and there’s less equipment to work with. My brain had to be reset a bit, as I kept hitting my slide button yet getting nothing from it, given the lack of that mechanic. It’s amazing how much slower the pace is when you take those features out, but it makes you play the game differently. This is a lot of fun to play, similar to Black Ops Royale in how it forces you out of your comfort zone and feels fresh compared to everything else. With the knowledge that this mode is about to become permanent, I’d like to see the team go a bit further and slim down the weapon suite. Maybe we can get a Ranked Play variant playlist while we’re at it?
Speaking of Ranked Play, there’s good and bad here. The good involves the new systems announced at Call of Duty League’s Major III. No hidden MMR (matchmaking ranking), and you know why you’re earning the SR (skill rating points) you’re getting. I’ve still been getting tough lobbies, but I’ve certainly noticed that it’s more due to queuing as a full stack, which pairs me against higher opponents.
That said, the new system recognizes if you lose to a better team, and doesn’t punish you as badly. If I beat a bad team, however, I’m not rewarded as greatly. Being the most impactful player on the map via the scoreboard (which is rated by both kills and objective impact), can give you bonuses that make up for those deductions. I really like the adjustment, especially as Treyarch has continued to modify the system after it wasn’t working as intended at launch.
The bad? That hackers are still infesting the mode. I don’t have a lot of hope that it gets much better as we’re getting closer to the end than the beginning of Black Ops 7. Maybe a few strides can be made to help this game, however, and hopefully by association, the upcoming Modern Warfare 4.
In the armory, this season’s initial weapon offering is lackluster. While two new assault rifles are coming or have come in the seasonal events, the CBRS-3 submachine gun and KRS-7.62 marksman rifle are simply okay in the grand scheme of things. Starting with the CBRS-3, this SMG is accurate, but doesn’t hit hard, and has a unique feature that is detrimental to its build. That feature: a rotating ammo mag that rechambers before empty. I like how well the gun handles, but when I’m in a gunfight, and my mag has 60 bullets, it suddenly stopping for a second because it has to swap chambers can be the difference in a gunfight. I’d rather have 25 bullets and have to fully reload a mag than this.
For the KRS-7.62, it’s more that it's a boring gun. Marksman rifles often aren’t the flashy play, I get it. They’re slower than their assault rifle counterparts while not as deadly (usually) as snipers. However, this weapon just doesn’t do a lot to stand out. It’s a two-tap kill, but it does so blandly. I know it's an odd critique, but at this stage, a weapon should be more exciting.
What might be more damning of these two weapons is that neither has broken into the Warzone meta. Many times, a gun may not be useful in multiplayer, but it finds a foothold in Warzone. Season 4 Reloaded may usher in the CBRS-3 with a new patch, but I’ve not had a single opponent challenge me with these guns in multiplayer or Warzone. Unless they get major buffs, there is no reason to use either weapon.
I’m probably most disappointed in seeing the downfall of Endgame. I get it, there are a lot of ways to play Call of Duty, and only so much budget to go around, both in time and money. Certain modes are just going to suffer. That said, the way Endgame gets very small additions, like a final set of operations which aren’t that big of a deal, and a new skill track with a couple of new abilities is abysmal. For how the seasonal content started, with the Z-Rex and the Origins Robot being amazing expansions to the mode, it’s sad to see the fall off.
At least Zombies is still seeing some big drops. The cadence of the mode mostly begins with Reloaded, as the new map releases then to give it room to breathe. Still, Zombies fans get fun extras at the season's launch. Nuked is the latest survival map – the tiny rooms mimicking the classic experience. This map is ripped from the Paradox Junction, a hellish retelling of the Nuketown map from multiplayer. Here you aren’t jumping between variants; however, locked to this dilapidated version. Directed mode has also come for Totenreich, another benefit for players like me who don’t always have the patience to go through the steps of the Zombies main quests. I don’t play a lot of Zombies as much as I play everything else, but this lets me engage with it on my terms without getting angry or frustrated.
Rogue Run is a new permanent mode, and it's a really cool take on the roguelite formula for Zombies. Entering with a pistol, you finish each round and are presented with three options for upgrades on several pedestals. You only have so long to choose, and if you don’t, the mode auto-selects something for you. You can use gobblegums in this mode for a boost, but beyond that, everything you get is randomized.
I think that this mode is one of the best ideas we’ve seen in Zombies. While fun, the monotony of round-based Zombies sets in after a while. With Rogue Run, you’re teleported between survival maps, with a mini-boss and big boss arriving eventually as you play. This almost feels like Gunfight for Zombies, with an RNG kit in play that makes you think on your feet. The presence of refilling ammo is also appreciated – they could just make this ridiculously punishing, but this little modification makes the ever-changing loadout bearable.
Warzone has gotten its latest refresh, and that’s with Fortune’s Keep returning. This is one of my favorite Resurgence maps from the past, but with recent wins like Haven’s Hollow and Rebirth’s updates, it’s not been as prevalent. Now that it’s back, with a minor makeover, I’m happy to see it, but its implementation is a bit awkward.
Fortune’s Keep is in a rotation right now, and that means you have to wait twenty minutes just to play it in regular Resurgence and in Ranked. If you play Casuals, it’s not available at all. This feels like an oversight, because new maps should be featured. As much as I enjoy Haven’s Hollow, moving it out for at least the first half of the season should have been on the table.
While it may be just an updated version of Fortune’s Keep, it’s still a vibrant Resurgence map that deserves its flowers. It’s a more open map, with wider spaces to cross when looking for cover or buildings to loot. The castle that sits at the top is an iconic POI, and really sets the tone as to how the rest of the island is designed. One of my favorite places has to be Smuggler’s Cove, an underground site that has several tight tunnels that lead to a few different exit points around the area. It’s a great place to get lost in if you’re being tracked or to brace for a fight. Even with the open nature of the map, it still has a flow that’s unique to its gameplay feel. As for the newer POI’s, they really aren’t that different, but it’s nice to see Fortune’s Keep getting rejuvenated.
Something else unique to Fortune’s Keep is the Shadowlink contract, a multi-tiered idea that is stellar in action, but confusing in design. I say that because I did it twice and didn’t understand how it benefited me. The third time was the charm, however, as I discovered on Reddit that you have to hold down on your D-pad to open the Shadowlink menu.
Essentially, you do a recon-style objective to start, which gives you access to a sat-phone (the Shadowlink menu). This phone lets you have a limited buy station attached to your inventory system, and one that you can spend a bit of cash to upgrade via additional tasks. These tasks aren’t simple, but involve dropping money into a spot in Smugglers Cove and more. The better gear you can get out of it is worth it, but it takes effort. I like the inventive concept of it, I just need a better UI to show me how to use it initially.
If you're like me and are constantly getting killed before you can self-revive, Season 4 has something for you. The Advanced Self-Revive has deployed into Resurgence, allowing you to go invisible as you heal up. I haven't found it to be any more powerful than the cloaking in multiplayer, and more times than not, I've actually caught someone trying to use one. It's another tool, just like the Shrouded perk dropping a smoke grenade when you're down.
As for this season’s bundles and battle pass, they're fine, although nothing is thrilling. At least, until the Nick Cage event starts with Reloaded. The events have been great, but nothing has stood out beyond how stacked with camos these have all been. Cherry Fizz has eluded many people, including myself, but we can't say we aren't spoiled for choice when it comes to rewards. I absolutely love the BlackCell camo track; I hope we see that return in Modern Warfare 4.
Although I've probably gotten less cognizant as I've gone further into this impressions piece, overall, this is a good content drop affected by what occurs every season. Eventually, players fall off, the devs have to begin work on what's next, and the back half of the title slows down. I don't think Treyarch and Raven have done that in the slightest, but you can say that this is the first season where you've felt the weight of what's next. I'm a huge fan of Black Ops 7, but its best content is behind it, both because it's starting the end of the cycle and the most important drops have already happened. Until it's over, I'll be right here, grinding away, and I'll see you in Season 5.
