This is the usual time of year when you receive my final impressions on Call of Duty’s last bit of seasonal content. Let me be clear: you’re still getting that. However, I want to frame it differently than in previous pieces. Everyone knows how much I love Black Ops 7. I went to bat for it immediately and gave it a 100/100. While I’m used to the seasonal cadence of Call of Duty by now, I’m crestfallen at the fall-off Black Ops 7 has endured. Sure, the content is there, but the foundation that allows you to enjoy what you’re playing has been chipped away at until a husk remains.
First, the good. The VMP is amazing, to the point I question why it was held back until the final drop. This submachine gun fires fast, is pretty accurate, and while the damage profile is low, your speed with it in hand makes up for it. It’s a classic that should be a blueprint for weapon reintroductions going forward, as it’s a near one-for-one remake of the gun. Treyarch even added it to Ranked Play, which is telling of how good it is. I’m mainly annoyed because it’s a true SMG, and would have been tremendous in Ranked and professional play throughout this cycle.
Quantum is a fun snow map that feels fresh amidst the deluge of maps we’ve gotten this year. This broken-down Guild facility is medium-sized and the only new map in Season 6. There are good routes, the flow makes sense, and it’s overall a fine addition. I don’t know that I’d pick it for Ranked Play, but it follows Treyarch’s sensible map design, which has worked well over the course of Black Ops 7. There have been a bunch of great maps this year that are simply fun to play, and this is one of them.
The Haunting’s aesthetics have been largely awesome as well. Whether it’s Bloodstead’s dark, foreboding rendition of the Homestead map, or the creepy makeover of Haven’s Hollow, the ambience has been on point. I particularly like the ethereal train zooming around on the tracks, even if it is more for show, along with the island floating above the map akin to what the team did during Modern Warfare III’s Rebirth Island event. Endgame even got a night mode for Avalon with a big old Aether Worm boss event. While maybe not as involved as previous Hauntings, this year is well populated, especially when you consider how abbreviated this season is due to an early Modern Warfare 4 launch.
T.E.D.D. Trials invading multiplayer is also a fun idea. Instead of new maps, Treyarch took sections of the Zombies maps and reconfigured them for a romp on the multiplayer side. In T.E.D.D. Trials, you’ll be fighting both Zombies and players, with certain objectives on the line during a time limit. These include things like getting the most headshots or hipfire kills within the time allotted or meeting a score first. It’s a nice remix that feels unique, which is impressive given how long the series has been around. You don’t get many firsts in Call of Duty anymore.
DOOM finally gets a big collaboration during The Haunting, and it makes for a perfectly timed mashup. Sure, it’s part of an event pass rather than in the battle pass (I’d have put it in the battle pass), but it’s one of the best Haunting skins we’ve gotten. Even better, both the Doom Slayer and Doom Guy are in this event, along with his iconic shotgun and sword as blueprints. The old DOOM stuff in Modern Warfare II was neat, but this is what we all wanted.
Second, the mid. The TR51 Para is the final assault rifle that… isn’t really an assault rifle. It’s a single-shot weapon, so more of a battle rifle or marksman rifle. You can prestige it for a barrel that will make it an automatic weapon, but that seems like a lot of effort when you only have four to five weeks of a season. It’s an okay gun in stock form – accurate, kills in a couple of bullets – but it’s not a meta weapon, even in Warzone. This one seems a bit phoned in; if you’re going to introduce a weapon like this, it should be more useful in the meta.
I’m mostly surprised that, outside of the undead’s appearance in T.E.D.D. Trials and on the island above Haven’s Hollow, Zombies isn't really featured in The Haunting. There are some good additions to the proper mode, with the final Directed Mode and the Starting Area arriving for Rex Infernus, along with a Survival map coming from Kowakujō. Rogue Run also gets more maps and rewards. There’s even a Super Easter Egg for those willing to brave the intensive run to complete it! So why am I calling this mid? It’s because all of it is expected and little is new. For a mode that should be filled to the brim for The Haunting, it’s odd to me that the other modes have done a better job showcasing Zombies than Zombies itself.
Third, the ugly. Good Lord, have the lobbies been absolutely dreadful. I could sit here and rag on content that isn’t as quality as we’ve experienced in the last few years, but I’d have to be able to experience it without hating my time with Black Ops 7. Don’t get me wrong, the game itself is still one of the best Call of Duty games of the Warzone era, but when it feels like a slog to simply play a single Hardpoint, the game is in a horrible spot.
Let me add some context. My friends and I have been playing for quite some time, so we’re decent at the game. Somehow, we’re getting matched up in Hardpoint lobbies with former and current Crimson and Iridescent players. That shouldn’t be happening, and it’s almost every lobby. In Search and Destroy, it’s almost surprising if we aren’t facing at least one Iridescent player. I’m just trying to enjoy the game, but it’s like Black Ops 7 is actively fighting me to do so.
Even worse has been the matchmaking in Ranked Play. I was unranked and watched as I was instantly put up against an ENTIRE TEAM of Iridescent players. I’ve managed to get to Diamond ONCE in my entire time playing Black Ops 7, and in my Call of Duty career. It only gets worse from here as well, as I went on to lose 8 straight matches with my three other teammates before we finally broke through. There could have been a bug, considering after I was finally ranked at Silver 3, we won a bunch of matches in a row and the matchmaking was way better. That said, it shouldn’t take that long for the system to figure out my unranked self is struggling, especially with three other Platinum or worse players squadded together.
If you’ve followed my Call of Duty articles, you’ll generally find a positive person when speaking about the game. This is the first time I’ve walked away from a season tired of playing the game. I’ve been playing Counter-Strike 2 while awaiting MW4 if it tells you anything. I hope that somehow Modern Warfare 4’s matchmaking and lobbies are better, because if a 100/100 Call of Duty game can manage to lose me at the end, I don’t want to see what anything less than that might do to my sanity.
Maybe at this point the game is simply owned by the sweats and hackers. It’s a truly dismal experience, one I wouldn’t wish on anyone. My love for Black Ops 7 itself has never faded, but my patience for the underlying systems putting me into abysmal matches has long been gone. It sucks to watch a game I’m so fond of collapsing under the weight of bad decisions, but here we are. So long Black Ops 7, we knew thee well.
