Black Ops 7 Beta – 3 Up, 3 Down
We’re just over a month away from the full release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, happening on November 14th, so what better way to celebrate than by jumping into the beta, right? As a longtime COD player, I’ve seen the franchise evolve through every era. I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the really bad. Jumping into the beta of Treyarch’s latest chapter, Black Ops 7, felt like stepping into familiar yet interesting territory. From the crisp gunplay and slick movement to some questionable map design choices, this beta has plenty to talk about. It wasn’t all killstreaks and clean shots – some moments hit hard, and others missed the mark entirely. So what exactly did the Black Ops 7 get right and where did it go wrong? Let’s find out together.
The Worst
Matchmaking
I’m just going to come out and say it: the matchmaking needs some serious work. The skill-based matchmaking feels like I’m a goddamn yo-yo, and the open matchmaking feels like I’m either god-tier level good or I’m on the receiving end of an ass kicking. There were very few matches I played where I felt like I faired decently without wondering if I was playing against bots. But most of them honestly felt like multiplayer is going to be the worst kind of grind this year. Black Ops 6, at times, suffered from the skill-based matchmaking yo-yo effect, where playing a couple of good games gets you entered into the gauntlet against some seriously sweaty individuals. But it did level out and become more consistent after a while. I’m hoping this is something that can be adjusted before the full release of Black Ops 7.
Overall Lack of “New COD” Feel
Black Ops 7 feels like a futuristic version of Black Ops 6. Despite being the direct sequel to Black Ops 2, it also ends up feeling a bit like a remix of Black Ops 3 and 4. Like it’s still trying to find it’s own identity. It feels reminiscent of the older Black Ops games while also feeling like a Black Ops 6 expansion. Maybe it’s because Treyarch is doing two back to back COD titles, without the usual break of Activision in between. It just doesn’t scream new Call of Duty. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed my time with the Black Ops franchise immensely, and I don’t entirely mind getting a more refined, yet expanded version of last year’s iteration, BUT if I’m okay paying full price for a new game it’s nice not to feel that rinse-repeat feel of playing Call of Duty year after year, too. I think this should be minimized with the sheer volume of new and remade maps, new weapons, and different scorestreaks, perks, etc. It’s just hard not to mention this at all.
Maps Need Some Adjustment
Despite the fantastic pacing of Black Ops 7, the maps cater to camping a bit. The maps are bright and colorful, but there are a lot of automatic doors. These allow campers to sit around and wait for someone to run by. The 3 lane, open maps have great sightlines for snipers who want to sit back in their own spawns. Add to the fact that players can jump up onto platforms and head glitch using certain obstacles mid-map. As a result, it might be a bit frustrating to play Domination (or similar game modes) on The Forge, Complex, and Exposure. The open sightlines mixed with these automatic doors leave little to the imagination for what’s going to happen to all of the run-and-gunners just trying to leave their own spawns. I hope that if all of the maps have these automatic doors that they’re adjusted before Black Ops 7 drops, with some being removed altogether.
Click on through to see the best of the Black Ops 7 beta…