- Initial impressions of Black Ops 7's campaign have been largely negative, with solo players being particularly frustrated.
- Their annoyance is due to the online-only requirements of the campaign, which means players cannot pause the game and can get booted out of missions due to daily updates.
- The campaign also doesn't support AI allies for solo players, resulting in a disjointed experience.
Call of Duty Black Ops 7 is officially here, and the crowd has very much gone mild. The latest entry in Treyarch’s sub-franchise struggled to muster up any momentum before its release, thanks in part to the fatigue around Call of Duty and the incredible success of Battlefield 6. Things remain the same on day one, as you’ll find minimal discourse about the game online, although you’re likely to run into complaints regarding its campaign.
BO7 sees the debut of a co-op campaign for the first time in series history, allowing four players to fill the boots of David Mason’s JSOC squad. Unfortunately, this multiplayer focus seems to have come at the cost of solo players, as the single-player experience suffers from a host of annoying issues that have left users online frustrated.
Black Ops 7’s Always Online Campaign has Left Players Annoyed
You read that right, Black Ops 7’s co-op campaign (which allows for solo play) is online-only. This won’t come as a major surprise for players familiar with how Call of Duty operates these days, but it’s still quite disappointing. That’s only the tip of the nightmarish iceberg, however.
Within a few hours of the game going live, players quickly realised that you cannot pause the campaign, even if you’re playing solo. This inconvenience is a first for CoD, and what makes it even worse is that you’ll be booted out of gameplay if the devs push a daily update. So, if you’ve been struggling against a boss and are within minutes of taking it down, your progress could be wiped in an instant. The same goes for the PvE Endgame mode, although you’ll have the option to rejoin the game after the update is complete.
Another oversight that makes the campaign frustrating for solo players is the implementation, or lack thereof, of AI allies. The game’s narrative revolves around a four-person squad, all of whom are controlled by real players. Squad members are fully voiced and regularly communicate during gameplay, which helps the moment-to-moment action feel cohesive.
Despite how integral the team dynamic is to the campaign, solo players do not have the option to fill their squad using AI allies. This results in a disjointed experience, where you’ll be taking down four-player missions solo while the voice lines of your ‘squad mates’ continue to play without them actually being present in gameplay. The oversight makes it seem as if David is constantly talking to ghosts, so like father, like son, I suppose.
The consensus on the campaign itself has been quite negative as well, with some comparing it to the abysmal open-combat nonsense Modern Warfare III offered up. With Black Ops 7 now live worldwide, it’ll be interesting to see what the rest of the community has to say.
