If for some reason you missed the news, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s big Beta event happened recently. After Activision showed off Black Ops’ latest multiplayer experience trailer last month, the forthcoming entry in its FPS franchise was opened to the public for some good old-fashioned combat. Thanks to my good friends at Activision, I was able to jump in on the fun, which I’m now missing. 

Since that Beta is now concluded, and release day is on November 14th, there’s about a month before any of us will be able to return to that world. However, I did take note of some thoughts that came up while playing. So now that I’m home from the exhilarating experience that was New York Comic Con 2025, I can share those feelings with you in-depth! 

If you’re still on the fence about pre-ordering Black Ops 7, let me help with these early impressions on the future of modern multiplayer warfare. 

Black Ops 7’s New Futuristic Look Is Beautiful

I’ve always loved when Call of Duty goes futuristic. 2012’s Black Ops II and 2016’s Infinite Warfare both hammered that home for me, as the wide array of weapons, gadgets, and settings made for quite the leap from the usually contemporary series. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is no exception in that regard, as right from logging in you get an eyeful of beauty from good old 2035 in the menu design. Carrying over into the gameplay, we’re treated to new multiplayer maps like The Forge, Cortex, Exposure, and Imprint – and there’s shades of Infinite Warfare in each of these locations. 

Kill Confirmed On Exposure Had An Interesting Hiccup

One of the maps that reminds me most of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare is the spot known as “Exposure.” Invoking memories of the 2016 game’s multiplayer map “Skydock,” there are some dangerous places that require you to wall jump over chasms, if you want to live that is. That’s pretty standard…until you play a round of Kill Confirmed, and see a bunch of dog tags floating in mid-air, waiting for the next fool to add to their ranks. (Yes, I fell into that trap once, early on. Once.) 

Offering The Tutorial Level Was A Nice Touch

I’ll admit, I’m not always an “Early Access Beta” person when it comes to the launch of a major video game. So forgive me if I sound like a bit of an outsider when I marvel at the fact that Black Ops 7’s tutorial was included as an introductory experience, along with the standard digital forum of savagery. 

Getting a handle on omnidirectional streaking, as well as re-learning the wall jumping I vaguely remember from Call of Duty III, was well worth the time; as it really felt like jumping back in. (And that’s even with Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 being one of my current games in rotation.) 

I Could Get Used To The New Grenade Finisher

I thought using an opposing player as a human shield, complete with the option to trash talk them on mic, was pretty brutal. However, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 has taken things a step further when it comes to disposing of your prey – and it’s called “The Grenade Finisher!” So now you have the option to either snap your captives neck, or stick them with an explosive ordinance and kick them back into the wild.  

I’m Going To Be Maining Kiernan Shipka’s Character – Purely Based On Attitude

What is Call of Duty known for if not its celebrity casting and cameos? The latest Black Ops adventure boasts Milo Ventimiglia and Kiernan Shipka as new players, along with Michael Rooker returning for the first time since Black Ops II. Our Mad Men and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina vet plays Emma Kagan, the CEO of in-game tech firm The Guild – and she’s one of the new playable characters available in Black Ops 7’s multiplayer beta. Her excellent delivery of profanity matches my own personal brand of flagrant commentary in any given round, so I already know I’ll be letting her avatar represent me in the “fuck ‘em up zone” for the indefinite future. 

The D.A.W.G. And A.R.C. M1 Are My Jam

It’s time to talk about the new toys, my friends. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 has a new Scorestreak and Launcher that I need to highlight for you all, as they fall into the futuristic side of destruction I’ve missed for so long. First, let’s talk about the D.A.W.G. – a drone that looks like it’d be related to Boston Dynamic’s Spot. I saw a person literally riding one of these onto the battlefield when playing one of my earliest rounds on the Beta, and I was taken aback – right before I was gunned down. Good bad dog! 

Shifting over to the subject of launchers, the A.R.C. M1 is a charge launcher I discovered by random chance. After a couple of trigger pulls with that darling, I was an instant fan of the quick reloading energy bursts I was throwing into the world. Needless to say, I’ll continue to be a menace with this weapon upon launch, so you’ve all been warned.

Black Ops 7 Feels Like The Advanced Warfare Sequel I’ve Always Wanted

On paper Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is perceived more as a sequel to Black Ops II, which is exciting no matter how you slice it. That being said, as I’ve continued to dive into the multiplayer maps, those previously mentioned memories of Infinite Warfare have only gotten stronger. In addition to the maps that call back to that previous game, those Guild droids in the Tutorial look like precursors to E3N – the droid you serve with on-board the UNSA Retribution.

The futuristic look has always been a hallmark of that title, which has clearly made a resurgence with Black Ops 7; even if the timeframe for its events are much more contemporary. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that this could be a potential test for whether Activision may return to the world that we saw almost a decade ago. Of course, that could just be my fandom showing. 

With a month to go before Call of Duty’s latest hits shelves, I’m going to be sad that I can’t keep playing around with the Overclocks, or share awesome weapons builds with you all just yet. At least I won’t be waiting alone as we’ll all have to be patient for November 14th to arrive; the day when Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s full package will be shipped out to us all. 

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