Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 dips to 1.7 Metacritic user score as fans slam campaign, generative AI and boss fight
With another back-to-back Black Ops entry in Activision’s Call of Duty franchise, Call of Duty Black Ops 7 has unfortunately fallen to a nadir in the series, receiving a Metacritic user score of 1.9/10, based on over 1440 reviews (at the time of writing). Surprisingly, critics disagree, giving the title a Metascore of 83/100 based on 18 critic reviews.
According to user scores, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is pretty much the lowest-rated game in the series. The game stands behind Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2023), an MW2 expansion turned into a standalone title, which received a user score of 2.3 based on 2,399 reviews, followed by Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare with a user score of 4.4 based on 2,106 reviews.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 has been squeezed out of the spotlight by a competitive year of hit FPS shooters, including longstanding rival Battlefield Studios’ Battlefield 6, and Embark Studios’ Arc Raiders, which peaked at 747,440 and 481,966 concurrent players, respectively, and are currently the third and fourth most-played games on Steam.
Black Ops 7, on the other hand, is shielded by the Call of Duty launcher, making it difficult to determine precise player counts. However, concurrent player spikes on SteamDB estimate that the game peaked at around 86,000 players at launch on November 14 and 100,000 players on November 16, making it the 17th most-played game on Steam as of now.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s release is mired in controversy, and fans are divided over the series’ year-after-year releases, with Black Ops 6 being released almost a year ago. Gamers claim the franchise has been fatigued, with players slamming technical missteps and creative shortcuts that make it seem like the game is a victim of review bombing. However, genuine concerns are present in many negative reviews.
At the core of the controversy is the game’s weak campaign and comical boss fight involving a giant Michael Rooker, which has left many in awe about the series’ direction, despite the prior instalment’s campaign taking a grounded, adequately paced, and enticing approach.
Concerns have been ongoing about Activision and developer Treyarch’s consistent use of generative AI to create game assets such as Calling Cards, artwork, camo designs, operator skins, emblems, and loading screens.
Activision has already admitted to using generative AI, but insists that “our creative process is still led by staff.” Back-to-back Call of Duty releases year after year have fatigued the COD community, with many gamers calling this year's Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 “Activision’s biggest disaster of all time.”
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