17 November 2025

Call of Duty Has Forgotten What ‘Black Ops’ Meant

By newsgame

This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS for every Call of Duty: Black Ops campaign, including Call of Duty: Black Ops 7‘s.

It’s been a long time since a Call of Duty campaign was considered by the masses to be truly great. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6‘s campaign was a breath of fresh air after Modern Warfare 3‘s disastrous story mode, with it featuring some memorable story beats and some fun action set pieces. But it couldn’t quite capture the magic of the golden age of Call of Duty campaigns like Modern Warfare, Black Ops 1, and Modern Warfare 2. Unfortunately, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 feels like another Modern Warfare 3-sized step back for the franchise.

Over its launch weekend, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7‘s campaign has been heavily criticized online. Many long-time fans have expressed their disappointment with the tonal direction of Black Ops 7‘s campaign, as well as its over-the-top boss fights, its half-baked solo experience, and its unengaging endgame. A general throughline of most critiques is that Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 just doesn’t feel like a Black Ops campaign, and a major cause of that is that it forgets one core part of Black Ops‘ identity.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s Campaign Forgets a Crucial Part of the Black Ops Series Identity

(Almost) Every Call of Duty: Black Ops Campaign Has a Huge Twist

Call of Duty: Black Ops – Alex Mason was brainwashed by both Dragovich and Reznov, and Reznov died in Vorkuta
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 – Menendez tricks Woods into killing Alex Mason
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 – The player-character is dead and has taken over Taylor’s mind, and each level is a simulation based on Taylor’s memories
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War – Bell is actually one of Perseus’ spies who’s been brainwashed to help the CIA
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 – Case was the original test subject of a failed super-soldier drug known as The Cradle

The only series entry to not feature any kind of big twist is Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, as it didn’t have a traditional campaign.

David Mason in the Numbers Station - Black Ops 7 Teaser Trailer

While the very first Call of Duty: Black Ops campaign was packed with thrilling set pieces and iconic characters, it’s arguably best remembered for its third act twist that reveals player-character Alex Mason had been brainwashed into killing a set of targets, first by Soviet general Dragovich, and then by Viktor Reznov. Though Black Ops 2‘s twist is much more straightforward, Black Ops 3, Black Ops Cold War, and Black Ops 6 all feature major reveals that reframe the events of the campaign, usually in a way that bends the player’s perception of reality.

The most memorable Call of Duty: Black Ops twists are those that are integrated into gameplay. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is a great example of this, with the mission ‘Break on Through’ slowly revealing its mind-bending twist by changing the environment and enemies around the player in real-time as their character’s psyche begins to shatter.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s Campaign Has No Big Twist

Instead of delivering a big mind-bending twist in its third act, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 reveals its entire hand during its first 30 minutes. The very first mission of Black Ops 7‘s campaign ends with Specter One being subjected to a mysterious red gas that throws them into a shared hallucinatory boss fight against thought-to-be-dead Black Ops 2 antagonist Raul Menendez.

Before players can even start to contemplate what they’ve just experienced, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 immediately reveals that the hallucinations were caused by the red gas affecting the team’s neural links, that Menendez is in fact dead, and that The Guild is behind it all. Any tension or mystery surrounding Black Ops 7‘s plot is gone by the start of mission two.

Call of Duty Black Ops 7 Campaign Cradle

To make matters worse, there are virtually no more twists or turns in the rest of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7‘s four-hour campaign. The red gas is eventually revealed to be The Cradle from Call of Duty: Black Ops 6‘s campaign, but that reveal lacks narrative weight and feels like it’s simply there to connect the game to last year’s entry. Razor also technically betrays Specter One, though his betrayal also lacks any weight as he’s a new character for Black Ops 7 that’s only seen in one mission prior to his heel-turn.

Razor’s heel-turn will also be ruined for anyone who looked at Call of Duty: Black Ops 7‘s multiplayer Operators before starting the campaign, as he’s located in The Guild section.

Despite featuring direct recreations of previous Black Ops series missions, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 fails to feel like a true entry in the series, and the lack of any mind-bending plot twist certainly doesn’t help this major disconnect between the new entry and the series’ core identity.