Call of Duty campaigns have been on autopilot for a while, and you can feel it the second you load in. Same corridor pacing, same "push here, cutscene there" rhythm, and you're done before it leaves a mark. That's why Black Ops 7 is such a weird, interesting swing. It's clearly trying to snap the series out of that rut, and bits of it actually land. The campaign leans into systems that usually live in multiplayer—extraction-style runs, proper co-op moments, and fights that don't just end when you hit the next checkpoint. If you're the kind of player who bounces between modes, or you've ever messed around in a CoD BO7 Bot Lobby, you'll recognise what they're borrowing and why it can feel refreshing.

New Ideas, Rough Edges

The problem is that the game doesn't always know what it wants to be from one mission to the next. You'll have a tense run where you're looting, planning, trying not to overextend—then it yanks you back into a scripted set-piece like nothing changed. Co-op should be the glue here, but it's often treated like a bolt-on. When it works, it's great: splitting routes, covering someone while they interact, making a quick call and living with it. When it doesn't, it turns into busywork, like you're just dragging a friend through a single-player level that wasn't built for two people.

Story That Doesn't Sit Right

Long-time Black Ops fans aren't asking for homework-level lore dumps, but they do expect a certain tone. BO7 keeps reaching for that familiar grit, then undercuts it with narrative choices that don't quite fit the series' own rules. You can tell the writers want to go bigger, stranger, more psychological, and that's not a bad instinct. But the payoff is messy. Key motivations feel like they're missing a scene or two, and characters show up for "important" moments without earning them. You end up watching the story rather than feeling pulled into it.

UX, Hallucinations, and Boss Fights

The user experience doesn't help. If co-op is meant to be a headline feature, the menus, party flow, and matchmaking can't feel like a chore. You shouldn't be fighting the interface before you fight the mission. Then there are the hallucination sequences. The first one's intriguing. The fifth one. You're checking out. They drag, they blur together, and they don't always move the plot forward. While you're stuck in those dream loops, the real-world villain barely gets room to breathe, so the final confrontation lands with less punch than it should. The boss fights have the same "committee decision" vibe—flashy mechanics, sure, but sometimes the person you're fighting feels chosen because the game needed a boss, not because the story led you there.

What It Leaves You With

Visually, there's a lot to like. Wingsuit sections look sharp, snow missions have real atmosphere, and some arenas are built with the kind of clarity you want in a hectic firefight. But the campaign still feels like two projects stitched together: classic Black Ops pacing on one side, extraction mechanics on the other, and not enough polish in the seam. You can have innovation and still keep the identity; it just takes discipline, iteration, and a willingness to cut what isn't working. Right now, BO7 is the kind of campaign that makes you think about what it could've been, especially if you're chasing cleaner runs, better co-op flow, or even experimenting in a BO7 Bot Lobby to see how the systems feel when the friction is removed.