Call of Duty Black Ops 7 Zombies: Gameplay Evolution, Atmosphere & New Features

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Activision's promise of the "biggest Black Ops ever" may be inflated. Sure, there's a lot of decent content in the latest chapter of the series, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, featuring three core modes worth of gameplay. But when you start to look beneath the surface and really focus on what's on offer at a granular level, it feels a bit misleading.

As Petter shared earlier, the campaign is vast and feels very different from what we've come to expect from Call of Duty. I agree with that sentiment, though I also believe Treyarch has tried some interesting things in this latest single player offering, even if they largely fall flat.

Then there's the multiplayer, which never really clicked with me during the beta window, and which Magnus shared similar issues and concerns about during the review phase, leading to an already uneven chapter in this storied series. But then again, Call of Duty is a three legged stool, so how does Zombies fit into this equation?

Until recently, I found Zombies to be the part of a Call of Duty game that intrigued me the most. Campaigns are of a very different caliber, Multiplayer requires such focus and determination that it can feel stifling, and battle royale has never really been my jam, which is why Warzone hasn't really captured my attention since its launch all those years ago. Zombies, on the other hand, has been where I enjoy Call of Duty the most.

This interest and devotion began in the late 2000s with Call of Duty: World at War, and since then, it's become a place where a core group of friends and I reunite to solve complex and bizarre Easter eggs and spend countless hours gunning down hordes of the undead.

While Black Ops 6 Zombies has its quirks and areas for improvement, it also offers a very robust Zombies package with some truly exceptional maps, like the epic Terminus. I want to point back to last year's chapter first because the "biggest Black Ops ever" already pales in comparison to a 2024 game with only one Zombies launch map... Yes, instead of choosing between Liberty Falls and Terminus, here you only really have Ashes of the Damned to choose from. Sure, Dead Ops Arcade is back and still fun, but for the main and core Zombies, it's a much more pared down experience.

What Ashes of the Damned offers is a very expansive and complex experience, somewhat in line with Tranzit from Black Ops II. It's similar in that it's a larger map split into separate sections that can be reached using vehicles to traverse the highly hostile intermediate areas, with this being considered Old Tessie's Wonder Vehicle.

It's a fun and interesting idea that adds a lot of depth to the experience by making it more challenging to stumble and gain Advantages, buy walls, find Intel and Easter eggs, and even build Pack a Punch machines. Ashes of the Damned isn't an easy Zombies map, which will be music to the ears of veteran Zombies players, and it requires a lot of learning and practice to understand its various quirks and features, and to uncover the vast collection of secrets scattered throughout.

I'll complain that there's only one map available right now because I enjoy variety (and frankly because a company the size of Activision/Treyarch should be able to launch with at least two maps...), but the truth is that Ashes of the Damned is a strong Zombies map. It has everything you could want from a Zombies experience: all the challenge and complexity combined with depth and variety, requiring you to adapt to new situations and mechanics while using the familiar tactics and methods that Zombies has been creating for nearly two decades. 

The theme, the tone, the variety all of this is some of the best Zombies work Treyarch has delivered to date, and to me, it further demonstrates one thing in particular about modern Call of Duty: Treyarch should only make Zombies, Infinity Ward should only make Multiplayer, and someone else (possibly someone new) should make Campaigns.

What's been a bit of a sore spot for me is the reset that happens between every Call of Duty game lately. I don't like starting a new Zombies experience, which is fundamentally and seriously connected to the last game, without anything I want in the Gunsmith setup.

After spending a year starting every Zombies game with the weapons and attachments I want, now there's nothing to be said for it.