Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 dropped on November 15, 2025, and within 48 hours became the most catastrophically reviewed entry in the franchise’s 20-year history. With a user score of just 1.7 out of 10 on Metacritic for PC and similar devastation across other platforms, it’s officially worse than every previous Call of Duty, including 2023’s widely panned Modern Warfare III.
The backlash is brutal and nearly universal. Over 85% of user reviews are negative, with Steam showing mixed reception at just 42% positive. Players are calling it the worst campaign ever made, criticizing the multiplayer as recycled garbage, and demanding refunds en masse. What went so catastrophically wrong with a franchise that usually prints money?
The Campaign Disaster
Let’s start with what might be the most universally hated aspect – the campaign. Forbes flat-out called it “The Worst Call of Duty Campaign Ever,” and that headline undersells how much players despise it. The campaign requires a constant online connection to play, meaning you can’t pause even when playing solo. Yes, you read that right. Playing the single-player story by yourself with no other humans involved, and you still can’t pause the game.
It gets worse. There are no checkpoints during missions. If you die, you restart the entire mission from the beginning. Combined with the inability to pause, this creates scenarios where real-life interruptions force you to abandon missions and lose all progress. Got a phone call? Bathroom break? Someone at the door? Too bad. Die or restart.
The always-online requirement exists because Activision decided to host campaign missions on multiplayer servers. The entire mode runs like competitive multiplayer, treating your solo experience as if you’re in an online match. It’s a decision that makes zero sense from a player experience perspective and only benefits Activision’s data collection and DRM enforcement.
Beyond the technical nightmare, the story itself is getting roasted. Multiple reviewers have said it feels like it was generated by ChatGPT rather than written by humans. The tone veers into what players describe as “Fortnite-like” rather than the military seriousness Call of Duty campaigns traditionally maintain. Cutscenes are goofy, the plot makes little sense, and nothing feels earned or meaningful.
It’s So Bad It’s Good?
Some outlets tried to spin the campaign’s awfulness as entertainment value, calling it “brain-rot” content that’s “so bad it’s good.” That’s a generous interpretation. Based on user reviews, most players just think it’s bad, period. One Metacritic user wrote they’ve played every Call of Duty campaign since the beginning and this is the first one they couldn’t finish. They sold the game on eBay within 24 hours.
For a franchise where many players specifically buy the game for the campaign experience, delivering what’s widely considered the worst single-player mode in series history is a spectacular failure. Campaign-focused fans feel completely abandoned by design decisions that prioritize metrics and control over player experience.
Multiplayer Isn’t Much Better
If the campaign bombed, surely the multiplayer – Call of Duty’s bread and butter – saves Black Ops 7, right? Not according to players who describe it as “lackluster,” “uninspired,” and worse than previous entries they already disliked. The most common complaint is that it feels like Apex Legends or other hero shooters rather than Call of Duty.
Movement feels funky according to multiple reviews. The gunplay lacks the tight, responsive feel that made Call of Duty multiplayer addictive for two decades. Maps are criticized as recycled assets from older games with minimal changes. Sniping is apparently wildly overpowered, creating frustrating match experiences.
The monetization is getting hammered as predatory and aggressive. Players report constant advertisements for the Black Cell battle pass and store items, turning multiplayer lobbies into virtual shopping malls. For a game that costs $70 upfront, the aggressive push toward additional spending feels insulting.
Performance issues compound the gameplay problems. PC optimization is poor, with frame rate drops and stuttering reported even on high-end hardware. The game doesn’t feel smooth, creating a disconnect between player input and on-screen action that’s death in a competitive shooter.
Zombies Mode Loses Its Identity
Zombies has been a Black Ops staple since the original game, building a dedicated fanbase that considers it equal to or more important than the campaign. Black Ops 7’s Zombies mode is described as “bland,” “horrendous,” and having “no identity anymore.” The open-world integration that worked in previous entries apparently falls flat here, removing the claustrophobic tension that made Zombies compelling.
One reviewer noted Zombies is the only reason they gave the game any points at all – it’s “playable and mildly enjoyable” compared to the campaign and multiplayer disasters. That’s damning with faint praise. When your best feature is described as merely acceptable, you’ve got serious problems.
The Critic vs User Divide
Here’s where things get interesting. While user scores sit at catastrophic lows between 1.6 and 1.9 out of 10, critic reviews average around 84 on Metacritic. Gaming Trend even gave it a perfect 10/10. The disconnect between professional reviews and player reception is stark and raising questions about review integrity.
Users are calling critic reviews “paid shills” and questioning whether reviewers actually played the same game. When your audience universally hates something professionals praised, either critics are out of touch with player priorities or other factors influenced their scores. The timing of this controversy is particularly bad for gaming journalism’s already shaky credibility.
To be fair, critics and players often prioritize different things. Critics might focus on production values, variety of content, and technical competence at a baseline level. Players care about whether the game is actually fun, whether design decisions respect their time, and whether it delivers on franchise expectations. Black Ops 7 apparently fails the player test spectacularly.
Worst Than Modern Warfare III
Before Black Ops 7, Modern Warfare III held the dubious honor of worst-rated Call of Duty with a 2.3/10 user score. MW3 was criticized as basically expensive DLC sold at full price, reusing massive amounts of content from the previous year’s game with minimal innovation. Players hated it. Activision knew they had a PR disaster.
Black Ops 7 managed to be worse. It dropped below MW3 to claim the title of most hated Call of Duty ever made, beating out even obscure entries like Modern Warfare 3: Defiance on Nintendo DS. That’s an achievement nobody at Activision wanted on their resume.
The speed of the collapse is remarkable. Within one weekend – the crucial period where community opinion solidifies and word-of-mouth spreads – Black Ops 7 went from highly anticipated to franchise-killing disaster. Social media filled with refund requests, angry reviews, and comparisons to other franchise low points.
What Went Wrong?
Multiple factors converged to create this perfect storm of failure. The always-online campaign with no pause function and no checkpoints represents tone-deaf design that prioritizes corporate control over player experience. Nobody asked for this. Nobody wanted this. Activision implemented it anyway, and players rightfully revolted.
The poor optimization suggests the game shipped before it was ready. Frame rate issues, stuttering, clunky controls – these are fixable problems that should have been addressed before launch. Rushing the game to hit the annual November release window likely meant quality assurance took a backseat to the calendar.
Aggressive monetization in a $70 game creates immediate hostility. Players are tired of buying full-price games that treat them like mobile free-to-play whales. The constant store advertisements and battle pass pushes make multiplayer feel like a commercial rather than entertainment.
The recycled content and lack of innovation suggests development resources went elsewhere – probably to monetization systems and cosmetic items that generate recurring revenue. When players notice maps and assets reused from older games while the store is packed with new items to buy, it sends a clear message about priorities.
Steam and Refund Chaos
Steam reviews currently sit at Mixed with 42% positive, which sounds better than 1.7/10 but is still terrible for a major AAA launch. More significantly, refund requests have apparently flooded in as players realize what they bought. Multiple user reviews mention getting refunds within hours of purchase.
Steam’s two-hour refund window creates interesting incentives. Players can try the game, realize it’s awful, and immediately request their money back if they haven’t exceeded the time limit. The campaign’s structure and multiplayer issues become apparent quickly enough that many players can test and refund without risk.
For Activision, this creates a financial problem. If significant numbers of players refund rather than keeping the game despite disappointment, launch sales numbers could take a serious hit. The user score acting as a warning to potential buyers compounds the issue by preventing new sales from people who check reviews first.
Can It Be Fixed?
Some issues are patchable. Performance optimization can improve over time. Bugs can be fixed. Balance changes can address overpowered weapons. But the fundamental design problems – the always-online campaign structure, the lack of pause and checkpoints, the aggressive monetization, the recycled content – can’t be patched out without rebuilding major portions of the game.
Activision could theoretically add offline campaign support and pause functionality, but that would require admitting the original design was wrong and dedicating resources to changing it. Based on past behavior, they’re more likely to move on to next year’s Call of Duty and treat Black Ops 7 as a lost cause.
The user score won’t recover. Once a game gets branded as terrible in its launch window, that reputation sticks permanently. No Man’s Sky managed the impossible by rebuilding itself over years, but that’s extremely rare. Most games that launch badly stay bad in public perception regardless of patches.
FAQs
What is the user score for Black Ops 7?
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 has a 1.7 out of 10 user score on Metacritic for PC, making it the worst-rated Call of Duty in franchise history. It dropped below Modern Warfare III, which previously held the lowest score at 2.3/10. Steam reviews show Mixed reception at 42% positive.
Why are players so angry about the Black Ops 7 campaign?
The campaign requires a constant online connection and cannot be paused even when playing solo. It has no checkpoints, forcing players to restart entire missions if they die. The story is criticized as ChatGPT-generated nonsense with a Fortnite-like tone rather than classic Call of Duty military seriousness.
What’s wrong with Black Ops 7 multiplayer?
Players complain about poor optimization, funky movement that feels more like Apex Legends, uninspired gunplay, recycled maps from older games, overpowered sniping, and aggressive predatory monetization with constant store advertisements despite the $70 price tag.
Did critics like Black Ops 7?
Yes, which makes the situation more controversial. Critics gave Black Ops 7 an average score of 84 on Metacritic, with Gaming Trend awarding a 10/10. This massive disconnect between critic praise and user hatred has led to accusations of paid reviews and questions about review integrity.
Can you get a refund for Black Ops 7?
Many players have successfully refunded the game through Steam within the two-hour playtime window. Multiple user reviews mention getting refunds within 24 hours of purchase after realizing the game’s quality issues.
Is Black Ops 7 worse than Modern Warfare III?
Yes. Modern Warfare III previously held the worst user score at 2.3/10, but Black Ops 7 dropped to 1.7/10, making it officially the most hated Call of Duty ever released, including obscure spin-offs on handheld systems.
What are the main complaints about Black Ops 7?
The most cited issues include the always-online campaign with no pause or checkpoints, poor PC optimization, predatory monetization, lackluster multiplayer with recycled content, uninspired gunplay, clunky controls, a terrible ChatGPT-like story, and bland Zombies mode that lost its identity.
Will Activision fix Black Ops 7?
Performance issues and bugs can be patched, but fundamental design problems like the always-online campaign structure would require major rebuilding. Based on Activision’s track record, they’ll likely focus on next year’s Call of Duty rather than extensively rework Black Ops 7.
A Franchise in Crisis
Call of Duty has survived controversies before. The series bounced back from Advanced Warfare’s jetpack fatigue, recovered from Infinite Warfare’s disastrous reveal trailer, and even survived last year’s Modern Warfare III disaster. But Black Ops 7 feels different. The sheer universality of the negative reception, combined with design decisions that seem actively hostile to players, suggests something fundamentally broken in how Activision approaches the franchise.
The annual release cycle has finally caught up with them. You can’t sustainably release a new Call of Duty every single year while also supporting live service content for previous entries and expect quality to remain consistent. Something has to give, and in Black Ops 7’s case, everything gave simultaneously.
For longtime fans, this might be the breaking point. Multiple reviews mention playing Call of Duty since the beginning and finally giving up on the franchise. When you lose your core audience who’ve stuck with you through multiple bad entries, rebuilding that trust takes years if it’s even possible.
Black Ops 7 will be remembered as a cautionary tale about what happens when corporate priorities completely override player experience. The always-online campaign serving no purpose except DRM and data collection. The aggressive monetization in a full-price game. The recycled content disguised as a new entry. The rushed release schedule prioritizing the calendar over quality. Every bad industry practice converged in one disastrous package.
Activision made $7 billion from Call of Duty last year. Black Ops 7 might be the first entry in decades that actually loses them money when accounting for refunds, damaged franchise reputation, and the long-term cost of alienating their player base. Sometimes the pursuit of short-term profit kills the golden goose. This might be that moment for Call of Duty.