Call of Duty has revealed the zombies mode as one of the greatest features that the fans of Black Ops 7 have anticipated and the community of gamers is really excited about it. The unveiling of the title’s biggest round-based zombies map in the entire gaming history, which is called Ashes of the Damned, is set for release on November 14, 2023, right along with the game itself. Treyarch has been everywhere in this zombies land from loadouts to GobbleGums and the community has made clear its position.
So, what is it that we really gain with this? The official Call of Duty account has shared a massive list of new features that Zombies in Black Ops 7 will include. There is going to be full Zombies Loadouts that will mean lots of personalization. You will also be able to do HUD customization so that your screen will be in the mode the way you find most suitable. New intel of DOA 4 for Easter egg seekers. Directed & Cursed info, whatever that means?? Tacticals, Lethals, Field Upgrades, and Support items. And, of course, the return of GobbleGums, Augments, and Research systems. Honestly, it’s a lot for one to take in.
The community’s response has been rather mixed towards this announcement. On the one hand, some were overjoyed like DRAGOREX, who said, “I am super excited to play the new installment. The Campaign is gonna be fun with the addition of co-op, and the zombies could use the better hud system.” They also mentioned that Black Ops 4 was the last COD game they played and had a great time, thus their expectations for the new one are sky-high.
Then, there are the dissenting opinions. The user jon44202 was very straightforward in his resistance to the new money-making technique: “No carry forward for me no money for you thank you no greedy ass mofos.” The carry forward discussion is really heated in the comments section. A few gamers say that skins and content from the previous games should be transferred to Black Ops 7, while others mock such thoughts as absurd.
Ayas “Petergobrrr” Sarwar made a few very astute suggestions, writing, “BEST WAY YOU COULD DO CARRY FORWARD TO PLEASE ALL: -all remastered MP maps -legacy weapons wall buys in zombies -grief & all MP party modes -survival variants of bo6 zombies maps.” He even tagged Treyarch directly with the praying hands emojis, which is either a sign of hope or desperation, depending on how you perceive it.
And then there is the unhappiness with the guns. Lioncleggy was very direct and only said, “Your weapons are dog shit,” which is very concise, for sure. Simultaneously, Matt Can made an interesting observation: “I’ve never seen so much info before a release. Are you worried about Call of Duty being back and it’s still subpar?” That’s indeed a good point – they are disclosing a LOT of information early on, which might mean they are either super confident or just a bit nervous.
Nevertheless, the biggest map issue is actually getting the most attention. To claim “The biggest Round-Based Zombies map” is a bold statement when considering the presence of absolute legends, such as Origins and Mob of the Dead. If Ashes of the Damned is larger than those? Then, something truly extraordinary is coming.
Some gamers are even making a connection with previous titles of the series. The replies include discussions about whether the maps of Black Ops 6 zombies should be part of Black Ops 7 with Horrible Mercy commenting that: “Zombies Chronicles didn’t devalue BO1/WaW so that argument just doesn’t make sense.” “At the same time, Ayas cited that the gameplay between BO6 and BO7 was ‘practically the same and are back-to-back games’ so maybe it would be different case here.”
In addition, there are the concerns about practical issues. Alejandro made an excellent point regarding progress: “The only way zombies will survive is if you add perma upgrades besides augments that people unlock by high rounding like ghost extinction and make it excitingly difficult.” Their fear is that the mode will degenerate into “mindless shooting same guns over and over” which is definitely not fun at all.
Moreover, there is the classic COD community move – early access request. Vip0r said, “Just two days early would truly be lit” since November 14 is really far for some people.
The community is really very much split on this. You might find players like Pandoragameruk simply ecstatic: “Lets go 🔥”, whereas others are making very long lists of their demands and grievances. The guns, the leveling system, the carry-over, the map size – everybody has something that they really care about.
One of the features that seems particularly relevant to PlayStation and Xbox players is cross-platform progression, which remains a hot topic.
