Treyarch has recently made a big reveal about the Black Ops 7 campaign, and what I think of it is that this is really a shocker. For the first time in the long history of Call of Duty, the campaign will not end but continue to be told through a new segment called Endgame, which is an epilogue for 32-player PvE and thus narrating the story of you and your friends going on. Did I lose you? The campaign has transformed into a shared experience where everyone is playing together on the huge map Avalon.
A new Dev Talk has been released and it sheds light on everything that is happening. The 32 players cooperate to fight AI enemies, find the secret documents that are hidden all over the map, and the old but significant locations from Black Ops history are brought back to the game, which is indeed awesome! Also, there are long skill tracks and a power and combat rating system, and the entire thing is looking… familiar? But we will discuss that later.
Players immediately began to compare the situation to Modern Warfare Zombies and DMZ in the replies. For example, the user @notxavvi straightforwardly questioned “what so its dmz or what” and the truth is? They are not wrong. The whole idea of a “shared experience” among the players in a big map doing objectives is totally giving off those vibes. However, Treyarch is taking their own approach by the campaign continuation aspect.
There are still some players who are very excited! @JoeKING935 said “This looks like a lot of fun I’m excited to try it out” while @BleachAjax shared “Looks great I’m excited.” Hence, one can certainly say that there is a market for this new direction. Meanwhile, @quatrecinq6 commented “lol this looks so boring” so… indeed mixed reactions.
The whole issue about “carry forward” from zombies is very much a part of this discussion. @RefundBlackOps7 has the shout “bring back carry forward to zombies!!!!” their display name being “CARRY FORWARD BO7” is just… so committed. There is a sort of debate going on where some people are asking that characters from previous games should carry over and honestly, I am already worn out trying to understand the timeline issues.
One of the most questioned matters concerning people is the solo play. @Brennito666 asked “Can you play it completely solo or will i eventually not be able to play due to lack of players?” which is a very valid worry. @Mehjustabiscuit noted that “Playing Solo on MWZ was possible no matter where or how you played. Endgame Solo will be impossible from Zone 2 and above.” So it does seem like this will be more of a group play thing, and that might be hard for the lone wolves.
From what we saw, Avalon seems to be an enormous map. The map is being refreshed with Black Ops history and that is nice for nostalgia plus the more you have these skill tracks and the less the progression system feels… MMO-like? @Unity_Hitman asked “who had cod mmo on his list this year?” and honestly? Probably no one, but here we are.
Some players, however, are already making their demands quite high. @RaviceWrath is asking for “ADD HAZARD AS AN MP MAP” while @TheRevize66 is writing “LET US PLAY THE CAMPAIGN EARLY” in all caps because this is obviously their way of doing it. Meanwhile, @KxdxnK is more concerned about “What camos are these? 👀” because I guess being fashionable is also part of the endgame.
There is undoubtedly a mix of enthusiasm and doubt in this case. @Adrian09917124 expressed, “You give me a reason to think about the game. I am over zombies and this looks like dmz mixed with Modern Warfare zombies. Probably not many players will be but you can count me among the ones.” So, it is luring some fans who were getting fed up with the normal modes.
On the contrary, @Yaaaboooy247 argues with “no way people find shit like this interesting or innovative they just getting campaign players interested into warzone so they buy more gay ass skins” which is… a viewpoint. And @___AbdullahF summarized it as “so modern warfare 3 zombies got it” which honestly? Justified.
It really seems that Treyarch is making a move to bridge the gap between the two worlds, i.e. the classic campaign gamers and the modern live-service crowd. They will not just offer a linear story that you will finish in six hours and will never play again; they are going to make this world persistent and ever-changing. I certainly consider this a risky move, but I will commend them for that.
