CoD Black Ops 7 Beta Review | Major Matchmaking Changes, Map Improvements & Gameplay Feedback

The success of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 has fueled intense anticipation for Black Ops 7. The official Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 beta closed a few days ago, and many players joins the test. While it's not the full game, we've at least gotten a glimpse into the gameplay.

With so many excellent contenders in the shooter genre, including Counter-Strike II, Fortnite, Apex, and Battlefield series, will Call of Duty: Black Ops 7's performance this year be reassuring to fans? Let's have a look at the feedback from the beta.

Pros

Significant Improvements To Matchmaking

Black Ops 7 has changed its matchmaking process, adopting Open Matchmaking, which radically changes the gameplay experience and is the most notable advancement in the beta.

During the early beta phase, the system used for the past few years, Skill-Based Matchmaking (SBMM) system, was widely complained about and even loathed by players.

Compared to SBMM, Open Matchmaking allows players to more easily enjoy solo play without having to team up and fight the matchmaking system. Matchmaking is nearly instant, and even with more stable connections, the high-latency matches that frustrate players are significantly reduced.

Open Matchmaking has completely transformed the game experience. It creates more varied, organic, and unpredictable matches, making it feel more like classic Call of Duty.

It has been officially confirmed that Open Matchmaking will become the default matchmaking system for Black Ops 7 upon its official release, and Persistent Lobbies will return. This is arguably the series' biggest triumph in recent years.

Map Design

Call of Duty Ops 6's matchmaking system, maps, and spawn points were the three most complained about aspects of the game. Fortunately, the overall quality of Call of Duty Bot 7's maps is quite solid. All the beta maps are at least decent, and some are quite outstanding. If you use CoD: Black Ops 7 Bot Lobbies to familiarize yourself with the maps, you'll discover plenty of excellent attacks and locations.

Gunplay

Designing the feel of gunplay is the most important aspect of a game, and it's always been a strength of Call of Duty series. Black Ops 7's gunplay feels excellent, even better than before, which is because the developers have reduced a lot of visual noise like muzzle smoke, muzzle flash, and random visual recoil, making the shooting experience tighter.

Attachment System

The new system allows players to stack multiple attachments to enhance the same stat, creating more interesting and diverse build combinations. This avoids the monotony of builds seen in Black Ops 6 and is a welcome improvement over previous games.

Scorestreaks

The power and difficulty of Scorestreaks in Black Ops 7 are more balanced than in Black Ops 6. Scorestreaks are also very satisfying to use and feel easier to earn. For example, the score required to acquire UAV is 100 points lower than in Black Ops 6.

However, Specialist Strike Package, which allows players to earn perks instead of killstreaks by racking up kills, has not yet appeared in the beta. It will be a Wild Card in the final version.

New Mode: Overload

The new Overload mode is a nice addition. It feels a bit like Uplink (a mode from previous games in the series), but has its own unique style, especially with multiple scoring points, and is generally more interesting to play.

Cons

Wall Jump

Wall Jump is an interesting mechanic that remains to be seen. It integrates well with the map design and can be used to open up new routes or make the map more three-dimensional. However, the controls can feel a bit difficult to control at times. You can sometimes stray slightly, causing you to fall from heights. The short Out of Bounds timer, combined with an unintended wall jump, can easily lead to unexpected deaths. It's unclear whether this is a core mechanic or just a gimmick.

Footstep Audio

In the beta, footsteps were very faint, almost non-existent even without using Ninja abilities, allowing players to approach silently. It recommends enhancing footsteps at close range in the official version, or making slides and wall jumps louder to provide more audio cues.

Spawns

The last of Black Ops 6's three major issues hasn't been fully resolved. Respawn points still need improvement, and the chaotic spawning patterns make matches feel too chaotic and unpredictable.

Dexterity Perk Balance

Based on beta feedback, Dexterity Perks are overly essential, as they significantly improve aiming speed and accuracy when sliding and wall jumping. As mentioned earlier, the control of Wall Bounce isn't very precise, and it only becomes effective when paired with Dexterity perk.

Tactical Stance

The issue with Tactical Stance is the same as in Black Ops 6, where it's tied to Laser Attachment. It should be like Modern Warfare 3, which Tactical Stance was made the default, base mechanic, with accessories solely responsible for optimizing its performance.

Some Bugs

• Overclocks on Streaks sometimes reset unexpectedly.
• The arrow on Ghost perk minimap doesn't fade out correctly when moving (though it may function normally).
• Looper perk sometimes fails to grant a second Scorestreaks bonus.
• There's an issue with switching to Gravemaker and then back again, causing an ammo shortage.

Black Ops 7 is a clear improvement over Black Ops 6, particularly in its matchmaking system and map design. However, aspects like class builds, movement feel, and menu interface are very similar to Black Ops 6, feeling more like an iterative upgrade than a revolutionary one. Furthermore, the game clearly favors movement skill over positioning skill, which may be frustrating for players who dislike high-intensity movement.

While some issues may be addressed before its November 14th release, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is certainly underperforming this year, primarily due to the lack of significant changes compared to its predecessor, potentially leaving it behind its old rival, Battlefield 6.

Black Ops 6 was an amazing game, and Black Ops 7 builds upon it, so players can be assured of its fundamental quality, but you may need to adjust to the more intense combat. If you want to train you skill and learn new maps, you can trust the efficient and reliable CoD: Black Ops 7 Bot Lobbies service in IGGM Store.