Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is getting ripped apart by players despite solid reviews from critics. Despite being a regular best seller, Call of Duty hasn't been a franchise that has been showered in love and affection for well over a decade now. Since Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009), there has always been some level of toxicity associated with the franchise as people get upset over changes to the multiplayer, have total disdain for a new setting or direction, or write off an entire mode. Some of these frustrations are absolutely warranted, but the series has grown so big that it's hard to imagine everyone ever being totally satisfied.
With all of that said, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 has been trying to address criticisms the franchise has had over the last six years or so. That began by making big changes to how skins are implemented, something that has caused tension among players. Activision and Treyarch have promised to scale back on the over-the-top, whimsical crossover content and even killed carry-forward items from Black Ops 6. To take things a step further, Treyarch even added an option to play Black Ops 7 with classic skill-based matchmaking, something the franchise hasn't been accustomed to for years.
Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like all of this was enough to please fans. Over on Metacritic, user reviews for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 are the lowest the 20+ year old series has ever seen. The average user score is a 1.6 out of 10 with over 500 reviews and counting. It's possible that this number will go up over time, but it will likely remain quite low. It's a strong contrast from the reviews from critics, as Black Ops 7 holds an average score of 84 at the moment, even garnering one 10/10 from Gaming Trend.
Of course, user reviews are pretty easy to manipulate as you don't have to prove you played the game and can give it a zero without providing any real reasoning for your thoughts. Over on Steam, Black Ops 7 holds a "Mixed" consensus from its users, which is certainly better than the consensus on Metacritic. Steam also verifies that people have playtime in the game before they can review it as well.
The big issue with Black Ops 7 seems to lie within the campaign, which has been received poorly by fans. It's quite different from typical Call of Duty campaigns, but not necessarily for the better. Others have also taken issue with Black Ops 7's use of AI, as many of the game's cosmetic calling cards were made using the tool. With rare exceptions, Call of Duty usually tops the yearly sales charts, but we'll have to see if this negative reception from fans knocks the series off of its throne.
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