One thing we can say for sure about Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is that there hasn’t been a shortage of post-launch content. While some of its competitors are experiencing delays and community pushback, Call of Duty players are literally swimming in stuff to do.
As much as I liked Black Ops 6 overall, I got fairly bored by about March, because every week started feeling like the one before it. I just noticed, in fact, that by mid-February, I’ve already leveled up beyond the point I got to in last year’s game overall.
To clarify, I’m excluding things like new game modes and maps from what I’m defining as post-launch content. That stuff is expected, but in a live-service game like Black Ops 7, I don’t think it’s enough on its own to keep players engaged.
Instead I’m looking at the weekly grind. The stuff that keeps players coming back. Escalation Directive on its own is an event that everyone should play. No premium track means everyone has the same chance to get the same rewards, and since a lot of the game is built around unlocking Camos, it’s absolutely perfect.
Events that reward playing the whole game and adding actual challenges are great, more of them, please.
It also encourages players to jump into every mode. Previous events can usually be done across all modes, but there’s usually a way to cheese it in a single one. Lest we forget the recent Fallout leaderboard event that turned into a brain rot simulator running around opening crates in Warzone Casual.
The only way to complete Escalation Directive and unlock the Incandescence Mastery Camo is to complete nine challenges in Endgame, Multiplayer, Warzone, and Zombies. Getting folks out of their comfort zone and trying everything the game has to offer.
I don’t see anything bad in this at all. Not only are the rewards pretty good, but it’s an event that rewards some form of skill. The challenges aren’t super difficult, but you have to play the game a certain way to unlock each of them.
I really do think Black Ops 7 and Warzone have been on a roll in recent weeks with the content. I just hope it continues. The Zombies event that launched with Season 02 may have been plagued by bugs, but the premise was spot on. Rewarding players for their ability in-game, not simply their ability to run around collecting items.
That’s on top of the win streak Camos in Warzone, which will forever be some of the rarest in the game due to the difficulty in acquiring them. All of this is the type of content I want to see in Call of Duty.
Give us more content that rewards players for playing the game and having to use their ability. Sure, Escalation Directive can be completed by anyone, just as the regular Mastery Camos can, but there’s still an actual challenge behind it.
Escalation Directive is, essentially, a shrunken-down version of the regular Mastery Camo grind, covering all modes, with unique rewards for each, and an ‘Ultra Mastery’ for doing them all. It’s substantial, without being too ‘grindy.’
Folks have loved to dump on Black Ops 7 since it came out, but I maintain that Activision really isn’t doing bad with it. If you try it and don’t like it, that’s fine. But I look at some other live service games, and the sheer volume of content we’re getting puts many of them in the shade.
Whatever type of mode you prefer and whatever skill level you’re at, there is always something to do. Not everything is for everyone, and that’s fine. But I’m here for it, and I’m just saying, if you folks want to do another Camo event like this before the next game comes out, I’ll take it.
I’m sure I’m not alone on that one.
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