
Game intel
Black Ops 7
Embrace the madness. In Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, Treyarch and Raven Software are bringing players the most mind-bending Black Ops ever. The year is 2035 and…
As someone who cut their teeth pub-stomping on Raid and getting pancaked by the train on Express, Black Ops 7’s map slate caught my attention for two reasons: a healthy 16-map 6v6 launch, and three Black Ops 2 classics that aren’t just nostalgia tokens-they still slap in 2025’s meta. Add two big 20v20 Skirmish maps with wingsuits and grapples, and BO7’s multiplayer is betting on variety from day one.
Beta players are getting a representative sampler across sizes and styles. Expect close-range mayhem on Blackheart, a drilling station in rough seas with tight machinery routes and frequent “oops, I fell” moments. Cortex is a cliffside Guild research facility-small, with power positions like the underpass and skybridge controlling flow. Exposure brings a medium, sun-baked Australian outback yard where mid-range gunfighters work the containers and pumps while the control room anchors a lane. Imprint flips the climate to snow, threading control rooms and icy choke points through a medium map primed for route knowledge and flank timing. The Forge is the spicy standout: a harbor R&D complex with rotating walls around a defense turret—think map control and trap plays, not mindless sprinting. Rounding out the beta, Toshin drops you into neon shopping streets split by a busted monorail, giving SMGs and snipers simultaneous toys across multi-level sightlines.
The rest of the launch slate fills in the extremes. Paranoia might be the chaos box of the year: a tiny hospital split between a normal wing and a trippy dreamscape with floating props and a glowing red skylight—a perfect stress test for BO7’s spawns and TTK. On the other end, Retrieval is snowy, building-free combat around a stealth aircraft crash with icy caves—expect long angles, smoke utility, and careful rotations. Homestead runs Northern Lights vibes with a central cabin and thick pines for flanks; Flagship compacts verticality inside and around a docked aircraft carrier; Den is a Japanese Guild compound with a big courtyard breaking into narrow corridors; and Colossus is a damaged floating resort, all tight interiors and dangerous exterior decks.

Scar heads to Silverbrook, a mountain village scattered with quad-tanks and military hardware rubbing up against old-town storefronts. It reads like a medium hybrid: lanes through the main street, but side routes and elevation breaks among rocky cover. These fresh designs lean into readable lanes with opportunistic flanking—comfort food for Black Ops vets, with enough micro-gimmicks to keep you thinking.

Express, Hijacked, and Raid are back. These aren’t random pulls—they’re culture-shaping maps that defined how many of us learned three-lane philosophy. Express’s train station splits cleanly between terminal control and platform duels (and yes, watch the tracks). Hijacked’s superyacht is still a pressure cooker where spawn awareness and shotgun discipline matter. Raid returns as a sprawling beachside mansion with glass-heavy interiors and an open courtyard. BO2 veterans will remember LA, so this read suggests a reinterpreted setting rather than a 1:1 port. As long as the flow is intact—driveway, art, zig-zag flank—the name still promises aggressive, skill-forward pacing.
Launch also packs two 20v20 Skirmish arenas with objectives and gadgets: wingsuits, grapples, and vehicles. Edge pushes urban combat across Avalon’s downtown—hotels, cafes, courtyards, and layered rooftops for vertical picks or road-level vehicle pushes. Tide is a coastal fortress with shoreline fights, interior barracks, towers, and plenty of ladders and stairs for sneaky angles. The tech toys sound fun, but the real test will be objective clarity and spawn safety; Ground War-style modes can devolve into chaos if vehicles stomp foot players. If Treyarch nails timers, spawn logic, and sightline density, Skirmish could be the sweaty alternative to classic 6v6.

Black Ops 7 launches with 16 varied 6v6 maps and two chunky 20v20 Skirmish arenas, with six maps playable in beta. The pick of BO2’s litter—Express, Hijacked, Raid—anchors pacing and familiarity, while new designs like The Forge and Paranoia push experimentation. If the spawns hold and Skirmish balances its toys, BO7’s launch rotation could be the most well-rounded since Cold War’s heyday.
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