The publisher has announced several major updates to the Zombies mode in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, involving significant changes based on data and player feedback from the two-phase beta testing. Also, they mentioned the occurrence of a player performing some incredible feat by reaching Round 617 in the limited period of testing, thus requiring tuning at higher rounds. Primarily, these adjustments aim to make survival in the late rounds more of a strategy and skill endeavor instead of unreasonably easy through sheer rapidity and strength of the horde forcing the player into submission.
The gameplay will contain major buffs and some important nerfs in order to prevent abuses and allow for a variety of weapons. Amongst other things, the Sawblade Trap is being toned down because of widespread abuse for high-round spamming. The Shock Baton, being dangerously overpowered during the beta, is getting its damage reduced to be more consistent with other tactical choices. SMGs will additionally be granted an explicit boost to their damage when engaging at very close range to counterbalance the specific nerf to it. These changes are a part of a wider, general weapons damage pass aimed at eventually granting arbitrary weapon choice across the board.
Out of numerous quality-of-life touch-ups, the final release will feature a dedicated Heads-Up Display (HUD) for the whole Zombies experience. In another heads-up for long-time die-hard fans about this title, Treyarch confirmed that some unlocks from Black Ops 6’s Zombies mode will carry forward into the new title and lessen some grind for veterans. However, not everything from the old game is coming over. Developers revealed that some of the familiar Elite and Special enemies—the Parasite, Vermin, and Amalgam—will not make it into the new mode at launch.
Finally, the development team has shed light on the long-anticipated, crushingly difficult Cursed Mode. This highly difficult iteration will not be available right away and will unlock globally when a single player fully clears all quests in the Ashes of the Damned map. Treyarch warns that this is a punishing mode and that completing it without acquiring Golden Armor upgrade of the game may be nearly impossible. With this extensive host of changes lined up, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 takes the world spotlight on November 14 and is left to the community’s judgment on how these fixes would affect the proper cooperative experience.
