IGN's Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Ashes of the Damned map is now available! Our interactive map tracks all crucial locations across Ashes of the Damned, including Perk Machines, Secret Zombies Easter Eggs, Main Quest Objectives, Wall Buys, and even Audio Log collectibles, so you'll know exactly where to go as you attempt to fend off those waves of incoming Zombies.
The available map filters for our Ashes of the Damned interactive map include:
Whether you're jumping into the BO7 Campaign, Multiplayer or Zombies, IGN's comprhensive game help coverage has got you covered, with detailed walkthrough guides, weapon builds and recommendations, Easter Egg locations, and so much more. Our coverage includes:
For even more, be sure to check out our full coverage on our Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Wiki guide.
]]>We've rounded up the best deals for Sunday, November 16, below, so don't miss out on these limited-time offers.
GameStop has Final Fantasy VII Rebirth available for 30ドル. The second chapter of the Final Fantasy VII remake project brings Cloud Strife and the iconic cast into the world of Gaia for the first time, as they step out of Midgar following an eventful escape. Many new characters join the party, including Yuffie Kisaragi, Cait Sith, and more. With the third entry in the project currently in development, now is the perfect time to catch up and prepare.
Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake was one of the most enjoyable RPGs of 2024, featuring a gorgeous remade HD-2D world and voice acting. If you haven't had the chance to check this one out yet, Amazon has copies available for only 34ドル.99. With Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake available now, it's the perfect time to dive into one of the most important games in the genre.
While the release of Borderlands 4 for Nintendo Switch 2 was delayed indefinitely, Target has discounted the Key Card this weekend. Instead of paying the full 70,ドル you can secure a copy of the Nintendo Switch 2 version for 54ドル.99. In our 8/10 review, we wrote, "Borderlands 4 gives the series the massive kick in the pants it has needed, with a fantastic open world and greatly improved combat, even if bugs and invisible walls can sometimes throw off that groove."
Ninja Gaiden has had an incredible 2025, and today, you can score one of the franchise's most unique entries for 32ドル.48. Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound released in August and was created by The Game Kitchen. In our 9/10 review, we wrote, "Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound looks and sounds incredible, and the fast but thoughtful combat is so satisfying it's hard to put down."
NBA 2K26 is on sale this weekend for 29ドル.99, which is the lowest price we've seen to date. You can score a copy for Switch, Switch 2, PS5, or Xbox Series X at this price. In our 8/10 review, we wrote, "Ball Over Everything" is a fitting description for NBA 2K26. The smooth on-court action is better than ever and MyCareer’s excellent started-from-the-bottom journey to the pros story make it so the imperfections are easier to ignore."
Best Buy has a huge sale on this Glorious mechanical keyboard today, allowing you to save 250ドル. This keyboard is fully customizable, so you can switch out switches, keycaps, and more with ease. If you've been looking to upgrade your setup with a luxury mechanical keyboard, this is a deal worth your attention.
Amazon has the Apple AirPods 4 on sale for 84ドル.99 today, a price even lower than last weekend! These earbuds feature Spatial Audio, up to five hours of listening time per charge, and so much more. Apple AirPods 5 likely won't be out for a good bit, so now is the perfect time to pick up a pair of new AirPods if your old ones are giving out.
The Beats brand has continued to provide quality wireless earbuds throughout the last few years, and the Solo Buds are no exception. These small earbuds may come with a tiny case, but you can expect up to 18 hours of earbud battery life. For 39,ドル it's hard to find another pair of earbuds better than this ahead of Black Friday.
Crunchyroll Store is holding its annual Aniplex sale, meaning now is the only time you can save on some of the most expensive anime Blu-rays out there. Today, you can score the Gurren Lagann Complete Box Set, which includes both the original TV series and two movies, for 109ドル.99. This is a must-watch for any fan of the genre, and this box set is the perfect way to make this all-time classic a permanent part of your collection.
Amazon has the iconic Tantive IV available in LEGO form for 51ドル.19 this weekend. Normally priced at 79ドル.99, this set features a total of 654 pieces, recreating the ship that kicked off the Star Wars franchise. For collectors, this is a must-have, especially as it features a LEGO Star Wars 25th Anniversary brick.
Hello Kitty Island Adventure officially came to Nintendo Switch, PC, and PlayStation 5 this year, and it's a great time if you're a fan of cozy games. A massive island is yours to explore, with a story that slowly unfolds as you build relationships with Hello Kitty and friends.
If you're looking for DTI codes, IGN's got you covered! In this article, you'll find a list of all the active and working Dress to Impress codes in November 2025 that you can redeem for free rewards and bonuses in DTI, including outfits and accessories like hats, bags, and jewelry.
Here are all the active Dress to Impress codes in November 2025 and the free rewards you get for redeeming them:
Below, you'll find a list of expired DTI codes that no longer work and can't be redeemed as of November 2025:
Follow the steps below to redeem Dress to Impress codes and claim free rewards in DTI:
If the code you're trying to redeem in DTI isn't working, it's likely because of one of two reasons:
When inputting a DTI code in Roblox, make sure it's spelled correctly (for example, a capital I isn't a lowercase l, 0 and not O, and vice versa) and that there are no spaces before or after the code. We'd recommend copying and pasting codes straight from our article to ensure they're correct as we've tested and verified that the codes on this page are working ourselves.
If your DTI code still isn't working after checking for typos, it's more than likely expired and can no longer be redeemed in Dress to Impress.
To get more Dress to Impress codes, the best way is to join the official DTI Discord server. While we check for new codes daily, the quickest way to know about new Dress to Impress codes is to follow the Roblox experience's official Discord server where updates are posted in real time.
You can also check the Dress to Impress X account and the official DTI Roblox Group page.
We currently don't know of any upcoming DTI codes now that the two-year anniversary codes have been released. We'll update this article once we find out more information on new Dress to Impress codes.
Dress to Impress is a popular dress-up Roblox Experience available on PC, console, and iOS and Android mobile devices. In it, you put on your best outfit to complete a specific theme and walk the runway in a bid to earn votes from other players and become a top model. As you gain votes, you gain ranks and can access more clothing and accessories, so make sure you're truly dressed to impress! Also, for toy lovers and collectors, you can now pre-order a mystery pack of 2 Dress to Impress minifigures right now for 30ドル at Walmart.
Meg Koepp is a Guides Editor on the IGN Guides team, with a focus on trends. When she's not working, you can find her playing an RPG or making miniatures.
Note: This review specifically covers the Zombies mode in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. For our thoughts on the other modes, see our campaign review or our multiplayer review .
Despite playing a new one every year, I never know what to make of modern Call of Duty – a first-person shooter so big, so successful that it is no longer a standalone game but a platform with file sizes so large it asks you to choose the other two things you’d like to have installed on your PC or console. This year’s PC release comes with a frustrating new anti-cheat that seemingly caused my CPU fan to choose death instead, so while I would normally base my playtime on that version, as God intended, I am initially slumming it on PlayStation 5 to bring you some early impressions of this year’s Zombies mode. I still have tons left to see as the community collectively hunts for Easter eggs and solves mysteries, but so far I’m interested in digging into what’s here, even if it may take a bit to get to the vital organs underneath these bones.
Zombies is my favorite part of Call of Duty, simultaneously the stupidest, silliest side thing the series has ever done and probably big enough to be a small video game in its own right. I remarked on a similar feeling in last year's review, but remember when this was a serious game series about war, and you were storming the beaches of Normandy, machine gun fire spraying sand in your face? When you died, you used to get quotes about how terrible war was from men who had lived it. Now, I play roulette on a big mystery box covered with skulls for weapons, the best of which is a ray gun, so I can shoot zombies in the face while a disembodied voice who calls himself the Warden taunts me from afar; my character quips about how said voice reminds him of his high school gym teacher. Zombies has been doing this for a while now, but I still don’t know whether to laugh or weep.
There is allegedly a story here – Raul Menendez, who apparently has been alive and drinking beer on his porch for the last decade, is back and threatening to cause chaos the world over, there’s a shady security company somehow involved, and massive, violent zombie death, of course. All of it is very well-produced and so goofy that the only thing I could do was watch the introductory cutscene while emulating the face that I imagine a cow would make if you gave it cocaine, chuckle a little, and get on with it. I suppose I answered my own question there, huh?
This year’s Zombies is hard to get a handle on so far because so much of what Zombies does will come down to the community working out the new maps in the coming days and perhaps weeks. Right now, we’re all kind of bumbling about, figuring out what’s what, which is simultaneously fun and frustrating. Many of the pain points from last year remain early on – for instance, you can’t make your loadout until you hit level four, which means if Zombies is all you want to do (and for me, it is), you’re stuck with a pistol and whatever you can earn by buying stuff on the walls after you’ve dispatched enough undead. Remember when games just let you have fun from the outset instead of unlocking it?
Otherwise, the underpinnings of Zombies feel much the same. You’re on a map, you open up new doors and paths with currency you earn, and you’ve got Pack-a-Punch machines to upgrade your guns. There’s additional armor you can apply plastered to the walls, an Arsenal to really crank up specific aspects of your weapons, Gobblegums for a little flavor if your mouth is lonely and you want a mid-battle pick-me-up, and so on. And of course, while you’re managing all of this, the undead rise and hunger for flesh. Ghouls, man.
The gameplay here is similar to last year’s – I still love sliding at a group of zombies and firing off a shotgun until they’re just paste and all that. No, what’s new are the maps. I’ve played both maps in their round-based modes, Ashes of the Damned and Vandorn Farm (the latter seems to be a part of the former, but I haven’t reached it in the standard mode yet), and so far I prefer the farm. Ashes of the Damned seems to be home to what will be the more traditional "find the secrets to finish the map" fare, while Vandorn Farm is more of a "you’re locked in here with the undead, kid, so try not to die too much" deal.
Our run on the former ended when one of my teammates, who didn’t communicate with the rest of us, grabbed a truck and started driving it to the next objective... before he decided it might be more fun to smash into the zombies until it exploded. The rest of us spent most of the map either trying to catch up to the truck or waiting in vain to be revived after we all died. It went about as well as you’d think. I’m interested in seeing what Ashes of the Damned has to offer with a more talkative crew; right now, if you’d told me I’d hallucinated the whole thing, I’d believe you.
The farm is more old-school. Zombies hang from the rafters in the big barn, the smaller one houses the Mystery Box where each of my teammates made offerings in the fleeting hope of a Ray Gun, and there was a house with a skeleton family sitting at the dinner table and a roof in desperate need of, well, more roof. It was a much more interesting map than Ashes of the Damned, and I enjoyed navigating its twists and turns, learning where everything was, and spending the in-between time killing the misbegotten horrors that were formerly people.
The problem, once again, was that we couldn’t figure out what to do yet. There was some mysterious infection growing on one of the machines that seemed to power the farm, but after we destroyed it, our objective told us to wait for it to come back. So we did, killing zombies and upping the round count. The issue is the infection never did reappear. Normally, this is a good thing. The antibiotics worked and the patient is recovering well, thank you. In this case, it meant we got to round eight, nothing happened, the four of us spent several minutes looking for any zombies we somehow missed or a way to progress, and then all three of my teammates left the game after we couldn’t figure out what came next. Hard to blame them. The farm’s cool, but I'd prefer something with some warmer colors and fewer rotting corpses, you know?
Like I said, I’m never sure what to make of Call of Duty, and that extends to this year’s Zombies. It certainly plays well and you can see the absurd amount of money spent to develop it on-screen – but the ooey, gooey, juicy parts of the mode haven’t revealed themselves to me quite yet. As is usually the case, its success will largely depend on how the maps shake out. I’ll need a bonesaw and a ribspreader to get to the still-beating heart of this thing, but that’s fine. I can’t say I’m not interested in seeing what’s in there. I just hope I don’t get anything on me in the process.
]]>Activision has issued a statement in response to player outcry regarding the seeming use of generative AI art assets in a number of areas of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7.
Players have been taking to social media today to complain about images they believe to be AI-generated across the game, primarily focusing on calling card images that they claim appear to use Studio Ghibli styling, following a trend of AI-Ghibli images from earlier this year.
I havent really looked at the Multiplayer and Zombie calling cards as closely and im willing to bet they're using ai on those too but its only the Campaign and endgame calling cards that are this type of blatant Sora/Grok artstyle pic.twitter.com/5qmEXhoQkJ
— Kume (@Kumesicles) November 14, 2025
In response to this outcry, Activision has issued a statement to a number of outlets, including PC Gamer, that acknowledges the issue...sort of: "Like so many around the world, we use a variety of digital tools, including AI tools, to empower and support our teams to create the best gaming experiences possible for our players. Our creative process continues to be led by the talented individuals in our studios."
It's worth pointing out that the Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Steam page also includes the following disclaimer: "Our team uses generative AI tools to help develop some in game assets." Not exactly descriptive!
This isn't the first time Call of Duty has come under fire for this, either. This exact scenario played out back in February, when Activision admitted that it had used generative AI in the development of Black Ops 6, including in a zombie Santa loading screen that angry fans referred to as "AI slop."
Then, just this past August, Black Ops 7 associate creative director Miles Leslie clarified the team's stance on the technology further:
"We live in a world now, where there are AI tools. I think our official statement we said last year, around Black Ops 6, is that everything that goes into the game is touched by the team a hundred percent. We have generative AI tools to help us, but none of that goes in-game.
"And then you're going to say, ‘Yeah, but it has.' I'll say it has by accident. And that was never the intention. We've come out and been very clear that we use these as tools to help the team, but they do not replace any of the fantastic team members we have that are doing the final touches and building that content to put it in the game.
"So everything you play: human-created and touched. AI tools in the world we live in: it's how do we streamline it? That's really the goal. Not replace, but streamline."
In response, IGN asked why the zombie Santa and other generative AI images hadn't been removed from the game yet, to which Leslie said that was not his department, and that "the team is actively looking at that stuff." It is unclear if, why, or how Activision's stance on this has changed over time.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is out now. We've given the campaign a try and aren't totally crazy about it, with our reviewer saying it's " a wild one thanks to the scope of its ambition, but the big swings it takes don't always land, leaving it an uneven step down from last year."
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
]]>Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 launches on November 14, and we’re hosting a launch day livestream to celebrate. The latest entry in the long-running FPS franchise is set in 2035, 44 years after the events of Black Ops 6. Omnimovement is back, but there are added movement options and new game modes in both multiplayer and Zombies.
The livestream is presented by Xfinity, where you can get reliable Wi-Fi at a reliable price for five years. And with Unlimited Data, you won’t miss a moment of action. It’s powerful and secure with fast downloads. Gaming is better with Xfinity.
The livestream will start on Friday, November 14 at 5 p.m. Pacific / 7 p.m. Central / 8 p.m. Eastern. It will stream across IGN’s channels, and you’ll be able to watch it at any of these places:
If you’re not able to watch it live, that’s alright. You can still watch it in its entirety on our YouTube page after it’s over.
The stream will run for an extended period, but we don't have a specific amount of time in mind. We’ll feature as much as we can during the stream. You’ll see extended gameplay, get a look at what’s new in Black Ops 7, and different game modes to get a sense of everything on offer. See you there!
]]>Pixel Quest is a brand new 2D bullet hell RPG, where you'll face an onslaught of foes across biomes that range from the beach to the desert. The Third Dimension has been destroyed by 1x1x1x1, and now the Robloxians will need to work together to protect the pixelated 2D land of Robloxia. There are over 70 quests to complete, and legendary loot to obtain that will make it far easier to eviscerate hordes of enemies. With so much to do, you'll want some codes to make use of.
Here are all the currently active Pixel Quest codes. Be sure to redeem them before they expire!
Redeeming Pixel Quest codes is a straightforward process. Launch the experience and complete the tutorial if you haven't already done so. When you're in the main hub, here are the steps you need to follow:
Some codes will give you rewards that you need to claim from your Giftbox. On the righthand side of the screen, you'll see a yellow and red gift box. Click on this and you'll be automatically transported to the southeast corner of the main hub. The Gift Box menu will also automatically open, so you can drag them into your inventory.
If you receive a skin via a code, then you'll want to find the icon on the left side of the screen that shows a person and says Wardrobe. When you open the Wardrobe, you'll see three sub-menus: Skins, Badges, and Titles. You can then scroll through and see any Skins, you've unlocked.
Codes for Roblox experiences are usually case-sensitive, so the best way to ensure you've got a working code is to directly copy it from this article. We check all codes before we upload them, so you can guarantee they're working. Just double-check that you haven't copied over an extra space!
Pixel Quest is currently in Alpha release, but that doesn't mean that the Pixel Quest! group isn't already working hard to bring new content to the RPG. The next update is planned for Sunday, 26th October. This mini update will introduce a new dungeon and new Legendary items.
Lauren Harper is an Associate Guides Editor. She loves a variety of games but is especially fond of puzzles, horrors, and point-and-click adventures.
]]>99 Nights in the Forest is a survival horror Roblox experience that will see you scavenging for supplies by day and protecting your camp at night. While the main aim is to explore the forest and rescue four missing children, it's not quite as simple as it seems. Entities will stalk you at night, and there's the addition of cultists that will periodically visit your camp and attack.
Updates often bring new enemies to contend with and new ways to enhance your base. One of the earliest updates that the popular experience launched was the Classes Update. There are now over 20 classes in 99 Nights, all with their own perks. To buy new classes, you need Diamonds, and that's where the 99 Nights in the Forest codes come in handy!
These are the currently working codes for 99 Nights in the Forest:
Here are the currently expired codes for 99 Nights in the Forest that will no longer work. Since they're expired, you won't be able to get rewards from attempting to redeem them anymore.
When you launch into 99 Nights in the Forest, these are the code redemption steps you need to follow:
Code not working? Here's our advice. Codes for Roblox experiences are usually case-sensitive, so the best way to ensure you've got a working code is to directly copy it from this article. We check all codes before we upload them, so you can guarantee they're working. Just double check that you haven't copied over an extra space!
The next update is scheduled for November 15, with a teaser on the Roblox page that says the deer is hurt and may need help. The previous one added Daily Quests as a new way to get Diamonds.
Lauren Harper is an Associate Guides Editor. She loves a variety of games but is especially fond of puzzles, horrors, and point-and-click adventures.
]]>Uma Racing is based on the popular anime and game franchise, Umamusume: Pretty Derby. In this Roblox experience, you'll play as an uma rather than a trainer – hopefully to victory. You'll start with just one uma, so use these Uma Racing codes to give you a big cash bonus. In doing so, you'll be able to purchase new uma to strengthen your team, MVPs, and intros. You never know, you might get lucky with your pick and get a Legendary uma.
The following codes are all active and working and can be redeemed for cash.
Ready to redeem the active Uma Racing codes listed above? Here are the steps you need to take:
These codes no longer work. We test all of our codes on a regular basis, so, as soon as a code is expired, we'll move it into this section:
Codes for Roblox experiences are usually case-sensitive, so the best way to ensure you've got a working code is to directly copy it from this article. We check all codes before we upload them, so you can guarantee they're working. Just double-check that you haven't copied over an extra space!
Lauren Harper is an Associate Guides Editor. She loves a variety of games but is especially fond of puzzles, horrors, and point-and-click adventures.
]]>The story campaign in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 has numerous restrictions tied to its always-online nature, with no method of pausing levels. You'll also be booted from your game if you're idle for too long.
As detailed in IGN's just-published Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 campaign review (which rates the offering as a 6/10), the story experience — traditionally offered as a solo affair — is really more geared to being played via online co-op, which it supports for up to four people.
The downsides of that, however, are that the game offers no AI companions to fill in if you have missing spots on your four-person squad, no checkpoints, no difficulty options, and the need to repeat tasks clearly designed for completion by multiple players if you are playing solo.
"Playing solo is borderline tedious due to having to repeat multiple objectives, such as placing C4 on a building yourself four times rather than splitting them up as is intended," our review notes as one example of this.
Set in 2035, Black Ops 7's campaign features a starry cast that includes Gilmore Girls and This is Us star Milo Ventimiglia as the returning David Mason, alongside Guardians of the Galaxy hero Michael Rooker and Sabrina the Teenage Witch actress Kiernan Shipka.
Long-term Call of Duty fans may raise their eyebrows at some of the more fantastical sequences presented in the mode, with trippy visuals and towering bosses more often seen in something like Activision's former stablemate Destiny. But it's here that the offering also provides some variety.
"Dodging giant falling machetes like you’ve stumbled into a Looney Tunes cartoon is a one-off joy, as is taking control of a lavish luxury boat and ramming into the side of a building," our review continues. "Moments like this feel pinched right out of Christopher Nolan's back pocket and sit perfectly in the Call of Duty mold."
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 arrives just 12 months on from last year's Black Ops 6 — the first time that the veteran shooter franchise has gone back to the same well of the Black Ops sub-brand for a second year running. The tight turnaround comes just as EA's rival Battlefield franchise makes its own big return, amping up the pressure on Activision's new shooter installment.
IGN's Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 multiplayer review so far is still in-progress though, initially at least, sounds more positive.
Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
]]>Plants Vs Brainrots is a Roblox experience that combines elements of Tower Defence with mechanics from Roblox's two most visited and played games – Grow a Garden and Steal a Brainrot. You'll buy seeds, place them in your garden, and then wait for your plants to attack brainrots as they make their way down the catwalk.
As well as combining gameplay elements from both experiences, Plants Vs Brainrots also has codes. So, if you're getting ready to plant crops, earn brainrots, and fuse them, here are some codes to give you a little boost.
These are the currently working codes for Plants Vs Brainrots:
There are currently no expired Plants Vs Brainrots codes.
When you launch into the Plants Vs Brainrots experience, these are the steps you need to follow to redeem codes:
Codes for Roblox experiences are usually case-sensitive, so the best way to ensure you've got a working code is to directly copy it from this article. We check all codes before we upload them, so you can guarantee they're working. Just double check that you haven't copied over an extra space!
The next update scheduled for Plants Vs Brainrots is on Saturday November 15, which is an unknown update. The previous update was Merge Madness, which introduced a new fusion machine alongside other content like new weather, brainrots, story missions, an dmore.
Lauren Harper is an Associate Guides Editor. She loves a variety of games but is especially fond of puzzles, horrors, and point-and-click adventures.
]]>Looking for Grow a Garden codes? Plenty of Roblox experiences have codes, and Grow a Garden is no exception. Way back during the Lunar Glow Event, a code redemption system was added. Since then, however, we hadn't seen a new code until the Zen Update. Even if they're few and far between, every time there's a new code in GaG, IGN will have you covered.
Unfortunately, these codes have now expired:
Now that there's a code redemption system in the Roblox experience, here are the steps you need to follow to use Grow a Garden codes:
Code not working? There are usually two reasons why this happens. It's either because:
If a code has been entered incorrectly or is expired, it will say the "code is invalid." To stop this from happening, we'd recommend copying and pasting the code directly from this article. We check and test each of the codes before we add them to our articles. However, when copying them, you can sometimes accidentally include an extra space somewhere, so always double check there's no additional spaces!
If new codes are added to the game, we'll update this article, so you can always check back here and keep up-to-date with the latest codes. Grow a Garden has its own dedicated Discord server where codes will be announced, as well as game updates.
Grow a Garden is a new Roblox experience that's become incredibly popular since it launched. The gardening simulator allows players to show off their green fingers, as you buy seeds and plant a variety of crops from basic carrots to exotic dragon fruit trees.
As fruit and vegetables finally sprout, you'll be able to harvest them to sell for Sheckles. To go from a beginner gardener to a pro worthy of awards, you'll want your crops to experience mutations that increase their value. This can happen randomly, with Gold and Big mutations being down to chance, while weather events like snow can increase your luck of a Frozen mutation. There's also gear, and even pets now, that can affect how fast your crops grow, their value, and more.
Grow a Garden hosts new events each weekend, where players can come together and try out the fresh content for the ever-expanding game. The next update is planned for Saturday November 1, 2025.
There isn't any known information about this update yet. Events now typically run for two weeks, with the first week being the time they're introduced, and the second week when additional rewards are added to the event.
As always, to stay up to date with everything in the new event, visit our Grow a Garden guide. We put out new content as soon as the event goes live, and keep it updated all through the week.
Lauren Harper is an Associate Guides Editor. She loves a variety of games but is especially fond of puzzles, horrors, and point-and-click adventures.
]]>Note: This review specifically covers the Multiplayer modes in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. For our thoughts on the other modes, see our Zombies review or our campaign review .
After a very promising multiplayer beta at the start of October, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is here and I'm already back on my bullshit. After a brief hiatus, I've been playing every year since the multiplayer-only Black Ops IIII (yes, that was the title), and I always have a good time. I mean, functionally and mechanically, it's consistently solid – but it's the stuff in and around that core which makes or breaks Call of Duty’s multiplayer. For Black Ops 7, they've refined last year’s already razor sharp Black Ops 6 with the addition of wall running and jumping mechanics, as well as smoothed off some of the rough edges in the user interface and weapons tracking. I've only played around four hours so far, so I have a lot more to see on the live servers before my final review, but this might end up being my favorite CoD multiplayer since Black Ops Cold War.
Probably the biggest change to BLOPS7 is also its most subtle: skill-based matchmaking (or SBMM) is no longer the default in multiplayer, and the vocal online community that has been crying for this couldn't be happier. Is the wider, more casual Call of Duty audience going to be just as excited? I'm guessing no once they feel the effects of this decision for themselves. This might be a controversial take, but I really think SBMM is what keeps the vast majority of people playing, even if they don't realize it or actually know what that is in the first place.
The default playlists in BLOPS7 now only minimally consider the skill of the people it puts into a match together while filling a lobby. That means you're getting thrown in with players who run the gamut, from complete newbs to the most hardcore of the hardcore. If you're used to the old SBMM system, the result here is that you're probably going to think you really suck at Call of Duty all of a sudden.
I never held any sort of delusions about my own skills, and I didn’t need to be a pro to have fun, but stripping away the veneer of only facing players at a similar level as myself has been pretty humbling – almost shockingly so. I'm seeing replays from players who are unlike anything I've faced in the past. "Is this guy cheating– oh, nope, he's just insanely good, hell yeah."
The obvious upside to this (other than satisfying the frequent cries for it in recent years) is it's going to force a lot of people to get better. But the downside is that it can be very frustrating until you do, especially if you’ve only ever been used to a level playing field. That’s why I think it's awesome BLOPS7 does still have SBMM matches available if you want them. It's not obvious, but there is a classic matchmaking lobby that pairs you with people near your current skill level. My personal prediction is that they'll shift the default back to SBMM once the Christmas CoD crowd starts logging on for the first time, but it’s still nice that both camps can be satisfied.
(Protip: use the SBMM lobbies to grind out your levels and weapons, and then dive into the default matchmaking when you feel confident. It's the best of both worlds. You can do all the level and camo grinding against people near your own skill level, and then jump back into the Wild West to hone your actual skills. Have some cake. Eat it, too.)
None of this takes away from the fact BLOPS7 multiplayer is super fun, and it's done away with a lot of the things I found annoying in previous years. As I mention nearly every time I review CoD multiplayer, I love going hard trying to unlock all the skins for all the weapons for the first three or four months at least. This year, there's a new, wonderful tracker you can instantly access from the lobby between matches. It's right there with your Dailies, showing you stuff like how many more headshots you need with the AK-27 to unlock the next camo.
This is so awesome for collectors like me. Previously, the move was to jump into the weapon menu and check your customizations, then open up the camo menu and check your progress. It was cumbersome and annoying and ate up time between matches you could otherwise be using to make adjustments to your loadout, if you wanted. Now, with the press of a button, boom!
Another feature I'm loving is the ability to reroll your daily challenges. Let's say one of them requires you to get three kills with a melee weapon, but you'd rather not. Give it a reroll, my friend, and now you can try out something new. Of course, you run the risk of getting something crappier, but that's gambling for you. You can reroll one challenge once a day, and if you end up with something worse, well, it's no different than the old system.
One very small gripe I do have with the interface is the weapons menu will tell me I have new unlocks but not which ones, so then I have to go through and manually hunt them down. I'm the kind of person who'll do "select all – mark as read" on my personal emails rather than have that notification number above the icon, so not being able to easily clear this gives my brain some mild discomfort. I'd love an option to immediately show you only the unlocks you haven't checked out yet.
New this year is the 20v20 Skirmish mode. Set on very large maps, it feels quite Battlefield-y so far. I much preferred the Ground War 100-player mode from 2019's Modern Warfare and still want that to come back, as Skirmish just doesn't hit the same notes.
You spawn with your team and move in to capture and control various points across the map. It's basically a giant version of Hardpoint, but with vehicles and certain high-value designations that help you accumulate points. When you die, you have a 10-second respawn and then you wingsuit back onto the map. I've only played Skirmish for a couple rounds so far, and I dunno, man – it just hasn’t felt like it comes together in a cohesive way yet. The maps are giant, but not Warzone huge, and I'm having a hard time feeling out a playstyle that works for me.
Sniping fools from the rooftops while they try and hold the point is fun, but you're also completely wide open to getting blasted since everyone respawns from the air. And those reentries are not like the slow parachutes in Warzone, either. The wingsuit lets you travel fast and gives you a lot of mobility. You can land basically anywhere on the map, so if a pesky sniper has you pinned down, well, just respawn, land near their sniper nest, and let them have it. You're almost incentivized to die just to get a better position on the field.
When a point spawns inside a structure, it's not really fun to protect from the outside for the aforementioned reasons, but it's also not really that fun to try and hold from the inside. It's very chaotic, but not in an exciting way. I'm going to see if I can figure out a playstyle that satisfies my particular tastes, but right now I don't see myself playing Skirmish much after I finish up this review.
As I mentioned in my beta impressions (which you can read in full down below), the addition of wall jumps has made movement around the map that much more fun. That said, the tactical sprint is no longer available as a default option, but instead is a Perk now. I still find myself double-tapping the Shift key to try and get that extra boost of speed, but it’s not a huge loss when sprinting off walls and flying through the air is way more fun, anyway.
I really love bouncing off walls to get the literal drop on opponents, and when someone gets me by jumping from around a corner, guns blazing, all I can do is nod and give them a mental thumbs up. Somehow being able to run and jump off walls makes the overall gameplay feel faster, even without Tac Sprint. Definitely my favorite update to the Omnimove system. Last year it really felt like Omnimove was designed with controller-players in mind, and while that's still the case, the wall jump mechanic works just like any regular movement and is great for mouse and keyboard purists like myself.
I'm very excited to jump back into the multiplayer for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. I haven't played it enough to declare a favorite map, although I will say Den and Retrieval are already my favorites in terms of looks. I still have to figure out my strategies for all the launch maps, and I still have to get good enough to get that sweet Play of the Game I've been chasing since the servers went live. But I’m having a lot of fun so far, and should have a final, scored review in the next week or so.
I look forward to the Call of Duty multiplayer beta each fall in the same way I look forward to the return of pumpkin spice lattes: I know exactly what I'm in for, and I always savor that first warm, familiar sip. This year's closed beta is the blast of violent, nutmeg-infused flavor I've been looking for since that first northerly chill swept across the land, and while it definitely feels like the CoD I’ve come to expect, there are a few new features I'm already really enjoying and a few more I'm really looking forward to unlocking.
I installed the beta Thursday afternoon and had planned to play it well into the night, rallying my dedicated group of Call of Duty friends (the Beef Lords) to join in on the fun. In fact, playing with the boys is absolutely my favorite thing about CoD, and even a given year’s iteration is only so-so, we still have a good time together.
Sadly, and I can't really fault it since this is a closed beta, every time I tried to squad up with my friends, I had a hard crash. In fact, it felt like I spent more time waiting for BLOPS7 to restart than I did in matches. That's a huge bummer, because I just want to run around shooting strangers in the face with my bros. Eventually I was able to get into a few matches with one friends, and good old Call of Duty fun was had by all. It still crashed, but only after a few matches this time. I had initially planned to hit the level 20 cap last night, but with all the time I wasted rebooting not only the BLOPS7 beta but also my PC, I was only able to make it to level 14. I know. I'm not proud.
Crashing aside, and no surprise here, but I’ve had a blast with what I’ve been able to play so far. I mean, it's Call of Duty, where the whole point is either to rack up as many kills as possible, or hold an objective... while also racking up as many kills as possible. I truly believe no one does it better than CoD, at least when it comes to gunplay. It's razor-sharp every damn year. It works exactly how I want it to work, it feels exactly how I want it to feel. It's as dependable as the sun rising in the east each morning.
The biggest and most immediate changes this year are updates to the Omnimove system first introduced in last year's Black Ops 6. If you're not familiar, Omnimovement is a control mechanic that lets you perform John Woo-esque flights of gun-firing fancy, while also allowing you to move around more naturally when you're on the ground. Previously, dropping prone would reduce your target size but would render your movement slow and cumbersome. Omnimovement lets you slide to prone and do sick dolphin dives, mantle walls, and look like an action movie star in everyone else's clips, firing your weapon with 360-degrees of aiming movement while on your back.
This year's Omnimovement system adds wall running and wall jumping to your arsenal. It basically lets you hop around the map like Jiminy Cricket, as you can chain up to three wall jumps together. It's really fun, though I haven't really used it tactically so far. Mostly I'm flying off walls just because it feels awesome, and if I happen to get the literal drop on an enemy, all the better.
It also makes moving around the map faster and gives you an advantage over mantling. When you mantle a ledge, your arms can't be used to shooting, on account of them being used to pull you up and onto that ledge. On top of that, it's kind of slow, and an opponent can use this to their advantage. You're basically a sitting duck until you get your feet all the way up, and those few moments can be the difference between life and death... well, usually death and a different kind of death.
Wall jumps change that, because rather than mantle over a ledge in the traditional way, you can just bounce off the wall and make your way to the top without using your arms. You never have to put away your weapon – heck, you don't even need to stop firing your weapon. It takes away that moment of complete vulnerability, and as long as there's a wall nearby and the next level up is reachable within three jumps, you can parkour your way to victory.
It's easier said than done, mind you, and I'm not yet skilled enough to consistently hit shots when I'm going up or down from a wall jump. But it's still fun as hell, and might be my favorite addition to BLOPS7 so far.
There are three maps in the closed beta: Cortex, The Forge, and Exposure. They're fine. They're not bad maps by any means, and I do like playing on them, but nothing about them really stands out to me in the way some of the maps from BLOPS6 did, either. Last year's Rewind map, with its super long corridors and building interiors, was one of my favorites, as was Skyline, with its secret passageway, various hiding spots, and multiple levels.
Then again, the maps in last year's beta were even worse (I’m looking at you, Babylon), so the middling nature of these is probably not an indication of overall quality.
Cortex is probably my favorite of the three this year just because it has everything I like in a map: outside lanes with the possibility of falling to your death, tight interiors to come face-to-face with opps, as well as medium-length interiors and exteriors that work well with LMGs, SMGs, and assault rifles. It lends itself really well to deathmatch and objective-based modes. Plus it has some sweet sci-fi incubator tanks where I presume the super soldiers of tomorrow are being grown from the cells of past heroes.
Exposure is a larger map, and has a lot of cool opportunities to really feel out the wall jumping and running. There's a dangling shipping container on the map that might as well have a Wile E. Coyote-esque sign on it saying "WALL JUMP HERE." Meanwhile, The Forge is pretty big, but it doesn't really have any super long, open lanes for snipers to trade lead back and forth. That's not to say there aren't some great opportunities to do just that, but it doesn't have the same feel as last year's Rewind, with its back alley and strip mall-front.
The Forge might not be my favorite map of the three, but it does have one of my favorite environmental features so far: a spinning, four-piece circular wall in the center of the map. During modes like hardpoint, the hardpoint will spawn in that area and people take turns either hiding behind or popping out from those spinning walls. It adds an extra layer of unpredictability when you're trying to hold an objective that I really like. You can't just lay prone with a sniper and peek around a corner, because the corner moves. That being said, there are a pair of lookouts on either side, so you can keep watch of the objective or just pick people off as they try to bumrush it. It's great. Even in deathmatch or Kill Confirmed it's fun, but it's really cool for Hardpoint and Domination.
According to the official BLOPS7 blog, there's a fourth map, Imprint. Either I've just had terrible RNG luck or they haven't actually turned that one on yet, because I haven’t seen it so far. I'm going to play the hell out of BLOPS7 over the weekend, so that could change.
Once you unlock all the level requirements, there are a total of 16 available guns. Right now, and I hope Treyarch is reading this, the M10 Breacher, the default shotgun, is stupidly overpowered. You can nail enemies from way farther away than the laws of physics should allow right out of the gate, and they'll fall down dead when you do so. You barely need to aim it to get a kill across a large room. That sort of shotgun behavior is fine, even expected, at close range, or when you've leveled up and thrown a bunch of attachments on it. But as a default gun, it's just too powerful.
On the flip side, and this is something I never expected I'd say, but the XR-3 ION sniper rifle is exactly where it should be, power wise. Usually I feel like sniper rifles lean toward being way too OP. Don't get me wrong, I still hate snipers, and I still think people who use snipers on small maps are weak and their bloodlines are weak. But when you get a kill with the XR-3 it feels earned. There's a level of finesse here I'm not accustomed to with previous sniper rifle iterations, and I've actually used it without feeling like a dirty sniperboy.
I've always loved SMGs in Call of Duty, but none of the three available this year are doing it for me as of yet. They feel a tad too weak, which is usually the case, but it's generally made up for by a high rate of fire and lighting-fast speed of handling. I'm going to have to wait and see on the SMGs until progress is fully unlocked, but for right now, they don't feel quite like they should, as if it takes one or two bullets more than I’d expect to down an opponent. I also don't love the LMG, the Mk. 78. Similarly to the SMGs, it feels like it takes a millisecond or two too long to effectively down an enemy. I'm going to need more time with that one as well to see how it ends up running when it's fully kitted out, but for right now I'm not feeling it at all.
The Assault Rifles this year are, much like last year, where it's at. While in previous years I ran with SMGs or LMGs, in BLOPS6 I fell madly in love with my XM4 assault rifle. This year I've been grinding on the M15 MOD 0, but I'm a level away from unlocking the Peacekeeper Mk.1 in the beta, which might be the best weapon in multiplayer, hands down. At Call of Duty Next, it felt like everyone was using it, so I’m excited to try it out again from the comfort of my own desk.
I've got an entire weekend with the closed beta, and I plan to hit that level cap and unlock as much as it will let me. The open beta next week will let you grind to level 30, and the best part is all your progress will carry over to the final game. I'm hoping CoD keeps to its promises, because the new features sound pretty sick: trading loadouts with friends and even copying them from enemies who killed you, XP carrying across all modes instead of on a per-mode basis, and the ability to re-roll the daily challenges, which I love. Also, the final game promises some of the sweetest gun camos yet, and I'm really excited to spend hours and hours of time I'll never get back just so I can have a gun that's all shiny. Until then, I'm really enjoying BLOPS7, and I’ll be back with a full review around launch.
]]>Note: This review specifically covers the Campaign mode in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. For our thoughts on the other modes, see our Zombies review or our multiplayer review .
Bucking the usual trend of breaks between numbered sequels, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is following just 12 months on from Black Ops 6, and you’d perhaps assume that meant only small tweaks to what was one of the series’ high points last year. But the teams at Raven and Treyarch evidently don’t see it that way, and have instead built one of the most unconventional CoD campaigns to date. In many ways, it doesn’t even feel like a CoD single-player mode. It’s more like a multiplayer experiment squeezed into a campaign shell, playing best when you’re accompanied by squadmates, echoing Zombies or the now-defunct DMZ at times. I recently criticised Battlefield 6’s single-player for playing it safe and not taking any risks, and to Black Ops 7’s credit, the same can’t be said here. The problem, however, is that not many of its big swings hit, resulting in one of Call of Duty’s most intriguing, yet flawed campaigns.
Its varied string of missions walks the tightrope between traditional military shooter and schlocky sci-fi nonsense, darting between worlds beyond our technological fingertips and deep within our most haunted of dreams. That spectacle is supported by sharp gunplay and a whole host of gadgetry and abilities that make moving around those worlds incredibly satisfying. But it all culminates in a brand-new endgame portion that stitches together aspects of CoD’s past open-world successes and failures in an attempt to become something new. In reality, that post-credits content is a repetitive shooting gallery that adds little to the excitement that leads up to it.
Much of Black Ops 7’s intrigue emanates from one fundamental design choice: for the first time in many years, a Call of Duty campaign is fully playable in four-player co-op, and it really does feel like it has been made with that in mind as the preferred method of play. This comes with both positives and negatives. Teaming up with friends is good fun, with fighting big bosses that have multiple weak points to fire upon simultaneously or stealthily working through an enemy area tactically, both coming with a good deal of satisfaction. But it also detrimentally affects the solo experience, from not having AI companions fill in for you if no buddies are online, or kicking you for inactivity if you’re idle for too long, to not even being able to pause due to its online-only nature. Its open areas and endgame portion seem catered toward a group experience as well, and can end up just a little lonely when zipping around by yourself. To an extent, it feels like Activision is finally admitting that most people come to its hallmark shooter for multiplayer fun, rather than the single-player story modes the series was founded on.
In fact, having played several missions in both co-op and single-player, I can confirm that playing solo is borderline tedious due to having to repeat multiple objectives, such as placing C4 on a building yourself four times rather than splitting them up as is intended. There are also no difficulty options this time around, meaning that, in theory, it should scale the threat depending on how many players are in your squad. In my experience, though, the number of enemies in a level remains the same, leaving me feeling overwhelmed by foes even in its earliest levels. By comparison, playing in a full squad makes these encounters a breeze, with not enough targets to go around sometimes. In fact, enemy numbers are uneven across the campaign as a whole, sometimes swarming you with dozens of rabid rushers, but at others, presenting you with a couple of soldiers wandering through a door when you’re expecting an onslaught. It’s, admittedly, a difficult balance to get right, but one that has not been achieved here.
As for the structure of the campaign, Black Ops 7’s story is delivered at breakneck speed, taking me just about five hours to reach the endgame. Its 11 missions threw me from one exotic location to the next, from one time period to another, and deep into nightmare realms full of otherworldly horrors and delights. The year is 2035, and new threats are here to instigate a global collapse once again. The re-emergence of Black Ops 2 villain Raul Menendez thrusts the playable unit, Spectre One, into action and soon has them facing off against evil tech company The Guild. What follows is a set of missions that throws you in and out of reality thanks to a fear toxin being weaponised by The Guild, led by Kiernan Shipka’s Emma Kagan, who is trading in Mad Men for mad mechs here.
A combination of cliched evil sci-fi tech corp and Batman Arkham scarecrow-esque antics leads each level to interesting places from a visual perspective, as long-buried memories of our protagonists are dredged up and morphed into horror-filled mazes. It makes for a more varied campaign when it comes to art design, with an impressive number of locations and creatures thematically filling them to gun down. I do wish there was a little more in terms of mission variety when it comes to actual level and objective design, though, with corridor shooting taking the lead in most of these excursions. There’s nothing to rival the creeping intrigue of last year’s Emergence conceptually and its branching objectives and playful enemy design, for example, nor the spy-like cool of infiltrating an embassy fundraiser or high-roller casino.
If last year’s Black Ops 6 leaned more into grounded espionage and subterfuge, 7 is a much louder proposition, choosing to demolish the lobby of a complex to gain access to it rather than sweet-talking the security guard standing in front of it. As a result, there is no shortage of big moments justifying its blockbuster label. Dodging giant falling machetes like you’ve stumbled into a Looney Tunes cartoon is a one-off joy, as is taking control of a lavish luxury boat and ramming into the side of a building. Moments like this feel pinched right out of Christopher Nolan’s back pocket and sit perfectly in the Call of Duty mold.
And that’s just the opening section of one of the standout missions, which takes place in Tokyo and has you dipping into its subway systems and leaping across rooftops. There’s a great sense of forward momentum to levels like these, and I’m a massive fan of them. I just wish more of the campaign were like this Japanese chapter, as I’m not so keen on the ones taking place in the more open-zone areas of the fictional French city-state of Avalon (itself a huge battle royale-sized hub), which struggle to bottle the same exciting energy. These typically have you moving across wider rural patches of its map in order to chase the next cluster of enemies to take down, and essentially serve as tutorials for its endgame. They’re a little less authored than others and fail to capture the same thrills as a result.
In fact, much of the time, it doesn’t really feel like a ‘Call of Duty’ campaign at all. Yes, it has the militaristic hallmarks, but borrows just as much from horde shooters like Left 4 Dead and its own in-house zombie modes. It makes for an uneven set of missions, some of which really don’t work for me, but with others that do manage to hit the spot when they capture some of the CoD cinematic legacy. They’re a rarity, though, and for every one of these, there is also a bizarrely dull sequence, such as the time you’re asked to play Frogger on a twisted, upside-down LA highway.
As you might expect, the gunplay is snappy and satisfying, with SMGs delightfully ripping through armoured enemies and sniper rifles really coming into their own and popping out bits of brain in some of the campaign’s open areas. Each weapon has a good weight to it and is super-responsive when pulling the trigger. It’s Call of Duty, they’ve been doing this for a long time now, and how good its guns feel shouldn’t come as a shock as you rip through enemy healthbars and armor chunks. These extra layers to their vitality do present a slightly more drawn-out cadence to gunfights, though, with a few extra bursts of the trigger needed to take down each. The firearms are supported by a fantastic selection of skills and gadgets, too, with killstreaks making their way into single-player, such as the joyously destructive war machine, allowing for quick mob clean-ups.
I’ll admit, I was initially sceptical of the near-future setting and Call of Duty’s return to tinkering with near-future tech when it comes to movement, but on the whole, the experiment is largely a success. Wall jumping can be a little clunky, but the kinetic super jump is very fun to use as a quick flanking tool, as is my favourite of the bunch, the grapple hook. Swinging up to roofs to find a better vantage point before swooping down on a wingsuit to get back up close opens up each level’s architecture in interesting ways. It may never reach that Titanfall 2 gold standard when it comes to FPS mobility, but there are flashes of it here, which is always welcome.
This desire to experiment also carries into its approach to boss design, which is by no means revolutionary when it comes to FPS campaigns, but a relatively new thing for Call of Duty. I appreciate the efforts made in order to make each have its own gimmick, even if they all ultimately come down to draining an oversized health bar while dodging projectiles. They certainly aren’t complex, but hitting the glowing weak points of a giant, bile-spewing plant in a cave of nightmares is certainly a step up from just pumping bullets into a Juggernaut for the hundredth time, especially when multiple targets are offered up at once and really make the whole co-op nature of the campaign feel worthwhile.
In fact, enemy variety is quite impressive this time around, with human, mechanical, and hallucinatory foes offering different threats that challenge you at all distances. Guild forces include a robot army, as well as traditional militia types such as the machine-gun-wielding Raider, colossal armor-plated Titan, and other NFL team-name adjacent units. Yes, most can be handled with some well-aimed assault rifle fire to the head, but there are more effective ways to deal with them if you choose to explore your arsenal.
I particularly enjoyed one incursion into a robotics lab, which equipped me with a Black Hat hacking device. I liked how it switched up the cadence of the unrelenting bullets a little, and meant I could disrupt and destroy these Terminator wannabes from cover. It even made a miniboss of this zone — an admittedly unexciting rotating turret — easier to take down. I appreciate that, in a game of such ferocious speed as this, you’re occasionally rewarded for taking a breath and using your brain to overcome objectives rather than solely relying on pure firepower.
It’s kind of a shame, then, that once the campaign’s set of linear missions is over, the endgame borrows little of this philosophy. After the main story’s credits have rolled, you’re offered a chance to experience its epilogue, which takes place in the open region of Avalon that’s teased throughout. If you played Call of Duty’s DMZ mode, then you’ll have a rough idea of what to expect here: it’s an extraction shooter, except it's not. You and up to three friends can team up and drop into this battle royale-sized map and complete the activities that litter it with eye-soreing regularity. On every street corner are Guild checkpoints or zombie-infested buildings to clear out as you progress through its difficulty-tiered regions in order to reach its final boss, located at the epicentre of the island’s toxic smog. The catch? If your squad goes down, you lose all of your progress. That progress is mainly tied to your combat rating, a number that goes up the more killing and map icon clearing you do, and it's therefore up to you to know when to call it quits on a certain run and extract from the map within a time limit.
For each level you go up, you’ll get a skill point to plug into any of two given options. These can range from armor plates automatically regenerating when you get kills to overall movement speed or rate of fire increases. The idea is to keep building up your character until you’ve reached the minimum recommended level of 55 and shut down the toxic threat sweeping across Avalon. The progression feels genuine, too, with my character resembling a super soldier at higher ranks, thanks to the sheer amount of speed I harnessed and the damage I could absorb.
In theory, I like this idea and think there are the bones of an exciting mode here — something that could capture the magic the likes of Helldivers 2 has done in recent times — but as is, it unfortunately gets a little tired a little too soon. Objectives are almost all exclusively "go to this place and clear out the enemies there," which I understand is part of the fundamentals when it comes to shooters, but I would’ve appreciated a little more variety and something that mirrored the minor puzzle-solving sections of the main campaign, or at least clever uses of the gadgetry it introduces. The enemy AI that walks Avalon’s streets is also dumb as bricks and pops out of cover freely, making each encounter a simple affair when you put enough distance between you and them.
Yes, zooming around on grapple hooks and transitioning into wing suit gliding mid-fall is still incredibly satisfying, as is plotting out methods of attack in a four-player squad, but all semblance of interesting level or mission design is traded in upon entry here for a few hours of relatively mindless shooting in order to watch some numbers tick up. In some ways, it sits somewhere between the campaign missions and Zombies in its design, but frustratingly borrows the least interesting aspects of both, neglecting the mission structure and mystery-solving that each mode thrives on. It results in a reasonably enjoyable, but not essential, second serving to the campaign. And don’t worry, if the endgame doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, or even sounds a little daunting (the ferocity of its bullet sponge hordes can get overwhelming in its latter stages, especially when heading in solo), the story does wrap up satisfyingly enough beforehand for it not to feel like you’re missing out on an ending completely.
It’s a story nowhere near as accomplished as last year’s effort, though. Effectively a direct sequel to Black Ops 2 that also ties into the events of Black Ops 6, presumed knowledge and the speed at which its setup is told can be a little disorientating, especially if you aren’t familiar with its 2012 predecessor. The themes are personal this time around, with David "Section" Mason, recast here as Heroes’ Milo Ventimiglia, placed centre stage as he battles with his past – namely the loss of his father, Alex. There are some fun revelations along the way, as well as treats for long-term fans of the Black Ops series, but as someone who has never held those characters in as high regard as their Modern Warfare counterparts, the pulling of the heartstrings didn’t quite work for me.
It also means that the rest of the Spectre One squad doesn’t really get plot points of their own aside from flashes of resurfacing trauma, relegating them very much to support characters in David’s world, as Michael Rooker’s Harper in particular is given some truly dumb lines to scream as loud as he can. That being said, if you are someone who has always preferred the adventures of Woods, Mason, Adler, and co, I’m sure you’ll have a great time here. It does mean, though, that this revisiting of the past, combined with a thick layer of exposition, can make the early hours of the story relatively impenetrable to newcomers, so I’d bear that in mind if you’re coming in fresh. I’d really recommend a thorough recap of the Black Ops timeline to all if you wish to get the most out of it.
]]>Looking for additional SkyBux to customize and upgrade your airline? This article has you covered! Here you can find a list of all currently active Cabin Crew Simulator codes. Redeem them to boost your SkyBux and spend them on in-flight meals, travel to different destinations, and new aircraft in Roblox.
Here are the currently active Cabin Crew Simulator codes for November 2025 and the rewards you'll get for redeeming them:
The following codes can no longer be redeemed as of November 2025:
To redeem Cabin Crew Simulator codes, you'll need to follow these steps:
When a Cabin Crew Simulator isn't working, it's usually for two reasons. Either the code has expired of it's a typo. When it's a typo, it will say "Invalid Code" when you press enter. To avoid typos being an issue, we'd recommend copying the codes directly from this article, then pasting them into the codes box in Cabin Crew Simulator. If a code is no longer redeemable, it will say "Expired" when you hit enter.
We'll keep this article updated each day, but if you want to get Cabin Crew Simulator codes as soon as they drop, you'll want to follow @CabinCrewRBLX on X. There is also a Discord channel for Cruising Studios, where codes are posted in the Announcements channel.
The aim of Cabin Crew Simulator is to create your own successful airline and aircraft. You'll be thrown into the role of Cabin Crew, who is responsible for making sure passengers enjoy their flights and arrive safely at their destinations.
You'll need to perform various tasks during flights, from boarding passengers to serving them drinks and snacks, all of which will reward you with SkyBux. The in-game currency will allow you to purchase bigger airplanes, unlock new destinations, upgrade your uniform, and more.
Lauren Harper is a freelance writer and editor who has covered news, reviews, and features for over a decade in various industries. She has contributed to guides at IGN for games including Elden Ring, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Starfield, Pikmin 4, and more. With an MA in Victorian Gothic History and Culture, she loves anything that falls under that category. She's also a huge fan of point-and-click adventures, horror games and films. You can talk to her about your favourites over at @prettyheartache.bsky.social .
]]>Looking to dominate the court with Basketball: Zero codes? Well, you're in luck! We've searched for all active working codes for the Roblox experience, so you don't have to. Redeem these for a range of bonuses that include Lucky Spins and cash, helping you swish your way to victory.
Below, you'll find a list of all the currently active Basketball: Zero codes we've found as of this month:
Time's up on these codes, unfortunately. As of this month, the following codes no longer work:
Typically, when a code stops working, it's just because it's expired. However, plenty of codes for Roblox experiences are also case-sensitive. So, it might be that you've typed it incorrectly. Whether a code has been entered incorrectly in Basketball: Zero, or it's expired, you'll see a pop-up saying "code doesn't exist."
To avoid using an incorrect code, we'd recommend copying them directly from this article and pasting them into the code box. We test them all before we add them to the article, so you can be certain that if it's on here, it's a valid code. Just be sure to check you haven't added a sneaky extra space in there when copying it over.
We check for codes on a daily basis, so if there's a new code, you'll be able to find it in this article. If you want to search for them yourself, however, you can head over to the Basketball: Zero Discord server.
It's no surprise that in Basketball Zero, you'll be playing... basketball. The fast-paced 5v5 game will see you dribbling the ball across the court to face opponents and try to score as many points as possible. By unlocking new styles and zones, you'll earn a range of atheles and bonuses that will give you special advantages. The Flash, for example, has excellent speed and agility, while the Star athelete can leap like no other. Redeeming the codes above will give you chances at Lucky Spins, which unlock the Styles and Zones, while the cash will enable you to unlock emotes and goal effects, to really celebrate the wins.
Lauren Harper is an Associate Guides Editor. She loves a variety of games but is especially fond of puzzles, horrors, and point-and-click adventures.
]]>Looking for Anime Card Clash codes so you can build your deck and battle bosses effortlessly? You're in the right place. We've searched high and low to find all the new and active codes for Anime Card Clash in November 2025, so you won't miss out on everything from Large Luck Potions to Boss Potions and Instant Rolls.
Here are the newest codes we've found for Anime Card Clash this month, as well as information on the rewards you'll get for redeeming them:
Unfortunately, these codes are now expired:
We usually find that when codes aren't working, it's for one of two reasons. Most Roblox experiences have codes that are case-sensitive, so if you're not putting the code in exactly as it's written, you'll find it won't work. To make it easier for you to avoid this issue, we'd recommend copying the code directly from this article. We test each and every one before we add them, so just be sure you don't copy an extra space before or after the code accidentally!
If your code still isn't working, it might be that it's expired. For reference, in Anime Card Clash, whenever you put in a code incorrectly, it says "Code not found!".
We check for Roblox codes daily, so when a new Anime Card Clash code drops, you can be sure you'll find it here! If you want to track down codes yourself, the Anime Card Clash Discord server is the place to hunt for them.
In Anime Card Clash the goal is to build the best deck to battle against bosses and other players. You'll start by rolling for cards to craft a unique deck, and we'd recommend taking some time to roll as many times as possible and creating your perfect pack before you jump over to story mode. When you're ready to tackle story mode, you'll engage in turn-based combat against a series of tough bosses. With each defeat, you'll unlock new worlds, so you can put your deck to the ultimate test.
Lauren Harper is an Associate Guides Editor. She loves a variety of games but is especially fond of puzzles, horrors, and point-and-click adventures.
]]>Well Sonic games are on sale for Nintendo Switch today, and they'll all play on Nintendo Switch 2 (and yes, it includes the good ones). Oh and my favorite Nintendo Switch 2 controller is in the early Black Friday deal club too. It's actually a great day for early Black Friday gaming deals, with a PlayStation 5 Pro for the same price as an Xbox Series X, a stacked RTX 5070Ti rig for under 2,100ドル and a gaming laptop that will do its job for under 650ドル.
You thought I forgot about peripherals and monitors didn't you? I've got epic deals on an ASUS ROG keyboard and mouse that will save you hundreds of dollars, and half off an OLED 1ms 260Hz curved LG monitor. Let's get straight into it:
It's smart to have a light source on hand for emergencies, especially since everyday carry flashlights can be had for a throwaway price. As part of its early Black Friday Sale, Aliexpress is offering an outstanding deal on the powerful yet compact Sofirn SP36 Pro 8,000-Lumen Rechargeable LED Flashlight, now just 28ドル.99 after you apply 6ドル off coupon code "AEUS06". This exact flashlight sells for 70ドル on Amazon.
The Sofirn SP36 Pro is a compact EDC style flashlight, measuring just 5" in length and weighing about 10 ounces without the battery. The flashlight requires three 18650 Li-on batteries and fortunately they are included. The light array is comprised of four Luminus SST-40 LEDs. They combine for a maximum output of 8,000 lumens and a beam distance of up to 450 meters, which means that this little flashlight can illuminate an entire football field.
The best Sonic the Hedgehog games on Nintendo Switch are here, including Sonic Superstars, Mania and Frontiers. Sonic Origins and Sonic Frontiers come as a double bundle for 49ドル.59, and Sonic Mania is bundled with Team Sonic Racing for just 23ドル.64. Want to see how Sonic 4 shoudl have looked? Sonic Superstars will scratch that itch for 19ドル.93.
This is hands down one of the best early Black Friday deals I've seen for a budget gaming laptop. Granted it won't break any benchmarking records, but Nvidia RTX 4050 supports DLSS 3 (and 4 with a little Github know-how) giving you frame generation tech for under 650ドル. Plus things like the M.2 SSD and RAM can be upgraded whenever you want, so I'm all in on this deal.
If you want high-powered DLSS4 goodness supported by a solid processor and 32GB of DDR5 RAM, this Corsair Vengeance pre-built gaming PC is a brilliant deal for under 2,100ドル. Whilst it will do 4K gaming, this would make a far better 1440p rig with frames per second going way pass 60 on AAA games.
ASUS ROG Harpe is a great choice for anyone looking for a competent wireless gaming mouse for fast paced games like Fortnite, Valorant or other esports-heavy games. It's got a carbon fiber shell, a 70 hour battery, 42K DPI sensitivity and frictionless glass skates. This bad boy is fast, light and has wired, WiFi, and bluetooth connectivity so everyone is happy when it comes to input delay.
I'm not sure why you'd need an OLED screen on a keyboard, but it's ridiculously cool. This is a 75% form factor which is perfect for gaming and gives more room for your twitchy mouse game. The ROG NX Storm clicky switches feel so good when playing and typing, it's a pretty great all-rounder. And of course it's wireless, supporting Bluetooth, WiFi, and standard USB 2.0. Even the gasket has two settings to change the feel of the buttons, which is all hidden behind a gorgeous aluminum frame.
A 1ms response time 34-inch curved OLED gaming monitor at 51% off? Now that's an early Black Friday deal. It's got a lovely refresh rate of 240Hz with a 1440p resolution, which is the sweet spot for PC gaming right now. It also rocks Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync, so this screen has your back no matter which camp you've chosen.
I've been using this controller for a couple of weeks now, and I haven't picked up my Switch Pro controller back up (even though I put an awesome see-though purple shell on it). That's saying something, but it's not surprising as 8Bitdo make some of the best third party controllers going. I needed to do a firmware update to get it working on Switch 2, but it's been smooth sailing since with near-clicky face buttons and ergonomics that feel just right.
46% off for a PlayStation 5 gem, if you haven't played Forbidden West yet, this is a great time to jump in. We gave it a final score of 9.3, so if that doesn't warrant spending less than 40ドル on a AAA game I don't know what will.
We live in a reality where you can buy a PlayStation 5 Pro for nearly the same price as an Xbox Series X, let that sink in. Jokes aside, this is a renewed Amazon deal that comes with a 90-day limited warranty. That's plenty of time to check this console out and make sure everythings sound, which it will be. Everytime I've grabbed something renewed it's been in pretty much brand new condition, so why not treat yourself?
Want to make sure you get one of these on the day? Well the max buy limit is 5, and Walmart+ is half price until 2nd December, so it's the perfect time to get signed up and make sure you're ready for tommorow, 13th November at 4 pm PT / 7 pm ET (or five hours before for Walmart+ members). One thing's for sure, 8 booster packs for 24ドル.99 is a great deal in this climate.
These deals are Black Friday level bargains. 60ドル off an Elite Series 2 Core controller? Bargain. A cheeky 512GB of extra storage for 10ドル and change off? Believe it. Even if you don't have an Xbox, the Xbox Controller, Fire Stick and Game Pass Ultimate bundles are heavily discounted too.
You can actually buy a PS5 Pro for around the same price as a standard Xbox Series X right now, let that sink in. Already got a PlayStation 5? Some of the best games on the console are marked down right now. Even newer releases such as Rise of the Ronin is down to 44ドル.70. Don't miss out on these early Black Friday deals.
Scooters have some major advantages over bikes. They're lighter, more compact, and usually less expensive. Electric assisted scooters give you more range and speed for less effort, and the brushless motor is pretty quiet. You'd think upgrading to one would cost you a lot of money, but that doesn't have to be the case. AliExpress is offering a couple of well-regarded electric scooters at prices you probably didn't expect.
You can pick up a LADPED LP80 350W electric scooter for just 127ドル with coupon code "AEUS26". Alternatively, the LADPED LP60 350W electric scooter, which has a smaller battery, is 109ドル.53 after code "AEUS20". Both scooters ship free from a local US warehouse; since they've already been shipped from overseas, any tariffs have already been paid for and you don't need to worry about them. AliExpress marketplace vendor AOVOPRO is an authorized reseller of these scooters and has plenty of reviews and sales to back up its reputation.
144hz refresh rate screams gaming TV to me, especially when it's on a quantum dot OLED screen. That 144hz refresh rate is supported on all four of its HDMI 2.1 ports, which is insane. There's no worries about getting the best performance from your Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2 and even gaming PCs.
With a processor that's built for performance and outperforms Intel Core i9-1400HX, we're off to a good start with this RTX 5070Ti gaming laptop. 32GB DDR5 Ram is higher end too, clocked at 6400MHz and has a tidy 1TB M.2 SSD, both of which can be upgraded at anytime. Topping this build with a 240Hz QHD screen and you're laughing at this price point.
Whilst this is one of the cheaper options for a Switch 2 Micro SD Express card, there's cheaper. The problem is with cheaper cards is the lower transfer speeds, which add up on more demanding games. Getting a Samsung P9 ensures 800MB/s, with Samsung having a great reputation for storage products in general.
Want something that performs around the same as a RTX 5070Ti without the price tag to go with it? AMD is slowly clawing back its GPU market share by targeting mid-range gamers, but the RX 9070 XT is a brilliant graphics card. Whilst I can run something like Oblivion Remastered at 4K 60FPS all day long on it, I get a lot more joy from it playing at 1440P and getting twice the frame rate instead. This is well worth the money if you're in the market for a new GPU.
RTX 5080 has claimed it place as the sweet spot on the Nvidia 5000 series GPU lineup. It'll play anything in 4K with dedicated ray tracing support, and has DLSS4 technology to insert AI frames and resolution upgrades to fall back on. Ryzen 9 7900X is also a solid processor to back up the 5080, with a max turbo of 5.6GHz and rocking 12 cores, 24 threads and 64mb of L2 cache. Long story short? It's a cracking rig for under 2,000ドル.
You might want to check if your AMEX and Discovery is eligible for up to 50% off Pokémon TCG on Amazon right now. All you have to do is add a sealed product to your basket sold directly by Amazon, use your AMEX or Discovery and pay either 1ドル or use 1 loyalty point to apply the discount. You could also be extra savvy and get a 60ドル Amazon gift card by being accepted for an Amazon Store Card. Of course, none of this is financial advice, and if you're going to struggle not spending on credit and store cards, make the right choice.
Nice and simple, sign up for a zero commitment Audible Premium Plus sub and get your first 3 months for 0ドル.99 a month. That's 3 months of top tier access for under 3,ドル it's worth doing just to try the service out!
Here's two 4K gaming beasts that will stay that way for a long time. If you're just focused on having a RTX 5080 for now with a view to upgrade in the future, go for the 2,099ドル.99 build. If you can stretch the extra 650,ドル you're getting a far better processor, double the DDR5 RAM and double the M.2 SSD space. Either way, you win with a cheeky 14% off.
Need a beast of a TV that can handle proper gaming performance and the Thanksgiving football game in style? 77" should do the job, and this is LG's C5 4K 2025 model that's half-price. You'll also save over 300ドル snagging the S40T Soundbar and Subwoofer combo alongside a slim wall mount. This is one of the best early Black Friday deals.
At 53% off, this 2025 model Samsung TV is a bargain thanks to its 4K OLED panel with all the bells and whistles you'd come to expect from one of the biggest TV manufacturers.
Who wants a Nintendo Switch 2 for less than MSRP? Yeah, it's a silly question, right? These consoles are brand new, just from a different region and work exactly the same as a US model. They're region-free and AliExpress has a massive discount code to bring this deal home.
Christian Wait is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything collectable and deals. Christian has over 7 years of experience in the Gaming and Tech industry with bylines at Mashable and Pocket-Tactics. Christian also makes hand-painted collectibles for Saber Miniatures. Christian is also the author of "Pokemon Ultimate Unofficial Gaming Guide by GamesWarrior". Find Christian on X @ChrisReggieWait.
Fish It! will have you clicking away for hours as you try to catch all the variations available in the game. As of the time of writing this, Fish It! claims to have over 1,000,000 variations for you to collect. With new updates planned for the Roblox experience's future, it looks like that number will only continue to increase. So with that in mind, why not use a few codes to help you along the way?
Before you can use most codes, you'll need to reach level 10, so make sure you spend some time hooking as many fish as possible before trying them out.
These codes can no longer be redeemed, but they're listed here so you can still try if you like!
Codes for Roblox experiences are usually case-sensitive, so the best way to ensure you've got a working code is to directly copy it from this article. We check all codes before we upload them, so you can guarantee they're working. Just double-check that you haven't copied over an extra space!
Fish It! typically launches its updates on Sundays. The last small one was on November 12 for the Purple Bloodmoon and after that is a regular one on November 16 that is currently unknown. The previous update added the Jungle expansion.
Lauren Harper is an Associate Guides Editor. She loves a variety of games but is especially fond of puzzles, horrors, and point-and-click adventures.
]]>Want some codes for extra cash to spend on animations, styles, emotes, and more in Azure Latch? Or should that be Delay Latch? Anyway, we've got you covered. In this article, you'll find all the currently working codes for the game, so be quick to redeem them and bag that cash.
These codes are now expired:
Codes are often case-sensitive, so to avoid any errors, we'd recommend copying the codes directly from this article into the redemption bar in Azure Latch. We test them all before we upload them here to make sure they're valid for you.
If you have copied them from here, and they're still not working, it could be one of two things. You may have accidentally copied over an extra space, so be sure to check for that first. The other option is the code may have just expired.
We check for codes daily, so you can visit this article to see when new Azure Latch codes are released. There's also a dedicated Discord Server, that you can visit to look for code announcements yourself.
Whether you're a fan of anime or sports games, Azure Latch is likely to be a game you'll want to check out. The 5v5 football game is another Roblox experience that takes inspiration from the popular manga and anime series Blue Lock. For this one, however, you'll get super abilities that you can use to make those tackles, passes, and goal attempts a bit more exciting.
Lauren Harper is an Associate Guides Editor. She loves a variety of games but is especially fond of puzzles, horrors, and point-and-click adventures.
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