Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 takes the stage as the latest addition to the acclaimed COD series. With seven Black Ops titles under its belt, the series continues to intrigue fans with new innovations. This time, players are treated to various modes, including Campaign, Multiplayer, Zombies, and an enhanced Warzone experience. Notably, the game introduces a fresh four-player Co-op campaign, prompting players to ponder if this is still the Call of Duty they once knew.
Exploring Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s PC Performance
Black Ops 7 runs on the revamped IW 9.0 engine, originally derived from Infinity Ward’s adaptation of the Id Tech 3 engine. This upgrade ensures visually stunning graphics, rich with ray tracing and numerous tweaking options across four graphics settings menus: Display, Quality, View, and Benchmark. The Display menu offers standard adjustments like Screen Refresh Rate and NVIDIA Reflex Low Latency. Also featured are power-saving modes to customize frame rates and graphical fidelity.
The Quality menu lets players toggle global presets from Extreme to Minimum, supporting various upscaling techniques like NVIDIA DLSS and AMD FSR. High Dynamic Range (HDR) settings and Ray Tracing Reflections offer significant visual enhancements, catering to those with powerful hardware. Ray Tracing is the most demanding graphical setting, significantly impacting FPS rates.
Impressions and Performance Insights
In terms of performance, 4K gaming without ray tracing is feasible on RTX 4060 Ti/5060 Ti and better GPUs, while ray tracing necessitates advanced upscaling for smooth gameplay. Surprisingly, AMD GPUs shine, with the RX 9070 XT rivaling the RTX 5080. At 1440p, more GPUs achieve the 60 FPS benchmark, and even at 1080p, most entry-level graphics cards handle the game well. Upscaling with DLSS/FSR boosts performance by up to 80%, especially for those with high-refresh-rate monitors.
While ray tracing enhances visuals subtly due to the game’s fast pace, it’s noteworthy that Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is the first title to feature AMD’s Ray Regeneration, part of the Redstone update, rivaling NVIDIA’s Ray Reconstruction. This technology optimizes performance without compromising visual fidelity.
Final Thoughts on Black Ops 7
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 pushes the boundaries of visual excellence with its array of customization options, yet the online-only campaign design draws criticism. Despite this, the game delivers impressive multiplayer and Warzone experiences, encouraging players to aim for high FPS. Ultimately, Black Ops 7 offers a fresh take on the series, making it a must-try for series enthusiasts and newcomers alike.