How The Call Of Duty Franchise Can Thrive Again

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 has been a divisive release for gamers to
date.

Activision has announced that they will not be doing back to back
releases of Modern Warfare and Black Ops games in the future and will return to alternating the series for the planned annual releases.

2026 is said to be a new Modern Warfare with the 2027 release being a new entry from Sledgehammer Games; one that will reportedly forgo the Zombie mode at launch in favor of a new approach.

I have not been able to embrace the multiplayer aspects of Black Ops 7
as well as I have with past modes due to play and balance issues as I
found aspects of it to be frustrating despite an abundance of maps to
play.

With this in mind, here are some suggestions that I believe will greatly
improve the franchise going forward.

Don’t leave fans hanging.

Ghosts may have had detractors but the game ended on a cliffhanger and gamers have not had a resolution. Some have called for a sequel to finally address this while others have said this is not necessary but storylines need closure. Black Ops has a storyline that spans decades but has become filled with psychedelic segments that many say have no place in a game that is supposed to be focused on
military missions.

Get back to the spectacle

I remember prior games with epic finales such as a harbor filled with
ships and a race through a submarine to save the day. Now we have had finales that were abrupt or anti-climatic. Black Ops 6 had a
confrontation that had me prepared for an epic final assault only to end
the game with cutscenes and dialogue and the Black Ops 7 finale had someciting the ending as lacking when compared with past entries.

Explore other Eras.

I have heard from many that eras such as Vietnam
and Korea would make for great games to be centered around versus a
segment or two. The series started as a World War II series and while
Modern Warfare was a massive success, past entries in the past have been successful while futuristic settings such as Advanced Warfare and Infinite Warfare did not resound the same with gamers.

Mix up the multiplayer options.

While the movie from the Zombie mode will be interesting, I think that a return to the story format of
Infinite Warfare would be interesting, I loved a Zombie mode set in the 80s, 90s, 70s, and 50s, where characters were pulled into movies of that area. The battle in the Theme Park and Camp were great fun and I also loved the classic

The Extinction mode in Ghosts was also an interesting entry and one that
I think should be revisited or expanded upon.

While I do not mind the themed cosmetics as fans seem to enjoy the
various crossovers from Die Hard, Scream, Fallout, etc, I think there is
room to expand on this. Why not make maps based on themes rather than cosmetics? Imagine a map based on “Event Horizon” where the long
corridor and gravity drops would happen. Where opening an Airlock could trap and eliminate enemies, and where random threats arise.

How about a map based on “Blade Runner” where players play as either a Blade Runner or Replicant? I know licensing issues arise, but they have options.

Add new gameplay modes.

I joked with a rep at Activision years ago that there could be a Civil Warfare mode. Where players had single-shot muskets and pistols as well as swords and bladed weapons.

Having to take a shot and then take time to reload under the conditions of the time would make for an interesting strategy. You could have cannon volleys for a reward streak and some great locales, both historical and futuristic, for the maps.

Fix the hit detection.

The frustration of getting the drop on a player and unloading a full clip on them point-blank while they take it and one-shot kill you, or take the hits, reload, and then dispatch you, is
frustrating.

I have had two clips and a grenade used on players in Black Ops 7 that are confirmed by the Kill Cam, and yet the player survives.

I had one scenario where two of us were unloading on a player who stood there, and only when we went to reload dispatched us both with one shot each.

If this is not an exploit that Richochet did not catch, then it is an issue that needs to be fixed.

What would you bring or return to the series for future games?