Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is proving pretty popular with critics. The latest entry in the infinitely-running series is sitting on a Metascore of 83, with no reviews so far marked as “negative.” The same, however, can not be said of user reviews. At a desultory Metascore of 1.9, it’s the worst-rated Call of Duty ever.
A lot of the ire in the Metascore reviews is focused on the game’s “lackluster” multiplayer-only campaign, faulty matchmaking, litany of bugs, and very unfavorable comparisons with Arc Raiders, but the use of AI also comes up a great deal as people vent their frustrations. It was noticed immediately after launch that the latest entry in one of the biggest franchises in the world had used AI-plagiarized art for player banners, calling cards and even artwork within the campaign. When Kotaku approached Activision for comment on this, the company seemed entirely nonplussed by the situation, simply stating “Like so many around the world, we use a variety of digital tools, including AI tools, to empower and support our teams…”
“Just pure trash full of ai slop,” says one Metacritic user. “What AI bot did they use to puke up this garbage?” asks another. A third comments, “It’s just another hurriedly rushed AI slop-fest.” One comment that appears to capture the mood of most poetically phrases it, “Unbelievable, abysmal dogshit. Save your money please! The use of AI is just the cherry on top.”
Of course, user scores do tend to be marked on a binary scale, rather than adopting the full spread of numbers. People tend to leave reviews not out of a sense of civic duty, but rather because they’re either delighted or furious, hence the majority of these scores being a possibly somewhat exaggerated 0. Scattered throughout (albeit very much in the minority), bringing the overall average to 1.9, are 9s and 10s from enthusiasts. It’s obviously not a useful metric of a game’s quality, but it’s certainly a very useful way to see which way a game is being received by the wider public.
Meanwhile, over on Steam, the game is currently sitting on the very low end of “Mixed” reviews, with just 42 percent of reader reviews finding Black Ops 7 to be positive. (However, that rating drops to “Mostly Negative” when reviews are filtered for English language only. Chinese players seem to be having a better response.) “chatgpt generate me a lackluster campaign with reused assets and cringe worthy dialogue,” reads one popular review. “Activision just pay for art you clearly have money and it won’t look like shit,” says another.
It’s something of a relief that the brazen use of AI in games still generates fury like this, players yet to be inoculated to it by its widespread use. Companies are keen to trot out the “But everyone else is doing it!” excuse, like a child caught cheating in a test, but right now this isn’t cutting it with audiences. It seems pretty likely that any major company pledging not to use AI could win enormous favor with players in this climate. It’s probably worth a try!
