In a visit to Treyarch,Screen Rant’sRob Keyes met with the developers behindCall of Duty: Black Ops 7to get as much information about the upcoming installment as possible.
One particularly exciting reveal is thenew 32-player PvE Endgame mission that players access after completing the main campaign,where all of your progress throughout the main campaign will be critical. Treyarch says the Endgame mission will"redefine what campaign can be in Call of Duty."
Everything We Learned From Treyarch About The Endgame Mission
Endgame Picks Up At The End Of The Main Story Campaign
“As the credits roll,“Treyarch explained,“we’re going to be unlocking a 12th mission that is very different, andwe’re calling it Endgame.“Treyarch says this mission reimagines what is possible in a CoD campaign, and it will increase replayability while also pushing what is possible with PvE experiences.
The Endgame mission willcreate a new path for playersto continue down after the main campaign is finished, and all of your progress throughout the campaign is put to the test in much more difficult areas. Treyarch hopes tobring in new playerswho want to"check out … this open world, never-ending version of the campaign.”
Treyarch explains that"after you finish the linear part of the campaign, we unlock all of Avalon for you to go into. And really, everything that you’ve done leading up to this moment has been training you to be successful in this new dynamic.”
Players will have to meet the challenge of the newly unlocked andhardest region of Avalon, taking on difficult objectives to level up and complete the Endgame mission.“You’re going to have to go through a unique power journey that we’re ungating here in Endgame, and it’s going to take several sessions to get to that place.”
You will be able to unlock an Operator power journey through individual quests, and you will have to acquire multiple upgrades before you’re able to go into the more advanced areas without getting wiped out. Abilities can also be unlocked for use in the Endgameas you play through the main campaign.
Skills in the Endgame allow for customization on a level never before seen in a CoD campaign:
“You’ll get access to loadouts that are now ungated. You’ll also have the ability to select any operator. While you’re playing through the campaign you’re only playing as those four characters. We now allow you to play as anyone. We also open up the ability to customize various abilities that you experience while playing through the campaign.
Most importantly, the Endgame mission is primarily PvE, and each server will have a 32-player limit. There are alsoPvP elements in the Endgame areasthat are enabled through various activities or side missions. You’ll be able to play solo or as part of a squad, will be on a time limit while you’re in there, and"if you wipe, you lose that progress, so you have to restart that journey. There’s a lot more weight to everything you’re doing in Endgame.”
Endgame Is An Exciting & Fresh Attempt At CoD Campaigns
Endgame Will Add Replay Value Similar To Black Ops 6’s Zombies
Overall, Endgame promises to be anexciting and fresh takeon theCall of Dutycampaign formula, and will act similarly toZombies inBlack Ops 6. It’s an innovative use of PvE elements, and will give players something to keep coming back to after completing the main campaign.
Enhanced difficulty in the Endgameareas andconnecting main campaign decisions to what you experience in the Endgameare core features that promise to enhance the overall campaign. Devs explain that"you’re really trying to push yourself all the way up to combat rating 60, so you can get to that hard, more difficult area.”
The Endgame mission inCall of Duty: Black Ops 7represents a unique and original approach to CoD campaign missions, offering a refreshing way to add replayability to the game.
Each operator can now even up and every level provides new skill choice
Skills provide customization never before seen in Campaign
Squad wipe resets progress for the operator
We see a power circle with Health, Mobility, Exotics, Toughness as the four quadrants
Exotic looked like 8 attachment custom weapon
Examples of abilities: Active camo, war machine, grapple hook, deployable energy shield, drone charmer (deploy army of quad rotor drones)
From the presentation:
Kevin Drew: “As the credits roll, we’re going to be unlocking a 12th mission that is very different, and we’re calling it Endgame, and it’s going to redefine what campaign can be in Call of Duty.”
Kevin Drew: “We really wanted to bring replayability to campaign in the way that we have with Zombies. And a big part of that is because we want to open up progression for the entire game. So what we’re really doing here is creating a new path for campaign players to continue to experience our game, and then also ideally bring in other players who might want to check out this version, this open world, never ending version of the campaign.”
Kevin Drew: “The idea here is that after you finish the linear part of the campaign, we unlock all of Avalon for you to go into. And really, everything that you’ve done leading up to this moment has been training you to be successful in this new dynamic. You’re going to be wingsuiting in. And there is a new conflict that has you finding that final objective in the hardest region of Avalon. You’re going to be experiencing all sorts of activities. As you move around and move towards that more difficult area, you’re also going to not be able to get there initially. You’re going to have to go through a unique power journey that we’re ungating here in Endgame, and it’s going to take several sessions to get to that place.”
In Endgame the loadouts are ungated, you may choose any operator, and you can customize your abilities
Kevin Drew: “You’ll get access to loadouts that are now ungated. You’ll also have the ability to select any operator. While you’re playing through the campaign you’re only playing as those four characters. We now allow you to play as anyone. We also open up the ability to customize various abilities that you experience while playing through the campaign. So you can see here, he has the drone charmer and the grapple hook.”
Extraction element - you’re trying to max out your Combat Rating to get into the most difficult areas, but if you squad wipe, you lose that progress and need to restart.
Kevin Drew: “Everything you’re doing in an Endgame, you’re earning experience, and you’re leveling up your combat rating. Every time you level up, you get to make unique choices. Some of those are very powerful things, like increasing your health, damage, mobility. But there’s also what we’re calling skill specializations, and so you can customize yourself in ways that you’ve never been able to do in a campaign, and you’re really trying to push yourself all the way up to combat rating 60, so you can get to that hard, more difficult area. Now the catch here is that if you wipe, you lose that progress,so you have to restart that journey and. There’s a lot more weight to everything you’re doing in Endgame. You’ll have to make sure you escape every time, or if you die, you’re going to lose that.”
From our interview (quotes below), they reveal that while it’s 32 player PvE (basically co-op but open world) there are elements that can be PvP thanks to in-game activities, and the whole thing is on a time limit. The map they showed us featured different color zones so it gets more difficult as you approach the center, just like the map in MWZ’s Urzikstan
Yale Miller: Endgame is PvE. We’ve had that debate a lot. There could be a little surprise here or there. Yeah, it’s possible. Four-player squads, but you’re able to go in solo if you want. A server will have 32 people; that’s the max. And then as you go in, there are all kinds of activities and contracts and things that you can do.
The world of Avalon is broken up into different, for lack of a better term, difficulty zones where certain areas are going to have much harder things to do. You need to be more leveled up to go into those areas, or you will get annihilated. And you can complete some of those activities and things on your own. You can join up and complete them together with different squads, or certain activities and other things will require you to join up with a lot more players to be able to get through them.
ScreenRant: Is there a time limit when they’re in there?
